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Sports
Farewell
to the Great Pumpkin
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Dee
Andros, former Oregon State football coach and
director of athletics, passed away at the age
of 79 at his Corvallis home on Oct. 22.
Demosthenes Konstandies Andrecopoulos, better
known in the athletic world as the "Great
Pumpkin," served as the Beavers’ head
football coach from 1965 to 1975. Shortly after
resigning as football coach in 1975, Dee was named
as director of athletics, succeeding Jim Barratt.
Dee served as OSU’s director until the spring
of 1985, when he retired.
Total
retirement from Oregon State was not in Dee’s
makeup. He continued to serve as a special assistant
within the BASF (Beaver Athletic Scholarship Fund)
until recent health problems forced him to remain
at his Corvallis home. All told, Dee spent nearly
40 years of his life around Oregon State athletics.
It was just last spring that Dee was awarded the
Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Award at the
Fifth Annual Bennys celebration.
Current OSU Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis
said, "Dee Andros was an institution at Oregon
State University. His engaging personality was
well loved by fans, players and coaches. He leaves
a wonderful legacy at OSU as a coach, administrator
and supporter."
Andros first came to OSU as the head football
coach prior to the 1965 season, replacing Tommy
Prothro. He spent 11 years as the coach, leading
the program to some of its most memorable victories
and seasons. The 1967 team, nicknamed the "Giant
Killers," is arguably the most famous team
in the history of the school.
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| Dee
Andros leads the Beavers onto the field at
Parker stadium. |
The
Andros-led club beat No. 1 USC 3-0, No. 2 Purdue,
and later tied No. 2 UCLA. USC went on to win the
National Championship that year.
The 79-year-old Oklahoma City native was a 1950
graduate of the University of Oklahoma, after serving
four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He received
the Bronze Star for his heroic achievements in the
battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.
Andros played for four years at Oklahoma before
beginning his coaching career that included stops
as an assistant at OU, Kansas, Texas Tech, Nebraska,
California and Illinois. He earned his first head
coaching position at the University of Idaho in
1962. While Dee was serving as an assistant, Texas
Tech went to the Sun Bowl and California to the
Rose Bowl in 1959.
Dee’s brilliant coaching career brought him
many honors and much acclaim. He produced a record
of 11-16-1 in three years (1962-64) as head coach
at the University of Idaho. His 11-year record as
OSU’s head coach (1965-75) was 51-64-1, including
records of 7-3 (1966), 7-2-1 (1967) and 7-3 (1968).
Dee
is survived by his wife, Luella, daughter, Jeanna,
and grandson, Nicky.
Football
Recap
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| OSU’s
Dwan Edwards helped lead the Beavers to top-billing
in defense this year in the Pac-10. Here he
makes a ferocious tackle on New Mexico State’s
quarterback in a 28-13 OSU victory Sept. 13. |
In
a year when OSU celebrated the 50th anniversary
of Reser Stadium and continued the Raising Reser
campaign for expansion, the Beavers finished the
regular season with a 7-5 record, going 4-4 in
the Pacific-10 to tie for fifth place. The Beavers
closed with a disappointing performance in the
107th Civil War, losing to Oregon 34-20 in Eugene,
then made a few too many mistakes to make an upset
bid in losing 52-28 to second-ranked Southern
California in Los Angeles.
Those games came on the heels of convincing wins
over Stanford and Arizona, which came after frustrating
losses to Washington and sixth-ranked Washington
State, which came after dominating victories over
Arizona State and California to start Pac-10 play.
Homecoming
Full
recovery expected for injured gymnast
It was one very bad day for Meghan Jones,
but the going has been good since then.
Jones, a junior from Medford who is on Oregon
State’s gymnastics team, suffered
life-threatening injuries when she was struck
by a car while walking away from OSU’s
football game against Boise State on Sept.
20. After two brain surgeries and surgery
to repair her broken pelvis, the outlook
is good for a full recovery.
Meghan
Jones is determined to compete again for
the Beavers. |
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Athletes
inducted into Hall of Fame
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|
1963 men’s basketball team members are
welcomed into the Hall of Fame. |
Four
individuals and one team were inducted into the
OSU Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 12. Women’s
basketball player Juli Coleman, gymnast Chari
Knight, wrestler Babak Mohammadi, baseball player
Jim Wilson and the 1963 men’s basketball
team were welcomed into the hall before a crowd
of more than 300 at the Truax Indoor Center.
Coleman, who played from 1982 to 1985, was a guard
who earned All-America honors as a senior. She
left OSU as the school’s second-leading
all-time scorer with 1,840 points and she still
holds the school’s single-game steals record
with 10. Coleman was a three-time all-conference
selection and was also named Academic All-America
three times.
Knight, who competed from 1991 to 1994, scored
perfect 10s eight times in her career. She was
a seven-time All-American who later received the
American Award, given to the nation’s top
senior gymnast. Knight was an eight-time regional
champion, and she also earned a bronze medal on
bars at the 1991 World University Games.
Mohammadi, who wrestled from 1991 to 1995, was
a four-time All-American at 126 and 134 pounds.
Mohammadi twice finished as the runner-up at the
NCAA Championships, and he also earned a pair
of Pacific-10 titles. He had a 117-21 career record
with 16 pins; on OSU’s lists of career leaders,
he ranks 11th in wins, 18th in winning percentage
list and 38th in pins.
Wilson,
a Corvallis native who played from 1980 to 1982,
earned All-America honors as a first baseman.
As a junior, he was the Northern Division Player
of the Year as he batted .336 with 62 runs batted
in and 21 homers; that is still OSU’s single-season
record for home runs. Wilson was drafted in the
second round by the Cleveland Indians and reached
the Major Leagues with Cleveland in 1985 and the
Seattle Mariners in 1989. He was also an offensive
lineman for OSU’s football team.
The 1962-63 men’s basketball team advanced
to the Final Four, the second team in Oregon State
history to do so. The Beavers went 22-9, including
winning 17 of their last 21 regular-season games
to secure a place in the NCAA Tournament. The
team included head coach Slats Gill, assistant
coach Paul Valenti, Terry Baker, Lynn Baxter,
Rex Benner, Tim Campbell, All-American Mel Counts,
Grant Harter, Dave Hayward, Jim Jarvis, Jim Kraus,
Steve Pauly, Frank Peters, Gary Rossi, Ray Torgeson
and manager Corky Smith.
Counts noted the number of multi-sport athletes
on the team — including Baker, who had just
won football’s Heisman Trophy in the fall
— and that nine of the 13 players were from
Oregon. He also pointed out that the 1963 Beavers
had a team grade point average of over 3.0.
