USA250: 10 greatest college athletes from Oregon
USA250: 10 greatest college athletes from Oregon
Zac Al-Khateeb, USA TODAYWed, July 29, 2026 at 9:07 AM UTC
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Oregon has no shortage of dominant collegiate athletes, regardless of sport — or discipline.
Indeed, a top-10 ranking of the top college athletes in the entire history of the state, a task as arduous as it sounds, features some of the most storied, decorated and beloved players not just in Oregon state history, but the entire country.
It's one that sees representation from four different universities — Oregon, Oregon State, Portland State and the University of Portland — and six different sports, with only three football players. The athletes represented range in the scope of their dominance, as well, from trendsetters and high-volume producers to all-time greats.
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With that, here's a look at the greatest collegiate athletes in Oregon state history, part of USA TODAY Sports' USA 250 initiative:
10 greatest college athletes from OregonMarcus Mariota, Oregon
Mariota, Oregon football's lone Heisman Trophy winner, is also its most decorated player, earning AP and Walter Camp player of the year honors on top of the Maxwell, Davey O’Brien and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards in 2014. He was great even before his Heisman campaign, becoming the Pac-12's first player to earn three first-team all-conference selections at quarterback. He also led Oregon to more wins (36) than any other Ducks signal caller, including a trip to the College Football Playoff title game. He left Oregon with a slew of records, including total offense (13,033 yards), passing yards (10,796), passing touchdowns (105), completions (779), attempts (1,167) and completion percentage (.668).
USA 250 LISTS:Alaska | Alabama | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio| Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon
Ionescu finished her storied career at Oregon from 2016-20 as one of the most accomplished players in NCAA basketball history. She led the Ducks to three Elite Eight appearances and the 2019 Final Four in the three years she played when a postseason was held and twice won the Wooden Award and Wade Award given to the nation's top player. Ionescu became the NCAA record-holder in triple-doubles in a single season (eight in 2018-19 and 2019-20) and over a career (26). She's also the only player in NCAA history to record a 2,000-1,000-1,000 career with 2,562 points, 1,091 assists and 1,040 rebounds.
Steve Prefontaine, Oregon
One of four athletes forever enshrined on Oregon's famed Hayward Field Tower, Steve Prefontaine's aggressive running style helped him win NCAA championships in cross country as a sophomore, junior and senior. He also won four consecutive individual track titles in each of the 3,000- and 5,000-meter events, respectively. Prefontaine's NCAA dominance was long-lived, as he never lost a race in the 3-mile, 3,000-meter, 5,000-meter, 6-mile or 10,000-meter events; his three collegiate losses all occurred in the mile. In the middle of earning his college accolades, Prefontaine finished fourth at the 1972 Olympics. At one point in his life cut short by a car accident at the age of 24, he owned all eight American records at distances between 2,000 and 10,000 meters and between two and six miles.
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Terry Baker, Oregon State
Terry Baker was a multi-sport star at Oregon State, where he played basketball and football from 1960-62. A dual-threat, he combined for 1,738 passing yards and 985 rushing yards over his first two seasons, totaling 15 touchdowns. Baker nearly matched those numbers in a single season in 1962, throwing for 1,723 yards and 15 scores while rushing for 538 yards and nine more touchdowns. He led the Beavers to an 8-2 record and won the Heisman Trophy - one of 14 national player of the year awards he received. On the hardwood, Baker had averaged 9.0 points per game in his first two seasons as starting point guard before helping the Beavers to the 1963 Final Four with 13.4 points per game. He is the only player in NCAA history with a Heisman and Final Four appearance.
PROGRAM RANKINGS: Top 25 | Big Ten | SEC | ACC | Big 12
Ashton Eaton, Oregon
Eaton won five combined NCAA titles in the heptathlon and decathlon at Oregon, winning the Bowerman Award following a spectacular senior season in 2010. He is the first athlete in NCAA history to win three straight decathlon titles, from 2008-10, and also won heptathlon titles in 2009-10. Eaton saved his best for his senior season in 2010. While in the process of winning the NCAA heptathlon title with 6,499 points, he broke the world record in the event, set by Dan O'Brien in 1993. Later that season, in front of his home crowd in Eugene, Eaton won the 2010 NCAA decathlon event with a personal-best 8,457 points, breaking the meet, school and conference records. He would go on to win gold in the decathlon in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
Neil Lomax, Portland State
The leader of the Mouse Davis run-and-shoot offense, Lomax finished his career as the most statistically dominant quarterback in college football history, with 90 NCAA records. He led all divisions in total offense from 1978-80. The Oregon athlete of the year in 1979 and 1980, Lomax helped the Vikings lead Division I-AA with 541 points in 11 games (49.2 points per game), the same season he finished seventh in the Heisman voting. He threw for a career 13,220 yards and 106 touchdowns, completed 938 passes, had 28 300-yard passing games and 10 400-yard passing games.
Adley Rutschman, Oregon State
Adley Rutschman's three-year baseball career saw him become one of the most accomplished players in Oregon State history. He emerged onto the national scene as a sophomore in 2018, setting single-season program records in base hits (102) and RBIs (83) while slashing .408/.505/.628 as the Beavers won the program's third NCAA championship. Rutschman was the most outstanding player, setting College World Series records for base hits (17) and RBIs (13). He was even better as a junior in 2019: He had a slash line of .411/.575/.751, nearly doubled his previous year's home run total (17), and was walked more than anyone else in Oregon State history. That season saw him become the only Beaver to hit over .400 in two seasons; earn unanimous first-team All-American; win the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy and Buster Posey Award; and sweep every national player of the year award.
Raevyn Rogers, Oregon
The final Hayward Field Tower inductee on this list, Rogers' success at Oregon was never a foregone conclusion. As a freshman in 2014-15, she failed to qualify for the NCAA indoor championships. She responded to that disappointment by winning five consecutive NCAA titles at 800 meters, including sweeps in both the indoor and outdoor championships in 2015-16 and 2016-17. She won her five titles by an average of 1.276 seconds. Her last race was arguably her most historic: Having already won the 800 meters at the 2017 NCAA outdoor championships, the 2017 Bowerman Award recipient anchored Oregon's champion 4x400-meter relay team, helping the Ducks become the first women's program to sweep the cross country, indoor and outdoor championships in the same season.
Christine Sinclair, Portland
Sinclair is one of the most accomplished NCAA women's soccer players of all time, scoring 110 combined goals over her four years at Portland. Career highlights include her leading the Pilots to their first-ever NCAA women's soccer championship in 2002, a season in which she scored an NCAA-leading 26 goals and set NCAA tournament records with 21 points and 10 goals scored in six games. After redshirting in 2003 to play in the Women's World Cup, Sinclair returned to win the MAC Hermann Trophy with 22 goals and 11 assists. In 2005, she became only the third player to win consecutive MAC Hermann Trophies with a record-breaking 39 goals and 17 consecutive games with a goal scored. She led the Pilots to their second national championship, scoring both goals in the championship game vs. rival Santa Clara — including a historic golden goal to end her Portland career.
Robin Reed, Oregon State
Robin Reed is among the most accomplished American amateur wrestlers in pre-World War II history, going undefeated in four seasons at Oregon State from 1921-24 and winning three AAU national championships in 1921 (125 pounds) and 1923-24 (135 pounds). Reed wasn't considered a "strong" wrestler. He never let that get in his way en route to winning the 1924 Olympic gold medal at 134 pounds in Paris, where he pinned each of his opponents. Moreover, at the Pacific Northwest tryouts for the Olympics, Reed won four different weight classes, from 145 pounds to 191, and pinned almost every member of the U.S. Olympic team, including American heavyweight gold-medalist Harry Steel, whom he pinned five times within 15 minutes.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USA250: 10 greatest college athletes from Oregon
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