Oregon State’s Raegan Beers makes catching the ball look easy with hands strengthened by football, pottery

Raegan Beers (15) of the Oregon State Beavers competes for the ball against Maddy Westbeld (21) of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament at MVP Arena on March 29, 2024, in Albany, New York. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Raegan Beers (15) of the Oregon State Beavers competes for the ball against Maddy Westbeld (21) of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament at MVP Arena on March 29, 2024, in Albany, New York. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)Getty Images

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ALBANY, N.Y. – There are two requirements for any post player wanting to succeed, before all the footwork gymnastics and power moves take place.

Get position. Catch the ball.

Seems simple, right? OK, the former can be tricky, depending on the defender. But catching the ball? Some can, others have hands of stone.

Oregon State’s Raegan Beers can, and then some.

There’s seemingly no type of pass the Beavers won’t attempt to throw to the 6-foot-4 sophomore forward when she has post position. OSU teammates will occasionally try to fire a pass through the narrowest of openings to Beers, who usually snags it like a seasoned NFL tight end.

In fact, it’s football that Beers said helped her develop strong hands. Beers spent her childhood in Colorado playing backyard football with her brothers Rocky and Rowdy, currently teammates and tight ends at Florida International.

Getting the ball to Beers is one of Oregon State’s keys to offensive success. She is the team’s leading scorer at 17.5 points a game heading into the women’s NCAA Tournament Albany 1 regional final against South Carolina at 10 a.m. Sunday.

“It makes it so easy. Most of these teams have to double her. A lot of times these teams have someone running at her, and I still know she’s going to catch it,” junior guard A.J. Marotte said.

Sophomore forward Timea Gardiner, who often throws balls to Beers from the high post, said her teammate has “massive” hands.

“It’s a combination of feel and just a gift. She can catch anything,” Gardiner said.

Beers’ hands were strengthened in a couple ways during her youth. Her brothers are one, for starters.

“They are the reasons I can catch basketballs like I do. We threw the football around so many times when I was younger. And of course, two-on-two basketball,” Beers said. “The amount of reps I got was insane.”

One of Beers’ hobbies is under-the-radar in terms of helping her catch basketballs, but she says it’s a possible factor. Since eighth grade, Beers has been into pottery. She takes classes, and through college continues to work with clay.

“Working with, especially big amounts of clay, really does make my hands work, and that makes them stronger. I guess you could say that probably helps,” she said.

— Nick Daschel covers Oregon State athletics, in particular football and basketball, and can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.

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