Roster continuity year-to-year across college athletics is becoming more extinct by the second.
In the landscape that is the Mountain West, most programs are “stepping stones” for power programs, given the influx of NIL. What they lose, however, they must replace.
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Heading into the 2025-26 season, Colorado State returned less than 10 percent of its minutes from a year ago, losing first-round draft pick and Mountain West POY runner-up in Nique Clifford, in addition to Kyan Evans (North Carolina), Jalen Lake and Jalen Crocker-Johnson, who followed head coach Niko Medved to Minnesota.
In Ali Farokhmanesh’s first season, CSU hasn’t missed a beat, winning eight of their its first 10 games. While many have contributed to the start, one player has taken the conference — and country — by storm.
J0sh Pascarelli has been one of MW’s best players through first month:
Upon the departures of numerous players, Farokhmanesh landed Pascarelli, an All-MAAC guard at Marist who averaged 15.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a sophomore on 44.8 percent shooting and 56.7 percent true shooting.
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Watching his tape, it didn’t take long to see how he would fit in CSU’s motion-laden offense. But the 6-foot-3 guard has surpassed even the highest expectations through the first 10 games.
While he’s averaging 15.1 points, Pascarelli leads the Mountain West in made 3-pointers and 3-point percentage, canning 54.4 percent of his long-range attempts. His 37 made 3-pointers are the third-most in the nation, while his 54.4 3-point percentage is the ninth-highest (min. 50 3PA).
Furthermore, Pascarelli’s best game has been against CSU’s best competition. He lit South Florida up for eight triples in the Rams’ Battle 4 Atlantis finale, following up with an 8-for-10 outing from 3-point range against Colorado.
Shooting nearly 55 percent from 3-point range isn’t sustainable over a full season. But if he’s able to consistently knock down semi-contested looks from 3-point range, the more space that CSU’s guard and secondary ballhandlers will have to operate.
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Coming off a 21-point win over Dartmouth, the Rams take the floor again on Sunday, Dec. 14 at 3:00 p.m. EST against Northern New Mexico.
