Call it a little scary, but Colorado State men’s basketball coach Tim Miles has a formula for improvement that could test the growth of the program.
Miles took his turn Wednesday in talking about the Rams at the Mountain West Conference’s preseason media day. He was gauging how the loss of some stellar players from last year’s team, including Andy Ogide and Travis Franklin, would affect his club’s ability to improve on a fourth-place finish.
“The mark of a good program is to find out what you can do after you’ve lost some good players,” Miles said. “You might find anther Ogide that you didn’t know you had in one of your sophomores. Our players have worked hard, and I believe they’ll play with a chip on their shoulder to show they can be good on their own and without the players who have left.”
Junior forward Pierce Hornung, the conference’s sixth man of the year, and junior guard Wes Eikmeier are the top returnees.
While Miles is hopeful of moving up, a preseason poll of conference media representatives has the Rams finishing fourth again. New Mexico was a resounding pick to win the conference, followed by Nevada-Las Vegas and San Diego State. Air Force was fifth, Wyoming sixth, TCU seventh and conference newcomer Boise State last in eighth place.
Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds is encouraged by having three starters returning for the first time in his four seasons. The leadership from guards Todd Fletcher and Michael Lyons and center Taylor Broekhuis will be counted on to lift the Falcons.
At Wyoming, Larry Shyatt has taken over the program, but he’s in his second stint as Cowboys coach. He was in Laramie in 1997-98. After experiencing some roster adjustments — five players left the program — Shyatt is supplying some energy with an “Evening Madness” program Friday to introduce his team to the fans.
“I think we have the most unusual dynamic on this team that I’ve seen in my years of coaching,” Shyatt said. “We have six seniors and six freshmen. We’ve won championships here, and we’re starting to make people in Wyoming aware that we need them. There’s something wonderful about college towns. We have that feeling here.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
