The Colorado college basketball team that nobody is talking about.
“The best college basketball team in the state of Colorado doesn’t play in Fort Collins, or Boulder, or at Magness Arena. No, the best college basketball team in The Centennial State plays on the Auraria campus”
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The best college basketball team in the state of Colorado doesn’t play in Fort Collins, or Boulder, or at Magness Arena. No, the best college basketball team in The Centennial State plays on the Auraria campus – and don’t worry, I’m not going to judge for you not knowing the Metro State Roadrunners are three wins away from winning the Division II national championship.
It seems that the Roadrunners have flown under the radar in large part to the success of the larger state schools in Fort Collins and Boulder. However, make no mistake, the Roadrunners are good. In fact, the Roadrunners are really, really good.
The Roadrunners are coached Derrick Clark – who is a coaching disciple of Mike Dunlap. In the past two seasons, Coach Clark has guided the Roadrunners to consecutive births in the Elite Eight. And this year, the Roadrunners look poised to do what last year’s team failed to do – bring a national championship trophy back to Denver.
The Roadrunners are led by Colorado native Jonathan Morse – who recently became the only player in school history to score 1,500 plus points while also bringing down 1,000 plus rebounds in a career. However, the Roadrunners are far from a one man show. Brandon Jefferson and DeMetrius Miller are, without a doubt, the best guard combination in Division II. On a nightly basis, these two guards set the tone on both offense and defense ends for the Roadrunners. And the star power doesn’t stop there as native Australians Mitch McCarron and Nicholas Kay provide energy and hustle on both sides of the ball to help fuel the Roadrunners attack. However, I would be remiss if I failed to mention Tyler Cooper – who is, in my opinion, the glue player for the Metro State Roadrunners. He might not light up the box score but his smart play and defense have played a crucial role in the Roadrunners journey towards a national championship this season.
The Roadrunners are looking to add National Champions to their impressive resume this year which already includes regular and postseason Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships to go along with a South Central Region Tournament Championship which punched their ticket to the Division II Finals in Louisville, Kentucky.
Metro will take on Franklin Pierce University next Thursday at noon for the chance to advance to the Final Four. Admittedly, I’m biased because these guys are my classmates – however, I am not just smoke and mirrors when I say that the Roadrunners are going to bring a national championship trophy back to Denver. Without a doubt, this team has overcome adversity time and time again this year – and the end result has been a well tested and gritty basketball team. In two weeks, the Roadrunners won’t be flying under the radar anymore because people seem to start talking about you once nets start getting cut.
