Matt L. Stephens

matthewstephens@coloradoan.com

There are a lot of ways we could describe Ryun Williams.

Coy, for one. Ask him why attendance is so poor for the best women’s basketball team CSU has seen in at least 15 years, he’ll redirect and praise the fans who do show up.

Resourceful is another. He’s built what’s about to be the three-time defending Mountain West champion by relying on blue-chip European prospects who were unaware of Colorado State University’s lack of national prominence.

We could call him demonstrative, particularly in those rare close games.

Might as well throw charismatic in there, too, assuming we’re listening to him do anything other than pitch Papa John’s Pizza.

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What he’s not is arrogant. Nor is he modest. In less than four full seasons at CSU, he’s risen a phoenix from the house Tom Collen built and Jen Warden burned to ashes. He knows what he has. It might not be the best team in program history, but it’s up there. Somewhere ahead of 1999-2000 and behind 1998-99. That one with Becky Hammon, the CSU legend breaking gender barriers in the NBA who Williams and his players respect. But as far as her Sweet 16 team is concerned, quite frankly, they’re tired of hearing about.

“They must have been pretty good because everybody talks about that one team, that Becky Hammon team, that era,” Williams said. “So, do we get an era now? Give these kids an era?”

Era. That’s a big three-letter word. In order to earn one, your team has to sustain such incredible long-term failure, there’s no other way to group the losing seasons, or you wins championships.

Jim McElwain never had an era at CSU. He had three seasons with two bowl berths and never won a divisional title. Dale Layer had an era. And, despite the Rams’ miracle run to the 2003 NCAA tournament, it wasn’t the good kind.

With CSU’s 91-64 win against Utah State on Wednesday, setting a program record with its 20th consecutive victory (surpassing the mark set by the 98-99 Rams), perhaps it is time to commemorate a new era of women’s basketball in Fort Collins. CSU (23-1, 13-0 MW) has won back-to-back Mountain West titles and is four wins shy of wrapping up a third.

“I guess when you break a record and one compares you to somebody as amazing as Becky Hammon and her team and how amazing they were, I guess we are kind of starting our new era. And I hope that people are noticing, and we can get people in our gym supporting us,” said CSU senior Jamie Patrick, who scored a game-high 26 points Wednesday. “If not this year, then definitely next year because we’re definitely building something here, and we want to continue doing that.”

The problem in defining this era, though, resides in knowing what this era is and what Williams isn’t. He isn’t cocky, remember, and wouldn’t want this three-letter word to have his name in front of it. But in asking for an era, something the product of an 82-36 record during his tenure has earned, there’s no one else to name it after.

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It was called the Becky Hammon era because she was the player who changed the program. Greg Williams got her to CSU (1995-98) and Collen polished her. But this year’s team doesn’t have a best player. No four-year star. Jamie Patrick and Ellen Nystrom are both worthy of being named Mountain West Player of the Year, and Keyora Wharry and Elin Gustavsson could be considered the Rams’ most valuable players.

But the person responsible for building this roster? And the bulk of the previous two teams? Williams.

“No, no. This is the Sam-Martin-Gritt-Ryder-AJ-Key-Ellen — this is their era,” Williams said. “We’ve got a great seat. This is absolutely their era.”

Part of it belongs to all of them. But the seat he watches from faces a show he produced. And it’s a great one.

For insight and analysis on athletics around Northern Colorado and the Mountain West, follow sports columnist Matt L. Stephens at twitter.com/mattstephens and facebook.com/stephensreporting.