Wayne Tinkle Couldn't Land in Seattle, but Corvallis Works for Him

Wayne Tinkle tried his best to come to Seattle as this big kid from Spokane and do something special in basketball, but he could never quite make it work.

In 1984, he was one of Washington state's leading high school scorers at 22.3 points per game and was named Greater Spokane League MVP, but his 20-4 Ferris High School team fell just short of reaching the 3A state tournament finals at Seattle's then-Coliseum.

The big names statewide at that time were Quin Snyder at Mercer Island and J.D. Taylor at Juanita, players who were bound for Duke and Washington, respectively, while Tinkle accepted an offer from Montana.

Five years later, a newly married Tinkle went to training camp with the Seattle Sonics, in San Diego of all places, and the 6-foot-10, 255-pound forward hung around until the final cuts.

Tinkle shared the court with the likes of Shawn Kemp and Nate McMillan, but he suffered a serious thigh contusion when he caught a knee from Olden Polynice in a scrimmage that didn't help his cause any.

He and his new wife, the former Lisa McLeod, were a good match, both interested in the same sport.

She left Montana as the women's basketball all-time leading scorer. Wayne and Lisa had three basketball-minded children: Tres, who finished as Oregon State's all-time leading scorer; Jocelyn, who played in three Final Fours for Stanford; and Elle, who helped Gonzaga reach the Sweet 16.

"We played against each other one time and, yeah, she beat me," Tinkle said of wife way back then.

So today, while the Huskies have sunk to program lows and the Sonics have been gone from Seattle for a dozen years, Tinkle belongs to Corvallis, Oregon, which couldn't be happier to have him.

He's coach of one of the NCAA tournament's most lovable and endearing teams now, the Oregon State Beavers.

Following inspiring victories over favored Tennessee and Oklahoma State — the school's first NCAA success in 39 years — Tinkle has OSU (19-12) in the Sweet 16 and next paired against Loyola of Chicago (26-4).

Tinkle is personable and extremely well-liked by his college basketball coaching peers, similar to Mike Hopkins, but he has more hair and a much better win-loss record as of late than his UW counterpart.

He's recruited well and instilled a toughness in the Beavers, all things that local basketball fans clamor for from the Huskies but aren't getting.

The tough element in Tinkle goes back a ways. That's from Montana.

On Dec. 23, 1985, an Andy Russo-coached UW team traveled to Missoula and lost 78-65 to Tinkle and the Grizzlies. Late in the second half, the teams emptied their benches and traded punches in a raucous setting that drew 8,185 animated and well-fueled fans to the arena before Christmas.

It's not clear if Tinkle, just a sophomore, landed any punches in that squirmish, but he played 6 minutes and grabbed 5 rebounds on that overly physical night, demonstrating the kind of rugged player he was.

He was selected as a second-team All-Big Sky player for Montana in his final season and he played a dozen years of international and minor-league basketball before turning to coaching.

In 2001, Tinkle joined the coaching staff at his alma mater as an assistant to Larry Krystkowiak, his former Montana teammate. Five years later, he became the head coach after Krystkowiak joined the Milwaukee Bucks as the head man.

Tinkle went 0-for-3 against the UW in that time, but he advanced Montana to the NCAA tournament three times and Oregon State hired him in 2014.

For the Beavers, Tinkle has been a real pain in the side for the Huskies, beating them 5 of 11 times, winning 2 of 3 games that went to one overtime or more.

Yet the big thing is he has the Oregon State program really rolling right now, with a Pac-12 tournament title and a pair of NCAA victories, and the Huskies still need to start over.

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

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