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Von Oelhoffen leads OSU to Maui

By Dakota Grossman 6 min read

Perseverance, dedication and a strong character is what it takes to play sports at the collegiate level, Oregon State University sophomore guard Talia von Oelhoffen said as she prepares for the Maui Jim Maui Classic basketball tournament and the event's tradition of meeting with public school children. 

While the OSU women's basketball team is on the Valley Isle this week for the sixth annual Maui Jim Maui Classic, the players will read to keiki and be able to answer questions about what it's like to compete collegiately and what it takes to get there. 

"Hard work is definitely a big one, it takes a lot of sacrifice and a lot of hours to get to this level and to find success here," said Oelhoffen, the daughter of Molokai legend Kimo von Oelhoffen, a 14-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl champion for the Pittsburgh Steelers. "Being 'you' through it all, I mean you can model your game after other people, but don't let anyone change who you are; be true to yourself is a big one. I think character is a huge part of it, too. I think colleges recruit not only you as an athlete or a basketball player, but as a person as well, so I think that's a huge part of it. 

"Just being a good person and giving back to your community and helping people in any way and just being of high character is an important aspect that gets overlooked sometimes."

Dealing with adversity is another lesson she's learned throughout her basketball career with the Beavers. 

"Things aren't always going to go your way, you aren't always going to hit shots, things like that," said Oelhoffen, who is double-majoring in business and physiology in hopes to one day coach. "So, just learning how to deal with that, respond to that rather than react to it, and pick your teammates up in moments when they need you instead of, you know, getting down on yourself. It's definitely a journey, but I think I've definitely gotten a lot better at that."

Going into the community and having an impact on the kids "is super cool" and a "great experience for us and for them," she added. The team is also excited to get out of the Corvalis cold. 

Similarly to the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Classic, Oelhoffen gets to play in front of a large crowd of family, including her parents, sisters, grandfather from Oahu, cousins, and others.

"It's super cool to be able to have my family there," she said. 

Last season, OSU finished eighth in the Pac-12 Conference at 6-9 -- the Beavers finished 17-14 overall with wins over Idaho and Northern Iowa here — with Oelhoffen leading the team with 13.7 points per game and was selected as an All-Pac-12 Selection and made the Maui Classic All-Tournament team. 

This year, she is again the Beavers' top scorer at 16.1 points per game, to go along with 5.6 rebounds and a team-best 3.2 assists per game.

The Beavers are 6-3, 0-1 in the Pac-12, so far this year heading into the Maui non-league tournament Saturday and Sunday. 

"I think we're getting better every game and I think we're getting more comfortable playing with each other -- obviously, with a super young and new group -- but we've played a lot of really good teams tough and we've gotten some good wins outside of that," Oelhoffen said. "I think all three of our losses, we were right there in the fourth quarter, even against ranked teams, so I think that just shows that we just have to put a few more pieces together and we can compete with anyone." 

OSU head coach Scott Rueck said via phone on Tuesday afternoon after basketball practice that seven of the 11 players are new to the program this season. 

"To only have four returners is pretty strange and so under the circumstances, we're progressing nicely," Rueck said. "We have the talent to beat anyone, it's just about becoming familiar with each other to the point where we can execute well enough to win a big game against a good team -- that's the next step for our team."

Rueck, who's coached for Oregon State for 13 years and is also an alumni, said there's no question that traveling to Maui and competing in the tournament will help the players bond before heading into the Pac-12 Conference games after Christmas. 

"It's such a great experience for our group every year," he said. "I'm looking forward to the same opportunity this year. Every game for this group this year, I mean, almost every quarter, we're taking these big strides and getting better and better and more experience together, and so now, coming over and just being a part of the Maui culture only helps and certainly the competition -- those are 80 important minutes for us as we're getting toward Pac-12s." 

Oregon State faces Nevada (3-6) first at 4 p.m. on Saturday. At 6 p.m., LSU (9-0) plays Montana State (6-4). 

On Sunday, Nevada and Montana State go head-to-head at 4 p.m. with an Oregon State and LSU match-up to follow. 

"I just know that these are 80 minutes where we can really grow and that's what we're looking for," Rueck said. 

All games will be played at the South Maui Gymnasium in Kihei.

This event is a fund-raiser for local nonprofit Vertical Sports Maui. Admission will be free this year in an effort to allow as many folks to see the NCAA Division I games as possible.

"The duty of this tournament is that it's a partnership with the community of Maui and Vertical Sports is a bridge between the community and us, and so for all four programs to bring teams all full of role models to the island and Vertical Sports always us to get them into the schools and to allow students to interact with them and then we invite them into the games," Rueck said. "That has been the relationship over the years and it has been beautiful."

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

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