Mountain West Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 16: The Mountain West Conference logo is seen before the championship game of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament between the Utah State Aggies and the San Diego State Aztecs at the Thomas & Mack Center on March 16, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 08: Isaiah Stevens #4 of the Colorado State Rams (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

. . . Rams . 6. team. 503

Starters:

Guards – Isaiah Stevens-SO, David Roddy– SO, Kendle Moore-JR

Forwards – Adam Thistlewood-JR and Dischon Thomas- SO

Bench – Teyvion Kirk-JR*, Isaiah Rivera-FR, Josh Tonje-SO, James Moors-FR, Ignas Sargiunas- SO

Niko Medved did a phenomenal job in his second season at Colorado State, turning a 12 win team into a 20 win team when nobody expected it. Why didn’t anybody expect it? Well, nobody knew just how good Isaiah Stevens (13.3 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 4.5 Ast) was going to be, especially not so early. Stevens dream freshman season resulted in 3rd team all-MWC honors and created lofty expectations for 2020-21.

Stevens’ fellow freshman David Roddy (11.4 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 1.8 Ast) wasn’t so bad himself in his inaugural season in Fort Collins. The 6’5 Roddy actually finished 5th in the MWC in blocked shots and pound for pound might be the best rebounder in the league.

Kendle Moore (9.0 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 2.2 Ast) joins Stevens and Roddy in the backcourt as the point guard coming off a season where he started every single game for the Rams and finished 6th in the conference in steals per game. Moore led the Mountain West in steals percentage as a freshman in 18-19.

It’s safe to say that no other coach in the league is more comfortable with his backcourt than Medved.

The loss of his center, Nico Carvacho (12.9 Pts, 10.8 Reb, 1.8 Asts), makes the frontcourt a different conversation, however. It’s not the 13 points that Medved is worried about replacing as much as it is about the 11 rebounds. Nobody on the roster, with the exception of Roddy averaged more than 4 rebounds per game last season, and in a league that features bigs like Neemius Queta (USU), Nathan Mensa (SD State), and Orlando Robinson (Fresno) you’ve got to have physical big men on the glass.

To aid in the replacement of Carvacho will be sophomore Dischon Thomas (3.8 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.4 Ast). Thomas, a higher rated recruit than his classmate Stevens, had a relatively disappointing freshman season, only carving out 10 minutes a game, but much more will be expected of him in season two. Redshirt freshman James Moors is also a classmate of Stevens, Roddy, and Thomas, and at 6’11 will be key to filling the void left by Carvacho.

Colorado State looks like it’s going to have consecutive 20-win seasons, and that is before we talk about Ohio transfer Teyvion Kirk. He will join an already loaded guard rotation that might collectively be the best defensive backcourt in the conference. Kirk was 13th in the MAC in steals percentage as a sophomore while scoring 14 points per contest.

Medved is building a serious program at Colorado State and if the Rams can effectively replace its all-league center Caravacho, they have a chance to make a run at their first NCAA tournament bid since 2013.