Colorado State’s NCAA Tournament Win Makes Fans, Alumni Proud To Be CSU Rams
Colorado State basketball has reached a renaissance, and with Larry Eustachy in charge, the Rams will only reach new heights.
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How sweet it is.
For Colorado State fans, alumni, current students – anyone connected with the university really – the Rams winning over the Missouri Tigers Thursday night was massive.
It was the school’s first NCAA Tournament win in 24 years, which is so long ago none of the current players were even born yet, and it means much more than just a third-round matchup against the Louisville Cardinals.
This is a renaissance for Rams basketball, a resurgence to prominence that was once realized, if only for a brief moment in time.
At Colorado State, we’ve grown accustomed to second-rate.
Losing seasons on the football field and basketball court built up higher than the Rocky Mountains, there was no end in sight.
As an alumnus and Fort Collins resident for the last 10 years, I’ve been subjected to far many more disappointments than joyous times as a follower of CSU athletics; this is something special.
You could see it coming last year – when the current group of seniors were juniors – and along with former head coach Tim Miles, went on a miraculous run to the big dance for the first time since 2003. They weren’t ready yet, and Miles, despite his best intentions, didn’t have them playing basketball the right way.
Larry Eustachy was hired by Athletic Director Jack Graham after Miles bolted to Nebraska, and revolutionized the way CSU plays.
As he said throughout the season about athletic forward Greg Smith, “He doesn’t need a friend, he needs a coach,” as did the entire team. It’s been Eustachy’s way or the highway all year long; the group of seniors have completely bought into his philosophies and unselfishly changed their game to benefit everyone in the process.
Smith’s been repeatedly chastised this season, as have many Rams players by Eustachy, publicly on the court and privately in the locker room during halftime breaks. They’re better for it.
To think, they went from one of the worst rebounding teams in the country last year to hands-down the best in the nation this season says a lot about Eustachy, but possibly even more about the players, who could have given an f-you to the first-year coach and finished their college careers on their terms.
Hell, it was them – Smith, Dorian Green, Wes Eikmeier, Pierce Hornung and the injured Jesse Carr and Dwight Smith – that went on this magical ride, from a Mountain West Conference bottom feeder to the only team in the league to win a game in the first two days of the tournament. When these special seniors came to town, CSU was terrible, barely able to finish at .500 on the 2009-10 season.
Fast forward four years and they’re contributing to the best season in the 110-season history of Colorado State basketball.
What the Rams are doing is monumental, and beating Missouri means not only a wonderful victory to savor in the players’ careers, but a chance to do something even more amazing.
CSU seriously has a chance to beat Louisville Saturday, which would be a massive upset and mean getting to the Sweet Sixteen, tying the furthest the school has ever gone.
Either way, the game is televised on CBS and tips off at 3:15 p.m. MT; it’s amazing exposure for Colorado State athletics, the university as a whole, and could mean improved recruiting in the near future.
It’s all about building a winner, and the Rams are on the right path. This win justifies all the upheaval in the athletic department over the last 15 months and proves Graham really is creating a “Bold New Era” at Colorado State.
This win marks a turning point.
No longer will we accept second-rate. Our university is a diamond in the rough, unrecognized by most as one of the finest in the nation academically in multiple fields; it’s high time the athletics caught up.
With this win – along with the nationally televised game on Saturday – Eustachy’s program will get the exposure needed to land bigger and better recruits, which will only help the Rams reach undiscovered peaks in the near future.
Yet, new members of the bandwagon are leery, wondering if this is a once in a lifetime type season. And for those that have followed Colorado State for decades, the same questions arise; can CSU sustain this success?
We’re used to second-rate.
There’s no doubt this is a “perfect storm” type season for the green and gold; with the many young men all grown up and the addition of fifth-year senior transfer Colton Iverson, their experience has paid off.
But this isn’t the end, it’s only the beginning for Colorado State.
Back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths are huge for Eustachy’s recruiting efforts, and today’s game against Louisville on CBS is a wonderful outlet to showcase CSU to big-name high schoolers across the nation.
Look at what he’s done already recruiting-wise.
JuCo transfer Jon Octeus has come up huge for CSU, filling in for big minutes and growing seemingly every game. Similarly, big man Gerson Santo has played from time to time, learning what it means to play as a center in D1 basketball. Next year, the No. 1 college basketball player in Colorado, shooting guard Carlton Hurst, is coming to Fort Collins. Along with him will be 6’10” Marcus Holt, another JuCo transfer, and David Cohen, a versatile shooting guard out of Illinois.
Just wait and see what Eustachy can do with the school’s resume – coupled with his, taking four different teams to the big dance – this offseason, especially with five scholarships leaving.
Next year, the Rams won’t be as great as they have been this season, but they’ll be better than many believe. And the future of basketball is bright in Fort Collins with Eustachy in charge.
