COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference released the 2022-23 All-Conference Men's Basketball Team on Wednesday afternoon and Colorado State University Pueblo landed two players on one of the league's three All-RMAC Teams.
Sophomore forward
Isaiah Thompson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Fountain-Fort Carson), who led the league in rebounding and was second in double-doubles, earned Second-Team All-RMAC honors, while third-year sophomore guard
Lian Ramiro (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) was tabbed an Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection after being a Second-Team honoree a season ago.
It marks the first time since the 2017-18 season that the CSU Pueblo men's basketball team had multiple players earn All-RMAC honors. In 2017-18, the Pack had three players named All-RMAC selections as Will Newman earned first team honors, while Jason Anderson earned second-team accolades and Josh Smith was an honorable mention selection.
Thompson earns his Second-Team All-RMAC selection after averaging a league-leading 9.4 rebounds per game, while averaging 11.6 points per game. Thompson, who recorded 10 double-doubles on the season, scored in double figures in a team-leading 20 games and lead the team in rebounding 21 times in 28 games. He also shot 46 percent from the field, 71 percent from the free throw line and made 15 3-pointers.
On the season, Thompson, who was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 13, led the team in rebounding (262), defensive rebounds (215), made field goals (123), was second in assists (43) and tied for second in steals (22). In RMAC play, he averaged 12.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and shot 46 percent from the field and 72 percent from the free throw line.
Thompson is joined on the All-RMAC Second-Team by Black Hills State junior guard Adam Moussa, Black Hills State senior guard Matthew Ragsdale, Chadron State junior guard Bryce Latimer, Chadron State junior guard Isaiah Wyatt, Colorado Mesa redshirt sophomore guard Riniker, Fort Lewis senior forward/center Brendan Boatwright, MSU Denver senior guard Tyrei Randall, South Dakota Mines redshirt sophomore guard Brevin Walter and UCCS senior guard Jon'il Fugett.
Meanwhile, Ramiro earns his spot on the Honorable Mention All-RMAC Team after leading the Pack in scoring at 13.5 points per game and also leading the team in assists with 47 and was tied for second in steals with 22. He also made a team-best 48 3-pointers and 84 free throws. On the season, Ramiro shot 39 percent from the field, 31 percent from the 3-point line and 83 percent from the free throw line, which was sixth-best in the league. In RMAC play, he averaged 13.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game and shot 38 percent from the field, 32 percent from downtown and 81 percent from the free throw line.
Ramiro, who closed out his three year at CSU Pueblo sitting 21st in career scoring with 1,065 points, led the team in scoring in nine games and was second in double-digit scoring games with 17 and led the team with four 20-plus point games, including scoring 20 points in the season finale at home against Regis. Ramiro earns All-RMAC honors for the second straight season as he was a Second-Team selection a season ago.
Joining Ramiro as Honorable Mention All-RMAC selections were Adams State's Isaiah Sampson, Black Hills State's PJ Hayes, Colorado Christian's DJ McDonald, Colorado Mesa's Sam Beskind, Fort Lewis' Obi Agbim, Fort Lewis' Dunnell Stafford, MSU Denver's Caleb McGill, Regis' Aaron Bokol, Regis' David Simental, South Dakota Mines' Kolton Mortensen, South Dakota Mines' Alejandro Rama, UCCS' William Becker, Western Colorado's Avery Rambao and Westminster's Taylor Miller.
Along with announcing the All-RMAC Teams, the league also named their individual award winners as Black Hills State's Joel Scott repeats as the RMAC Player of the Year, while MSU Denver's Brayden Maldonado and New Mexico Highlands' TJ Sanchez share the RMAC Freshman of the Year accolade and Riniker from Colorado Mesa was named the RMSC Defensive Player of the Year. The final award winner from Colorado Mesa's Mike DeGeorge, who was named the RMAC Coach of the Year after leading the nationally-ranked Mavericks to a share of the regular season RMAC title and the No. 1 seed in the RMAC Tournament.
Scott is joined on the All-RMAC First-Team by Chadron State junior forward Josh Robinson, Colorado Mesa redshirt sophomore forward Trevor Baskin, Colorado Mesa redshirt sophomore guard Blaise Threatt, Colorado School of Mines redshirt senior guard/forward Brendan Sullivan, Colorado School of Mines redshirt senior forward Adam Thistlewood, Fort Lewis junior guard Akuel Kot, Fort Lewis senior guard JaQuaylon Mays, New Mexico Highlands senior guard Dante Moses and Westminster junior forward/center Trey Farrer.
CSU Pueblo, who is coached by
Matt Hammer, was one of 11 schools in the league to place multiple players on one of the three All-RMAC Teams as regular season co-champion Fort Lewis led the way with five selections, while Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa each four selections. Chadron State, Colorado School of Mines and South Dakota School of Mines each had three selections. Joining the Pack with two overall selections were MSU Denver, Regis, UCCS and Westminster.
The Pack finished the season with a 12-16 overall record and tied for 11th in the league with an 8-14 record in Hammer's fourth season directing the CSU Pueblo men's basketball program. The Pack just missed getting into a tiebreaker for qualifying for the RMAC Tournament by one game.