Cuesta Cougars Start Season Strong

With a roster that sports 10 foreign players, the Cuesta College men’s basketball team opened their season with a win in the Rabbobank Tournament, hosted at Cuesta College.

Cuesta started the season 2-0 as the host of the Rabbobank Tournament over the weekend. By Owen Main

In his 21st season as the head coach of the Cougars, Rusty Blair has turned his junior college squad into a United Nations and in the process has won conference Coach of the Year honors three of the past four years. This year’s team boasts players from, among other places Switzerland, Tunisia, Norway, Russia, and Portugal.

Before he sported the beard, Blair and fellow coaches and college players from around the county ran a camp at Cuesta that a ton of kids in the area attended. It was the place to be for two weeks in the summer. After a day at basketball camp, admission to the Cuesta pool was free. Basketball camp at Cuesta was one of my favorite summer memories growing up. But I digress…

The last Cuesta game I had been to was probably Blair’s third or fourth season in the mid-90’s. Maybe 15 years ago. When you are in middle school, freshmen and sophomores in college look a lot bigger.

While this year’s season is young, Cuesta did come back from a 10-point deficit in the first half to win their first game by two points vs. L.A. Southwest. It seems to me they play solid defense, stick to good offensive principals, and are a very good shooting team overall. They beat West Hills in their second game to go 2-0 and advance to the Rabbobank Tournament final.

After this weekend, the Cougars won’t be back in San Luis Obispo until mid January — playing in tournaments all over the state between now and then.

Photos by Owen Main

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