DENVER – Allie Navarette has long been a pay-for-play student-athlete.
 
She's been a pro since she was 5.
 
"My dad and I would play 1-on-1 in the front yard for a dollar," Navarette said.
 
Of course the MSU Denver senior forward from Torrance, Calif., is well beyond the days when it was fiscally responsible for Mike Navarette to provide financial incentive for her skill development.
 
After all Navarette, who transferred this season from Hawaii-Hilo, is one of the top players in NCAA Division II.
 
"When I go back, my dad and I still work out," Navarette said. "But not for a dollar any more. He's given me so much money. He said he couldn't do it any more."
 
Heading into an extremely challenging 5:30 p.m. game Saturday at No. 24 Colorado Mesa, Navarette leads all active Division II players who have appeared in games this season with 1,423 career points an 18.5 career scoring average, 473 career made free throws, 573 career free throw attempts and 33 double-doubles. She's also second among active players in career free throw percentage (82.5), rebound average (9.1) and field goal attempts (1,067).
 
In the Roadrunners' 1-1 start to the season, she's averaging 12.5 points and 9.0 rebounds, including a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds in a season-opening 78-72 win over Regis.
 
"She's been a pleasure to coach," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "In areas where she can get better, she's been very open to learning – and a lot of time seniors may not want to do that. But she wants to take the next step on things."
 
At Hawaii-Hilo, Navarette set 19 program single-game, single-season or career records, including career marks for points (1,398), scoring average (18.6), rebounds (685), made free throws (465) and blocked shots (58). She had six career games of 30-plus points, five career games of 15-plus rebounds and five career games of at least three blocked shots. She also had 81 career steals, sixth in program history.
 
She landed at Hawaii-Hilo after growing up in the Los Angeles area while being recruited by several other Pacific West Conference schools.
 
"I always wanted basketball to take me as far as it could," she said. "I wanted to see new places, meet new people and live somewhere else. I've lived in the same house all my life."
 
But when she was looking for somewhere else to play as a senior, it was a Los Angeles connection that led her to MSU Denver. One of her basketball trainers back home was John Bynum, a former starting guard on the Roadrunners' first national championship men's team who is in his second season on the MSU Denver men's basketball coaching staff.
Navarette went into the transfer portal and then made contact with Bynum, who let Haave's staff know that she was looking to change schools.
 
"He was a coach at Shoot 360 (a local basketball-centric gym), so we'd work out and he'd go over my stats with me when I was in season and keep up with me," Navarette said. "And every summer, or over Christmas break, I'd go back and we'd work on things. Then I went back one time and I realized he wasn't there, and they told me he didn't work there any more, that he was an assistant at MSU Denver."
 
The change of scenery has worked out well.
 
"I love the school, the environment, the city, my team," Navarette said. "I really love everything about Denver. Online school is pretty tough – it's hard to stay motivated and teach yourself. But basketball has been a really great outlet. We get to practice and play every day, and it's been such a good stress-reliever."
 
After three years of dominating the PacWest (she was first-team all-league as a sophomore and second-team all-league as a junior), Navarette is getting used to a different landscape in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
"It's just very weird to come out here and not know any teams, not know any of the players," Navarette said. "I knew the PacWest like the back of my hand. I knew all the coaches and everything. It's a weird feeling, but I'm just going to come out here and do what I was doing before."
 
Make no mistake, though, Roadrunners opponents in the RMAC know all about her.
 
"Whether it's watching film or in the game, it's kind of baptism by fire for her," Haave said. "She has to see something once ,or once in the first half, and make and adjustment. And with her experience, she has the ability to adapt well on the fly."
 
Said Navarette: "I've asked the assistant coaches if they (other teams) have watched film on me. And they've said, 'Definitely.' So I'm trying to add more elements to my game because I don't want to be easy to shut down."
 
Things won't be easy on Saturday. Colorado Mesa is picked to repeat as league champions.
 
And while the Roadrunners won fairly easily against Regis and held a halftime lead against Colorado School of Mines, they did fade in the second half in losing to the Orediggers 75-49.
 
"That game was a bit of a mess," Navarette said. "It was a huge wakeup call. To come off a good win against Regis and be so tired and soft was difficult.
 
"This is a big test for us."
 
If she needs help with her scouting report, Navarette can always turn to her father, a former junior college player and retired police officer.
 
"He's been my teacher, my mentor, my biggest supporter," Navarette said. "He sends me a scouting report before every game. We watch film together. He's been my rock.
 
"He's always had a passion for basketball, and he has an extreme court sense. He's so smart. He'll tell me something and I tell him, 'Coach Haave just said the same thing that you are saying.' He's just a huge basketball fanatic."
 
He just has a few dollars less than he used to have.