MSU Denver Athletics

The Roadrunners finished the 2014-15 season with a 26-6 record, including 19-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They captured a share of the RMAC regular season championship, their third consecutive RMAC title. MSU Denver is just the second team in RMAC history and first since 1982 to win three consecutive RMAC regular season championships.

Senior Mitch McCarron earned NABC national player of the year, becoming the second Roadrunner in as many years to earn the award. He helped MSU Denver be ranked as high as No. 3 in NCAA Division II. McCarron and fellow senior Nicholas Kay were both named Capital One first team Academic All-America, the second pair of teammates to both earn first team Academic All-America in Division II history. Those two were not the only players to succeed in the classroom as the team carried a 3.36 GPA for the school year.

The 2013-14 team will go down as arguably the best team in school history not to win a national championship. The Roadrunners finished with the best record in NCAA Division II at 32-2 (.941) and became just the third team in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference history to go undefeated in conference play at 22-0. After spending a school-record eight weeks ranked No. 1 in the nation, MSU Denver rolled through the RMAC tournament and the South Central Region tournament, knocking off a pair of top-25 teams on the way to the Elite Eight. The Roadrunners then won 106-87 over Tuskegee (Ala.) in the quarterfinals and were the only team in Division II to score 100 points in a postseason game in 2014. It took a last second shot by eventual national champion Central Missouri to end the Roadrunners' season in the semifinals.

The Roadrunners featured the consensus national player of the year, senior guard Brandon Jefferson, who broke Metro State's season records for scoring, scoring average, free throws and free throw percentage. Junior guard Mitch McCarron joined Jefferson as an All-American. McCarron and junior forward Nicholas Kay were both named Academic All-America, becoming the first teammates to earn that award in the same season at MSU Denver. McCarron was also the NCAA's Elite 89 Award winner with the top GPA at the Elite Eight.

Prior to the conference season, Metro State was selected to the NIT Season Tip-Off as the Roadrunners became the first Division II team to win more than one game at the Division I tournament. The Roadrunners ended up going 3-1 in exhibition play there, knocking off Fairleigh Dickinson, Elon and Canisius.

Metro State tied the school record for best winning percentage in a season in 2012-13, going 32-3 (.914). The season started with 22 straight wins, the best start for any team in school history. The first setback came Feb. 22 at No. 17 Fort Lewis, but MSU Denver responded for a convincing win the following night at Adams State. The Roadrunners swept the RMAC tournament, winning the championship game 61-60 over Fort Lewis to avenge the previous loss. The winning streak reached six games after the regional tournament, hosted by Metro State after earning the No. 1 seed in the South Central Region. It was the first time the Roadrunners hosted a regional tournament since 2005.

Metro State entered the Elite Eight after three straight wins over Texas opponents in the regional tournament, including a 78-70 win over No. 23 St. Mary's in the regional championship. A 78-65 win over Franklin Pierce (N.H.) pitted MSU Denver against top-ranked West Liberty (W.Va.), which entered the Final Four averaging 103 points per game. Metro State limited WLU to just four points over the first 10 minutes of the game in the 83-76 victory to send Metro State to the championship game for the first time since 2002. The Roadrunners came up one point short in the title game, falling 74-73 to No. 7 Drury (Mo.) after leading nearly the entire game.

Senior Jonathan Morse was named Capital One second team Academic All-America and earned second team All-America honors, while being named RMAC player of the year. He became just the fifth player in RMAC history to reach 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. All five starters earned all-RMAC honors and Morse and junior Brandon Jefferson were both named all-region.

In addition to Morse's success in the classroom in 2012-13, Mitch McCarron was named RMAC academic player of the year and Nicholas Kay was named first team academic all-RMAC. Kay also earned the prestigious Elite 89 award with the top GPA at the NCAA championship event, as well as the RMAC's Summit Award.

In his second season in 2011-12, Wall helped the Roadrunners to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005, helping them peak during the postseason. The young team posted a 25-7 overall record, including 17-5 in the RMAC. Despite the strong finish, the historic season ran through a rough stretch in late January and early February. Metro opened the season with 12 straight wins, vaulting the Roadrunners to a No. 1-ranking for a school record three straight weeks. After a tough road loss at No. 12 Colorado Mines, they ran off five more wins before a stretch of four losses in five games.

Metro responded with four wins to close out the regular season. After a first-round overtime exit from the RMAC tournament, the coaching staff used the time off before the regional tournament to re-energize the team. The Roadrunners responded with three straight wins at the NCAA tournament. The season culminated with a signature win at then-No. 1-ranked and top-seed Colorado Mines on March 13 to capture the Central Region championship. A two-point loss to Montevallo (Ala.) at the Elite Eight ended the season.

The Roadrunners were led by just two seniors, including one senior starter in All-America guard Reggie Evans, who led the conference in scoring and averaged 18.6 points during the season. Evans and junior Jonathan Morse earned first team all-RMAC honors. The Roadrunners were a strong defensive team, finishing 23rd in Division II in scoring defense (62.7). Just as important, they rebounded well, finishing 15th in rebounding margin (+6.5) and took care of the ball, ranking fifth in fewest turnovers per game (10.9) and eighth in turnover margin (+4.4).

Metro State was also excellent in the classroom in 2011-12. As a team, the Roadrunners posted a 3.21 grade point average, the highest among men's teams at Metro State. Morse was also named Academic All-America and was the RMAC academic player of the year. Five players were named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (3.5 GPA or higher) during the fall semester and four earned that honor during the spring semester.

In his first season, the Roadrunners went 22-8 in his first season and advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007.  Metro State also won its first game against a nationally-ranked opponent since 2005, defeating No. 18 University of Mary (N.D.) 78-73 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  The team was led by Evans, who was named Daktronics first team all-region.  Two players were also named academic all-RMAC.

Wall joined the Roadrunners after spending four seasons as an assistant at the collegiate level.  He began his coaching career at Pepperdine and served as the team's video coordinator from 2006-08.  Wall spent the next two seasons at Fresno City College, leading the team to a record of 58-8 during his two years, including a California state quarterfinals appearance in 2009.  Basketball Times rated FCC as the No. 2 junior college men's basketball program in the nation in 2010.

Wall graduated from Colorado Mesa University in 2006, where he earned all-RMAC honors as a senior.  He joined the Mavericks after two years at Fresno City College, where he was a two-time all-conference performer.

A 2001 graduate of Central High School in Fresno, Calif., Wall earned his master's degree from Adams State University in 2011 in human performance and physical education.  He is married to Emily Wall and they have a son, Carter.