Former Breck star David Roddy's emergence turns Colorado State into NCAA tourney team

College football coaches flocked to see David Roddy's 6-6, 255-pound frame at Breck School, but even when he tossed TDs and dashed for first downs, they envisioned a future tight end or defensive lineman. Not a quarterback.

"There were teams that would come out to Breck often," Roddy's mother, Darcy, said. "They saw stars but at a different position on the field."

When high major college hoops programs saw Roddy, they were impressed by his skill and athleticism, to go with brute strength. Still, many coaches had difficulty picturing a star. He didn't fit the mold inside and out.

"But I don't think he ever doubted that at all," Roddy's mother added. "He knew great things were on the horizon."

Fast forward to Thursday's NCAA tournament opening round: Football has long been in the rearview mirror for Roddy. The 20-year-old Minneapolis native's now among the nation's elite college basketball players, leading sixth-seeded Colorado State against 11th-seeded Michigan in Indianapolis.

The right sport and right place for Roddy to blossom ended up being in Fort Collins, Colo., playing basketball for Rams coach Niko Medved, a fellow Minnesotan.

Roddy, who has Colorado State in its first NCAA tourney since 2013, found stardom at the mid-major level after leaving Big Ten hoops scholarship offers on the table, including from his hometown Gophers.

"I considered them deeply, but CSU was the best fit for me," Roddy said from Indianapolis. "Football-wise, again, like I always say, I love football. I miss it, but basketball was my calling right now. It's been an amazing journey."

Hidden gem

Overlooked on one of the nation's top AAU squads as a junior in high school, Roddy played with Howard Pulley in 2017, in the shadow of former Duke point guard Tre Jones and future Gophers Gabe Kalscheur, Daniel Oturu and Jarvis Omersa.

Scholarship offers from the Gophers, Northwestern, and Nebraska in basketball didn't come for Roddy until late July and early August the following summer.

But Medved and his Colorado State staff had already prioritized the Breck two-sport star. They saw him leaning toward hoops and jumped all over the opportunity to build a team around Roddy and create a monster in the Mountain West.

"The fact that he believed in us and the vision that we were selling for him and the program and to do that," Medved said Wednesday, "To see it all come to fruition that way is really, really special."

Roddy's parents and his four brothers all gathered around him when he picked Colorado State over the Gophers in November 2018. A few siblings will be traveling to see him play Michigan on Thursday.

"It's going to be an amazing experience sharing it with them," Roddy said. "Just enjoying this moment and just representing Minneapolis the best way possible is one of my goals as well. Hopefully, I've been doing that, and hopefully I can continue to put Minnesota on the map."

After starting his first two years with the Rams, he made an even bigger jump to become Mountain West player of the year, putting up 19 points and nearly eight rebounds per game. He improved his three-point shooting from 27.8 to 45.5% this season — and can defend all five positions on the floor.

"It's awesome," said Medved, who last week signed an extension through the 2028-29 season. "It's a testament to who he is as a person and the work he's put in."

Home away from home

On her drive to Indianapolis on Wednesday, Roddy's mother recalled the news a year ago when the Gophers fired Richard Pitino, starting rumblings about Medved as a candidate to be their next coach.

The Gophers hired Ben Johnson, an ex-Gophers player and assistant, to replace Pitino last March. But it was Dave Thorson who then left the Rams to go back to his Minnesota roots.

It was a blow since Thorson played a big part in Roddy's recruitment and development. Colorado State's budding star had no desire to hit the transfer portal, though. He and his teammates stayed focused on their goal to get to the NCAA tourney this year.

"They figured out amongst themselves that they were going to finish what they all started together," Darcy Roddy said. "They were as close as brothers."

Rams starting point guard Isaiah Stevens has been Roddy's teammate since their freshman year. Fellow starters John Tonje and Dischon Thomas were also part of Medved's 2019 recruiting class.

Roddy gave up being a quarterback in high school, but he still enjoys setting up his teammates with passes, and his leadership was apparent from the beginning.

When the Final Four was in Minneapolis in 2019, Roddy took a picture of a banner and sent it to incoming freshmen, wanting them to envision making a run in the tournament together.

"It took years of hard work," Roddy said. "So being here is a huge testament ... buying into a far-out dream, committing to a team that was 12-20, and then transforming this program."