Meet Colorado State's X-Factor: Adam Nigon

Photo by Andrew Fielding, Mile High Hoops

FORT COLLINS—He may not be a glamorous scorer sailing above the basket, or a gargantuan post presence snatching rebounds off the glass, but make no mistake—Colorado State senior Adam Nigon did not go from a summertime walk-on to the Rams’ ‘X-Factor’ for no reason.

Four years after winning a state championship and receiving second-team all-state honors during his career at Broomfield High School, Nigon has found himself at the center of an improving CSU team, one that finished 16-16 last season, playing in the increasingly-competitive Mountain West Conference.

Photo by Mike Laughlin, Mile High Hoops

“Adam epitomizes everything I value in a basketball player,” CSU head coach Tim Miles said about his third-year guard. “He plays for the team, he’s tough minded and has a nose for the ball.”

Although Nigon led CSU in scoring four times last season, including the Rams’ final two contests, most of his contribution typically comes in areas not as noticeable.

He logged almost 28 minutes per game on the floor over the course of the season, second only to point guard Dorian Green. He ranked second on the team in assists and led the Rams in steals, averaging 1.3 per game.

“I guess I just never stop playing hard. I keep going until I need to call out for a break,” Nigon said.

The 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard describes himself as a scrappy player, at least in the early part of his career, and says he relies on effort and attitude to stay competitive in games. He said that’s the way it’s always been.

Nigon began his athletic career as a three sport athlete—baseball, soccer and basketball- before settling on hoops as his focus in high school. “I enjoyed soccer, but wasn’t into it as much… all that running,” he said. “In basketball I played a little more inside, although I was never a post player.”

As Broomfield’s sixth man during his sophomore season, the Eagles went on a playoff run to take the state championship, and Nigon was named the title game’s MVP after scoring a team high 11 points. “It was incredible,” he said. “I still keep up with most of those guys.”

Photo by Andrew Fielding, Mile High Hoops

After a successful high school career, however, Nigon had a tough choice to make. “I was hoping for some bigger looks (from college teams) out of high school, but it was mostly interest from Division III schools,” he said. “I didn’t want to go to a small school just to play basketball, so I decided to come (to Colorado State) and just do the college thing.”

During his freshman year, Nigon took the season off from competitive basketball, although he went to see that year’s Rams team when he could.

“It was nice to just be a fan, but I kept thinking about what I could do to get out there,” he said. “I remember going to games and thinking ‘I could play with these guys.’”

Late in his freshman year, Nigon went to his high school coach, Kevin Boley (now the head coach at Parker’s Legend High School) and mentioned that he was thinking about walking on at CSU. A few weeks later

Nigon was given the opportunity to spend the summer playing pick-up games and practicing with members of the team.

“I remember just playing hard that summer in open gym. I think they only had one senior that year, (Stuart) Creason,” Nigon said. “Stu kept telling me ‘I like the way you play… keep it up and you might get a spot on the team.’”

It was that summer that Nigon earned his nickname.

“It was those guys who persuaded me to keep Adam,” Miles said about the summer competition. “They called him the X-Factor because whatever team he was on would always win the games.”

Once he was on the team, Nigon said he had to adjust to collegiate competition. “The speed and physicality of those guys is on a whole different level from high school,” he said.

In order to keep his minutes up during the course of the past three seasons, Nigon has developed his outside jump shot to become a legitimate scoring threat when he is left open, a skill that compliments his speed and hustle on the court.

“During a game against (nationally ranked) New Mexico, I heard their coaches yelling not to let me get a shot off. It felt pretty good to have other coaches scouting me that way,” he said.

Nigon said he would recommend walking on to a team, as long as a player feels like they’re ready for the commitment.

“It really is a 40 hour-per-week commitment, but you just have to put your mind to it and do it, don’t second guess yourself,” he said.

Nigon said he and the rest of the team tried to stay in Fort Collins as much as possible during the off-season. “This (was) a big summer for us- for what we want to do,” he said.

Nigon said he is working on his jump shot, coming off screens, pull-up jumpers and other offensive techniques to make himself a more versatile scorer. He will also have one other responsibility next season.

Nigon, along with senior Andy Ogide, were voted next season’s team captains, according to Miles.

“During these three years, he’s gone out and made himself into a Mountain West player,” Miles said. “Next season, we expect him to be a leader.”

Contact the writer at mlaughlin@milehighhoops.com

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