Strength. Size. Potential. It’s difficult to tell what Oregon State fell in love with first when it comes to its newest basketball recruit, C.J. Giles.

He’s 6-foot-11, 240 pounds and looks terrific in a uniform. If you believe what you read in police reports, Giles is strong and agile enough to drag a young woman off a bed and across the carpet, kicking and screaming down a dormitory hallway, where he then reportedly punched her in the head.

I mean, who doesn’t want a guy like that around?

Giles was suspended by Kansas University this season for missing practice, violating a team rule and struggling to stay on top of his academics. In an unrelated matter, he appeared in court last week because he’s failed to pay child support to the mother of his son. Then, the recent battery charges, which caused Kansas to dump him.

Maybe you’re most troubled by the possibility that Oregon State might win only one conference basketball game this season. Or worried by the fact the Beavers, who beat Pacific-10 Conference doormat Arizona State on Saturday for their first conference victory, trailed by 50 points in the second half of a home loss to USC a week ago. Or dismayed by the growing list of excuses resonating from the program in recent years.

You should be more worried about Giles’ arrival.

Consider that Kansas decided that the safety of its student body, and the image of its stellar basketball program, was above one selfish, volatile, immature individual who repeatedly had demonstrated he didn’t deserve to be on scholarship, representing the university.

Then, consider that Oregon State saw the Kansas decision as a golden opportunity.

Giles is on campus in Corvallis, Ore., and expected to be eligible to suit up next winter. But before he plays a minute for Oregon State, Beavers coach Jay John should be called upon to stand in front of the university and alter the motto – “Open Minds, Open Doors” – by adding a clause of his own:

Open Season.

Oregon State was rated the safest campus in the conference in a study conducted in 1994. And maybe Giles will behave because he knows he’s being watched, but if you’re a parent with a daughter living in a campus dormitory at OSU you’d probably be doing your parental duty by telling her today, “Steer clear, that really tall new kid has a decent right hook.”

Said John, in a statement this week: “He wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe that he will become a model student-athlete and solid citizen for us.”

Meanwhile, a couple hundred other Division I-A programs, who also happen to want to win basketball games, said: “No thanks.”

Second chances, you’re thinking.

Well, Giles’ second chance came at Kansas. So did his third. And fourth. And if OSU is being honest with us, it’s probably giving Giles his fifth chance at success. And hey, if you have a little eligibility, a lot of talent, and some off-court problems, and nowhere to go, find a phone and dial 1-800-OREGON-STATE.

Giles did.

In the last two seasons, John has complained about the locker rooms, the paint on the Gill Coliseum walls, the practice facility, sharing his gymnasium with cheerleaders, and he’s even blamed the team trainer.

At some point, you sort of have to blame the coach.

John is desperate. It’s why he brought Giles to campus, then, called a news conference and masked the arrival as a second chance. Really, it’s more like a last chance, for both men, and in that, they’re probably just using each other.