Expectations for Colorado State men’s basketball this season

Bryson Schminke

August 24, 2021

David Roddy guards a defender — David Roddy (21) guards a Boise State University player during Colorado State University’s basketball game at Moby Arena Jan. 29. Boise State won 85-77. (Devin Cornelius | The Collegian)

Although football season is right around the corner, it’s never too early to look ahead at the Colorado State University men’s basketball season kicking off in November. Head coach Niko Medved bucked the mid-major norm by keeping all but one player and adding a proven college scorer to the roster.

The CSU team is coming back from an amazing 2020-21 season going 20-8 and making it to the semifinals in the National Invitation Tournament. Colorado State basketball is receiving a ton of praise for their season and gaining more and more pressure to become great for this next season. The Rams have been getting love nationally; SB Nation has the team at 34th best team in the country.

Moore was a deadly player on the free throw line with a 91.3% free-throw percentage. This being Moore’s senior year, the team should be excited to see him show out for his final college season.

Returning this season are the Rams’ top scorers: David Roddy — 15.9 points per game — with the second-leading scorer Isaiah Stevens — 15.3 — working side by side. Roddy finished last season with the first-team All-Mountain West honor and Stevens was awarded second-team All-Mountain West. Other notables are Adam Thistlewood, one of the lead 3-point shooters on the team, earning an All-Mountain West honorable mention.

Thistlewood had a 36.4% 3-point percentage last season after his ankle injury that ended his 2019-20 season early. Thistlewood is looking back and better than ever, ready to become the perimeter shooter that the team needs.

Backcourt player Kendle Moore is coming back, scoring 10.5 points per game last season. Moore was a deadly player on the free throw line with a 91.3% free-throw percentage. This being Moore’s senior year, the team should be excited to see him show out for his final college season.

James Moors will also be returning this year to the basketball program. Moors is one of the big men — standing at 6 feet, 10 inches — that the team will rely on to get rebounds for the green and gold. Moors averaged 3.5 rebounds per game last season.

player runs — John Tonje (23) dribbles down court against Arkansas State. (Luke Bourland | The Collegian)

The defensive players John Tonje and Dischon Thomas are making a return to the squad. Tonje will hopefully keep his high .857 free throw average throughout the season and increase his 6.6 points per game. Thomas will be looking for more playing time to also increase his 5.2 points per game from last season and could see some improvement with his .683 free-throw average.

The 6-foot-11-inch center Jacob Jennissen will be coming back from last season to give the Rams more of a presence in the paint. Jennissen could bring some valuable ball movement coming off the bench this season.

Some new talent on the team is Chandler Jacobs, coming from Dallas Baptist University. Jacobs is a 5th year that averaged 20.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. It will be exciting to see what Medved has in store for Jacobs this season.

Bryson Schminke can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @brysons81 .

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About the Contributor

DEVIN CORNELIUS, Digital Managing Editor

Devin Cornelius is the digital managing editor for The Collegian. He is a fifth-year computer science major from Austin, Texas. He moved to Colorado State University and started working for The Collegian in 2017 as a photographer. His passion for photography began in high school, so finding a photography job in college was one of his top priorities. He primarily takes sports photos, volleyball being his favorite to shoot. Having been on The Collegian staff for 4 1/2 years, he's watched the paper evolve from a daily to a weekly paper, and being involved in this transition is interesting and exciting. Although Cornelius is a computer science major, his time at The Collegian has been the most fulfilling experience in his college career — he has loved every second. From working 12-hour days to taking photos in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference, he cannot think of a better place to work. Working as a photographer for The Collegian pushed him outside of his comfort zone, taking him places that he never expected and making him the photographer he is today. As the digital managing editor, Cornelius oversees the photos, graphics and social media of The Collegian along with other small tech things. Working on the editorial staff with Katrina Leibee and Serena Bettis has been super fun and extremely rewarding, and together they have been pushing The Collegian toward being an alt-weekly. Outside of The Collegian, he enjoys playing volleyball, rugby, tumbling and a variety of video games. When in Austin, you can find him out on the lake, wake surfing, wake boarding and tubing. You can expect that Cornelius and the rest of The Collegian staff will do their best to provide you with interesting and exciting content.

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