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On Wednesday, Draft Express (DraftExpress.com), a noted NBA-draft site, released their newest version of their 2018 NBA Mock Draft and Oregon State forward Drew Eubanks was the only Beaver projected to be selected in the 60-man field, coming in at the #42 overall pick. Eubanks, who currently just completed his sophomore season in Corvallis, has been quiet about his future NBA plans, even during this hectic period of time which has featured a litany of underclassmen forgoing their college eligibility in search of professional opportunities.
This past season, Eubanks averaged 14.5 points per game as the team’s second-leading scorer, in addition to shooting a team-high 58.7% from the field. The 6’ 10”, 250 pounder also led the team with 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per contest, while tallying 8 double-doubles on the year. Eubanks also scored a career-high 32 points back on November 28th against NAIA school, Southern Oregon, in a game where he shot an outstanding 15-21 overall from the field.
While no other Oregon State player was listed in the mock draft, forward Tres Tinkle is also featured within the site’s database, where he is ranked as the #82 overall sophomore player, as well as the 29th best prospect in the Pac-12 conference. Tinkle, who missed most of the 2016-2017 season with a wrist injury, is expected to return to the mix for the 2017-2018 season along Eubanks, to form one of the more daunting interior duos in the whole conference.
Despite finishing this past season with a trying 5-27 mark, optimism around the Oregon State program is running high, with help from Tinkle’s upcoming return and the promise of a stellar recruiting group, who added even more firepower on Tuesday, when four-star prospect Alfred Hollins committed to the Beavers. Hollins will join fellow four-star recruit Ethan Thompson and three-star guard Zach Reichle, to form a strong nucleus of fresh talent who will be headed to Corvallis in the Fall.