COLORADO STATE:
Some Rams might consider transferring in wake of coach Larry Eustachy’s departure.
FORT COLLINS» The Colorado State men’s basketball team woke up before dawn Monday and boarded a plane for travel from Reno to Denver after a weekend loss at Nevada. About nine hours later, the Rams finally took flight back home.
“I got up at 4 a.m., got on the plane and I was asleep,” CSU center Nico Carvacho said. “I woke up and thought we were in the air.”
The airline issued two delays for a damaged aircraft before bringing in a new plane. CSU returned to the team hotel for several hours, and then traveled back to the airport for several more hours in another fitting twist to a season-long spiral.
CSU administrators had planned to meet with players to discuss coach Larry Eustachy’s resignation sometime after 10 a.m. Monday, CSU guard Prentiss Nixon said. But the airline delay postponed that meeting, and players discovered Eustachy’s fate on social media about 3 p.m. when The Denver Post first reported the news.
“I think it takes some stress off all of us,” CSU guard Anthony Bonner said.
The nearly four-week process brought closure to a complicated ordeal with an all-butcertain outcome.
“Everyone says (Eustachy resigned), but I mean, I think we all really know what happened in this situation,” Nixon said. “I’m not dumb, and neither are y’all.” Now CSU hoops is in limbo. It sets up the possibility that senior night against New Mexico at 7 p.m. Wednesday will be the final home game for more than just lone senior Che Bob. CSU already suffered attrition from the Eustachy saga with the decommitment of junior college transfer guard Jordan Brangers, who signed a nonbinding financial aid agreement in with the program in November.
Will any current Rams transfer? Carvacho, a redshirt sophomore, says he is focused on CSU’s remaining games but plans on heading home to Frisco, Texas, after the season to recharge and assess his future.
“I’ve learned that it’s a business,” Carvacho said. “From here in college, throughout the NBA and pros, anything (basketball) the rest of my life is going to be a business. Anything can happen. It’s a good learning lesson, for sure.”
“Honestly, it’s more like you’re getting recruited again,” said Nixon, a junior. “You’ve got to get used to the (new) coach and see what his philosophy is and how he wants to do it, and weigh your options after that and see what you want to do. For a lot of guys on this team, it will be a hard experience.”
All three players who spoke with reporters Tuesday gave Eustachy a vote of confidence. Bonner said Eustachy will “always be one of my favorite coaches I’ve ever had.” Carvacho added “thanks to him, I’m more mentally tougher and physical.” Nixon has been among Eustachy’s most vocal supporters, even writing in black marker on his game shoes several times: “#FreeLarryE.”
“I texted Coach yesterday and I just told him, ‘I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,’ ” Nixon said. “He gave me the opportunity to play Division I basketball when a lot of teams didn’t think I was good enough to do it. I love the guy like another father. I wish him the best.”
Interim coach Jase Herl has at least three games left to lead the Rams.
“Everybody is going to handle it a little different,” Herl said. “I’ve been on staff for two years, Willie Glover has been with Coach (Eustachy) for a while. Pierce (Hornung) played for Coach and is now on staff. Everybody is going to go through a different array of emotions. All we can do is talk about them with each other and try to do the best we can for these guys.”