Colorado State Football and Basketball: Notable Alumni and Their Enduring Legacies

Like all college football programs, Colorado State has its fair share of players that have made their mark on the sports landscape, both for the program itself and in the pros. While the latter aspect usually takes up the spotlight, the former tends to slip through the cracks. This article will explore the most outstanding players in Colorado State football and basketball history, specifically focusing on their contributions to their alma mater.

Colorado State Football Greats

CSU football has experienced a respectable level of success at the FBS level, boasting 18 bowl appearances and 43 weeks in the AP Top 25. The program was ranked at the end of the year three times, with a significant portion of these achievements occurring under the leadership of legendary head coach Sonny Lubick from 1994 to 2005. Despite Fort Collins not being a consistent breeding ground for football talent, the successful players who have emerged stand out even more.

Garrett Grayson (QB, 2011-2014)

No position is more crucial to a football team's success than quarterback, and Garrett Grayson stands out as the best to play the position for the Rams. The 2014 Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year is the Rams’ all-time leading passer, finishing his career going 688-1113 for 9,190 yards, 64 touchdowns, and 27 interceptions, despite only being the primary starter in 2013 and 2014.

Grayson's 2014 season was particularly remarkable, as he threw for 32 touchdowns against just 7 interceptions, becoming the only 4,000-yard passer in school history with 4,006 yards. He led the Rams to a 10-3 record, culminating in a loss to a ranked Utah team in the Las Vegas Bowl. To this day, 2014 remains the only year outside of the Sonny Lubick era where CSU was featured in the Top 25, and that largely is thanks to the play of Grayson.

Although his NFL career as a 3rd-round draft pick by the Saints didn't pan out, Grayson's legacy in Fort Collins remains secure. While Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi may one day inherit this spot if he stays at CSU through his final two years of eligibility, Grayson currently holds the title of the greatest QB in CSU history.

Rashard Higgins (WR, 2013-2015)

While Grayson's performance alone could have made the Rams a contender, there is no denying that he was greatly helped by the presence of Rashard Higgins running routes each Saturday.

Higgins left CSU after his junior season to declare for the NFL Draft, so his counting stats are slightly truncated as a result. With that being said, Higgins still remains Colorado State’s all-time leading receiver, with 239 catches for 3,649 yards and 31 touchdowns over his three years in Fort Collins.

Higgins shone brightly during Grayson's peak in 2014, leading FBS with 1,750 yards and 17 touchdowns on 96 receptions. Following Grayson's graduation, Higgins' performance declined, likely contributing to his early entry into the draft. Colorado State has a history of producing excellent receiving talent, including Michael Gallup, David Anderson, and Tory Horton. Even if Horton had surpassed Higgins in certain categories, Higgins would still occupy this spot, since no other receiver has done so much for the Rams in four years, let alone just three.

Despite never quite replicating his college performance during his six years in the NFL, Higgins will forever remain a legend in the eyes of his alma mater.

Steve Bartalo (RB, 1983-1986)

Largely buried in the records of the awful teams he played for, Steve Bartalo was the ultimate workhorse during his days in Fort Collins, and was practically the only reason his teams didn’t go winless every year.

A walk-on quarterback who became a four-year starter at fullback, Bartalo played in 43 games for the Rams, where he tallied 4,813 yards and 46 touchdowns. He led the WAC in rushing yards three of his four years, was the FBS leader in rushing touchdowns during his senior season, where he tallied 19, and led the WAC in rushing attempts all four years of his career, despite missing several games in 1984 due to injury. However, this fact does not tell the full story of his impact on the field.

To this day, Steve Bartalo still stands as the all-time Division 1 FBS record holder for rushing attempts in a career, with a staggering 1,211. For comparison, Northwestern’s Justin Jackson takes the second spot with 1,142. This doesn’t even take into account his effectiveness catching the ball, with his 132 receptions for 1,079 yards and 3 touchdowns bringing his total plays count to 1,343, which is also still the FBS record.

While this mammoth workload only resulted in the 36th-most rushing yards and 17th-most total yards, meaning he was not quite as effective as some other famous rushing leaders, the context of just how terrible his teams were is more than necessary. The year Bartalo joined CSU was the second year in the seven-year coaching career of Leon Fuller, whose career record with the Rams was 25-55. Without Bartalo on the roster, his record was just 6-28.

Despite being largely forgotten due to the terrible teams he carried to any sort of relevance, Bartalo played a part in helping to revitalize CSU football, laying the groundwork for the offensive style that would take the Rams to new heights in the coming years.

Greg Myers (DB, 1992-1995)

A football team cannot exist without a defense, and a list of the greatest players in CSU history cannot exist without Greg Myers. Myers is one of the most decorated players to ever step foot on the field in Fort Collins.

Read also: The history of Colorado Mesa

Myers was the defensive heartbeat of some of the best Colorado State teams ever, leading the Rams to back-to-back WAC titles in 1994 and 1995. Myers tallied 14 interceptions, tied for the all-time CSU record, during his time as a defensive back, and made an even greater impact on punt returns, where he tallied 1,333 yards on 13.2 yards per return.

Myers’ 1995 season is still revered in the eyes of CSU fans to this day. In addition to tallying three interceptions, Myers led the FBS in punt return yards, with 555, and touchdowns, with 3. In addition to being an academic All-American for the second straight year, Myers became not only a consensus athletic All-American, but became the first Ram to win a major national award, winning the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the best defensive back in the country.

Myers is one of just two CSU alumni to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Despite CSU’s stacked lineup of defensive stars, with the likes of Mike Bell, Joey Porter, Mark Mullaney, and Gary Glick being strongly considered for my list, I had to give the nod to Myers, simply due to the fact that he has the most stacked trophy case out of any player to ever wear the green and gold.

Colorado State Men's Basketball Legends

Basketball has seen slightly less success in Fort Collins than football has, but said success has been sustained across largely different eras. The Rams have won six conference regular season titles, two tournament titles, and have been to March Madness 13 times, making it as far as the Regional Final in 1969. Here are the school’s greatest players to ever step on the hardwood.

Bill Green (F, 1960-1963)

The Rams’ only consensus All-American, Bill Green still shines as one of the best hoopers to play for Colorado State. During a much slower era of college hoops, Green managed to emerge as a dominant scorer. During his three years as a starter for the Rams, he averaged 22.1 points per game, 9.6 rebounds per game, and shot .561% from the field in his career.

This includes his dominant 1962-63 season where Green averaged 28.2 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and shot .580% from the field. Green was named a second team All-American, leading the Rams to an 18-5 record, and their second ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

Green was selected by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 1963 NBA Draft, but Green’s fear of flying drove him to spur the Celtics in favor of a career as a teacher in the Bronx, where he worked until he passed away in 1994.

While his NBA career remains a massive “what if,” Green’s legend at CSU remains intact as one of the greatest players in school history.

Pat Durham (SF, 1985-1989)

When Pat Durham committed to play for Colorado State starting with the 1985-86 season, the Rams were in the middle of a historic drought, approaching two decades since CSU had made the NCAA Tournament. Durham ended that drought in style.

After averaging just 6 PPG as a freshman, Durham exploded during his sophomore year, averaging 18.1 points, 1.8 assists, 2.1 blocks and 9.3 rebounds per game, the latter two of which leading the WAC. The Rams were still awful, but they at least had a centerpiece to build around.

Former Fresno State head coach Tiny Grant turned Durham into an all-around force during his final two seasons, as Pat averaged 18.9 points, nearly two steals, an assist and a half, and over seven rebounds per game during his junior and senior season. In Durham’s final season, the Rams won their first ever WAC title, and ended their historic drought, making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before being bounced by a Top 10-ranked Syracuse. Durham’s NBA career was short, only lasting two seasons, but he enjoyed a long, successful career in Europe.

Durham retired as the school’s all-time leader in points scored (1,980), rebounds (851), field goals made (705), field goal attempts (1,378), free throw attempts (816) and free throws made (569). During his time in Fort Collins, Durham was named 1st Team All-WAC three times, and won the coveted Nye Award twice, cementing him as one of the very best to play for the Rams.

An Audible: Recognizing a Women's Basketball Icon

Becky Hammon (PG, 1995-1999)

Becky Hammon is one of the greatest women’s basketball players ever. The undrafted prospect went on to be a 6-time WNBA All-Star, 2-time WNBA First and Second Team player, and went on to become a great trailblazer, being the first woman to serve as an NBA assistant coach, before becoming a dynastic coach with the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, and eventually being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, the only CSU alum for whom that’s true.

However, what is often forgotten about Hammon’s career is how obvious all of this should have been from the beginning. The only reason Hammon went undrafted was because the WNBA was being flooded with prospects from the disbanding ABL, because it certainly was not for a lack of production.

Hammon was a monster during her time as a Ram, as her teams finished with an overall record of 104-21. Hammon averaged 21.9 points, 4.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game over her four years in Fort Collins. She led the WAC in scoring thrice, field goal and three point percentage twice each, and led Colorado State to the NCAA Tournament three times.

This all culminated in her ridiculous 1998-1999 season, where Hammon was named consensus First Team All-American, the only CSU women’s hooper to receive the honor. Hammon led the Rams to a 33-3 record, topping out with a program-high ranking of #4 in the AP Poll, earning a tournament 2-seed before falling to 3-seed UCLA in the Sweet 16.

Hammon’s legacy in green and gold has been forever cemented with her #25 jersey being forever raised to the rafters of Moby Arena. She is without a doubt the greatest player, either male or female, to play on the courts of Colorado State, so she absolutely had to be on this list.

Isaiah Stevens (PG, 2020-2024)

Despite his impact being largely overshadowed by a couple of his teammates, first David Roddy, then Nique Clifford, no player has ever done more for the Rams than the diminutive point guard out of Allen, TX, Isaiah Stevens.

While Roddy and Clifford both went on to become first-round NBA draft picks, Stevens worked in the shadows to overtake Pat Durham as Colorado State’s all-time leader in scoring and assists. Stevens averaged 15.4 points and 5.6 assists per game during his 5 years with the Rams. His teams made three NCAA Tournaments, spent 15 weeks in the AP Poll, and of course, his brilliant passing was instrumental in helping Roddy and Clifford become first-round picks in the first place.

Stevens now works to carve out a career as an NBA role player, but his legacy in Fort Collins stands tall.

Colorado Buffaloes: A Look at Football Greats

It's time to consider the all-time greats in Colorado football history.

Honorable Mentions

These eight were just outside my top 10: RB Eric Bieniemy, DE Herb Orvis, RB Phillip Lindsay, WR Micahel Westbrook, WR Cliff Branch, OG John Wooten, TE Daniel Graham and CB Deon Figures.

Top 10 Players in Colorado Football History

10 - QB Kordell StewartOne of the best athletes to ever step foot on Folsom Field, Kordell "Slash" Stewart was an outstanding playmaker. Whether passing the ball or using his legs to gain big chunks of yardage, Stewart became an All-Big Eight performer and a second-team All-American.

9 - S Dick AndersonDick Anderson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993, and for good reason. Anderson was named a first-team All-American during his senior season in 1967, a year in which he hauled in seven interceptions.

8 - QB/RB Bobby AndersonThe younger brother of Dick, Bobby Anderson was a tremendous offensive weapon at both quarterback and running back during his three seasons with the Buffs (1967-69). While in Boulder, he passed the 2,000-yard mark in passing (2,198) and rushing (2,367) for his career.

7 - QB Darian HaganDarian Hagan, the best option quarterback in CU history, ran the I-Bone option to perfection. Hagan was the quarterback of the 1990 national championship team, which beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.

6 - QB Shedeur SandersShedeur Sanders is the greatest QB in CU football history. Sanders has rewritten the record books while helping lead Colorado's turnaround from a one-win team in 2022 to a potential 10-win team this season.

5 - OG/LB Joe RomigOne of the best two-way players in CU history, Joe Romig was a standout offensive lineman and linebacker during his time with the Buffs. Romig's No. 67 was retired at one point, largely because he was a two-time All-American and placed No. 6 in Heisman voting in 1961.

4 - RB Byron "Whizzer" WhiteColorado's first superstar, Byron "Whizzer" White dominated on and off the field throughout his college career. In 1937, he led the country in rushing with 1,121 yards and finished second in the Heisman Trophy race. After college, Whizzer earned two Bronze Star medals in the military and spent 31 years serving on the Supreme Court.

3 - DE/OLB Alfred WilliamsAlfred Williams is arguably the best defensive player in Colorado history. In 1990, Williams was a unanimous first-team All-American and was awarded the Dick Butkus Award, given to the nation's best linebacker. Williams still owns the school-record for career sacks with 35.

2 - RB Rashaan SalaamColorado's first Heisman Trophy winner, Rashaan Salaam made the most out of his three seasons with the Buffs. During his magical run to the Heisman in 1994, Salaam ran for 2,055 yards and 24 touchdowns.

1 - WR/CB Travis HunterFans should try and enjoy Colorado's upcoming trip to the Alamo Bowl because it'll be the last time Travis Hunter wears a Buffs uniform.

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