By Weston Allenback, GoThunderWolves.com Insider
On Dec. 15, sitting at 2-9 with yet another game slipping through their grasp the night before in a loss to Western New Mexico, head coach Ralph Turner and the CSU-Pueblo men's basketball team needed a gleam of hope to turn their lackluster start into a forgotten memory.
In came Nate Tigner (Jr., Fort Worth, Texas) for his first start of the season that night in a road showdown at New Mexico Highlands. Basketball, the game of momentum, had been eluding the Pack through the first 10 games, and Tigner was enlisted to inject some momentum into the squad.
It just so happened this move motivated by momentum carried with it a newfound confidence.
"I know whether I was coming off the bench or starting, I am going to impact the game," said Tigner. "The only thing I really want to do is finish the game, which is all that really matters to me. I am one of those players who is really sure and really confident about my game. So I try and do that every game."
Led by a few Tigner free throws in the closing seconds, the Pack captured just its third win of the season over New Mexico Highlands, 88-85. But, Tigner added more than just a couple freebies. Doing what point guards do best, Tigner facilitated with five assists. Oh yeah - and a game-high 20 points.
So it began, the new era in ThunderWolf basketball.
Since Tigner's insertion to the starting lineup, the Pack has found their mojo. Winning six of their last eight games, all started by Tigner, the ThunderWolves have bounced into postseason contention. Currently sitting in sixth place in the RMAC, they have a glimmer of hope.
"We are just now figuring out what each player's role is on the team," said Tigner. "We have to just play through our defense first and we are holding ourselves accountable. We have said that all along, but it is just now starting to really stick with all the guys."
However, if it wasn't for a second chance, they might not have gotten the spark from the junior point guard. He almost wasn't even a part of the team - basketball was almost taken away from him.
It takes a tremendous amount of perspective to realize what you take for granted - a sport that has been such a big part of your life and your identity. Of course people make mistakes, but it's those that pick themselves up when they are down who get second chances.
In the case of Tigner, he didn't just pick himself up and brush himself off, he sprung back into action and let everyone know things were different this time.
Last season, had it not been for the bump in the road, it would have been Tigner's junior year with the ThunderWolves. However, he let his grades slip below minimum requirements to participate in a NCAA sport and was ruled ineligible. Tigner was sidelined for the entire 2012-13 season.
"It made me appreciate the classes more than anything," said Tigner. "I have always appreciated basketball, but it made me take school more seriously. At the end of the day, the one thing that I am here for is to get a degree."
By his own admission, Tigner let the majority of his focus go to basketball while slowly his grades began to fall. Eventually, he had dug too big of a hole to climb out of in a short period of time. He had no choice but to take a year to get back on track.
However, he was determined to not let a few bad decisions define his career on the basketball court. Working hard to get back onto the team was just another speed bump in the road of life for Tigner.
But he is no stranger to overcoming obstacles.
Hailing from the inner city of Fort Worth, Texas, Tigner has seen his fair share of tough times. Growing up playing the game that he loved, a game that would eventually land him a free education at CSU-Pueblo, he kept his head on straight.
"A lot of people would consider it a bad area, but I never looked at it that way," said Tigner regarding his hometown. "Even though we were from the inner city, all of my friends and I played AAU and traveled all over the place playing basketball."
The real person to thank in all of this is ThunderWolf assistant coach and head recruiter, Tommie Johnson, who was instrumental in landing Tigner with CSU-Pueblo. Johnson is a native of Dallas and found what is proving to be a key piece to the Pack.
"Coach Johnson was the one that was recruiting me the most out of [all the other schools]," said Tigner. "You could really see that he cared about me and let my family know that I was going to be well taken care of here. Every day he would check in on me and make sure I was doing okay, just through a call or e-mail, and that meant a lot to me."
It was this sense of caring that made Tigner want to go the extra mile to get back with the team that is his new family. Through all of the bumps in the road he had encountered, he found a way to make it all work. As CSU-Pueblo is slowly turning itself into a winner, the credit he is getting for the turnaround is well past due - and highly appreciated.
