Larry Eustachy tells fans CSU Men's Basketball will make a tournament this year

Larry Eustachy is one charismatic dude.

When Eustachy’s in a good mood, he smiles, jokes and pokes fun at himself. But underlying the good-natured fun is a basketball coach who’s serious about winning.

His experience and resume speak for themselves and in three years with Colorado State, Eustachy has led his Men’s Basketball team to the NCAA Tournament, an NIT Tournament last year and a school record 27 wins in 2014-15 as well. Overall, Eustachy’s record with the Rams is 69-32 (.683); he knows two things, coaching winning basketball and playing to a crowd.

Eustachy had all his charm Saturday afternoon as he introduced his 2015-16 basketball team to the sold out crowd at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium.

“This is your 2015 team,” Eustachy said. “They love you guys,” he said to the fans.

Then, he raised his hand, pointed at the crowd, smiled and said, “Tournament. Tournament this year…”

Now, he didn’t specify which one, but making any tournament would be a certain success after losing the big three seniors of Daniel Bejarano, J.J. Avila and Stanton Kidd from last year’s 27-win team.

Ram fans will remember the heartbreak those players felt after they were snubbed from the NCAA Tournament only to host a game in the NIT and lose in the first round.

This year’s starters are likely as follows: John Gillon at the point, Joe De Ciman at shooting guard, Gian Clavell at the three, with Emmanuel Omogbo and Tiel Daniels down low. It’s hard to say for sure how well they’ll play together but this year’s squad does look deeper than in previous seasons.

The Rams tip-off their 2015-16 season Nov. 14 at Northern Iowa and will play at Moby Arena for the first time this season on Nov. 19 versus Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. MT.