Colorado State Rams History

Men’s Basketball – 2003-2004 Season Preview
Rams Riding Crest Of 2003 Finish: Fourth-year coach Dale Layer and his staff welcome back eight letterwinners including three starters from last year’s squad that rushed to the 2003 Mountain West Conference championship with three consecutive wins in the league tournament. The Rams finished 19-14, losing a hard-fought game to Duke in the NCAA West Region First Round Game played at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City.

Rams Make 8th NCAA Trip : Colorado State earned national acclaim for the team’s late season surge en route to the 2003 Mountain West Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament invitation. Third-year coach Dale Layer’s No. 6-seeded team won the league title by defeating No. 3-seeded Wyoming, No. 2-seeded BYU (in overtime) and No. 4-seeded UNLV, thus earning the MWC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Colorado State erased a 10-point halftime deficit by virtue of a 17-0 run then defeated BYU in overtime to earn the school’s first trip to the conference tournament title game since 1989. The title game brought its own set of challenges. The Rams faced UNLV on the Rebels’ homecourt, the Thomas & Mack Center, and trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half. But F Brian Greene spearheaded a comeback and sank the game-winning basket on a 12-foot jumper with four seconds to play to send the Rams to their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 1990. The Rams finished the season with a 19-14 overall record. Colorado State returns three starters and nine letterwinners for the 2003-04 season, returning players who will be joined by a trio of newcomers that formed a top 30 recruiting class.

Layer Signs New Agreement: Fourth-year coach Dale Layer agreed to a new five-year contract last July. Layer, who guided the Rams to the NCAA Tournament and a stunning three-game run to the MWC Tournament title in 2002-03, has the program on a path to continue its national prominence. The new contract, which became effective immediately, runs through the 2008 season.

Rams One Of 10: Colorado State University’s athletic program was one of only 10 NCAA Division IA institutionsin 2003 to have team postseason participants in football, volleyball, and men’s and women’s basketball, respectively. Colorado State along, with Arizona State, Cincinnati, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Texas all had football teams that played in a bowl game at the conclusion of the 2002 season, volleyball teams that participated in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, and men’s and women’s basketball teams playing in the postseason either in the NCAA Tournament or NIT. Colorado State’s football team won the Mountain West Conference and played in the Liberty Bowl while the volleyball team won the MWC regular-season title and played in the NCAA Tournament. The Rams’ men’s basketball program won the MWC Tournament Championship and played Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Colorado State’s women’s team is playing in the WNIT. An 11th program, Western Kentucky, had all four of its programs involved in postseason play. The Hilltoppers’ football team is not an NCAA Division IA member, and instead, was in the Division IAA playoffs.

Six And Four: Colorado State faced six teams in 2002-03 including Duke that played in the NCAA Tournament and four others that qualified for competition in the NIT. Colorado State played BYU, Colorado, Duke (NCAA West Region First Round opponent), Purdue, Southern Illinois, and Utah during the season. All played in the NCAA Tournament. South Florida, San Diego State, UNLV, and Wyoming played in the NIT.

One Of Four Of 17: Dale Layer is the 17th men’s basketball coach in Colorado State history, and only the fourth to lead the Rams into NCAA Tournament competition. Layer joined Bill Strannigan (1954), Jim Williams (1963, ‘65, ‘66, ‘69) and Boyd Grant (1989, ‘90) as coaches who have guided the Rams to the NCAA Tournament.

Layer One Of Two: Only Boyd Grant led Colorado State to NCAA Tournament competition quicker than current Rams’ mentor Dale Layer. Grant, who formerly played basketball and baseball at Colorado State, guided the Rams to a third-place finish in the 1988 NIT, and a year later took the Rams to the NCAA Tournament after winning the regular-season conference crown. Layer guided the Rams to the NCAA Tournament in his third season at the helm. Bill Strannigan helped the school to its first-ever NCAA trip in 1954, his fourth season as head coach. Legendary coach Jim Williams helped the Rams make the NCAA Tournament in his ninth season.

Nelson Earns Invite : Rams’ all-star C Matt Nelson was one of 25 players who accepted invitations and tried out for the USA Basketball Pan American Games team. Nelson, who averaged 17.0 points per game a season ago, became the first Colorado State player since Lonnie Wright (1963, U.S. Olympic Games Trials) to tryout for an American national team. Former Rams’ G Milt Palacio, now a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA, played for Belize in the 1999 Pan American Games.

More On Nelson: The Pan American Games are held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics. The 2003 were scheduled for Aug. 2-6 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Tom Izzo of Michigan State University was the head coach. His assistants included Quin Snyder of the University of Missouri and University of Washington coach Lorenzo Romar.

Nelson One Of Two: Nelson is one of only two MWC student-athletes along with Utah’s Tim Frost to participate in the USA Basketball Pan American Games trials.

Nelson One Of Two, Part Two: Nelson and Duke’s Daniel Ewing were the only two players in the Pan Am Games tryouts who were named MVP of their respective conference tournaments.

Thomasson Invited: Newcomer F Phillip Thomasson was named to the 2003 Global Games Select Team. Thomasson was one of 15 incoming freshmen student-athletes on the USA roster to compete against junior national teams (ages 21 and younger) from Brazil, Yugoslavia, Canada, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Ukraine, and teams from the continent of Africa and the Scandinavian region.

Youth Is Served: Colorado State’s late-season flurry in 2003 en route to the MWC title and NCAA Tournament has set the stage for what seems to be a promising future. The Rams lost the services of two starters and four student-athletes overall. Of the eight returning letterwinners, just two are entering the final seasons of eligibility. Everyone else on the roster has at least two seasons of playing eligibility remaining.

MWC Personnel: The MWC was ranked sixth at the conclusion of the 2003 season among all NCAA Division I conferences. In 2003-04, six of the eight teams return at least three starters including Colorado State. Two squads return four starters from the 2002-03 campaign. The capsule of returning and lost starters includes: Air Force, 3/2; BYU, 4/1; Colorado State, 3/2/ New Mexico, 4/1; San Diego State, 2/3; UNLV, 2/3; Utah, 3/2; Wyoming, 3/2.

Looking Back: Colorado State will be seeking back-to-back postseason trips in 2003-04 for the first time since making tournament play three years in a row from 1988-90. The first season, the Rams finished third in the NIT, then had back-to-back NCAA bids in 1989 and ‘90.

Duke 8th: Colorado State’s late-season surge to an NCAA Tournament berth was fueled by the Rams’ defensive presence. In the NCAA Tournament West Regional First Round game with Duke, the Rams limited the Blue Devils to just 35.2 percent from the field, only the eighth time the Blue Devils shot below 40 percent and the team’s third lowest figure of the season.

Up The Ladder: Colorado State concluded the 2002-03 season by winning five of the team’s final seven games including three in a row to capture the MWC Championship. Colorado State entered the MWC Tournament as the sixth seed. Including regular-season wins against San Diego State at Utah, the Rams defeated every team ahead of them in the standings including Wyoming, BYU and UNLV in the tournament.

Bench Strength: Colorado State concluded the 2002-03 season with a string of eight consecutive games in which the Rams’ reserve scored 20 or more total points. Colorado State reserves outscored opposing backup players, 895-to-523, on the season, a difference of 372 points, 11.6 points per game.

On T.V.: Eleven of Colorado State’s 33 games were telecast live regionally or nationally in 2002-03. The television schedule included an appearance on ESPN’s Big Monday, a 74-58 win over New Mexico.

National Television: Colorado State concluded the 2002-03 season with back-to-back national television appearances. ESPN televised the Rams’ 62-61 come-from-behind win over UNLV in the MWC Championship and CBS-TV showed Colorado State’s NCAA Tournament West Region First Round game with Duke.

Nelson First MVP: Rams’ C Matt Nelson set a new MWC Tournament record by scoring 70 points in 2002-03. He became the first Rams’ player to named tournament MVP.

Records Report: Colorado State enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in school history. The season included team and individual record-setting performances, including:

Narrow Finishes: Colorado State won three MWC Tournament games by a combined 10 points. C Matt Nelson scored 70 points in the tournament, including 25 in the win over Wyoming and 28 against BYU. F Brian Greene’s running jumper with four seconds to play in the game helped Colorado Sate to the win over UNLV in the finals of the tournament.

One Of 31: Colorado State earned one of 31 automatic berths into the NCAA Men’s Tournament by virtue of the Rams’ tournament title. The other 34 berths to fill the bracket are considered at-large bids.

Colorado State 15th: Colorado State made the school’s 15th postseason appearance overall, including eight in the NCAA and seven in the NIT, respectively.

MWC Tourney In Denver: Colorado State’s win over UNLV at the Thomas & Mack Center concluded a four-year MWC stay in Las Vegas. The tournament moves to Denver and The Pepsi Center beginning in 2004 for the next three years.

Crunch Time: The Rams proved to be proficient at the free throw line in marching to the MWC title. Colorado State made 10-of-10 free throws during the last two minutes of a 74-71 first-round win over Wyoming, then converted 12-of-14 free throws during overtime of an 86-80 win over BYU in the semifinals. The Rams continued their accuracy at the line against Duke, making 18-of-22, 81.8 percent.

Two Visits: Rams’ coach Dale Layer is no stranger to NCAA Tournament competition. Layer, now in his fourth year at Colorado State, formerly was the head coach at Queens College in Charlotte, N.C., and guided the Division II school to a pair of NCAA tournament bids. He guided Colorado State to the school’s eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 1990.

Two Named: F Brian Greene and C Matt Nelson were both named to the MWC All-Tournament team. Nelson was named the MVP after setting a record by scoring 70 points despite missing the final 13 minutes of the championship game. Colorado State had not had a player named to the all-tournament team since 1996, and only one other time, in 1994, had two players named to the all-tournament teams.

Seven 19: Colorado State’s 19-14 record is the seventh time in school history the Rams have won 19 or more games in a season.

First Ever: F Brian Greene (1,259 career points) and G Andy Birley (1,040 points) are the first senior teammates in Colorado State school history to surpass the 1,000-career scoring mark in the same season.

Six In A Row: Colorado State used 13 different starting lineups in 33 games in 2002-03. In 2001-02, the Rams used 14 lineups in 30 games. Colorado State utilized the same quintet to open each of the last seven games; G Micheal Morris and G Andy Birley; C Darian Burke; F Brian Greene and F Matt Williams.

Shattered: G Micheal Morris had 44 blocked shots in 2002-03, 7th on the school’s single-season list, seventh on the season list, and set a record for freshmen student-athletes.