The Oregon State Beavers suffered perhaps their biggest blow of the offseason yet, as leading scorer and rebounder Raegan Beers announced Thursday that she is entering the transfer portal.
"Thank you for all of your endless love and support these past two years," she posted on social media. "I will never forget my time at OSU and I am thankful for the opportunity I had to meet and play with incredible people. My journey as a Beav was a special one and I am grateful for my teammates, coaches, fans, and friends who have changed my life throughout my time here."
The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward and two-time All-Pac-12 selection averaged 17.5 points, on blistering 66.4% shooting from the field, plus 10.3 rebounds on her way to earning third-team All-American honors from The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, freshman guard Dominika Paurova entered the transfer portal on Friday, becoming the eighth Oregon State player to enter do so as the program prepares for its first season as an affiliate member of the WCC, a product of the disintegration of the Pac-12 that saw 10 of its schools bolt for other Power 5 conferences.
The exodus from Corvallis is stark given the success the Beavers had this past season, especially the past month. After winning just 13 games in 2022-23 and being picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 heading into the season, Oregon State went 27-8 and advanced to its first Elite Eight since 2018 (and third since 2016), where it fell in a tight battle to eventual national champion South Carolina.
During the Albany regional, coach Scott Rueck acknowledged that conference realignment, and how Oregon State was left with the short end of the stick in it, could dramatically affect his roster moving forward.
"That's reality," Rueck said. "I can't control that, other than just keep doing what I'm doing. I think the opportunity within that for a leader provides a discipline that you'd better be on your A-game all the time. You'd better take care of people, and you'd better provide a great experience. That's the approach going forward and what happens, happens. We'll find a way."
Earlier this month, Talia von Oelhoffen and Timea Gardiner entered the transfer portal, and just this week starting freshman Donovyn Hunter plus reserves Lily Hansford, Adlee Blacklock and Martha Pietsch joined them.
Beers and Gardiner, both top-10 recruits in ESPN's rankings, headlined a stellar recruiting class for the Beavers in 2022.