Rams Relief: Team Together
11/16/2020 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Ram Club, Stalwart Rams Relief
Student-athletes have so much to consider during the recruiting process.
Do they like the team and coach? Does the university fit them academically and athletically? Adam Thistlewood never thought about a booster club association with a college basketball program. Now he can't imagine his life being the same without the aid of the Roundball Club.
"I'm super grateful for the Roundball Club. Every year we have a dinner – I'm not sure we'll have it this year – before the season, and all the Roundball members are there," Thistlewood said. "Just the connections you make you never thought we're possible … Going into college, I had no idea Roundball Club existed.
"When you get here on campus and you meet these people and you realize how much they care about CSU and CSU basketball, it's amazing. They are so supportive, so generous and they want you to succeed. They're not just doing this because they have to, they do this because they want to, and that is very special."
In a very unprecedented time in all of our lives, Colorado State Athletics and the Rams Club are asking all of our valued supporters to donate or make a gift which will have a life-altering impact on our student-athletes. The financial crisis is real for everyone, yet our primary goal remains to create the greatest experience for our student-athletes. Your gifts will help lessen the impact they feel as they pursue their athletic and educational goals.
The coaches fully understand the impact the Roundball Club makes, as it allows Niko Medved to sculpt a program which fits his vision.
"I mean, it's everything. It's obviously just the support they have as fans, going to the game and supporting our guys in the community," he said. "Knowing you have that support is huge for us. From a financial perspective, obviously we have a budget here we work with, but they enable us to do things above and beyond and take our program to the next level.
"We'd never be able to survive or build the type of program we want to have without the support of the Roundball Club. In today's time, with everything going on, it's never been more important."
Financial support from the Roundball Club, as well as past letter winners from the program, have helped Medved and his staff plan and schedule foreign trips for the team, continue their professional development as a staff and structure leadership programs and the Rams Excel series for his players.
The philanthropic giving has also beefed up the training for the team, with additional equipment and the ability to remain up-to-date with technology advances. Thistlewood thinks directly about the shot-tracker devises they use, which he said have helped him recognize strengths in his game, as well as weaknesses to improve.
Overall, giving by donors and letter winners allows him to pursue all of his college plans with a clearer head.
"I think the ability to not have to worry about finances for a college student is something is almost indescribable," he said, referring to his scholarship. "That's an additional stress a lot of student have in their lives, and as an athlete, I have even more stress with competing in a sport. So taking such a massive stress off of me just frees up so much mental capacity to be able to perform on the court and in the classroom."
Medved understands the current financial climate with the full understanding adjustments are necessary. However, it will not diminish his plans to carry the men's basketball program forward, and to do so, he is counting on his most loyal fans and past letter winners to share in that vision.
"We're grateful for them. They're our most stalwart Rams, the people we know are there for us that you feel you have a relationship with," Medved said. "They take what's good and they make the experience here so much better. We always need them, but maybe more than ever. Everybody is struggling and trying to find a way how we get through this and try to come out the other side and come out stronger than ever. I think this is critical. People who want to support us or feel they can support us now in a time of need means everything."
Do they like the team and coach? Does the university fit them academically and athletically? Adam Thistlewood never thought about a booster club association with a college basketball program. Now he can't imagine his life being the same without the aid of the Roundball Club.
"I'm super grateful for the Roundball Club. Every year we have a dinner – I'm not sure we'll have it this year – before the season, and all the Roundball members are there," Thistlewood said. "Just the connections you make you never thought we're possible … Going into college, I had no idea Roundball Club existed.
"When you get here on campus and you meet these people and you realize how much they care about CSU and CSU basketball, it's amazing. They are so supportive, so generous and they want you to succeed. They're not just doing this because they have to, they do this because they want to, and that is very special."
In a very unprecedented time in all of our lives, Colorado State Athletics and the Rams Club are asking all of our valued supporters to donate or make a gift which will have a life-altering impact on our student-athletes. The financial crisis is real for everyone, yet our primary goal remains to create the greatest experience for our student-athletes. Your gifts will help lessen the impact they feel as they pursue their athletic and educational goals.
The coaches fully understand the impact the Roundball Club makes, as it allows Niko Medved to sculpt a program which fits his vision.
"I mean, it's everything. It's obviously just the support they have as fans, going to the game and supporting our guys in the community," he said. "Knowing you have that support is huge for us. From a financial perspective, obviously we have a budget here we work with, but they enable us to do things above and beyond and take our program to the next level.
"We'd never be able to survive or build the type of program we want to have without the support of the Roundball Club. In today's time, with everything going on, it's never been more important."
Financial support from the Roundball Club, as well as past letter winners from the program, have helped Medved and his staff plan and schedule foreign trips for the team, continue their professional development as a staff and structure leadership programs and the Rams Excel series for his players.
The philanthropic giving has also beefed up the training for the team, with additional equipment and the ability to remain up-to-date with technology advances. Thistlewood thinks directly about the shot-tracker devises they use, which he said have helped him recognize strengths in his game, as well as weaknesses to improve.
Overall, giving by donors and letter winners allows him to pursue all of his college plans with a clearer head.
"I think the ability to not have to worry about finances for a college student is something is almost indescribable," he said, referring to his scholarship. "That's an additional stress a lot of student have in their lives, and as an athlete, I have even more stress with competing in a sport. So taking such a massive stress off of me just frees up so much mental capacity to be able to perform on the court and in the classroom."
Medved understands the current financial climate with the full understanding adjustments are necessary. However, it will not diminish his plans to carry the men's basketball program forward, and to do so, he is counting on his most loyal fans and past letter winners to share in that vision.
"We're grateful for them. They're our most stalwart Rams, the people we know are there for us that you feel you have a relationship with," Medved said. "They take what's good and they make the experience here so much better. We always need them, but maybe more than ever. Everybody is struggling and trying to find a way how we get through this and try to come out the other side and come out stronger than ever. I think this is critical. People who want to support us or feel they can support us now in a time of need means everything."
