Center Van Wells Reflects on His Time With Oregon State Ahead of Senior Night
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Since transferring to Corvallis from Boulder, Van Wells has solidified himself as a crucial piece of the Oregon State offensive line, starting at center in nearly every game of his Beaver career.
However, the memories he’s made and the experience he’s had at OSU go beyond just the football field. On Tuesday, Van Wells spoke with the media to reflect on his time at Oregon State as we head into senior day this Saturday.
What’s going through your mind as the senior day game approaches?
“It’s really like a surreal moment for me. I’ve been playing since I was a freshman. Everybody tells you that it’s gonna fly by, but you don’t really believe it until the time comes. It’s just a blessing in disguise.”
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How do you feel like you’ve changed as a player and person since coming to Oregon State?
“I’ve definitely matured a lot since being here, the more you play the more experience you gain, and the more you know. Just being here and being with the camaraderie, the brotherhood, I’ve got my teammates’ back, my teammates have my back. It’s been great, it’s all you can ask for.”
What does this community mean to you?
It means a lot to me, because ever since I’ve been here the fans have embraced me. I go out on the town and people come up to me, tell me about the game and something that I did. You know people don’t really look for the o-linemen so when somebody comes up to tell me somethin’ that I did…it’s nice, you know.”
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Being able to get the last two wins heading into senior day, how does that effect confidence going into this one?
"You know, the belief and confidence never really wavers even when we were losing, it's just great finally being able to get the end result that we've worked all year for. We've put in so much work, and it doesn't always go the way you want it, but when it does, it just feels real good. And we know that feelin', we know what we want, so it's just about chasin' that."
Looking back on your Oregon State career, what are some of the memories that stand out to you?
"Everything. I mean, we've been through so much. There's so much that y'all DON'T see. Just coming through playing in fall camp with these guys, bein' around them all day, you just build close bonds with every person."
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Ben Pahl is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. His work covering college and professional sports has been featured by the Orange Media Network at Oregon State University as well as KBVR.fm. His other career stops in sports include the Portland Pickles baseball club and the NBA G-League's Rip City Remix.