Building More Than a Winning Tradition
Teammates and friends, Hammon and Cronin return to Moby Arena
Mike Brohard
They were in the right area, just not exactly where they were supposed to be at the time. Being freshmen, they were already a bit in the dark, and light was absent in the arena.
But even without illumination, it was a 20/20 vision for the pair.
“I know what happened when we first arrived. We walked in that arena, we were like: First of all, where are we? Second of all, it was dark,” Katie Cronin recalled. “We were supposed to probably be in study hall. We walked in that arena, and we were like, ‘we’re going to sell this thing out.’ Literally nobody believes us. We did, and now 25 years later here we are, still watching a great game and hanging out.”
Cronin and Becky Hammon came to Colorado State as wide-eyed freshman, Cronin the Colorado product, Hammon out of South Dakota. They joined a program which was a middling one at best, just one 20-win season in the history of women’s basketball at the university.
They became transformative players. They played in every game, Cronin starting all 125 in her career. Hammon noted she didn’t start the first seven games, but when she did, everything changed.
Sitting in the media room, the memories are clear. Such as the fact the very room was where they were supposed to be way back when, the place where study hall was held when they arrived for the 1995-96 season.
“She had to work her way up,” Cronin said with a smile, “and all the sudden she popped out, and I’m like, ‘alright, we’re rolling.’”
The Rams were. What followed was four successive 20-win seasons, highlighted by a 33-3 record their senior campaign, including a 14-0 mark in the Western Athletic Conference. They made three NCAA appearances. Hammon became a consensus All-American; Cronin an honorable mention All-American. They reached the Sweet 16.
But as transformative as they were to the program, so was Colorado State for them. It was the place where the two became close friends, which they remain to this day. It was fun to return to Moby Arena together with their sons – Hammon has two, Sam and Cayden; Katie one, Jack. Sitting courtside with a tray of hot dogs and drinks, they could have been anyone taking in a Saturday game.
They aren’t. They are the greatest tandem in program history, graduating as the Rams’ leading scorers, Hammon setting the record for the most points scored by a men’s or women’s player in the WAC. They will always be recognized as legendary performers, and Cronin noted she saw so many familiar faces in the crowd when the current team beat New Mexico, many of whom came up after to speak to them about the days of yore.
“That means the world,” CSU coach Ryun Williams said of their visit. “(Hammon) is the face of Colorado State basketball, forever, really. She’s that impactful of a human being and a leader, and obviously a great player. It was really cool. I thought our kids handled that really well. I’d have been pretty nervous, to be honest with you.”
For sure, because all my fun moments, she was in all of them.Becky Hammon
Those were days when the women’s program was a must-see event. They packed 8,000-plus fans into Moby Arena three times in their career, twice in their senior season. They went 48-6 at home and set a four-year record for winning in the program, capturing or sharing three conference titles.
Days they consider among the best they can remember, and not just because of the basketball.
“At the end of the day, life is short. Records and this and that, who cares?” Hammon said. “At the end of the day it’s about the people you journey with and the relationships you build. I love basketball. I was a basketball player forever, and I still love basketball. Probably, I love competing. As a basketball player you have shelf life. Looking back at where it started and having been in the pros 16 years and now coaching pros and this and that, I really cherish my time at CSU because at the end of the day we had fun.
“It’s a dirty word in professional sports, fun. I’m like, if we’re keeping score, it’s fun. I had so many great memories here, and I realized that was kind of an exception, it wasn’t the norm, which was disappointing. I had so many teammates who did not like their college experience, and I was like, shoot, pay me to go back to 1998 and 1999. Pay me to go back there and I’ll do it in a second because we had so much fun. The community was so amazing with the support they had for us. At the end of the day, it just kind of became a relationship between that team and the community of Fort Collins. They came together, they showed up to cheer and we showed up to play.”
Sharing it with each other and their children made the day notable to both. At the end, they were on the court shooting around with their sons, talking to fans but enjoying being mom’s and friends. They would eventually work their way to the locker room postgame, where Hammon expressed in basketball terms sticking together can lead to special things.
Same for friendships, even when they’re tested.
“We walked out of the house this morning, and I was like, our boys are going to fully fight when they’re 15, and then 5 minutes later they’re going to be best friends again,” Hammon said. “We had a run here where we were playing, must have been in the summertime, we were playing pick-up, and Katie fouled the crap out of me, and we about fought. All our teammates are like, ‘what, what’s going on? I’m like, ‘we’re fine.’”
They always have been. They left Colorado State and played professionally together with the Colorado Chill, winning another title. Hammon has obviously stayed in the sport, now the coach of the two-time defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces. She’s considered a trailblazer for women in the game.
As for Cronin, she’s now in the tech industry – to the shock of Hammon, who called her friend the least tech-savvy person she’s known. Together, they still banter like college kids, poke fun at each other and complete thoughts for the other.
“You see how we are now. We are the same we were when we were 17,” Cronin said. “What, we’re 46, so that’s pushing 30 years of knowing each other. It’s not only the fun times, but you’ve seen Beck go through ups and downs and everything with her whole career, and I’m kinda in the background at all times, but she’s here for me, too.
“It’s all the good times everybody sees, but obviously we’re human and we have our lives. You can see our bond from that, the background.”
Current coach Ryun Williams, who in 12 years has posted seven 20-win seasons (including a stretch of five consecutive with a 31-victory campaign), is appreciative Hammon has spoken with his team twice now in the past year, the first time at last year’s Mountain West championships.
What comes across most to him is the genuineness of the way Hammon speaks. He calls it no fluff and figures she’s a hoot to play for because of the fact. It’s also a trait which his team has recognized.
“It’s cool. It’s so cool,” guard McKenna Hofschild, who is on pace to sneak between the two in career scoring, said. “I think they inspire all of us, just to see them come back and hear them talk about their fun times and their stories here. I think it resonates with us because we have a lot of fun together and we have a lot of great memories as a team. Kinda hearing their experience and then to be able to kind of use it and think about our experience as our own team is kinda fun.”
The return was just that for the returning legends. Cronin looked at the familiar faces in the stands and recalled running the Moby stairs for conditioning. She could even hear the old chants of ‘Sweet 16’ in her head.
To be there together made it better.
“For sure, because all my fun moments,” Hammon said, looking over to Cronin, “she was in all of them.”