ALBANY, N.Y. – Oregon State plays No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday for a chance to reach the women's Final Four. But as the season comes to a close, coach Scott Rueck says he knows he will have to deal with questions about the future and the very real possibility that teams could start poaching his players.
Rueck remains focused on the task at hand, but also acknowledged that reality during a press conference Saturday where he previewed the game against the Gamecocks. For Rueck, it was incredibly gratifying to make it to the Elite Eight in his final Pac-12 season with a young team that had no seniors.
But what comes next and the fear that players could leave via the transfer portal doesn't necessarily worry him today. However, it will be something that needs to be addressed.
Editor favorites
2 relatives
“That’s the reality,” said Rueck. “I can’t control this other than just keep doing what I’m doing. I think the opportunity therein for a leader provides a discipline where you're better off doing your best all the time. You’d better use that.” Take care of people and provide a great experience. This is the approach for the future and what happens, happens. We will find a way.”
Raegan Beers admitted that in the middle of the season she couldn't help but think about what a realignment would mean for her future and the future of her team. Following the dissolution of the Pac-12, Oregon State will move to the West Coast Conference to play basketball and will no longer compete in a Power 5 conference.
Beers said she had a conversation with Rueck before her NCAA tournament began to clear her head.
“When this was first announced, I thought about it a lot,” Beers said. “Especially in January I was thinking a lot about what will next year look like? We're going to be in the WCC, so it won't matter at all whether we just play teams there or play in the Pac-12.” Different. What will our conference look like?
“That wasn’t a healthy mindset in February and March when you think about what’s going to happen next year. With this team, it's super important to stay in the present with all the people who might be telling you what to do or I expect you to do this or that when the season is over. I just stay present.”
Guard Talia von Oelhoffen said she felt the team did a good job of staying in the moment, especially during this tournament, but said she knew there would still be a lot of work to do at the end of the season.
“The future is uncertain in this regard,” said von Oelhoffen. “But we can only control what we can control and our focus is on this season and this year. I'm sure there will be questions after the season and it will definitely be something that needs to be addressed and discussed because we don't know what next year will look like.
“But this group has been so good at just staying present and taking games one possession at a time, one game at a time, and when you do that, conference realignment, the portal and all that doesn't matter .” .”
In light of their surprise run to the Elite Eight, von Oelhoffen put together a TikTok of them making their case for being America's team.
“We're selfless, we play together, we're a family, and that's a story, that's a headline that I can get behind and I think a lot of people should too,” she said.
