Colorado State Basketball Season Review

To say that Colorado States season was a whirlwind would be a huge understatement.

The Rams season started with such promise. They started with five straight wins, including a six-point win over Northern Iowa. Then one could say the wheels fell off. The Rams lost three straight games, in which the Rams horridly collapsed in the second half against UTEP and rival Colorado.

After a bad loss to lowly Northern Colorado, the Rams season continued to get worse when leading scorer Gian Clavell broke his hand in practice. This came right before the Rams big non-conference game against Kansas State, in which they subsequently lost.

Tragedy then struck the Colorado State community. Junior forward Emmanuel Omogbo’s parents and his sisters 2-year-old twin’s passed away in a deadly house fire, in their home in Maryland.

Omogbo played 10 minutes that night in a win over Air Force, before flying home to Maryland.

Though there was tragedy, there was some solace that came as a GoFundMe account was setup to help Omogbo, and it raised over $100,000.

The Rams continued on for the rest of the season struggling to regain how they played at the start of the season. One of their biggest problems though was their defense, as they ended the season ranked 295^th points allowed. Also, the Rams finished the season with a dismal 3-8 road record. Finishing the season with a 8-10 conference record.

In the conference tournament though the Rams played like the team, that fans occasionally saw throughout the year. As they rattled off wins against wins against San Jose State and Boise State, before falling to eventual conference champions Fresno State.

After the conference tournament, the Rams decided not to participate in postseason play. They had invitations to the College Basketball Invitational and the Vegas 16.

However, head coach Larry Eustachy said in a release: "This team has been through a lot this year, both in terms of injuries as well as situations beyond our control, so we decided it was best to conclude the season."

Next year the Rams will be able to hopefully bring back Clavell, because of a medical hardship exemption. Also, Gillon, Omogbo and Nixon will be back as well, which makes next season look quite bright.

Looking forward the Rams have a very bright future ahead them. heir slogan for the season was "Team Together," and despite all the tragedy this slogan certainly defined them well.