The sibling rivalry, now coated fully in burgundy, began anew right when Sam Bassett started to speak at his introductory news conference at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Friday.
His first remark on the podium to the 30-40 in attendance was to thank them for being there — Rapids front office members, media, family, University of Denver coaching staff.
Then, with brother and Colorado Rapids star Cole Bassett sitting in the front row, Sam pointed out the crowd was much larger for this Bassett’s welcome to the club than the other’s.
Cole’s ear-to-ear smile had a wince of annoyance. But the laughter from the entire room, both Bassetts included, appeared to calm some of Sam’s nerves as he continued his opening statement.
The moment helped to make his recent signing with the club a little more legitimate, but Sam said it still doesn’t yet feel entirely real. The dream, now realized, still feels just like a dream.
“I’m really excited to be able to sign a Homegrown contract with the club I grew up playing with,” Sam Bassett said. “It’s been a goal of Cole’s and mine to be able to share the field together. We can’t wait for that day.”
Though the prospect of playing professionally together has long lingered in the back of their minds, the moment it started to look imminent was nearly a year ago. Even before Sam led his DU squad to a College Cup, earning first-team All-American and MAC Hermann Trophy finalist nods in the process.
That came when Cole bought a two-bedroom apartment.
“I bought a new place with this mindset that he was going to sign, which was last March,” Cole told The Denver Post.
More than 21 years will have passed by the time Cole and Sam take the same field on the same team competitively.
That’s right: Not once have the two played on the same team. Not for a Rapids Academy team, where each spent a handful of years before Cole stepped up to the first team and Sam chased a degree at DU. Not even as 4- and 5-year-olds chasing a ball in a herd of other wee children.
Despite playing pickup games together all the time with other DU players, Rapids players and other professionals, they were still hard-pressed to remember an instance when they were even allowed by their mates to play on the same team, citing fairness.
The pairing could eventually make for an interesting, perhaps lopsided duo, with the Rapids. In due time, of course — Sam needs minutes at the MLS level and the two need to build chemistry.
But take Sam’s vision and obsessive drive to set up a play — he calls it providing “the pass before the pass.” Then add Cole, who by nature is a late-arriving mid who can sneak to the top of the box, receive a pass and bury it first time, and you’ve got a recipe for success.
Especially if that middle-man is, say, an assist-machine like Djordje Mihailovic. Good thing the Rapids veteran has been a participant in many of those pickup sessions.
At times in 2024, particularly toward the end of the season, the Rapids lacked a cog in the machine to feed Mihailovic the ball in advanced areas so he could create.
Which fits the narrative Rapids Director of Player Development Brian Crookham, who sat next to Sam during his news conference, went out of his way to specify: “We did not sign Cole Bassett’s brother. We signed a Homegrown player in Sam Bassett, who has earned the right to be a Homegrown player here.
“We doubled down on our drive to youth in the offseason here. We had a massive draft and we brought in a lot of guys in this age group we believe had a ton of upside,” Crookham continued. “I think the cornerstone of this class is going to be Sam Bassett on this Homegrown contract.”
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