Ram Men and Women Hoopsters Open Practice

Fort Collns, Colo. - Colorado State's men's and women's basketball teams opened preseason workout Saturday as the teams prepare for the 2003-04 season.

Both squads along with men's coach Dale Layer and women's counterpart Chris Denker had their teams on hand for "Moby Madness" activites Friday night which, incuding a brief workout at midnight by the respective teams.

The Moby Madness was attended by nearly 700 fans. Activities included a student slam-dunk and three-point shooting contest.

Layer, who guided the Rams to a 19-14 record last year including the Mountain West Conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth, put his team through a pair of two-hour workouts, one each in the morning and afternoon.

Layer was pleased with his team's opening practices.

"I liked the effort and the enthusiasm," he said. "They worked very hard, and it's a start. We have a nice mix of returning players and newcomers. With the experience, we are further along that at this point last year and the newcomers are working hard to learn the system."

Denker put his team through a single session Saturday to begin drills. The Rams played in the WNIT semifinals last year as the team won 20 games for the eighth season in a row.

Seniors Joy Jenkins and Jasai Ferrucho lead the list of returning players.

"It was good to get started. I think we were all excited about Midnight Madness, and it was good to get going today (Saturday)," Denker said.

"We have some senior leadership and we have some newcomers that will help our program."