Eubanks narrowing in on decision

Drew Eubanks is honing-in on a decision and Oregon State is honing-in on him.

Following weeks of almost-daily phone calls and/or texts, and after watching nearly every one of his games throughout the July evaluation period, OSU received a second visit from the rising senior on Friday.

But whereas the previous visit came shortly after Head Coach Wayne Tinkle's appointment and was more of a general meet-and-greet, last week's unofficial gave the Beavers staff further opportunity to articulate their interest in the Troutdale-native. Eubanks' parents also made the 90-minute trip (AAU Coach Pat Strickland accompanied Eubanks on his first visit).

"The first thing we did when we got there was talk to [baseball coach] Pat Casey because he had an event he had to go to… He said that he had heard good things about me and that he looked forward to me possibly playing for them."

But the rest of the all-state pitcher's day centered around the basketball court, where since taking up the sport as a high school freshman, the rangy big has demonstrated rare athleticism and upside. Eubanks continued his rapid development this summer, punctuated by a number of impressive performances before Division-I coaches at the Bigfoot Tournament in Las Vegas two weeks ago.

Friday, he played even more hoops.

"I played 3-on-3 with Tres [Tinkle] and Stevie [Thompson Jr.]… They're good kids. I really liked them."

Eubanks, Tinkle, and Thompson played against current roster-mates Daniel Gomes and Chai Baker, along with the youngest Thompson boy, Ethan, a rising high school sophomore.

Neither Tres, Stevie, nor Eubanks have declared their college intentions just yet, but several games of pick-up did allow them to consider what it might be like playing together: a fact the coaching staff made sure to underscore.

"We sat down with everyone to eat and they just were telling us how our class would be the start of something really good."

The "start" of that class might just originate with Eubanks. The Reynolds High-product plans to announce his college destination sometime over the next month.