CORVALLIS – A week away from Senior Day, Gary Payton II hatched an idea that was coated in secrecy until Sunday's big reveal. It brought his mother to tears and a smile to his father's face as vast as the Willamette Valley.
Payton II knew the day would in all likelihood mark his final game at Gill Coliseum, where Gary Payton once donned orange and black and pushed Oregon State to its last NCAA Tournament berth. So he approached head coach Wayne Tinkle and an athletic administrator with the idea of bringing his dad's No. 20 back to Ralph Miller Court one last time.