Steele Arnold, who recently traveled in June to play in the all-state baseball games with Hemmy O’Brien, traveled again for the Colorado all-state basketball games. Arnold was at Colorado State University-Pueblo June 11-12 with the best high school basketball players in the state, all seniors who recently graduated.
Arnold said there were players from all classifications, 1A through 6A, and many as tall as 6’5”, but not many from tiny towns like Nucla. In fact, he was one of the few to come from the Western Slope, though he knows there was a guy from Meeker there too. Arnold said nearly everyone was from the Front Range.
CHSAA determined the invitees.
He did recognize a few faces, guys from Eades and Wray, and others he’d played against in different sports.
The guys got checked in on their first day and were split into four different teams. Arnold was on the “red” team. They received uniforms, which they were given to keep, and had pictures with the media.
He said it was quite an experience to be able to play in a D-2 collegiate gym. They were announced before games and pictured on the Jumbotron.
Arnold’s team played in the semifinals game and won 90-70. They also played for the championship and while they were down some 20 points, ended up coming back in the fourth quarter and winning the whole thing 88-86.
He didn’t know the coaches, which were from the Denver area and very experienced, and it was a bit different than the coaching he was used to. Still, he said he and the other guys knew the game of basketball well and were able to adapt.
Needless to say, he made friends with the other seven guys on Team Red, and the 5A state player of the year, a Top 20 point guard for the U.S., was on his team and also ended up being his dorm roommate.
Arnold said the food wasn’t bad, and he did get some downtime too. The entire experience was a bittersweet culmination of his high school career and a glimpse into his future as a college basketball player for Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas.
He got another taste of that last year too though, when he traveled overseas to Austria to play in the United World Games for basketball, something like the mini-Olympics.
Arnold told the Forum he’s grateful for the experience to play in the all-state games, and he knows it’s been an opportunity. At the same time, Arnold has worked for it.
And, he’s still training. He started his first set of lifts required by Ottawa last week, and he’s been continuously shooting five to six times weekly. He has to stay with it, so that he can be ready for the next level, which he knows will be “bigger, faster and stronger.”
“It will be a big switch from Nucla to Ottawa,” he said.
Arnold hopes other kids coming up through the basketball program in the West End will also get to participate in the all-state games when they’re old enough.
“It was a really great experience,” he said. “It was unreal. I’m thankful I was able to do it and meet all those guys.”
He added that he was grateful for Mike Rummel and his storage business for sponsoring him individually for the recent trip.
