Oregon State Coach Wayne Tinkle has done a tremendous job this season with a depleted roster. Regrettably, the Beavers have no real floor leader at the guard position and their best player went down to injury in November.

The fundamentals and defensive principles that Tinkle has instilled in his men is inspiring for me, as a retired coach. The Beavers compete hard in games against superior teams: the 76-63 loss to UCLA on Dec. 30.

This may be an off year, but better days are ahead. I'm proud of the Beavs and Coach Tinkle. Come on out and support the kids this Sunday against Utah. 5:30 p.m. tipoff.

-- Larry Wilder, Northeast Portland

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.