Devon Collier: Athlete of the week

The Oregon State men’s basketball team currently has a severe shortage of big men.

Sophomore Eric Moreland has one game left on his three-game suspension, senior center Angus Brandt won’t see the floor again this season after tearing his ACL on Nov. 16, and redshirt freshman forward Daniel Gomis hasn’t actually suited up for the Beavers in his entire career. This absence of forwards has put increased pressure on junior forward Devon Collier.

“Devon is big, but he can’t handle it all himself,” guard Ahmad Starks said after Saturday’s loss to Arizona. “He had 15 rebounds, but along with Eric in there, it would be tougher.”

Starks is right. Moreland’s presence would have helped the Beavers tremendously, but Collier still fared well Arizona. Collier averaged 15.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in OSU’s two games last week, and has earned himself The Daily Barometer Athlete of the Week honors.

Collier grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds against Arizona, and has now scored in double-digits in 11 straight games, one shy of the longest streak of his career.

Besides seeing his already big role grow even more important with the short-term absence of Moreland, Collier had only started one game this season for the Beavers prior to this weekend. In a time of crisis for OSU, Collier has stayed collected and played some outstanding basketball. Still, he stresses he and the entire team have a lot of room for improvement.

“We have more games coming; we just have to pick up the intensity,” Collier said. “We have to keep communicating more on defense. We communicate, but as we see it’s not enough, so we have to pick up the intensity on defense and help each other.”

sports@dailybarometer.com