Fort Collins – Colorado State welcomed Jen Warden of Boise State on Wednesday as its women’s basketball coach, and most of the players who had lobbied for change were in attendance.
Warden, the popular former Colorado assistant from Denver, replaces Chris Denker, who resigned last month after three tumultuous seasons that included a player uprising this past season. For the players at the McGraw Center, it was clearly a welcome change.
“I’m excited,” team captain Lindsay Thomas said. “I think we needed a change, but that’s all I’m going to say about that.
“I’m excited to have the whole process come to a close and just start over. And I’m definitely excited about the new coach. She’s obviously a very personable person. She has great people skills. She’s a great communicator.”
Thomas was one of 12 players who went to athletic director Mark Driscoll in early February to complain about Denker’s motivational tactics. At that time, Driscoll said the issue had been resolved. When Denker resigned, he said it was because he wanted to move his family back to the West Coast.
Denker had the difficult task of following Tom Collen, who led the Rams to four NCAA Tournaments in five seasons, including a Sweet 16 appearance in the 1998-99 season. In Denker’s first two seasons, players complained about their inability to adjust to his style of play. His teams went 21-13, 17-12 and 15-13.
The two other seniors-to-be along with Thomas are forward Melissa Dennett and guard Vanessa Espinoza, both starters. They were equally excited about Warden, as was freshman guard Sara Hunter, the team’s best prospect.
“It was frustrating not knowing what was going to happen for so long,” Hunter said. “But I think if we all, as a team, want something good to come of this, we all need to keep a positive attitude.
“Coach Warden brings a lot of excitement and energy to the program. And I think that’s really good because for things to get turned around it’s going to take a lot of work.”
Driscoll is pleased that, like him, Warden is a native Coloradan who wants to be at CSU. And she has a clear understanding of the Rams’ expectations.
“In the near term, I think to take what is a good nucleus of a team – I mean, this is a team that’s got some talent – and mold them into the team they can be,” Driscoll said. “And I think she’s excited about it because she’s not coming into a situation where the cupboard’s bare. Long-term, you know, we want to be competitive in the conference every year, challenge for championships and hopefully go to the postseason every year, the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT.”
Warden has the same expectations, and the key will be her specialty: “Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. I just had my first recruiting phone call in that brand-new office and, I have to tell you, it felt pretty good.”
She said too many players are leaving for prestige programs such as Connecticut, Stanford and Notre Dame.
“It’s a great time for women’s basketball in Colorado,” she said. “We’ve got a new coach at Colorado and a new coach here. We have to send a message to parents that they don’t have to send their kids out of state. Keep them here. We’ve got five Division I teams in the state. We can’t afford to be that generous with our talent pool.”
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
