Stevens, Rams Have Time on Their Side
Summer workouts provide chance for squad to evolve
Mike Brohard
The world of college athletics feels like a rush to get someplace most of the time.
Summer isn’t one of them. There’s work to be done, just absent a clock. It’s something Colorado State men’s basketball coach Niko Medved appreciates about this time of the season.
Waiting for summer to arrive and what it would look like was another feeling altogether. The largest question for the program and how the summer would look was would point guard Isaiah Stevens return for a fifth season. The school’s all-time assists leader and the engine of the system for the past four campaigns explored next-level opportunities, but when he announced he was coming back in May, the scope of the summer changed.
Welcoming in a trio of transfers and a few prep additions is much easier when the leader of the team is back on the floor. Stevens, true to his nature, is excited about exploring the plethora of opportunities which will arise, even those he has yet to picture on the horizon.
“I think more of it is me looking at it from a different perspective than I have in years past,” Stevens said. ‘Understanding what my role is – I kinda have a good idea of that – but being able to help these guys understand our culture, our principles, our flow offensively and defensively, how we talk to each other and then the way we work. I feel like it’s almost an extension of being a coach on the floor. It’s not about me trying to impose my way of playing on anybody, but it definitely takes time.”
There’s nobody more equipped to guide the process during summer workouts than Stevens. He’s seen it all – done it all – and there isn’t a returning Ram who doesn’t trust his leadership. That trust starts with his head coach.
Both of them will view the summer through very similar glasses. Javonte Johnson, Joel Scott and Nique Clifford – all Colorado Springs products – transferred in with experience. Rashaan Mbemba and Kyan Evans join off stellar high school careers. Even to some degree, the team is welcoming in Josiah Strong, who missed most of last season with ailments after transferring from Illinois State.
“It’s such a blessing to have a leader like Isaiah, who knows what we do inside and out, can teach it like I teach it. It’s really just an extension of the coaching staff, and he takes a lot of pride in that too,” Medved said after the team began summer workouts this week. “He made my job and our job a heck of a lot easier.
“He’s been around the block enough to know that’s part of it. A younger guys comes in and it’s how do I ... and you learn about the team. He understands and is confident in who he is, but he wants to figure out how we can maximize this. It’s learning your teammates and learning through the process of practicing, working together, trial and error, making mistakes and competing every day. He gets that.”
Stevens’s status on the team is unquestioned, and for good reason is what Scott noticed almost immediately, even before any of them were on the court in an organized fashion.
But they were together, especially off the court. It was Stevens who helped Scott find his way around, where to eat (Comet Chicken and the Pickle Barrel, of note) and how to move about town. As a team, they watched the Denver Nuggets’ run to the NBA title together, even baseball and football games.
“He’s a great leader. That’s the most evident, the most apparent thing you see with him,” Scott said. “He’s always talking, always there trying to help out. You don’t see that all that often.
“It’s incredible. He’s always communicating with us new guys, where to go, help us out, whether it’s on the court or off the court. He’s always there. It’s nice. It shows what he can do and what type of person he is.”
The basketball part is important. It will become even more so as the summer progresses, as more becomes known and information is acquired. Not all of it will come on the court, and Stevens’ take is if that’s all he’s looking for, he’s not approaching his task correctly.
Some guys you can really get up and challenge, and some guys need a little more encouragement. Those are things you figure out spending time with people.Isaiah Stevens
He said when they’re together away from the court, that’s where some crucial knowledge comes to light. He doesn’t want to just know them as teammates, but as people. Personality traits are important, because they carry over, a fact Scott reiterates.
With new teammates, there’s no such thing as too much information.
“I think that’s almost just as important. I’ve been doing this for a little while now, so I’ve definitely started to figure out what works best with certain guys, but in order to do that, you have to spend time with them,” Stevens said. “Some guys you can really get up and challenge, and some guys need a little more encouragement. Those are things you figure out spending time with people. So far, I’d say we’ve done a really good job of getting everybody together.
“The one thing I do know, it starts with communication and everyday work. It’s not going to be pretty. Day one, there’s some things we already know we have to be better at and clean up, but that’s what you use this time for. As long as guys are coming in and working, the intensity level for the first day and getting up and down, I feel like it was really high. I was encouraged by that.”
Medved has an idea of what he’ll see. These were not just haphazard additions to the roster. Some of them he’s known for years, and he’s seen enough tape on all of them. That’s what they did for their old teams.
This summer, they want to find out what else they can add to the Colorado State equation. All of them must be open to any and all possibilities which could result in a positive effect. What Clifford did with Colorado might not have shown all he could do, just what his old school needed from him.
“I’ve known Nique forever. He knows us, but we haven’t worked together in this environment,” Medved said as an example. “It’s him learning me as a coach and me learning him as a player, understanding how we can complement each other. Me just watching what he does well, and I think it’s about growth. I think he can grow and be an excellent player for us. Again, that’s part of the evolution. It’s fun. It’s almost like an extended training camp so to speak. It’s a great opportunity for us to learn about each other and for these guys to connect off the court. Hopefully we really establish a connection, form an identity and have fun doing it.”
As much has Stevens has been through the process before – every team is different – he looks forward to it even more this year, feeling he’s even more equipped after his experiences this offseason.
He said all of it was beneficial for him as an individual, gains he now intends to fully devote to the program he so cherishes.
“I think it was huge. My coaches encouraged me to go through every last bit of it for as long as I felt I needed to,” he said. “It was part of a dream. Who doesn’t want to play in the NBA? Just being blessed enough to have my name in those rooms and in those conversations was a step in the right direction. I’m super excited to see what it potentially looks like in the future, but for right now, we have games to win here in Fort Collins.”
Better yet, time to build to that point. Every day there will be a desire to get better, especially individually. However, there is no rush to figure out who they will be and how they will do it. Not quite yet.
Best yet, Medved is convinced he brought in the right players to advance the squad, and as it just so happened, the perfect player to guide them came back too.