Two underwhelming seasons have left Colorado State fans wanting more from the men’s basketball team. Last year, CSU appointed Drake University’s Niko Medved as their new head coach, and under his guidance, the team finished the season with a 12-20 record.

Heading into Medved’s second season, there has been speculation around how the team will perform with much brighter skies on the horizon in 2020-21.

Nico Carvacho is entering his senior season with a load of transfers joining the team as practices began on Tuesday.

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Medved announced Tuesday that a new piece was added to the coaching staff puzzle, as C.J. Rivers will be joining as a graduate assistant. Rivers had previously played under Medved and his staff while in his senior season at Drake back in 2017-18.

“A big part of me coming was these guys coaching me my senior year at Drake, and I built a pretty good relationship with all of them,” Rivers said. “Niko gave me the opportunity to be a part of it in a grad assistant role, and I thought the opportunity was one that I just couldn’t pass up. So, I’m happy to be here.”

Rivers joins the team as a former player who knows first hand how Medved and his staff operate.

Rivers played under Medved for a single season after the coach departed Furman University to coach at Drake in 2017. In Rivers’ senior season, the duo helped lead Drake to a 17-17 record with 10 conference wins: the most for the program in 10 years, topped off with a third-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“I feel very fortunate to add C.J. (Rivers) to our coaching staff,” Medved said. “C.J. (Rivers) is the entire package. He was a terrific team player for us at Drake, as well as a terrific student and high character young man. He will add a lot to our great staff.”

The Rams get back into action Nov. 1 as they host Western Colorado University at Moby Arena. 

Ryan Loberger can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @Lobergerryan.