Former Wildcat Bendu Yeaney returns to McKale Center for Friday's game vs. Arizona

It’s a good thing Bendu Yeaney will be following the pack off of Oregon State’s team bus and into McKale Center on Friday afternoon.

Otherwise, Yeaney just might end up in the home locker room.

Yeaney transferred to Oregon State last April to finish out her college career after spending two years as part of the UA program. She roamed the halls of McKale, and was a part of Wildcats teams that advanced to the NCAA championship game and, a year later, hosted the first two rounds of the postseason.

Yeaney said she’s excited to be back in Tucson for Friday’s game between OSU (9-5, 1-2 Pac-12) and No. 15 Arizona (12-2, 2-1). She still gets text messages from UA fans. And, well, she’s a graduate of the school.

“I’m always going to be a Wildcat at heart,” Yeaney said. “I have a lot of great memories. I met a lot of great people. Hopefully the crowds will be excited to see me and I don’t get booed. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a competitive game. I love everybody there. I’m excited to see everybody from the staff to the players, to the support staff to people who are helping out during the games — the security staff. I’ve made really good connections with everybody there. …

“It’s going to be a little emotional because it’s going to be my last time ever playing on that court. But I’m excited for it.”

As for playing against her former UA teammates?

Yeaney said she’s treating Friday like any other game. Yeaney has experience in the old-team department. In the spring of 2021, Yeaney’s Wildcats took on Indiana, the school where she had begun her college career. She picked a steal and scored on a jumper to cap off a 69-59 win, and the Wildcats advanced to the Final Four.

Yeaney finished Arizona’s six-game NCAA Tournament run with 27 points, 16 rebounds, 16 assists and 12 steals. She also had the final steal and points in Arizona’s Final Four win over UConn.

Yeaney average 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game last season as the Wildcats advanced to the second round of the tournament. Following their elimination loss to North Carolina, Yeaney entered the transfer portal. She chose Oregon State, a school closer to her hometown of Portland.

Yeaney’s last nine months have been a roller coaster.

One of the ups occurred Sunday, when she secured her 1,000th college point. The accomplishment was meaningful to Yeaney, who is thought of more as a defensive specialist than scorer. The senior said she was so focused on the task at hand – beating No. 14 UCLA – that she didn’t even know why her teammates were congratulating her until she looked up at the scoreboard and saw the announcement.

“It really snuck up on me,” she said. “I knew I was close, but I didn’t know how many points (I needed). I wasn’t really aiming for it. Everybody puts me in the category as a defensive player, but I don’t label myself. I’ve got to just do whatever I need to, to win games. Some games that scoring, some games that’s just playing defense.”

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Yeaney scored 15 points, pulled down seven rebounds, picked a steal, blocked a shot and dished eight assists as the Beavers upset UCLA 77-72. The eight assists tied a career high that Yeaney hit twice before: once as a Wildcat last Jan. 9 against USC and once as Hoosier on March 17, 2019 against Minnesota.

For all her successes, there have been struggles, both on an off the court.

Yeaney’s older brother, Jonathan Dunbar, was shot and killed in downtown Portland on Oct. 7. Yeaney said her OSU teammates called and texted her every day following his death, and their support helped her get through the initial grief. It wasn’t just the Beavs: Many of Yeaney’s former UA teammates and coaches reached out as well.

“I have a family that obviously is created by basketball, but it’s not basketball that keeps us together,” she said. “It’s bigger than that.”

Yeaney said she thinks about her brother every day. And while it would be easy to walk away from basketball in her sixth college season, especially after knee surgery forced her to miss nearly a month, but that’s not what he would want her to do.

It’s not what she wants to do, either. The basketball court has always been a sanctuary for Yeaney.

The first time she stepped on the court after her brother’s death was hard, Yeaney said. But once she started bouncing the ball, “I just forgot about everything.”

It helps that Yeaney is closer to home. Corvallis is less than a 90-minute drive from Portland, which makes going home for dinner — like she did on Monday — possible. Yeaney is watching her nephews and nieces grow up, something that would not have been possible when she was in Bloomington or Tucson. She even attends their basketball games.

“I think she’s in a great place because she’s at home with her family,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “She lost her brother this year, (and) was at home for that. I think everything happens for a reason and God works in mysterious ways to do things that put you in the right place at the right time. I think for her, that was what she needed to go home and play near her home for the first time and only time in her career. And end on that note. … I still talk to her and her family. I have a great relationship with her and love her dearly.

“I hate playing against her, because she’s such a good defender. … I’m happy for her and happy she’s in a good place and happy near her family. But yeah, don’t obviously want to play against her. She’s a good player.”