Tag: Colorado State

ESPN highlights a sleeper for Saints fans to watch in 2024 draft

ESPN highlighted a sleeper prospect for New Orleans Saints fans to watch in the 2024 draft. Get to know Mohamed Kamara:

As we have officially entered the month of April, now 23 days away from the 2024 NFL Draft, many league experts are zeroing in on potential team fits for prospects heading in. In an article written by ESPN’s Matt Miller, Miller highlights all 32 teams positional needs and which players could potentially fill those voids on their roster.

The player that Miller slotted for the Saints is Colorado State defensive end Mohamed Kamara. The pass rusher has been one that has received a lot of buzz as a potential Day 3 selection after an impressive pre-draft process. Here’s what Miller had to say about the player and potential fit for the Saints:

“An early Day 3 prospect, Kamara would work immediately as a situational pass-rusher giving the Saints much-needed burst off the edge of the defensive line. He had 13 sacks in 2023 after posting 16 in the two seasons prior combined.”

Kamara could be an intriguing option as a late round selection as he’s a player with a ton of athleticism to go along with great production. Something that is noteworthy though is that Kamara isn’t your typical Saints edge rusher. At only 6-foot-1 248 pounds, Kamara is undersized compared to the Saints’ prototype at the position. His 7.93 Relative Athletic Score is beneath their established thresholds, too.

With that being said, taking a chance on a guy like Kamara in the later rounds doesn’t really hurt you as a team in terms of the investment. If he can come in and generate 4 to 5 sacks in a limited role his rookie season, it’s a win for the team. If not, you’ve only probably wasted a fifth-round pick or so.

Based on where this team lives at the moment, taking a flier on a player like Kamara makes a ton of sense for this team. A low-risk investment with the potential for a high reward. Besides, how awesome would it be to have a set of Kamaras on the team?

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2024 NCAA Tournament: #10 Colorado State Loses 56-44 to #7 Texas

Colorado State came into this game with high expectations, but a poor first half cost the Rams a chance to make a bigger splash.

2024 NCAA Tournament: #10 Colorado State Loses 56-44 to #7 Texas

The Rams couldn’t continue their momentum from Tuesday

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A bad first half cost CSU.

After taking it to the Virginia Cavaliers, the CSU Rams faced basically the same fate. A poor first half of just 11 points cost Colorado State. They were able to make a run in the second half, but the Texas Longhorns were just too much to overcome for the Rams.

First Half

The Rams got out to a fast start by opening an 8-2 lead, but then the Longhorns went on a 25-3 run to close out the half. The Rams were getting open looks, but they just weren’t falling. Isaiah Stevens also struggled from the field as he went 0-8 from the field in the first half.

Texas was active on defense as they didn’t allow the Rams to get comfortable. The Rams were held to just one three point make and 4-25 overall from the field with no free throw attempts. The length and physicality kept the Rams in check on both ends of the floor.

Second half

Colorado State tried to make it a game in the second half, but the week of travel they had just left them with dead legs. The Rams were missing a lot of their shots short and just couldn’t overcome the athleticism of Texas. Joel Scott and Isaiah Stevens were able to make it to double figures, but it just wasn’t enough.

Texas was held in check for the most part. Dylan Disu and Max Abmas combined to shoot 10-33 from the floor, 1-12 from three, and 3-6 from the line for 24 points. Chendal Weaver was the other player to step up for Texas. The sophomore guard was able to chip in 11 points and played strong defense for the Longhorns.

Final thoughts

This was a great season for the Rams. They were able to make it to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years. Niko Medved now has some things to work on for the Rams. They need to get more athletic and more physical. A lot of times they were outworked and outphysicaled this season. If the Rams can do that, they can go further in the NCAA tournament.

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2024 NCAA Tournament: Colorado State Blows Out Virginia 67-42

Colorado State came into this game with something to prove and they did so in dominate fashion over the Virginia Cavaliers.

2024 NCAA Tournament: #10 Colorado State Blows Out #10 Virginia 67-42

The Rams made a statement for the Mountain West

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CSU leaves their mark.

The entire basketball community said the Mountian West was underseeded in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The committee basically said prove it. And the Colorado State Rams took that personally. They came into Dayton on a mission and walked out with a giant confidence gaining 67-42 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers.

First Half

The game started out in typical Virginia fashion with the under 16 timeout having a score of Virginia 4 – Colorado State 2. Then Isaiah Stevens made a three, one of just two field goals in the game for him, to give the Rams the lead for the rest of the game. Joel Scott, Nique Clifford, and Patrick Cartier led the way for the Rams in the first half offensively. The Rams shot 50% from the floor and 43% from three, which against a Virginia defense is fantastic.

The real story of the first half was Virginia’s shooting. It was part just missing shots and part CSU defense. Virginia went almost an hour of real time with out scoring a point. Reece Beekman made a free throw with 9:20 left on the clock in the first half and they didn’t score again until Beekman made a jump shot at the 16:37 mark of the second half. A 12:43 stretch of no points for the Cavaliers.

Second half

You would think Virginia would do better in the second half and they did. It’s just Colorado State continued to dominate the game. Anytime the Cavaliers went on a run, the Rams came right back. Reece Beekman was able to get to the line more in the second half which pushed his point total into double digits, but the Rams were able to hold everyone else to seven or less points.

Nique Clifford and Joel Scott both came away with double-doubles, with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 23 points, 11 rebounds respectively.  The Rams made all the necessary plays even without Isaiah Stevens having a large impact. He drew Virginia’s toughest defender and was held to just five points, but he chipped in six rebounds and four assists.

Final thoughts

This was just a great performance from a Rams team that definitely need this type of performance after the past few months. They also fired a shot at the commitee for underseeding the Mountain West like they did. Everyone was watching and it became the talk of the sports world on twitter.

Some fun facts from Reddit, courtesy of u/longconsilver13:

  • UVA had 42 points and 42 missed field goals.
  • UVA over 40 minutes only outscored second half Colorado State by just 2 points.
  • If we take out Colorado State’s highest scorer, they still win by 2.
  • UVA scored 12 points fewer than their NET ranking.
  • And one from u/morrisjr1989, CSU had more rebounds than Virginia had points (CSU had 43 rebounds).

Next UP

The Rams now travel to Charlotte to face the Texas Longhorns and a couple familiar faces. Former Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry is the Longhorns head coach and the Rams will see former Oral Roberts guard Max Abmas as well.

This will be a matchup of two very similar teams and almost a complete opposite game from the Virginia game. If you look at the stats, both teams are very similar across the board. The other player to watch for Texas is Dylan Disu, the 6’9″ 225lbs forward is shooting 50% from three. So this will be a fun one.

Thursday, March 21st 4:50 pm MT in Charlotte vs #7 Texas

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2024 NCAA Tournament: #10 Virginia vs. #10 Colorado State: Game Preview, How To Watch, Odds, Prediction

The Virginia Cavaliers face off with the Colorado State Rams in a First Four matchup. Here’s what to look out for.

2024 NCAA Tournament: #10 Virginia vs. #10 Colorado State: Game Preview, How To Watch, Odds, Prediction

The Rams and Cavaliers face off in the First Four

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Can the Rams move on?

WHO: #10 Virginia Cavaliers (23-10) vs. #10 Colorado State Rams (24-10)

WHEN: Wednesday, March 19th — 7:10 p.m. MST / 6:10 p.m. PST

WHERE: UD Arena; Dayton, OH (13,409)

TV: TruTV

STREAM: Max will be carrying the entire NCAA Tournament

SERIES RECORD: This will be the first ever matchup between the two schools.

ODDS: Colorado State -2.5

It’s not the expected First Four matchup, but we’re here now. Colorado State was not predicted to be the final team in the tournament and Virginia was not predicted to be in the tournament at all. Now both squads face off to send themselves to the first round.

Colorado State finished 7th in the Mountain West and lost to New Mexico in the Mountain West semi-finals. Virginia finished 3rd in the ACC and lost to NC State in the ACC semi-finals. Both squads lost to the eventually tournament champions.

Players to Watch

F Jacob Groves – Virginia

The senior forward form Spokane, WA will be a player for the Rams to key on on defense. Groves is a 6’9″ forward who isn’t afraid to let it fly from deep (He has three or more attempted threes in 20 out 33 games for Virginia). Limiting Groves from deep will be a big factor for CSU.

F Joel Scott – Colorado State

The former D2 Player of the Year has stepped up in a big way for the Rams at the end of the season. Since a defeat to San Diego State in February, Scott has been averaging 16.4 points on 58.7% shooting from the floor. His inside game has been key for the Rams since they’ve struggled from the outside in conference play.

Keys to the Game

Virginia

Limiting the Rams open looks and keeping them on the outside will be the keys on defense for Virginia. The Cavaliers defense is one of the best in the nation, but the CSU offense is one of the best at ball movement. If Virginia wants to play on Thursday, they’ll have to stay consistent the entire game.

On offense, the Cavaliers need to keep the Rams moving. CSU’s defense doubles the post a decent amount which leaves 4 on 3 for the offense. This causes the Rams to rotate to cover the open man and they have a tendency to overrun their rotation leaving a wide open shot or cut to the basket.

Colorado State

Wait for your shot. The Virginia defense allows for ball rotation and the CSU Princeton-style offense wants to keep the ball moving back and forth. The Cavaliers defense is suffocating, so the Rams can’t force a shot like they have been. They need to be patient and get inside looks.

When CSU is on defense, it’s a similar story. Virginia plays at the slowest tempo in the NCAA. This can lull teams to sleep at times. So the Rams will need to maintain their patience and cover their man until they get the ball back on offense.

Predictions

This one will be a dog fight. CSU has the better offense and Virginia has the better defense. The Rams have been doing damage inside and win when they do so. The Cavaliers smothering defense will keep this close. This could come down to the last couple minutes, but the Rams will use that chip on their shoulder to come out on top.

Final Score: Colorado State 62, Virginia 57

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Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of March 3 (and steals)

History was made again this past weekend.

Caitlin Clark has reached the scoring mountaintop in college basketball. She passed Pete Maravich’s college scoring total and now is the all-time leader for either men or women. Here’s how far she ranks ahead of the other top 10 scorers in women’s basketball as well as their steals numbers in comparison to national leader [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]:

Broncos met with OLB Mohamed Kamara at the NFL combine

Mohamed Kamara ran a 40-yard dash in 4.57 seconds at the NFL combine last week.

Colorado State pass rusher Mohamed Kamara revealed at the NFL combine last week that he met with the Denver Broncos at the East-West Shrine Bowl.

The Broncos did not get enough production from their outside linebackers in 2023 and they are now looking to add some reinforcements.

Kamara was named as the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl. A sixth-year senior, Kamara played in 49 games with the Rams, starting 33 of them.

Thursday was the day for linebackers and defensive linemen to work out, and Kamara definitely raised significant interest with his performances. Kamara ran a 4.57-second 40-yard dash, which was the second-fastest time of the day behind only Penn State’s Chop Robinson (4.48). Kamara also had a 10-yard split of 1.58 seconds, a 34.5-inch vertical jump, and a 10-foot, 3-inch broad jump.

The Broncos are no strangers to bringing homegrown talent to the team, with products such as Philip Lindsay (University of Colorado) and Jordan Jackson (Air Force) joining the club in recent offseasons.

Denver holds six picks, including 12th overall in the first round. The 2024 NFL draft will be held in Detroit from April 25-27.

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Vikings 2024 NFL draft scouting report: Colorado State EDGE Mohamed Kamara

Colorado State EDGE Mohamed Kamara was very productive for the Rams. How soon could he be drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft?

Welcome to SKOL Search!

This series will be your guide to the 2024 draft class. From scouting reports to mock drafts and exploring different scenarios, we will be covering the NFL draft and the future of the Minnesota Vikings from all angles.

The focus of the draft class in this space will be on the Vikings’ major needs at quarterback, running back, defensive line and edge rusher. We will also focus on wide receiver since it’s a loaded class and an increased chance to get a Stefon Diggs-type steal in the later rounds.

The Vikings are slated to have 9 picks going into the NFL draft and they need to make the most out of them.

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Feb. 18 (and steals)

Hannah continues to hold serve at third.

For one of the few times all season this past week, an opponent was able to solve Notre Dame’s [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. NC State held the freshman phenom to a season-low 10 points.

It’s ironic that Hidalgo had her worst game when Iowa’s Caitlin Clark had her best game in which she not only broke the NCAA women’s scoring record but poured in a career-high 49 points. Alas, basketball is a funny game.

Here are the top 10 scorers in women’s basketball along with their steals numbers:

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Feb. 11 (and steals)

History is about to be made in women’s hoops.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark needs only eight points to break the all-time NCAA women’s scoring record. That means this coming week will be historic. But let’s see how she stacks up with [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] of Notre Dame. We also

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Feb. 4 (and steals)

Notre Dame’s freshman phenom still is pretty good.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] continues to impressive with each passing game. The Notre Dame freshman scored a career-high 35 points over the past week. Who knows what she’ll be up to next? She ranks among the national scoring leaders as follows, and we’ve included their steals numbers, too: