Like Tax Day, the inevitable became reality Friday night.
Late last night, Colorado State Rams men’s basketball made redshirt junior John Gillon’s transfer official. Also leaving the program is local forward Toby Van Ry, a redshirt sophomore.
Van Ry’s departure is somewhat a surprise, while Gillon’s is not. The feisty, scrappy point guard often butted heads with Rams head coach Larry Eustachy, taking the brunt of the head man’s frustration for all in attendance to see and hear.
When a disconnect between players and Eustachy grew in the winter of 2015, the coach said his “brutal honesty” wasn’t being accepted because players weren’t used to the coaching/mentoring style. He was right. Eustachy even seemed to let off, and the players responded by finally playing closer to his kind of basketball; by rebounding and playing consistent defense.
In the end, though, 2015-16 was a failure in Fort Collins; an 18-16 overall record with no postseason appearance.
Little over two weeks ago, the team lost their top two assistant coaches in Ross Hodge and Leonard Perry. Then, recruit Leon Gilmore III rescinded his commitment.
Now, Gillon and Van Ry have left.
What’s sophomore point guard Prentiss Nixon’s message to fans? Relax.
https://twitter.com/richkurtzman/status/723715198868017153
@csuramfanatic @RichKurtzman Relaxxx ✊🏽💯
— Prentiss. (@2prent_) April 23, 2016
With Gillon gone, Nixon is now in line to be the team’s starting point guard. As a true freshman bench player, Nixon earned the praise of fans for giving it his all on both ends of the court. He regularly drew charge calls — one every game in the mind of former teammate Antwan Scott — and even dove over the scorers table and into the crowd to save a loose ball in one game.
Nixon played in 31 games for the Rams last season, starting seven, and averaged 4.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. His best game came against USC Upstate in mid-December, scoring a career-high 16 points, going 4-4 from downtown, with two boards and five dimes.
He’s hard working and an old-school baller, wearing his shorts short like it were the mid-90s. Which is, ironically, when he was born.
And his teammate, forward Emmanuel Omogbo, is looking forward to what Nixon can do on the court next year, too.
https://twitter.com/longmoney_e/status/723715343030603776
For now, the Rams have to fill two assistant coaching positions and then fill five open scholarship spots. There’s much work to do in little time. Stay tuned.
