Rebuilding projects collide in Boise.

Byline: Steve Mims The Register-Guard

Both Boise State coach Greg Graham and Oregon State's Jay John are in their third year on the job.

Both are former Oregon assistants under Ernie Kent.

And Graham and John have each guided their team to a 5-3 start this season.

Despite the similarities, the two have taken different routes to tonight's meeting in Boise.

"When you are taking over a program, there are a couple ways to go," said Graham, the ex-Duck who was an assistant to Kent for 10 seasons at Saint Mary's and Oregon. "One is to take over a program that has no upperclassmen so you suffer and load up with guys coming in. Or you have lots of juniors and seniors and when they graduate you are left with young guys who haven't played."

The first example sounds similar to the state of the Beavers, who have brought in newcomers each season.

The second example describes the situation Graham inherited with the Broncos.

Last year, Graham guided a veteran team to a 23-10 record that included a couple of victories in the National Invitation Tournament.

Two of the top three scorers graduated, along with starting point guard Joe Skiffer. Larry Davidson, a 6-10 freshman from Australia, left the program due to injuries and senior Kenney Gainous suffered a season-ending ACL injury last week.

Only five players are back off last year's roster, and five transfers and three freshmen joined the team. Junior college transfers McNeal Thompson and Kareem Lloyd have moved into the starting lineup.

"Things are coming along," Graham said. "We have had some unfortunate injuries and things so we've had to recruit some new players each year to play."

Graham has gotten a boost from senior forward Jason Ellis, who has been a strong rebounder throughout his career but has become more of a scorer this season. The 6-foot-7 center is averaging 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds after collecting a double-double in each of Boise State's past two games, including 19 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 78-67 win over Eastern Washington.

"The big thing with Jason was that he had never been a scorer, but he worked on it," Graham said. "Scorers have a different mentality, and he is becoming more comfortable."

Senior Jermaine Blackburn, the top returning scorer from a year ago, leads the Broncos with 14.4 points per game. Sophomore Coby Karl, the son of former NBA coach George Karl, is averaging 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-high 3.1 assists per game.

Boise State defeated Oregon State 82-80 last year in Corvallis, but Graham pointed out that the two teams have reversed roles this season, as the Beavers have an experienced roster in contrast to the Broncos.

"Last year we had five starters back and this year they do," Graham said. "They have had a couple of good seasons and now they are bearing the fruits of playing those young guys. They are two and three deep at each position."

Yet the Beavers continue to have a roster in a state of flux.

All-Pac-10 forward David Lucas is still out indefinitely following surgery on his toe, and the Beavers hope to get him back in time for conference play. Guard Angelo Tsagarakis hoped to be back by now, but his injured shoulder has kept him sidelined all season and John said this week that "Angelo is still a ways away."

Point guard Lamar Hurd has missed three straight games with back spasms. John said Hurd had an MRI on Monday that determined there was no structural damage, so Hurd is hoping to be back in the lineup this evening.

Transfer Nick DeWitz has averaged 10 points in two games since becoming eligible, but leading scorer Sasa Cuic has totalled only nine points during those two games.

"It has been a struggle (for Cuic)," said John, who was on the Oregon staff with Graham for the 1997-98 season. "People learn about you and they try to take you out and make your life difficult. That is a transition for him that he has to understand, and it is not always going to come easy for him."