It’s an exciting time to be a fan of Beaver Basketball. With a new coach at the helm, the son of former OSU great Gary Payton making headlines and an upset of #7 Arizona under their belts, things are looking bright for the team. With all of the focus on the players of the newest generation it’s easy to forget all the great athletes the Oregon State Basketball team has fielded over the years. In fact, it’s been almost 100 years now since Oregon State saw it’s first player who was accorded the honor of being an all-American.
99 years ago a player by the name of Adolph “Ade” Sieberts was captain of the Beavers and leading them to second place in the Northwest Conference and first place in the Pacific Coast Championship – the conference that would grow to become what is today the Pac-12.
Playing from the forward position, Sieberts would become a two-time All-Pacific Coast Conference Selection with the Beavers.
Sieberts was noted not just for his excellent skills as both a passer and shooter that made him a standout in basketball, but for the fact that he excelled at Baseball as well. Sieberts led the Beavers to a Northwest championship in 1916. His season with the Beavers was highlighted by his play against the University of Oregon, where he pitched both games of a double-header and led the beavers to victories in both of them. He started as a second baseman for the Beavers where he earned the nickname “swat” through his hitting, due to the way in which he hit the ball.
Although his successes are long in the past, not more than 25 years ago Sieberts was inducted into the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame and remains one of the few athletes in school history who won multiple division titles in different sports in the same year. A commerce major from Portland, Sieberts was highly active outside of sports. He was a member of the fraternity Kappa Sigma Nu, an editor for The Beaver in 1917, and a Sergeant for the Oregon State ROTC in 1916. His yearbook quote for the 1917 issue of The Beaver was simply “Let us eat, drink and be merry”.
~Post written by Christopher Russell, SCARC intern & History major
