Paul Cesare

Memory: My Metro State Memory by Paul Cesare

Watching Metro State's 1999-2000 Men's Basketball Team on National television (CBS Sports) win the NCAA Division II National Championship game against Kentucky Wesleyan.

Who would have ever imagined it? Winning the national championship put Metro State front and center in the national spotlight. Metro's image/reputation would never be the same again. As a college representative in the Office of Admissions, I can vouch for it. I'll never forget the solid team effort, especially on defense and the remarkable ball-handing and scoring performance by Denver native, DeMarcos Anzures! The team was coached by Mike Dunlap, who was hired after the first-choice coach accepted another position at a Division I college.

The 1999-2000 Metro State's Men's basketball team's Home record was 19-0, - no one could touch us in our own backyard. The noise by the ever-increasing fanbase at the Auraria Events Center home games was thundering and as deafening as I've ever witnessed. The team's 33-4 overall record was the best finish by any Colorado college team in history! Metro State - the once obscure, forgotten college in downtown Denver with no-name players and coaches on that fateful day in March 2000 became a nationally recognized champion - what a memory!