DENVER – MSU Denver's four-player senior class that will be recognized before Saturday's game has widely divergent basketball backgrounds.
 
Star forward Mario Lacy, Jr., is one of the most accomplished active players in Division II who reunited with coach Dan Ficke for his final season of eligibility. Backup guard Luke Jones joined the Roadrunners from junior college as the final part of Ficke's first recruiting class. Forward Jake Chrisman, who has missed most of the season due to injury, has been a solid backup and team-first player, and guard Camden Smithburg is a walk-on who will graduate in three years.
 
"The two guys we inherited (Chrisman and Smithburg) have been everything we want players in our program to be," Ficke said. "They've embodied our standards and culture from day one, being the best they can be on the court and academically. They're great young men who have been excellent in the classroom and our campus, and I'm grateful for how they welcomed me and my staff.
 
"Luke has been a solid contributor in his two years here and he's also excellent in the classroom and has been a true student-athlete who represented our department at the national convention for DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). He's a jack-of-all-trades who is active in the community and has tried to make our campus a better place.
 
"And I'm grateful to have had a second stint coaching Mario. He's an amazing young man who is obviously extremely productive on the court and is extremely coachable. There's never a question of whether he's going to show up every day and give everything he has, regardless of how he feels. He's been a major factor in our turnaround this year."
 
Lacy has a chance to become a college basketball rarity, he's closing in on career totals of 1,500 points (he has 1,447) and 1,000 rebounds (he has 987). Lacy started his career with one season at Urbana (Ohio), then played three at Belmont Abby (N.C.), with the first two with Ficke as his head coach.
 
"What's special about him is that you don't have to run plays for him," Ficke said. "It's all off effort and energy, running the floor and getting rebounds. When you have a guy who will get you 10 points and eight rebounds, or 10 and 10, without running a play for him, it makes it so much easier for a coach.
 
"He's a very low maintenance player who just shows up to work, doesn't care whether he's coming off the bench or starting. Everything he does is about impacting winning, and he leads by example in that way."
 
Ficke and the Roadrunners hope Lacy can lead them to two victories this weekend, first in the 7 p.m. showdown Friday against Fort Lewis, ranked Nos. 2 and 6 nationally, and just as importantly in Saturday's 7 p.m. Senior Night game against Adams State.
 
While a win against Fort Lewis would certainly strengthen MSU Denver's bid for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, a loss to Adams State would be potentially devastating for the 18-8 Roadrunners. (MSU Denver is currently ranked eighth in the region, and eight teams advance to the South Central Regional.)
 
And MSU Denver, 12-8 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, is also battling for the fourth seed in the league tournament, which would lead to an all-important first-round home game.
 
"I try not to talk about it much with our guys," Ficke said. "They read the stories and are up to date with the rankings anyway. But we do talk about needing to play with a sense of urgency. Our mentality is to go 1-0 every day and right now we need to have the best preparation we've had all year going into the final weekend of the season."