Rams are ready to move on from the Eustachy era
Editor’s note: This is the fourth in an 11-part series previewing UNM men’s basketball opponents for the coming season. The series is running in reverse order of the preseason Mountain West media poll and concludes with a nonconference schedule preview.
Nico Carvacho had a refreshingly realistic take on the past year of Colorado State basketball — a 10th place finish and in-season removal of their head coach one year after contending for an MWC title on the final day in 2017.
“It’s a business,” said Carvacho, a senior forward for the Rams. “That’s what you have to look at is as. It’s a business. It happens in every profession. It’s something
you have to get used to.”
The Rams and polarizing former head coach Larry Eustachy parted ways last season after several investigations by the school into player abuse allegations. Aside from the up-and-down play (CSU competed for league titles in years one, three and five under Eustachy and had losing league records in years two, four and six), attendance, or pride in Fort Collins isn’t anywhere near what it used to be.
In steps new coach Niko Medved, the former CSU assistant under Eustachy’s predecessor, Tim Miles, in an attempt to restore some semblance of order.
And Medved, whose Rams were picked to finish eighth in the 11-team Mountain West preseason media poll, believes because has seen some success, it shouldn’t take long again to get on the right track.
“I’ve spent really no time talking about the past or comparing what we do or they do,” Medved said. “… but (having been at CSU in the past) I definitely think you help hit the ground running knowing that you’ve been there before, you’ve seen it when it’s been successful, you have a feel for what you’d like to do.”
Medved said he understands a general wait-and-see approach from the eighth-place prediction, but Carvacho had a different take.
“I think the ranking is a little disrespectful,” Carvacho said. “What happened last year, we finished 10th, so there’s nothing we can really say about it, but I think we’re going to surprise some people.”
Medved says his team will play faster and more loose than the team did prior to his arrival — he joked, “have you ever heard a head coach say anything else?” — but he also acknowledges that he has to work around the roster he has as much as make it conform to his style. He also said “come February or March,” you better be able to defend in the half court and score in the half court.
“You have a blueprint of things you’d like to do as a head coach,” Medved said. “But at the end of the day, you have to take the talent and the people that you have and find a way to help them be successful.”
Returning guard J.D. Paige and Anthony Masinton-Bonner, who seems poised for a breakout season, will anchor the backcourt while Carvacho is as good as any big man in the Mountain West. The 6-foot-11 senior averaged 9.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last season and says being the best rebounder in the league is a goal.
“I take pride in trying to lead the league in rebounding and get every rebound,” said Carvacho.