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Colorado State University Athletics
Playing Well and Learning on the Fly
12/4/2025 2:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Rams still carving out their path with rivalry approaching
A learning curve. Or should it be plural?
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One could look at them individually or try to blend them together. A longtime coach in his first year as the head guy. A group of transfers at a new place, in a new system with altered roles. Go deeper and JoJo McIver has one, adjusting to the world of college basketball.
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How about the bottom line? That matters, and Colorado State's men's basketball team is off to a 6-2 start in the Ali Farokhmanesh era. Won four out of the gates, dropped a pair of heartbreakers by a bucket each and then rallied for a pair of gritty wins.
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Just what has Farokhmanesh learned thus far.
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"Their resiliency to bounce back. I mean, you have two heartbreaking losses, really, against DU and then immediately, whatever, six days later, against Virginia Tech and both opportunities to win those games," Farokhmanesh said. "And for them to bounce back the way they did in the Wichita State game specifically, and then honestly, to bounce back the way they did in the South Florida game, because it was a little sluggish start. You could tell it was the third game in three days. The first two games were absolute wars, too.
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"So for us to be able to bounce back and handle that situation as well, I thought it showed the resiliency of the group and how they can rise to the occasion of what's needed."
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The Rams are still learning as they host rival Colorado on Saturday (3 p.m.), a game at Moby Arena which is sold out. The crowd will be buzzing, for sure, but so is the team as things start to become clearer game by game.
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Kyle Jorgensen, who was supposed to be a reserve, has vaulted himself in a starting role, leading the team with his 14.9 points per game and 6.1 rebounds. Colorado State has had four different players lead them in scoring, one being Carey Booth, the only Ram in double figures every outing.
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Then there's Jevin Muniz, who seems to lead the team in something every game, be it rebounds, assists or simply chaos caused. Know what you can do, read what the game calls for and then do that thing.
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Easy. Or it has seemed that way with this particular squad.
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"We're kind of a deep team. Anyone can have a night based on what we've shown so far, and we've just got to do the little things," Muniz said. "We do all the little things first like rebound and play tough. We're a tough team 1-through-10, so I think that's what I learned most.
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"At the end of the day we can keep getting better, so we knew that what we're doing now we could do it, but we know that in the future, moving forward, we could do anything better. We can shoot it better, we can play better defense, we can do a bunch of things better, so as long as we keep improving, we'll be good."
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McIver, a true freshman, has played every game, each a test for him. His minutes are growing, and so are his confidence, the result of seeing things for the first time, then recognizing them the next. There will be more new in his future, but also more recall coming his way.
Â
First and foremost, those details Muniz talked about, McIver has picked up upon their importance. Not just in uniform, but most definitely at practice. That's the how and why of transferring knowledge.
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"Patient and patience. I mean of course you're not going to get it all in one go but just working as hard as you can to be able to get it step by step and then eventually you'll look and you'll be on the part of the journey that you've been wanting and then just keep going," McIver said. "I don't know why, but it's been a little bit more fun. I mean, I don't think I've ever been on a team that just jelled together so fast on and off the court. Just to be able to go to war with these guys every day has been a blessing."
Â
There have been some developments which appeared to the outside world to be leaps and bounds. Not to Farokhmanesh, who sees the daily progression.
Â
Nothing has surprised him, but he also entered the season with open mind, one that gives him and his team the flexibility to grow. What is a strength now my be surpassed at a later time. Besides, what is good can always get better, and things which are a step behind can catch up with work and polish.
Â
"I'll never expect anything to happen that I don't see in practice every single day. They've showed up every day to practice, so that's what's shown up in the games as well," he said. "We've got to continue to build off that and know that we're 6-2 right now. It's only a quarter of the way through the season, so we've got to keep doing what we've done to get us to this point and build on that."
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One could look at them individually or try to blend them together. A longtime coach in his first year as the head guy. A group of transfers at a new place, in a new system with altered roles. Go deeper and JoJo McIver has one, adjusting to the world of college basketball.
Â
How about the bottom line? That matters, and Colorado State's men's basketball team is off to a 6-2 start in the Ali Farokhmanesh era. Won four out of the gates, dropped a pair of heartbreakers by a bucket each and then rallied for a pair of gritty wins.
Â
Just what has Farokhmanesh learned thus far.
Â
"Their resiliency to bounce back. I mean, you have two heartbreaking losses, really, against DU and then immediately, whatever, six days later, against Virginia Tech and both opportunities to win those games," Farokhmanesh said. "And for them to bounce back the way they did in the Wichita State game specifically, and then honestly, to bounce back the way they did in the South Florida game, because it was a little sluggish start. You could tell it was the third game in three days. The first two games were absolute wars, too.
Â
"So for us to be able to bounce back and handle that situation as well, I thought it showed the resiliency of the group and how they can rise to the occasion of what's needed."
Â
The Rams are still learning as they host rival Colorado on Saturday (3 p.m.), a game at Moby Arena which is sold out. The crowd will be buzzing, for sure, but so is the team as things start to become clearer game by game.
Â
Kyle Jorgensen, who was supposed to be a reserve, has vaulted himself in a starting role, leading the team with his 14.9 points per game and 6.1 rebounds. Colorado State has had four different players lead them in scoring, one being Carey Booth, the only Ram in double figures every outing.
Â
Then there's Jevin Muniz, who seems to lead the team in something every game, be it rebounds, assists or simply chaos caused. Know what you can do, read what the game calls for and then do that thing.
Â
Easy. Or it has seemed that way with this particular squad.
Â
"We're kind of a deep team. Anyone can have a night based on what we've shown so far, and we've just got to do the little things," Muniz said. "We do all the little things first like rebound and play tough. We're a tough team 1-through-10, so I think that's what I learned most.
Â
"At the end of the day we can keep getting better, so we knew that what we're doing now we could do it, but we know that in the future, moving forward, we could do anything better. We can shoot it better, we can play better defense, we can do a bunch of things better, so as long as we keep improving, we'll be good."
Â
McIver, a true freshman, has played every game, each a test for him. His minutes are growing, and so are his confidence, the result of seeing things for the first time, then recognizing them the next. There will be more new in his future, but also more recall coming his way.
Â
First and foremost, those details Muniz talked about, McIver has picked up upon their importance. Not just in uniform, but most definitely at practice. That's the how and why of transferring knowledge.
Â
"Patient and patience. I mean of course you're not going to get it all in one go but just working as hard as you can to be able to get it step by step and then eventually you'll look and you'll be on the part of the journey that you've been wanting and then just keep going," McIver said. "I don't know why, but it's been a little bit more fun. I mean, I don't think I've ever been on a team that just jelled together so fast on and off the court. Just to be able to go to war with these guys every day has been a blessing."
Â
There have been some developments which appeared to the outside world to be leaps and bounds. Not to Farokhmanesh, who sees the daily progression.
Â
Nothing has surprised him, but he also entered the season with open mind, one that gives him and his team the flexibility to grow. What is a strength now my be surpassed at a later time. Besides, what is good can always get better, and things which are a step behind can catch up with work and polish.
Â
"I'll never expect anything to happen that I don't see in practice every single day. They've showed up every day to practice, so that's what's shown up in the games as well," he said. "We've got to continue to build off that and know that we're 6-2 right now. It's only a quarter of the way through the season, so we've got to keep doing what we've done to get us to this point and build on that."
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Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballColorado State Basketball (M): Battle 4 Atlantis Pre-Tournament
Tuesday, November 25
Colorado State Basketball (M):Ali Farokhmanesh Post-Game (Denver)
Friday, November 21
Colorado State Basketball (M): Carey Booth (L) & Kyle Jorgensen (R) Post-Game (Denver)
Friday, November 21
Colorado State Basketball (M): Ali Farokhmanesh Post-Game (Cal Poly)
Wednesday, November 12