USA Today: Oregon State in good hands with Hass

By Jack Carey, USA TODAY

Oregon State coach Mike Riley says his senior receiver, Mike Hass, represents one of the best examples Riley has seen of what self-confidence can do for an athlete. When no program in NCAA Division I-A or I-AA would offer the Oregon high school Class 4A player of the year a scholarship after the 2000 season, Hass walked on at Oregon State, hoping to someday impress the staff of then-coach Dennis Erickson enough to be awarded that scholarship. Four years later, Hass not only has a scholarship but has emerged as one of the nation's best receivers. He leads Division I-A in receiving yards a game (166.2) and ranks second in catches a game (9.4) as the Beavers head into Saturday's game at No. 16 California. He needs only 169 more yards this season to become the first player in Pacific-10 Conference history with three 1,000-yard seasons. "I had a good career in high school, but it didn't seem to matter," says Hass, who had 1,739 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior at Jesuit High in Portland. "I didn't know if they thought I wasn't big enough or fast enough, but even (I-AA) Portland State and Montana said they had nothing for me, although they'd love to have me walk on." Erickson said Hass would be given every opportunity to contribute to the Beavers, and Oregon State had a civil engineering program, Hass' desired major. So he cast his fate with OSU. After redshirting in 2001 and playing mostly special teams the next season, Hass received a jolt when Erickson left the Beavers to become coach of the San Francisco 49ers and Riley returned to Oregon State, where he had coached before taking over the San Diego Chargers. But the more chances Hass got in the spring and summer of 2003, the more Riley was impressed. He offered a scholarship to Hass during preseason camp that year, and a relaxed and even more confident Hass took full advantage of the coach's faith. "I felt like all my work paid off. It's great when coaches see something in you and trust that you can do the job," the 6-1, 208-pound Hass says. Riley says he can tell Hass' self-confidence has grown with his productivity. "He has a lot of intangibles but also a lot of tangible qualities," Riley says. "He's very strong, and he can catch the ball all over the place. And he's very, very good after the catch because of a great first step. It's like a basketball player. Once his feet hit the ground, he's gone. "I was surprised (by his ability) at first, but I'm not anymore." Says Hass, "It was one of those things where, deep down, you knew you could do it. I knew I could play." And the player nobody seemed to want is showing that more and more with each passing game.