Cliff Kirkpatrick

A buzz surrounded Gill Coliseum this year, and it’s only partially from the grinding sounds of remodeling. The old building has been going through a face lift inside and out (read all about the remodeling in Gill in a Sunday story in the GT here) so it will be ready for a year-long party. OSU plans to celebrate the 60 years of Gill Coliseum, starting this fall.

Each sport will commemorate what it accomplished in the arena. Logos and merchandise will be pushed. Check back soon for the image of the logo, once it is finalized. This is the major marketing push for the year.

“It’s an all-year thing,” said Matt Arend, assistant athletic director for external operations. “There will be video board presentations and alumni reunions for each sport. We’ll do things like who were the 60 best players and the best player of each decade. It will be a major part of the marketing plan for each sport.”

The first game played in Gill was a men’s basketball game. The Beavers played Utah on Dec. 16, 1949, and won 53-41 before a crowd of 5,694.

Here’s a picture of facility guru John Cheney showing Brooks Hatch around the bottom of Gill.

Greyshirts
If you are wondering who will greyshirt for the football team this season, read about it here on the previous blog or here in Sunday’s GT. There’s a big name on that list in WR Reggie Dunn.

People have asked me about the eight recruits for the 2010 season that coach Mike Riley quoted me. That’s right eight. There are 11 seniors for the coming season. And if you read the greyshirts story there are five. That means there will be 13 new players for the 2010 season. Plus OL Mau Nomani should be back from his Mormon Mission next year.

For whatever reason some players won’t come back or a recruit won’t qualify. Two extra players is the buffer, three with Nomani. So, that’s how the numbers work. There should be about 14 newcomers for 2010, eight recruits, five greyshirts and a person back from a Mission.

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Oregon State football coach Mike Riley decided on his greyshirts for the coming season, and one big name is on the list.

Sophomore junior college transfer wide receiver Reggie Dunn is one of the five greyshirts, Riley told me Saturday morning.

The others are first-year players offensive lineman Michael Beaton from Dallas High, receiver Kevin Cummings of Encino, Calif., receiver Obum Gwacham of Chino Hills, Calif., and defensive end Josh Kaiwi from Anchorage, Alaska.

“That’s about final,” Riley said of his roster. “That gets us to about the right number.”

Greyshirts are incoming players who delay enrollment until after the season for various reasons – grades or a full roster usually. The Beavers are over the 85-scholarship limit, so they use this as a way to stay within the limit and have players already signed for the following season.

Dunn is being greyshirted because he won’t be academically eligible until Aug. 22, Riley said. That’s when he’ll finish up the classes he needs at Los Angeles Compton College.

“He would be ready (academically), but that would be too late to be ready (physically) for the season,” Riley said because training camp begins Aug. 10 and the season opens Sept. 5.

Dunn has the ability to be an impact player. He was listed sixth on the SuperPrep Juco 100 list after one season at Compton College.

He was a four-star recruit when he originally signed with the Beavers in 2007 out of Los Angeles Verbum Dei High, and then sat out the following season.

Dunn has four years to complete three years of eligibility, so this season will use up one of those years. When he enrolls in the winter term he’ll have three years to play three seasons.

One reason the roster is not complete is Riley needs to find out what incoming freshman Kyrell Hudson of Vancouver, Wash., plans to do.

He’s a standout baseball player who was drafted in the third round of the major league draft earlier this month by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Hudson said in news reports he plans to sign a pro baseball contract, but Riley hasn’t been in contact with him recently. The funny part is Riley asked me if I heard anything about Hudson since I know some of the agents in the area.

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