While Kyan Evans was making it rain in Seattle, Isaiah Stevens and David Roddy had thunder in their thumbs.
BLOOP!
Somebody needs to hit a shot
BLOOP!
We gotta hunker down or this game could get outta hand
BLOOP!
Yesssssssssssss!
“It’s really fun,” Stevens, the CSU Rams’ all-time leading scorer and Miami Heat/Sioux Falls Skyforce guard told me Saturday by phone, the morning after he dropped a double-double (11 points, 10 assists) on the South Bay Lukas — er, Lakers.
“All the former (CSU) players, we were all in this group chat (Friday), just talking about different schemes and what we were seeing. I’m glad these guys are on a run. It’s definitely been fun to watch.”
Stevens, the floor general who wrapped a stellar Rams tenure in March 2024 after 2,350 points (tops on the program’s all-time charts) and assists (863, also tops), talks about this CSU team with the giddy air of a proud uncle. The greatest point guard in Rams history steered the green and gold to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances (’22 and ’24) and a demolition of Virginia in the First Four.
But neither he nor his old teammate Roddy, now with the Rockets’ G League affiliate in Rio Grande, Texas, ever played in the Big Dance’s second round with the Rammies, which his old school will do Sunday afternoon against fifth-seeded Maryland. And Zay never drained six 3-pointers in the Big Dance the way Evans did against Memphis in the first round.
“We were opposite teams all the time (last year) in 5-on-5s,” recalled Stevens, who helped to groom Evans as his understudy when the latter was a freshman during the ’23-24 campaign. “One thing about team last year was, we were super-competitive. So, people would get into it all the time, just talking back and forth and (being) physical.
“Not once did he ever flinch. Whether it was me or Josiah Strong or Patrick Cartier — (Evans) didn’t back down from anybody.
“He always stood (his ground), and was willing to compete. And I appreciated that. As an older player, I’d think, ‘He’s going to be all right.’”
As much as Nique Clifford has elevated the Rams — and his NBA stock — since Thanksgiving, it was when Evans took off that CSU really took flight. The lithe, 6-foot sophomore out of Kansas City, Mo., misfired on 17 of his first 21 attempts from beyond the arc this season, averaging just 7.9 points per game through late December while the Rammies sputtered to a 5-5 start.
New year? New Kyan. Since January 1, Evans is averaging 12.4 points per tilt and draining treys at a sizzling 49.5% clip. Since the second week of February, CSU has gone 10-1 whenever the KC native’s connected on multiple 3-pointers in a game.
“Hopefully, this is going to be the new normal (for him),” Stevens said. “The passing, the shooting, the leadership … hopefully, this is something he’s going to continue.”
Because on paper, the Terrapins (26-8) are a step up in class, defensively, from Penny Hardaway’s Tigers. Maryland headed into the weekend ranked among the top 40 teams in the nation in lowest opponent shooting percentage (30th), lowest opponent 3-point shooting percentage (20th), opponent shots blocked (37th) and turnovers forced (31st) per game.
“I haven’t seen a lot of (the Terps). I watched them (Friday night),” Stevens noted. “They looked like they like to get up and down and run. And they’ve got that freshman (center Derik Queen) who’s going to be a top 10 (draft) pick, so we’re definitely going to have our work cut out for us.
“But I believe in this staff. We’re going to scheme some things. Whether we execute it to the best of our ability, we’re going to have a plan in place to go out there and compete. I think our guys have a lot of confidence right now, which also plays a factor at this tournament, (the) buy-in to what we’re doing, the proof is in the pudding at this point. I hope they can just continue to play like there’s no pressure.”
Like all great floor generals, Stevens is a chess player by trade and a control freak by habit. He’s still getting used to watching epic, historic CSU hoops moments from a distance.
“I take a lot of pride in what we did there,” Stevens said. “And a lot of pride in just the school in general, because I was able to go there and really change my life because of it, honestly.
“I wasn’t expecting to play in the NBA and now, all of a sudden, I was able to go (to the league) and play and am in a position where my life is going to look different for some time now.
BLOOP!
Need a stop
BLOOP!
Let’s goooooooooo!
“I owe CSU a lot,” Stevens continued. “Coach Niko (Medved) took a chance on me. (Assistant) coach Ali (Farokhmanesh) walked into a high-school gym to look at somebody else, I had a solid day, and the rest is history. I definitely take a lot of ownership and a lot of pride in it. It’s fun to be a fan now.”
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