DENVER — Colorado State has officially put the Mountain West on notice.
Now 6-0 with a Paradise Jam Championship to their name, the Rams have shown that their preseason attention wasn’t just hype and that this team is for real.
Obviously it’s still early — and the league has proven to be deep, so it’s no time to get complacent — but with the way the Rams have battled through these first six games it’s definitely time to put some respect on their name.
CSU has been tested against quality opponents, taking down a pair of Sweet 16 teams from last spring in the opening month of the season. They’ve overcome injuries, adjusted to whatever their opponents have thrown their way and have just generally played high level basketball to begin the 2021-22 campaign.
After trailing by 20 with 17:15 to play in Monday’ title game, CSU stormed back with a 38-6 run over the ensuing 14 minutes to completely shellshock Northeastern and take a double-digit lead themselves. NEU might have gotten in the first body blow and landed a jab or two, when the fight was on the line though, it was CSU that came away with the knockout in this one.
The 71-61 victory over the Paws secured CSU its first trophy since winning the Great Alaskan Shootout in 2014. That 2014-15 team was disappointingly snubbed during the NCAA Tournament selection process but the Rams’ 27 wins that season was a program record. This current group appears to be well on their way to establishing their own history. Most importantly, they seem destined to end CSU’s streak of eight consecutive seasons without a bid to March Madness.
Unlike that Larry Eustachy-led squad, the 2021-22 Rams are playing enough quality competition to leave no doubt for the selection committee. So long as they continue to stack up significant wins and end up at least contending for the league title, Niko Medved’s group is going to crack the top 25 and ultimately go dancing this spring.
In addition to the positive attention that the entire program is getting for its hot start, the individual talent is starting to catch the nation’s attention as well. Over the course of CSU’s three victories at the Virgin Island-based event, David Roddy and Isaiah Stevens played some of the finest basketball that we’ve seen.
Roddy was the flashiest with a couple of 30 burgers followed up by 27 points in the championship game. The big man from Minnesota was whatever his team needed him to be this weekend. He dominated the post, had a career day from deep in a 36 point performance against Creighton and he just completely took over when CSU needed it the most in all three wins. He was the best player on the floor in all 100 minutes that he played. And as a result of his dominance Roddy was rightfully awarded tournament MVP honors.
What’s crazy is that as impressive as Roddy was — and he was as impressive as any CSU player I’ve ever watched — Isaiah Stevens was quietly extremely brilliant as well. Really, the entire junior class has been tremendous this entire season, so I don’t want to make it seem like it was just a two man show out there. John Tonje played well and Dischon Thomas was tremendous. The seniors were all stout on defense. Jalen Lake and Isaiah Rivera both played important minutes. It legitimately was a team effort to secure the championship.
Having said all of that, while Roddy will get the love and the team played solid from top to bottom at the Paradise Jam, I do want to make it clear that none of this works without Stevens. The third-year starting point guard is as clutch as it gets. Even on an off day, there’s never a point where you’d feel upset if it was No. 4 trying to get a bucket for you, and he certainly scored some crucial points for CSU in their comeback effort on Sunday night. What stood out the most in this tournament, however, was Stevens’ efforts as a facilitator on offense. Over CSU’s three wins, Stevens recorded 26 assists and just four turnovers. Those numbers would be impressive as a professional, they’re elite in college hoops.
The unselfishness of Roddy and Stevens has always been sung by the coaching staff, so it’s unsurprising that the quiet and humble superstars are simply doing what they do best, which is play winning basketball. Roddy put up points without being a ball stopper or taking bad shots. He managed to score 93 points while never shooting less than 65 percent from the floor in the tournament. That’s absolutely insane. Stevens, on the other hand, selflessly created for everyone on the floor. Both guys were lockdown defenders in the most important moments. As it has been since they arrived on campus, it was all effort, all of the time from CSU’s leading men.
It might sound crazy and maybe the excitement of a dominant win over Creighton followed up by a comeback thriller has clouded my better judgement, if CSU’s most talented duo continues to produce at this rate though, I’m gonna have to raise what were already extremely high expectations for this team; especially with the consistent play the Rams are getting out of Jacobs, Thomas, Tonje, etc.
Again, it’s still early but it would not be hyperbole to say that the 2021-22 Rams are firmly in the discussion for the most talented group to ever represent the Green & Gold. What makes this team feel different is the team-first mentality that everyone on the roster has consistently displayed. When your whole squad abandons ego and works their tails off, but still has the talent to beat most teams in the country, special things can happen.
It starting to feel like the year of the Ram. Enjoy the ride y’all. This is going to be an extremely fun season.
