Gardiner and Beers Named Naismith Player of the Year Semifinalists

CORVALLIS – Future Beavers Timea Gardiner and Raegan Beers added another piece of national recognition on Tuesday, as they were named semifinalists for Naismith High School Player of the Year. Both players are slated to join the Beavers for the 2022-23 season after signing National Letters of Intent in November.

Oregon State is the only program with two signees included among the list of 10 semifinalists. Gardiner and Beers were also selected as McDonald’s All-Americans last week.

Gardiner (Ogden, Utah) is a five-star recruit and ESPN’s No. 6 rated player in this year’s signing class. The forward is a three-time all-state honoree, as well as an All-Region selection. She averaged 14.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game during her sophomore campaign, and followed that up with 13.5 points and 7.1 boards per contest last season.

Gardiner has made her mark with USA Basketball as well, helping lead the USA U-16 squad to a Gold Medal at the 2019 FIBA America’s in Puerto Aysen, Chile. She averaged 7.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest, as the USA went a perfect 6-0 at the event. Gardiner also took part in trials for the 2018 USA U-17 World Cup Team.

Beers (Littleton, Colo.) is a five-star recruit and is among ESPN’s top 10 players in the nation, as well as the site’s No. 3 rated post. She is a two-time all-state honoree in Colorado, and was a Max Preps All-America Honorable Mention in 2020. Beers earned Jefferson County Player of the Year recognition in 2019, and made the County First Team in 2020.

Beers averaged 15.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game during her sophomore year, and is a two-time Academic All-State selection. She also was selected to compete at USA Basketball Trials in 2019.

The Beavers will hit the road this week for matchups at Arizona State and Arizona.