Nico Carvacho reflects on his historic career and a legacy that will live on long after he leaves CSU

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — When Nico Carvacho decided to stay at Colorado State two years ago, one of the biggest reasons was that he wanted to leave behind a legacy.

Coming off of a breakout sophomore season (2017-18), Carvacho had multiple schools from power conferences try to persuade him away from the Rams. But even after a chaotic year that ended with the two coaches that recruited him to CSU being fired, Carvacho opted to remain loyal to the community that he had made home.

When Carvacho suits up Saturday afternoon, the redshirt senior center will be playing in his 131st career game in a Colorado State uniform, surpassing Dorian Green for the most in program history.

“It feels kinda surreal,” Carvacho said after Thursday’s practice.

Carvacho already owns the school and Mountain West records for rebounds (1,274) and double-doubles (48). He also has a realistic chance to crack the top 20 all-time against Air Force on Saturday. No. 21 Jameel Warney (1,275) and No. 20 Jon Brockman (1,283) narrowly lead him but if Carvacho matches his season average of 10.8 rebounds per game,  he will surpass them both.

As glamorous as the records are, though, when Carvacho looks back at his career, what matters the most to him is being a cornerstone of the program and a guy that helped bring CSU men’s basketball to relevance.

“There were a lot of ups and downs with everything — with the way that I played sometimes, with the coaching and all that stuff — I just stayed with it and left a legacy,” Carvacho said.

“That was one of my goals, it was the reason that I stayed. All the records that I broke are cool and all that. But just being able to say that I grew as a person, as a man, and continued to lead, especially with a young group right here.”

That commitment to CSU and to helping lead his younger teammates stands out above all to second-year Rams head coach Niko Medved.

Medved explained that despite most of the attention going to the underclassmen this season, he feels that CSU’s three seniors have actually been the biggest keys to the Rams’ success.

“What I mean by that is it’s not just their play on the court, it’s their willingness to allow the young guys and the new guys to shine and be who they are,” Medved said. “That’s an unselfish thing to do and that’s what has allowed us to come together. Nico’s mentality has been about being really unselfish.”

As a junior, Carvacho led the nation in rebounding with an average of 12.9 per game. Carvacho was also CSU’s leading scorer at 16.1 points per game. Despite being a one-man wrecking crew on the glass and putting up career scorings figures, the lack of production around the ‘Big Chile’ made it tough for the Rams to win on most nights.

After testing the NBA Draft waters and getting feedback from scouts prior to his senior campaign, nobody on the outside would have been surprised if the 6-foot-11 pro prospect would have been all about putting up big stats again this season — particularly after the Rams were tabbed to finish ninth in what was always likely to be a one-bid league in 2019-20.

Instead, Carvacho along with his fellow seniors, Kris Martin and Hyron Edwards Jr., have all embraced the positive impact that the younger players have had on the program. More importantly, they have shown a willingness to do the dirty work on defense, consistently work the glass and generally just commit to being team-first players — even when they’re not always getting the glory.

“I’m just really happy for them and I’m proud of how they’ve grown,” Medved said. “And I’m proud that they were able to be a part of what we’re all hoping is the start of a great turnaround here for Colorado State basketball.”

While the turnaround is far from complete, a win over the Falcons on Saturday would be the 20th of the season for CSU. Regardless of the outcome, the Rams are locked into the sixth seed in Las Vegas next week but Medved feels that it’s very important for his team to play well.

From a basketball standpoint, it’s probably important for the Rams to be locked in if they are serious about making a run through the Mountain West Tournament. From an emotional standpoint, though, after all that they have been through over the years, it would be fitting for this group of seniors to go out on the right note.

For Carvacho, who has a bet with Joe De Ciman on whether or not the big man will cry on Saturday, reaching a 20th win would be special because of all the people that doubted him and his teammates along the way.

“No one thought that we would win 20 games,” Carvacho said. “To be able to lead this group is one of the things that (I’m proudest of).” 

Carvacho will likely take the floor for the final time at Moby Arena when CSU (19-11, 10-7) and Air Force (11-18, 5-12) tip-off at 2:00 p.m. MT this Saturday. The Rams are 4-2 against the Falcons since Carvacho’s redshirt freshman season (2016-17).