Oregon State freshman Kyle Jeffers comfortable in any environment

By Jeff Welsch
Mid-Valley Sports editor

Drop Kyle Jeffers into any unfamiliar environment and he'll not only feel instantly at ease, he'll quickly evolve into a ringleader.

Basketball court? A slam dunk. The lanky 6-foot-8 Oregon State freshman's frame, condor-like wingspan, athleticism, immense potential and work ethic were made for the game.

Computer science class? As easy as point-and-click. He can navigate his way around a computer's hard-drive and the information super highway like a point guard weaving through traffic, and his cyber music library would be the envy of any small radio station.

College dormitory? His personal Barcalounger. His disarmingly honest, easygoing nature has a gravitational pull with his fellow students.

"The guys will tell you, if you want to know what's happening on campus, talk to Kyle," said Jay John, his coach. "Relationships are very natural for him."

So natural that even interviews with reporters, as comfortable as all-nighters at the library for many athletes, are like talking with a best friend.

"I'm a pretty friendly person," Jeffers said. "I'll talk to anybody. I can adapt to any environment. I've just always been like that."

In fact, about the only place where the18-year-old from Santa Rosa, Calif., isn't polished beyond his years is on the court, where for the first time he's competing against players who are similarly sized and skilled.

Jeffers will experience more of the same at 7:05 tonight, when he makes his fifth consecutive start in the Beavers' (2-2) non-conference game against Kansas State (4-0) in Gill Coliseum.

Not that Jeffers isn't comfortable or doesn't stand out on the court. He is, and he does.

It's just that he doesn't readily accept being average, his description for averaging 5.8 rebounds but only 4.5 points.

"When I got to this level, everything totally changed," Jeffers said. "It'll happen. Everything will come together and I'll be consistent. That's good, but I need to do it. I can always talk about it, but I've got to show it."

Odds are that he will, perhaps quickly.

Some believe that Jeffers could be the Beavers' best big man since A.C. Green, and though it's likely the former Montgomery High School star would've wound up in Corvallis anyway, the coaches are thankful they landed him during last year's early-signing period.

Jeffers' senior season would have elicited a full-court press from most Pacific-10 Conference teams. He averaged 19.3 points and 14.5 rebounds en route to earning North Bay League MVP honors, first-team all-Bay Area and third-team all-state.

Until then, little attention was focused on him except from Bay Area schools. The reason: Jeffers said he played poorly on an injured ankle during the summer before his senior year and, with college scouts watching, he saw little action on his perimeter-oriented all-star team.

John concedes he knew nothing of Jeffers until given the inside dope by a friend named Pete Padgett, son of former OSU player Jim Padgett ('52) and father of high school star David Padgett of Reno, Nev., now at Kansas.

When Pete Padgett took David to a camp for big men in California, John asked him to keep an eye out for suitable successors to Philip Ricci and Brian Jackson. Padgett was impressed most by Jeffers and a raw 7-2 center from Modesto named Liam Hughes.

"Both of those guys gave David some problems," Pete Padgett said.

John trusted Padgett, and he wasn't disappointed at first sight.

"When I first saw Kyle he reminded me of Channing Frye so much it was scary," John said, referring to the rail-thin Arizona 7-footer who once had a 20-point, 18-rebound game against OSU.

Jeffers was committed to Santa Clara, which he liked because he spent much of his early youth on the Bay Area's Peninsula, still had many friends there and it offered sound programs in business, engineering and computer science. He liked coach Dick Davey so much that he eschewed overtures from Stanford and California.

Then, only as a courtesy, he took his scheduled OSU visit.

Jeffers was hooked by the campus, the players and the coaches.

"I like the coaches here better than the coaches at the other schools I visited," he said. "I saw the potential for the team to be good in a couple of years here. I could wait."

The fit was perfect, especially for a kid from a town much like Corvallis. He was instantly popular, thanks to a personality that John describes as "refreshing" and an innocent candor about life, others and himself.

To wit:

• On his computer science classes: "This major is extremely hard. I'm trying my hardest to do well, but I'm not doing good at all. I'm not performing. If I don't pick it up, I'm probably going to switch to business. It's not easier, but I understand it more."

• On attention from recruiters: "That was a weird feeling. One coach said I was a pony or something — a young horse that hasn't developed yet. I didn't think I was that good. In my senior year I went off on teams, but in the summer I didn't play that good at all."

• On his future at OSU: "I've got to get that degree. I know I'm going to be here four years no matter what."

• On his teammates: "I really like all my teammates, except Sal (Vance). I didn't like him too much. I'm glad he's gone."

• On suitemate Hughes, laughing: "Liam is such a slob."

• On his future after OSU: "I definitely want to keep playing. I don't want to go to work yet."

It wouldn't surprise John to see Jeffers at the next level because of his work ethic. He also isn't done growing, having gained a half-inch and 30 pounds since summer.

Jeffers may be a rare gem that just needs a little polish.

"We'll see," John said. "He's a gem of a competitor who is willing to push himself out of his comfort zone to explore new things. He's pushing himself. He has a very high basketball IQ. He will not accept mediocrity. His mindset is very mature for a freshman."

Small wonder, then, that even though the basketball environment where Jeffers is headed is uncharted territory, he's unfazed. Once he gets there he'll be at ease, and probably even be one of OSU's ringleaders.

"I'll keep working hard," he said. "I'm hoping one of these days there'll be a break, my talent will just rise and things will come together.

"That's what's happened everywhere else."