Quick Links: Football Swings Into Spring Camp, Women’s Basketball Projections & More

• Sorry baseball fans, it’s officially football season (okay, not really). But football has entered their spring camp this week, with somehow already the fourth go-round of head coach Jonathan Smith’s tenure set for this fall. The team is looking to upgrade its defense in 2021, despite some huge losses and find some diamonds in the rough, like freshman gunslinger Sam Vidlak, who already is impressing.

• The women’s basketball program received a #15 ranking in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, despite the departures of Sasha Goforth and Aleah Goodman already this off-season. Head coach Scott Rueck will have his hands full trying to replace those two key pieces, but will be banking on a strong recruiting haul to fill the voids. In similar program news, Goodman was also slotted to be chosen as the #34 overall pick in 2021 WNBA mock draft projections by the Los Angeles Sparks.

• Oregon State alumni Michael Conforto helped the New York Mets snag a win in their home-opener on Thursday, in one of the more unique ways possible, the old classic intentional hit-by-pitch. The outfielder leaned over the plate and took it right on the elbow to force in the game-winning run, which as immediately addressed by the team’s broadcasters, is pretty much not legal (or reviewable).

• Want a cool Oregon State “did you know” fact to ask your friends? The Beavers actually do have a lacrosse team and their season is set to start on Saturday on the road against Oregon. Oregon State will play the Ducks in four games this season, as the MCLA (the non-NCAA intercollegiate governing body) tries to host their own season around the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

• And finally, a bunch of news from around the men’s basketball coaching front in the Pac-12...

- The search for a replacement at Arizona for Sean Miller includes Pacific head coach Damon Stoudamire, Wildcats alumni Miles Simon and Gonzaga associate head coach Tommy Lloyd, among others.

- After a Final Four run in the NCAA Tournament, UCLA has rewarded head coach Mick Cronin with a two-year contract extension, which will keep the head coach in Westwood through the 2026-2027 campaign.

- New Utah head coach Craig Smith is beginning to piece together his staff, bringing along assistant coach Eric Peterson from Utah State. Peterson and Smith have been together for more than seven-plus years and he joins the likes of DeMarlo Slocum and Henry Martinez already on the staff.