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6-foot-10 big becomes Oregon State’s fifth 2015 commitment

Oregon St Tinkle Basketball

AP

AP

There’s little doubt that the rebuilding job in front of Wayne Tinkle at Oregon State is a difficult one, as he’ll enter the 2014-15 season with a team that has to account for the loss of its top five scorers from last season led by Roberto Nelson. And if there was any need for a reminder of just how difficult the upcoming season could be for the program, Oregon State scoring just 47 points in an exhibition loss to Western Oregon Friday night provided it.

However, Tinkle and his staff have been successful on the recruiting trail. Both he and assistant Stephen Thompson have talented sons who will be joining the program next season, and in total Oregon State entered the weekend with four verbal commitments in the Class of 2015. Saturday evening they added a fifth, with Joel Francisco of ESPN.com reporting that 6-foot-10 center Gligorije Rakocevic has verbally committed to the Pac-12 program.

A native of Montenegro, Rakocevic attends Cantrell-Sacred Heart HS in Montebello, California and he averaged 10.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game as a junior. It was reported last month by Brian McInnis of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Rakocevic was also considering Hawaii, New Mexico, Washington State and Utah.

Rakocevic, who played for the Earl Watson Elite grassroots program, joins 6-foot-10 Drew Eubanks as big men in Oregon State’s 2015 class, with small forward Tres Tinkle and guards Stephen Thompson Jr. and Derrick Bruce being the other members of the class. Oregon State doesn’t have a senior on its current roster, but they’re in serious need of additional bodies as Wayne Tinkle and his staff look to turn things around in Corvallis. This five-member recruiting class will help with that process.

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