Enshrined: Taking All the Game Has to Offer
Basketball still gives Nystrom a world of blessings
Mike Brohard
From a young age, it was about the fun. The relationships built, the games and the memories. The places it took you, the people it put in front of you.
Basketball hasn’t changed for Ellen Nystrom since she graduated from Colorado State, and she’s in no hurry to see the ride come to a stop. After her stellar career as a Ram, she took her game to the next level, playing professionally ever since.
Why stop now?
“I don't think the goal is to play as long as I can, but as long as I have the mind and the body to be able to do it, and I don't want to get to a point where I play just because I force myself to play,” Nystrom said. “I still want to enjoy it. So as long as I enjoy playing, I will continue to play until I feel my time is done.
“In sports, it's always ups and downs, but that's also the beautiful thing about sports. you learn to go through rough times, and whenever you go through them, you become a better and stronger individual. I think right now I'm taking it season by season and just trying to stay in the moment, and I'm so thankful to be able to do what I do and live my dreams. So just very grateful every day.”
Which is the way she felt when she received the call from Colorado State Director of Athletics John Weber, informing her she was set to become one of the newest members of the Hall of Fame. In all of her record-setting career, she never considered the honor. Not when she became the program’s all-time assists leader. Or when she became the first – and only Ram, male or female – to record a triple double in a game. Not when she set the Mountain West Tournament record for assists in a game at 16 when she led the Rams past Fresno State in the title game and on to the NCAA Tournament.
She is part of the 2025 induction class which includes Mostafa Hassan and Adrianna Culbert (Blackman). They will be honored at the Hall of Fame Induction Banquet on Friday, Sept. 5, as part of the Hall of Fame and Ram Legends Weekend, running through Sept. 7. The trio will be recognized on the field during the Ag Day football game against Northern Colorado.
She grew up in a family heavily invested in the sport, which is what coach Ryun Williams remembers about her, a leader before her time, a player more versed in team than individual accolades.
“What I remember about Ellen as a freshman was mature beyond her years. She was such a good leader, competitive young lady, physical player, and obviously very skilled and talented,” he said. “And I think she is still that. Through all the years it is how she just always had her arms around our team. I think her teammates would say that Ellen was always looking out for everybody. And as you follow Ellen into her pro career, she's always been the ultimate teammate, the ultimate leader, as well as a great player. But it's just been neat to see her continue her pro career. I mean, she's still playing. That is nuts.”
I'm so thankful to be able to do what I do and live my dreams. So just very grateful every day.Ellen Nystrom
She came to Fort Collins from Lulea, Sweden, along with Elin Gustavsson, from Angelholm, Sweden. In their four years, the Rams won four regular-season titles in the Mountain West, and the accolades followed. Nystrom was the freshman of the year her debut campaign, closing out her career by winning player of the year honors her final two seasons. She was virtually a point-forward, leading the team in assists and leaving as one of the top 10 scorers in CSU history.
From an early age, part of the allure of basketball was the travel. She first came to the States to play in an AAU tournament, and at each and every stop, there have been new cities to explore, memories to create.
She has played in Spain and her home country, as well as Romania. This upcoming season she will play in Iceland, where she will reunite with former CSU teammate Emilie Hesseldal.
“So even from that early point, and then I went on to be with the youth national team and we traveled all around Europe and played. I'm really fortunate to have been able to see as much of the world as I have,” she said. “San Sebastian in Spain, that's one of my top, top cities in the world. It's so beautiful. Really, really beautiful city, great food, great people, so that's absolutely my favorite city for sure.”
Wherever the game takes her, she’s never really alone, not with her family in her corner, and Williams has tracked her career every step. Her boyfriend, Tristin Walley, plays professionally, a relationship she says helps keep her grounded in the game and with life.
“Having a relationship like that is also a blessing because you have somebody that understands your life in and out and in an honest way,” she said. “Just him being able to be there for me whenever I have a bad game or a good game or whatever, it's for sure a great thing to have.”
Williams joked the only strain she ever caused him was in that championship game, because she didn’t hit a field goal – “one basket would have helped,” he quipped – but she did provide offense through the assists and added six rebounds as the team overcame a 14-point deficit at half to win 55-54.
His memories of her are nothing but positive, and beyond her playing, he is proud of the impact she continues to leave on the game.
“What an impressive young lady she is now. And I'm sure all of her pro coaches would say that, that she has brought that to their communities,” he said. “She's really advocated for women's sports. I'm really proud of Ellen for that. I think she's very well aware of what basketball has done for her.
“She speaks often about she enjoys giving back from the lessons that she does, the little camps that she does, and says she even wants to coach someday. And we've had conversations about getting her back here at some point. But she wants to give back, and I'm proud of her for that.”
The blessing for Nystrom isn’t simply because she is still able to play the game she loves at a high level. The game is not who she is, but it has enabled her to be the person she desires to be, the one who turns the blessings it has given her and pay them forward in some way.
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