DENVER – There's no hiding from it.
 
The MSU Denver men's basketball program is still one of the most revered in the history of Division II, still has the third-highest winning percentage in Division II, still has those two national championship banners and multiple other trips to the national finals, semifinals and quarterfinals.
 
First-year Coach Dan Ficke, who sends his team out for its first two games of the season this weekend, embraces all that MSU Denver is, has been, and wants to be again.
 
"We have to honor the past," Ficke said. "We want our alumni to come back. We want our freshmen to understand what kind of program they are part of. It's part of our recruiting – this program is one of the bluebloods of college basketball. In Division I, II or III, we're among the top 10 all-time (with a .700 winning percentage). You've got to talk about that. We want guys who are excited about that, but we want guys who are also excited about the work that goes into getting back to that.
 
"We take great pride in our tradition. If we don't learn from those teams, we're only hurting ourselves – because they were successful right here. Has the league changed, the times changed and the school changed? Sure. We have to adapt to that.
 
"But we have to take pride in wearing our colors. Because our league looks at us for who we are. Every night we're going to get the best shot from everyone in the league, because when they see us, they see those banners, they see a team they couldn't beat for 20 years and now they feel it's their time to do it. We have to be ready to take everyone's best shot, and that's only going to make us better. We have to embrace the identity as the team everyone wants to beat, and hopefully that puts a chip on our shoulder about how hard we have to compete every single night."
 
The Roadrunners have been a more pedestrian 101-88 in the seven seasons since its last trip to the Division II national tournament.
 
But while Ficke had all three of his teams at Belmont Abbey (N.C.) qualify for the Division II tournament, getting there the first time around at MSU Denver will be no easy task. The Roadrunners are picked seventh in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and have an incredibly young roster with only two players who have seen major minutes at the Division II level.
 
"We compete defensively, and we show flashes of being where I want our program to be," Ficke said. "The first eight minutes at CSU, we showed we could compete with anybody. Now we're young. We've got four freshmen who are playing heavy minutes. So we're going to have some lapses.
 
"We have to hang our hat on being a defense and rebounding team as our offense grows over the course of the season. We have some really good pieces."
 
The Roadrunners are headed to Oklahoma City to open the season Friday against host Oklahoma Christian at 6:30 p.m. MST and then play a neutral-site game against Arkansas-Fort Smith at 1 p.m. MST on Saturday.
 
Those teams are picked to finish 14^th and 11^th, respectively, in the 16-team Lone Star Conference.
 
"Oklahoma Christian is athletic, has a really good (power forward) and a couple of good guards who can make shots," Ficke said. "It'll be a great first test for us. It's a team that plays a little similar to us. It's a team that presents some unique challenges with its size and length at a couple of positions, but it's a team that we can hopefully compete with."
 
"Fort Smith plays a different style. So we'll see two different styles, but it's two styles that will prepare us for all the teams we're going to face in our league. And that's what the non-conference season is all about."
 
MSU Denver's lone returning starter is senior wing Tyrei Randall, who averaged 12.5 points per game and was All-RMAC honorable mention. Transfer guard Quentin Rock played major minutes in his two seasons at Fort Hays State (Kan.).
 
In an exhibition game at Colorado State, starting alongside Randall were true freshmen Brayden Maldonado (point guard) and Yaw Reneer (small forward), redshirt freshman Jaden Kennis (shooting guard), and third-year sophomore Caleb McGill, a forward who played sparingly for two seasons at Division I UC Davis.
 
"Caleb McGill gives us an inside presence," Ficke said of the former Colorado all-stater. "He's a very good inside scorer and a great playmaker out of the post. He has the ability to stretch the floor as well and make an open 3."
 
"Everyone is ready," Ficke said. "We've been going since August. We're tired of beating up on each other. The scrimmages and exhibitions were a little teaser, the guys knew that it didn't count. So we're ready to start making that climb and to start getting ready for conference play."