Outlaws are not just the villains in “Red Dead Redemption 2.”

For a group of friends, they are a collective of cowboy hat-toting superfans who represent school spirit reminiscent of Colorado State athletics’ glory days.

The Outlaws of CSU are hard to miss. Their first claim to fame was going to men’s basketball games in large Stetson cowboy hats in the front row of the student section.

“We went out one night with hats and were like, ‘Oh, let’s do it at a game,’” Outlaw Logan Eastwood said. “We did it just because, and since then, (we) got a little traction from the alumni, so might as well keep doing it.”

The outspoken support from alumni then transferred to the administration and members of CSU Athletics. 

“We’re just a bunch of friends going to games. We hope that our impact and what we did here inspire future generations to do the same.” -Jasem Al-Shukry, CSU Outlaw

People like Interim Director of Athletics John Weber or CSU President Amy Parsons chipped in hundreds of dollars to their GoFundMe for their trip to the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas to support CSU men’s basketball.

“It was the alumni first,” Outlaw Todd Osoba said. “(They were) like, ‘Oh, this is cool. We haven’t seen this since we were here in the ’70s.’ And from there, that’s where it got traction with the team.”

Eastwood, a junior in marketing, has direct relationships with Athletics through working directly with the Green & Gold Guard, CSU’s name, image and likeness collective.

Connections like those started breaking down the enigmatic nature of athletics for the Outlaws.

“It breaks down the idolization that a lot of people have,” Osoba said. “You see (student-athletes) as people, and they’ll see you as people. … If you’re there long enough, they learn your face, and they know who you are. … They’re (people); they want to talk to you, and they want to know you.”

The Outlaws have built many different connections, like being on a first-name basis with many men’s basketball players and being included in locker room pep talks by Niko Medved.

However, their name — just like their claim to fame — was another happy accident brought about by their connections with other people.

“I had these dickhead roommates that saw us wear the hats and were calling us names,” Outlaw Anthony Barse said. “‘Oh, it’s the outlaws.’ And we thought it had a pretty good ring to it.”

In actuality, the Outlaws don’t act like their namesake. The basis of their group goes back to one thing: relationships with alumni and those who came before.

That and making sure students support CSU athletics even when they aren’t winning titles.

“I feel like, with CSU sports, there has been a lot of — with our old athletic director — killing of the student-to-alumni (relationship),” Osoba said. “After you’re no longer a student, you don’t have any want to come back because most of our teams are not always that great.”

That unwavering support is how the Outlaws wish to impact the CSU community.

Instead of going to a basketball game just because it is a fun thing to do, the Outlaws want to build community with peers.

“We’re just a bunch of friends going to games,” Outlaw Jasem Al-Shukry said. “We hope that our impact and what we did here inspire future generations to do the same. Because whatever college you go to, you’re going to have to support it.”

Reach Liv Sewell at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @Liv_sewell22.

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