While Colorado State didn’t quite accomplish all of their goals last season, it was still a pretty solid start to the head coaching career of Ali Farokhmanesh. The former March Madness star led the Rams to a 21-13 mark in his first season, settling for an NIT appearance after tying for 7th place in a competitive Mountain West race. The challenge changes quite a bit this upcoming season, with Colorado State one of the new additions to the Pac-12.
The Rams can actually build on last season quite a bit as only a few big departures came to this roster. Brandon Rechsteiner found a new home at Kansas State and Jevin Muniz is out of eligibility, but much of the rest of the rotation is still in shape. Carey Booth is back for his senior year while the Rams are hoping to get full seasons from both Kyle Jorgensen and Josh Pascarelli leading the charge.
New members of the Pac-12, the Rams aren’t exactly the most prominent program in the world but Colorado State was still able to retain plenty of last season’s talent. Most of the new faces on the incoming roster are freshmen, including a trio of 3-stars. Gregory Dunson is a point guard out of Georgia while a pair of forwards in Eric Fiedler and Jaden Ghoreishi bolsters the frontcourt depth.
Maybe just one, but a big one
If you’re wondering about the transfer portal, the entire point of this piece after all, the truth is that Justin Menard is the only transfer addition for this upcoming season. A 6-3 guard out of Higganum, Connecticut, Menard began his career as a bench piece at Iona with decent numbers as a freshman before transferring to Marist. Last season with the Red Foxes he averaged 12.9 points and 3.8 assists per game while earning Third Team All-MAAC honors.
This isn’t just some pity honor because Menard was playing some really good basketball down the stretch last season. His work may have come in the MAAC, but he dropped 30 points in a late season win at Manhattan and really showed up in the MAAC Tournament, with a 26-point game against Quinnipiac. Menard is a fantastic scoring point guard who can really shoot the ball and was also 92% from the free throw line last season.
Menard can play both backcourt positions and become a useful asset on a Rams team that could absolutely surprise people in the new Pac-12. If those players we mentioned earlier stay upright and you throw in Menard; that’s four fantastic players who can all do significant work for a team that many might be sleeping on in this new league.
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