CORVALLIS -- Michaela Pin likes to think she's got some game, so the 21-year-old from Southeast Portland showed up at Gill Coliseum on Sunday for
with one thought.
"Why not me?" said the 2007 graduate from Franklin High School. "I think I could play here if I was in good shape."
Pin was joined by 54 other hopefuls -- or is it wannabes? -- in Corvallis, all of whom were thinking the same thing. Any other year at almost any other program the thought of hosting a walk-on camp would seem absurd, but this summer at Oregon State, anything is possible.
. Scott Rueck, a 14-year veteran from Division III George Fox who has never coached in Division I,
. Rueck was left with seven players, barely enough to field a team.
"The bottom line is we want to see people who can compete," Rueck told the camp before play started. "With the position our team is in, there's a lot of opportunity."
There was a mix of characters Sunday and a variety of ages. Some players, like McKenzie Redberg, a 2009 Corvallis High School graduate, haven't played since high school. Some have played a couple years of junior college ball -- Pin played one year at Clackamas Community College and one at Portland Community College -- and think this might be their shot at something bigger. And some, like Mary George, just love the game.
"I play in city leagues all the time and they always have lots of college players, and I can hold my own against them," explained George, 47, who played for Crater High School and now lives in neighboring Philomath. "How often do you get this type of opportunity?"
At the opposite end of the spectrum was Sage Indendi, a sophomore at OSU.
Indendi, 20, is familiar with Rueck, and success: As a freshman at George Fox in 2009,
. A native of Livingston, Mont., Indendi was named the D3hoops.com national rookie of the year.
"I didn't want to play D-I out of high school, and people didn't think I could," said Indendi, who transferred from George Fox to OSU after her freshman year for personal reasons. "College coaches told me I wasn't fast enough (to play D-I), but I could shoot and I have a high basketball IQ. Now I want to know if I can play at this level."
It's unlikely Rueck and his staff will take many, if any, players from Sunday. Many of the prospects, quite frankly, don't have what it takes to play in the Pacific-10 Conference. But Rueck says the camp was still important and believes it is the first step in rebuilding what was once a promising program.
"It's important to look," he said. "Our responsibility is to look everywhere and find the most talent possible in order to build our roster. We need to give people who are interested an opportunity."
During a facilities tour, Rueck told the group that Gill used to be packed for basketball games, emphasizing, "the community here wants to support successful teams."
He spoke of football fan support and gymnastics fan support -- the OSU women are a perennial top 10 program and have one of the highest attendance averages in the country -- and said he believes those fans will come out for women's basketball, too. But first, they need a full roster.
"That's our plan," he said. "We're on our way."
-- Lindsay Schnell, special to The Oregonian