Men’s basketball coach Niko Medved continued his busy opening month with Colorado State by signing Adam Thistlewood to a National Letter of Intent Wednesday morning. Thistlewood is Medved’s first signing as CSU’s head coach.

A senior at Golden High School, Thistlewood and Medved have ties dating back to his time as Drake’s head coach. Thistlewood committed to Drake in August of 2017 to play under Medved and his staff.

After Medved left Drake to return to CSU, though, Thistlewood followed suit. He is the first in-state recruit to sign with CSU since J.D. Paige and Toby Van Ry did so in the 2014 recruting class.

“Adam is the entire package,” Medved said in a release. “He’s a talented player, a terrific student and a terrific human being. He is going to fit in great as player and into our culture that we are trying to build at Colorado State. Adam is a versatile player with size who can shoot, handle and pass the ball and can do a lot of things that effect winning. I can’t wait to have him in the program next year.”

The 6-foot-7 small forward was an all-state player last season with Golden High School, earning CHSAA/Max Preps All-State First Team honors and playing in the inaugural Jeffco High School Senior Basketball Game, during which he earned MVP honors. 247Sports ranks Thistlewood as a 3-star recruit and the No. 1 recruit in the state of Colorado.

He averaged 22.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks to lead Golden to a 21-4 record, 4A Jeffco League title and Sweet 16 berth in the state tournament.

Medved’s recruiting prowess dates back to his first stint with CSU when he was largely responsible for bringing in many former Rams.

Collegian sports director Colin Barnard can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @ColinBarnard_.