FORT COLLINS, Colorado — Changing schools is never easy but you can’t tell by watching when Rams grad student Joel Scott dominates.
“There were definitely a little nerves at first, but it wasn’t crazy, it wasn’t too bad,” said Scott. “I did fit in pretty quick. It’s felt pretty good. It’s been a pretty smooth transition.”
Scott knows transitions well. He went from making back-to-back state championship game appearances at Lewis Palmer High School to becoming the Division II player of the year at Blake Hills State in South Dakota, “Every now and then you kind of have to look back and realize how you came up and how you got where you are.”
And the Scott name is well known around Colorado. Joel’s brother Josh was a Buff from 2012-2016! So little bro had to call big bro when his Rams beat his brother’s Buffs in the Rocky Mountain Showdown in Fort Collins, “It was pretty cool. I actually called him right in the locker room. I called him and he was like congrats. It was a cool moment between just siblings.”
Scott is proud to represent diamond in the rough kind of guys like himself. CSU’s roster features transfers from small divisions (Patrick Cartier previously played at the division II level and Joe Palmer the division II level). “ Many people think it’s like ahhh, DII it might not be that good but it’s cool to play there and show what you can do on a national level, on a ranked team so it’s special and it’s something you shouldn’t take for granted at all.”
The Monument, Colorado native is just trying to take in moments of being able to play back at home, “I’m enjoying every last moment of this college career and having a good time with it.” And the thing he likes most about his year’s squad? “The culture we have here is so special you can’t overlook that at all.”