Larry Eustachy has been the focus of Colorado State Rams men’s basketball for the last four seasons, since he took over the team in 2012. And, by most measures, he’s done a great job with the Rams.
In the 2012-13 season, Eustachy led the green and gold to a Top 25 ranking for the first time since the 50s and to the NCAA Tournament, including a win in the Big Dance over Missouri. They went 26-9 and were arguably the greatest men’s basketball team in school history at that point.
2013-14 was a bit of a down year, with the team finishing 16-16 and missing the postseason. But 2014-15 was a bounce back for Eustachy and his Rams as they set a school record with 27 victories and made it into the Top 25 yet again. But, last year’s team was also snubbed a NCAA Tournament birth and lost their first round game in the NIT.
Now, this year has been something a bit different. While the team started 6-0, Eustachy has his Rams at 10-8, 2-3 MW at this point, a respectable record. Still, there have been some weird goings on that have made some wonder whether or not there’s a disconnect with his players. In fact, he said it himself after a tough loss earlier in the year.
His “brutal honesty” could be hurting the Rams morale, though he sticks to the players wanting to do what the coaching staff demands; namely, giving all-out effort on the defensive end. They just don’t know how to play in those roles, they lack the experience, he says after games.
After beating UNLV 66-65 last Wednesday night at the last second — playing the way they must under Eustachy — the head coach said he and Dave Rice texted for hours.
“I’ve known Dave forever,” the Rams head coach told Brian Shapiro of the sports radio 670AM in Las Vegas. “We actually text for a long time, til four in the morning after our game. I’ve yet to be able to get ahold of him. He’s a true gentleman of the game. It was a difficult situation.”
After that loss, Rice was fired by UNLV. It leaves the door open for that job, with Todd Simon in as the interim man.
So, Shapiro asked Eustachy if he has any interest in the position as the Runnin’ Rebels head man, which Colorado State’s head coach told him:
“I’m going to give you the standard answer. I like where I’m at,” said Eustachy. “I’m taking this job one day at a time and we’re moving forward.
“You never know what’s going to happen in life,” Eustachy continued. “I’m just concentrating on Colorado State right now. To not give you a ‘Bill Clinton’ change the subject. A political answer. It’s going to be a great job for somebody.”
Rewind back 22 years, to 1994, and Eustachy was offered the head coaching position at UNLV. He wasn’t ready for it then for multiple reasons, though, as he explained.
“In all honesty, I wasn’t ready for that job at 38,” Eustachy said. “It was like following John Wooden (following Jerry Tarkanian). Now, it’s been so many years and God bless Jerry and he’s passed away…You need to have experience. A Bob Huggins is a great example. He could handle a UNLV. I’ve always said you really make your bonus in this game when you go from a mid-major to a high-major and are successful. And there’s a lot of guys that fail at that.
“I’m very content with where I am because when I left Utah State and made the jump to Iowa State we were successful,” explained Eustachy. “That’s the way to compare the (UNLV) job. It’s a mid-major league with a high-major guy that can handle the fires that are presented every day.”
Certainly, the expectations at a school like UNLV are higher than Colorado State. During Tarkanian’s time in the 80s and early 90s, the Runnin’ Rebels went to nine straight NCAA Tournaments including three Final Fours and the 1990 NCAA Championship win. And without any professional sports teams in Nevada, the Runnin’ Rebels are the biggest thing going, sports-wise.
“There’s intangibles at UNLV,” Eustachy said on the radio last week. “You’d have to be very thick-skinned and wear a lot of hats with the boosters that are important, with the media, with the expectations. That’s a man’s job. That’s a job where you have to get somebody who can handle a day-to-day crisis.”
Meanwhile in Fort Collins, he’s setting school records and changing the culture of basketball, creating expectations for winning where there weren’t any before.
“It’s really difficult,” Eustachy said of recruiting in the Mountain West. “I can go by our situation. This is a major league. We charter every game. The salaries are ridiculous, by conference standards, our assistants and myself. They really treat us well. But, when I first jumped in here. We could not even sniff a good high school player.
“We’re getting to the point where we can land those kind of guys,” he continued. “When we played UNLV, our two freshman guards were a major player in winning that game. It’s not easy.”
He’s right, J.D. Paige and Prentiss Nixon are two phenomenal freshman who are making an immediate impact on the Rams. They’re two of those players the fan base can connect with, and those who regularly attend games at Moby Arena are falling in love with them.
While the Rams are having a so-so season at this point — losing their top three players from last year and then leading scorer Gian Clavell to injury this season doesn’t help — Eustachy is still building a winner at CSU.
So, if UNLV’s AD Tina Kunzer-Murphy — who knows Eustachy for many years — comes calling, would he answer the phone? The Rams head man said he would. But, by the sounds of things, Eustachy is content at Colorado State.
To be noted: In early December, Eustachy exercised the option in his contract which extended it through the 2019-2020 season.
