With the offseason now upon them after falling to Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the Oregon State women's basketball team and head coach Scott Rueck now turn their attention to the future, and most importantly next season. With the crux of this years' squad returning and one of the best recruiting classes in school history coming in next season (headlined by McDonalds All-American Kennedy Brown) the Beavers figure to be in contention for a preseason top-five ranking and should be one of the better teams in the Pac-12 and the country. BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter gives a sneak peek at just how good the Beavers could be next season.
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Who's Gone
The loss to Louisville marked the end of the collegiate careers of Katie McWilliams and Joanna Grymek. McWilliams played in 138 career during her four seasons with the Beavers, while Grymek emerged as a reliable playmaker in her senior season, helping anchor the Beavers' interior. Grymek shot 62.8 percent from the floor her senior season, eighth best Oregon State history.
McWilliams played at Oregon State all four years compared to Grymek's two, and will be remembered as one of the players who helped elevate the program to elite level status. The Beavers reached four straight Sweet Sixteen's in McWilliams' tenure and was a big part of the reason why the Beavers didn't miss a beat after the departures of players like Sydney Wiese and Jamie Weisner.
The loss of Grymek and McWilliams will certainly sting as both were deeply intertwined in the Beavers' basketball community on and off the court, and there's no doubt that the Beavers will miss the leadership that McWilliams brought to the table and the defense at the rim that Grymek brought.
The silver lining in all this is that the Beavers only lose two players and return the majority of the squad. While it's tough to see players go, the Beavers will be deeper, stronger, more versatile, and overall a more complete team next season.
