You may have found yourself at Brownson Arena watching the Colorado Mesa University’s men’s basketball team this season, and seeing a player finish an acrobatic play around multiple defenders for the and-one.
You’d know who was finishing the play because it’s possible you’ve seen the player complete the play more than once. It’s an art form. To get off the ground and adjust mid-air with ease for the soft finish around the rim.
If you haven’t been to Brownson, you won’t be surprised to know that the player in question is Connor Nichols, the 6’6 senior who made numerous plays around the rim in a season where he has averaged over 20 points per game this season.
“That’s not the goal,” Nichols said with a grin after being asked how he’s done so well with his mid-air adjustments. “Usually it makes coach [DeGeorge] a little bit happier to see the off-balance shot go in. It’s not really Plan A, usually, at that point it’s like Plan C. Luckily a couple off them fall so it makes it seem like I’m trying to do it. Sometimes I know where the hoop is and I try to get it there and it goes in.”
That extra ability helped Nichols put together another strong scoring season. The Arizona native averaged 21.1 points per game this season, which ranked No. 1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, after averaging 19.5 points per game last season. He helped lead a Maverick attack that ranked fourth in the RMAC in scoring at 81.4 ppg.
“There’s a lot of aspects of my game that I need my teammates involved in,” Nichols said. “There’s also a couple of tough buckets that comes through hard work and training a lot. Coach putting me in the right spots, players giving me the ball in the right spots, that has a lot to do with it so I’m thankful for my teammates. Brandon Hoffer, Tommy Nuno, all those guys, Damon Dubots when he gets double-teamed. There’s a lot of guys that take credit for that.”
Having a strong core can lead to great things for a program, and after consecutive losing seasons during his sophomore and junior seasons, being back in the playoff picture was something to be grateful for.
“You always feel more confident when you’re winning,” Nichols said. “There was a tough stretch for me during the middle of the season that, you know, I was able to get out of with some confidence from the coaching staff. Honestly, winning cures a lot of things. We have a really great team and the pressure isn’t always there on me to score a bunch of points. We can win different ways.”
Nichols also led the Mavericks in rebounds per game (7.0). At 6’6, he displayed tools that show why he’s the top scorer in the RMAC. It’s not easy to have the ability to execute one-dribble pull-ups with such size and length.
“He’s got an incredibly soft touch,” Head Coach Mike DeGeorge said.” I don’t know if I’ve coached anybody that has the soft touch that he does. He would literally be coming down so he’s shooting on the way up and it just lands so soft on the rim it’s unbelievable.
Nichols backed down his opponents in the paint, drove to the bucket for strong finishes and pulled up when he saw an opening. All the different ways to score came from the help his teammates have given him and his burning desire to compete for 40 minutes each and every game.
“I’m just a super competitive guy,” Nichols said. “Being able to sit there and look at another team in the eyes and have that competitive edge, I think that’s one of my things that really drives me. I think basketball is a pretty cool sport in the fact that one player can make a difference. You see that in the NBA all the time and college.”
He scored 20 or more points in more than half of the team’s games this season and registered three double-doubles, a mark that could have been higher if he grabbed a few more rebounds in the games where he had eight or nine, which occurred nine times.
He was named All-RMAC First Team his junior year and certainly seems to be on his way to another All-RMAC selection this season. He certainly has a chance to be named RMAC Player of the Year.
There have been highs (winning at Regis on Feb. 16) and there have been lows (buzzer-beater loss to Regis at home), but the career has been more than just that. It’s been a journey that led to accolades, team success, and a chance to compete with best friends on the Western Slope of Colorado in a tough RMAC conference.
Nichols isn’t sure of what lies ahead in his playing career. He has played competitively since sixth grade when he became serious about the game, but opportunities like that aren’t known until they present themselves.
Nonetheless, he has enjoyed the moments and certainly loved to compete at Brownson Arena Friday and Saturday nights with the roaring crowd and competitive atmosphere.
“It’s kind of like that thing where you just flashback with all the different memories you have,” Nichols said when asked what went through his mind as he walked off Brownson Arena one last time. “It was definitely emotional. From Freshman year, both of us being through it all, the highs and the lows. The game winners on both ends, a big game against Fort Lewis my freshman year. Last year the Black Hills game.. it all kind of flashed before your eyes and my biggest goal was to picture the fans one last time and absorb it all.
“It was definitely a special moment.”
