Thistlewood Leaves Top of His Class
He becomes the first student-athlete recognized as top CIS student
A full scope.
That was the intention all along for Adam Thistlewood when he enrolled at Colorado State. He did so as one of Niko Medved’s first basketball recruits, but he wasn’t going to come in solely focused on his athletic career, not coming from a family deeply entrenched in STEM programs,
He wanted the full experience from Colorado State, saying he’s leaving with more than he ever anticipated. He is graduating with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in computer information systems, a switch he made after studying computer science for his first five semesters.
During the College of Business ceremony, Thistlewood will be recognized as the top CIS student in the school – the first student-athlete to be bestowed the honor. Not that Medved is surprised.
“You knew right away was one of those highly motivated young men in all areas of his life. He was going to dedicate everything he has to being the best basketball player he could be, to be the best student he could be, to be the best person he could be,” Medved said. “He’s one of those guys who from day one wanted to achieve at his highest level in everything he did, and you take that with the intellect he has and the drive and knowing what he wanted, I’m not surprised to see this.”
Nor is Dr. John Hoxmeier, the Associate Dean of Academic Programs and an associate professor in computer information systems. What first struck him about Thistlewood was he didn’t carry an attitude nor a sense of entitlement as a student-athlete, which Hoxmeier has experienced during his tenure.
Thistlewood was humble, respectful and carried a strong work ethic, something the professor felt was a carryover from the court. Even more so, Thistlewood was a student who had a goal in mind and the determination to see it through.
“It was his insight. He was thinking about his future, and that was always the most important thing to him, as opposed to basketball,” Hoxmeier said. “I think he saw himself first as a student rather than an athlete, then he was entirely focused on what he wanted to get out of the CIS program. He’s interested in cyber security. He’s going to make an excellent analyst for someone. He was focused on the outcome, and that was also something that impressed me.
“I think for him it is the combination of intellect, respect and work ethic. He’s got a great GPA, he showed up at class all the time, even as an athlete. When he couldn’t be there, he always explained why and made every effort to get there after practice. It was his work ethic and his focus, and on top of that, he’s an excellent student with just incredible potential.”
Thistlewood enrolled with an idea of what he wanted to study and excited about the college experience. He’s always enjoyed learning, but he noted in high school, everybody takes the same basic classes. What he looked forward to most at college was pursing courses where he held an interest and putting his full focus into those teachings.
He brought that to us, and he brought that to us in every area of his life and he’s a huge part of building the culture of this program.Niko Medved
He’s also not the first college student to change his mind midstream, going from computer science to the business school, seeking full-circle knowledge of what he was learning and every way it could be applied.
“I wanted to switch, because I wanted to improve not only my technical and hard skills, but I also wanted to increase my business and soft skills,” he said. “I had a technical background with coding and computer science for two and half years, and the business school offers a computer information systems program. It was a different challenge to make me more well-rounded.
“It allowed me to have a broader sense of business and technology as a whole, where now graduating and going into my master’s program, which allows me to specify directly into what I want to do.”
He will pursue his master’s degree in computer science at Colorado School of Mines with a concentration in cyber security. He will also play one more year of college basketball for the Miners in a town where he starred as a prep.
His senior year for the Rams was hampered by injuries, but he exits ranking fifth with 171 3-pointers made, seventh in 3-point attempts and eighth in games started. For Medved, his impact goes well beyond the numbers.
“When he came in here and we were trying to build our culture of work and habits, he was the one who was kind of the pioneer who started that,” Medved said. “He didn’t necessarily have the people to necessarily show him the way every day. He was the one who brought that to our program. I remember Isaiah Stevens coming here as a freshman, and he would look at a guy like Adam Thistlewood being in the gym early, leaving late and getting in the extra work and the way he approached every day, and Isaiah saying I have to go hang out with him, because I know when I do that, it makes me better.
“Those are things I know as a coach in building your program, he was a pioneer that way. He brought that to us, and he brought that to us in every area of his life and he’s a huge part of building the culture of this program.”
Both pursuits were primary for Thistlewood in his time at Colorado State. He didn’t want to give either half an effort, and finding the balance to give both his full attention was a trick he had to learn. It demanded life balance and being devoted to the schedule he set for himself.
At times, as important as each one was to him, basketball could sometimes serve as a distraction to his academic pressures, and in turn, he could sit in class and concentrate on the topic at hand, not who he was going to have to guard that night at Moby Arena.
“I think being who I am and kind of where I come from, education is a critical piece to my whole decision. When I came to campus, my thought process was excelling the best I could both on the court and in the classroom, while receiving a world-class education here at Colorado State,” Thistlewood said. “It was being able to balance both of those, but at the same time not letting one be more important than the other. It’s difficult to devote the time to both sides of the coin. I think it’s critical that setting a routine early in my career and letting people know what I want to do, have them aware I didn’t want to just be a basketball player or just a student, that I wanted to excel at both was important. So, making that who I am and setting time aside and developing a discipline was key. It doesn’t come easy. You have to work at it.”
A task Thistlewood embraced. A character trait professors and basketball coaches alike can appreciate.