A Look at the Oregon State's Competition in the Paradise Jam
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Tomorrow night, the Oregon State Beavers will kick off their run in the 2025 Paradise Jam tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands. This will be a four-day, bracket-style tournament with eight total teams.
Let's take a look at the other seven teams in the field.
Yale
A power in the Ivy League conference, the Bulldogs have had quite a bit of success over the past couple seasons. In 2023-24 they took out 4-seeded Auburn in the first round of the NCAA tournament, and they returned to the big dance in 2024-25 after winning the Ivy League conference tournament for the second consecutive year. This season, Yale is off to a 3-1 start, and they have the highest RPI ranking (102) out of any team in the field. While the Bulldogs are extremely well-rounded as a unit, their best overall player is Nick Townsend, a senior forward who is leading the team in points, rebounds and assists.
UMass
The Minutemen come in with an RPI ranking of 139 after a 3-1 start. The toughest opponent that they've faced so far is Marshall, whom they lost to. UMass has a few different players who've been scorers, but their main threat is 6'9" senior Leonardo Bettiol, who is averaging a double-double. This isn't a program with a lot of name recognition, but they could be a decent opponent at this tournament.
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Akron
The Akron Zips have come onto the scene recently in college basketball, making the NCAA Tournament last season as a 13-seed. The Zips are 3-1 coming into the Paradise Jam, with their only loss so far being to #1 Purdue. With some impressive results so far on the year (including a 104-69 beatdown of Princeton).
College of Charleston
CofC made the NCAA tournament as a 13-seed in 2024, and finished third in the Coastal Athletic Conference last season. But Cougars are not off to a great start, and suffered a bad loss against Drake in their most recent game. Their best player is Jlynn Counter, a well-rounded guard who is averaging 13 points, six rebounds and four assists. Charleston shouldn't be slept on, but they probably won't be one of the stronger teams at this tournament.
Iona
The Gaels come into this tournament with a 4-0 record, and are fresh off of a blowout win over Princeton. Iona is another well-rounded team, with five players on the squad averaging double figures in scoring. One guy in particular to watch out for is point guard CJ Anthony, who is averaging 15.5 points per game to go along with seven assists. This is a player whom you'll want to contain when playing the Gaels. It's worth noting that Iona is a relatively smaller team compared to most of college basketball, with the tallest player in their starting lineup standing at 6'8".
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Green Bay
Out of the Horizon League, it's been rough sledding as of late for the Green Bay Phoenix. They finished with a 4-28 record in 2024-25, and are off to a 1-4 start so far this season. They come into the Paradise Jam with the lowest RPI ranking in the tournament, at 335 (out of 350). However, they did take Minnesota to overtime in their most recent game.
Evansville
Oregon State's first opponent at the 2025 Paradise Jam, this is a game Wayne Tinkle's team should expect to win. The Purple Aces have struggled to gain a foothold so far this season, and are coming off of loses to Middle Tennessee State and UT Arlington. Evansville's RPI ranking is 254.
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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.