What is the future of this program?
What is the goal of the program?
The Colorado State women’s basketball team is facing significant questions after an ugly, disappointing quarterfinal loss Monday to open the Mountain West tournament.
The Rams were off-the-mark in nearly every way in a 54-52 upset loss as a No. 3 seed to No. 6 Fresno State.
Where is this program going?
Ryun Williams is well-liked coach by many in the Fort Collins community. His is the winningest program in CSU women’s basketball history (254-149), but Monday’s loss also wasn’t much of a surprise to many who closely follow the program.
This is where the program is at. The Rams rack up a solid number of regular season wins, but don’t threaten for conference titles or NCAA Tournament appearances.
The team wins at relatively high percentage, produces some great players and doesn’t have off-court issues. It’s not a problem program.
But it’s also not a flagship program. For too long, it’s not been a championship program.
CSU administration has not been shy about saying it wants to compete at the highest level, especially with a move to the Pac-12 looming in 2026.
The four ticketed programs (football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball) are generally expected to meet a high standard because of the money they spend and have potential to produce.
This team is floating in the “good but not great” area, seemingly drifting a ways off from championship caliber.
The Mountain West is a fairly weak women’s basketball conference (it’s always a one-bid league) but the gap between CSU and current clear No. 1 UNLV seems to grow a bit more each year.
The Rams haven’t landed better than a No. 3 seed in the conference tournament since 2017. CSU has one appearance in the MW championship game in the last nine years.
Williams just completed his 13th season as CSU’s coach (we’ll see if there’s any postseason appearance this year). The Rams won a Mountain West regular season title in his second year (2014) to begin a run of four-straight regular season titles.
In that time, they lost in the MW tournament three of the four years and just once made the NCAA Tournament. That 2016 NCAA Tournament was CSU’s last time in the Big Dance, with the drought now at nine years.
The Rams have six WNIT appearances during Williams’ tenure and are 2-7 overall in postseason tournaments (NCAA Tournament and WNIT combined).
Dominant players have been brought in by Williams and staff with frequency. Ellen Nystrom and Elin Gustavsson ran things for four years. McKenna Hofschild set records over a dominant four years. Former Creighton star Emma Ronsiek joined for this season to play with her sister Hannah with designs of a championship run.
That’s nine seasons of elite-level Mountain West players and one NCAA Tournament to show.
CSU tends to play a weak nonconference schedule, rack up wins and then falter in the most important games.
There’s a wave of energy around women’s basketball across the country and CSU isn’t capitalizing right now. The packed houses of the Becky Hammon-era feel a long time ago.
Those are some of the questions for CSU administration to answer. Former athletic director Joe Parker signed Williams signed a contract extension in 2023 that carries through the 2026-27 season. Williams’ salary this year is $277,750, according to CSU’s compensation report.
There were hopes early this season when a seemingly beefed up schedule saw the Rams beat future Pac-12 foes Oregon State and Gonzaga just months after they made deep runs into the 2024 NCAA Tournament (CSU also beat the SEC’s Georgia).
Those wins turned out to be a bit of a mirage. Oregon State, Gonzaga and Georgia are all over 100 in the NET rankings. Solid wins, but they didn’t lead to any big season as the Rams went 1-3 combined against UNLV and Wyoming before the early Mountain West tournament exit.
The good news for CSU is that UNLV and Wyoming are being left behind as the Rams move to the Pac-12 and those two programs have surpassed CSU in women’s basketball.
But what is the future in the Pac-12? What does CSU need to do to get the women’s basketball team back into the NCAA Tournament?
The program has drifted from championship caliber. CSU needs to decide if it is OK with that.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: CSU women’s basketball facing questions after Mountain West exit
