Former Florida State and Alabama wide receiver Malik Benson, who has an extra year thanks to the recent NCAA ruling on junior college players, told ESPN that he has committed to play at Oregon next year.

Benson told ESPN on Tuesday that he picked the Ducks because he was impressed with the coaching staff and was intrigued by the opportunity to play with quarterback Dante Moore, who projects as the Ducks’ starter next year.

Until the ruling on Diego Pavia’s eligibility changed the paradigm for junior college players, Benson had been set to start training for the NFL draft process.

“I’m just glad that the Lord blessed me with another opportunity and another year,” Benson told ESPN upon entering the portal. “I will not take this for granted.”

Benson began his college career at Hutchinson Community College, where he emerged as the nation’s top junior college prospect regardless of position. He played one season at Alabama, where he had 13 receptions in 14 games for 162 yards and a touchdown.

He transferred to Florida State, where he caught 25 balls for 311 yards and a touchdown this season. On his career, he averages 12.5 yards per catch.

Oregon’s receiving room lost star Tez Johnson to the NFL and is awaiting on an NFL decision from Evan Stewart, who missed the Rose Bowl with a back injury and slumped late in the year for the Ducks.

They do bring in the country’s top receiving prospect in Dakorien Moore, who is ESPN’s No. 3 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class.

Elizabeth Steiner made history Monday as she was sworn in by Gov, Tina Kotek as Oregon’s first female and openly LGBTQ+ Treasurer.

Steiner said she was “unbelievably happy” and would work to take a “both/and” approach to issues.

“As a family physician, I am all too aware that financial insecurity is the leading cause of poor health. Too many Oregonians are living with what appears to be an unbreakable ceiling between them and financial security,” she said.

Steiner helped write Oregon’s budget as co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee from 2018 to 2024. She was first appointed to the state senate in 2012 and represented northwest Portland and Beaverton until resigning after being elected treasurer.

Prior to becoming Treasurer, Steiner was a doctor for more than 30 years and an associate professor at Oregon Health & Science University beginning in 1999.

She campaigned on making programs like Oregon Saves and the College Saving Plan more accessible.

Steiner pledged she would “double the percentage of children in Oregon with a college savings plan, ensure that the vast majority of Oregonians are saving for retirement, significantly expand the reach of the ABLE program, and establish child savings accounts so that every child born in Oregon has savings available to them when they turn 18.”

Steiner’s election marks the last of Oregon’s statewide offices to be filled by a woman, or “the longest-lasting glass ceiling in Oregon’s politics,” as presenter Kerry Tymchuk said.

Tymchuk is the executive director of the Oregon Historical Society, where the swearing-in was held.

Outgoing attorney general Ellen Rosenblum was the first female in the position when she took office in 2012. The first female secretary of state was Norma Paulus in 1977. Barbara Roberts became the state’s first female governor in 1991. Roberts, Rosenblum, Kotek and former Gov. Kate Brown all attended Steiner’s swearing in.

Kotek reflected on her 20-year history with Steiner and said she “couldn’t be more proud of [her] friend.”

Steiner ran against Republican Brian Boquist, who served alongside her in the Senate, and Working Families Party candidate Mary King.

As treasurer, Steiner is Oregon’s chief financial officer and oversees the treasury and public funds. She will join Secretary of State Tobias Read and Kotek on the State Land Board, overseeing the Department of State Lands and the Common School Fund.

In his last week as Treasurer, Read released the first annual progress report for a plan that would reduce the Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund (OPERF) portfolio to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Steiner campaigned on continuing those efforts and said she would see if it could be accomplished before the 2050 goal.

The first annual report evaluated some companies on their transition readiness and created an advisory group of retirees and unions representing public employees.

Steiner said she wanted the effort to be transparent and that while the environmental impact of “moving away from high carbon” and “getting a portfolio net zero” is a benefit of the plan, it is not the main focus.

“We’re doing that fundamentally to protect the pension fund,” Steiner said. “It is the fiduciarily responsible thing to do.”

Anastasia Mason covers state government for the Statesman Journal. Reach her at acmason@statesmanjournal.com or 971-208-5615.

Is this the best Beaver basketball season of your lifetime?

Many fans would consider nodding. The orange & black are off to their best overall record (12-4) since the 2019-20 season.

Thursday night, the Beavers take their 12-4 record to the southern tip of the Bay Area, where they will face Santa Clara. Here are 3 keys to victory for Wayne Tinkle’s Oregon State men’s basketball team.

In the Beavs’ two West Coast Conference wins over Portland and San Diego, the orange & black have shot 61.4% and 57.8% respectively. Buoyed by Wayne Tinkle’s consistently strong defense, those high shooting numbers should be good enough to win most nights. Oregon State is the kind of team that can defend a lead, but first they need to build it.

In the Beavers’ conference-opening win over Portland, five shooters scored more than 14 points. Michael Rattaj has provided a reliable 16.7 PPG to lead all scorers, but Oregon State is much more successful when the stellar German wing doesn’t have to carry the burden by himself.

All season, a consistent trend has followed the Beavers. When they are bigger and longer than their opposition, particularly inside with 6’9″ transfer forward Parsa Fallah, they win games. Former McNary HS (Keizer, OR) standout Nate Kingz has also exceled on the wing, with his length proving crucial. If they can involve those players early, and repeatedly press their size/length mismatches against smaller WCC foes like Santa Clara, they will have the advantage.

HOW TO WATCH:
– Tipoff is Thursday, January 9th at 7:00 PM

– Radio coverage begins at 6:30 PM on KEX 1190 AM (Portland/Salem), KEJO 1240 AM (Corvallis), and across the Beavers Sports Network

– Video coverage can be viewed online with an ESPN+ subscription

More Reading Material From Oregon State Beavers On SI

Oregon State TE Coach Jon Boyer Reportedly Joining Jonathan Smith At Michigan State

State of the Beavs: Welcome To The WCC + Happy New Year!

REALIGNMENT: 3 Options for the Pac-12 Conference