Here is what is happening around the Centennial State this July 4 weekend.

• Air Force released a statement concerning the leadership of its athletic department: “On Friday, June 26, 2026, the Department of the Air Force informed the Air Force Academy Athletic Corporation that the service of Nathan Pine as the Director of Athletics at the Academy was no longer accepted. Given this directive and to ensure mission continuity, the AFAAC Board of Directors has appointed AFAAC CEO Dr. Nancy Hixson to provide these services on an interim basis. At this time, Mr. Pine remains under contract as an employee of the AFAAC.” The Denver Gazette’s Brent Briggeman with more: “Pine will be paid through the remainder of his contract, which runs through 2028. …Tension between the athletic department and (superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony D.) Bauernfeind has been an underlying theme throughout the superintendent’s two-year tenure, as sources tell The Gazette of friction involving coaches’ complaints about limited player access, tight recruiting budgets and complicated staff hire approvals.” (link)
• Led by coach Deion Sanders, the University of Colorado football team will participate in the Big 12 Football Media Days on Tuesday at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Joining Sanders at the event will be quarterback Julian Lewis, wide receiver Danny Scudero, tight end Zach Atkins, and defensive backs Ben Finneseth, Naeten Mitchell, and Cree Thomas as the Buffaloes take part in the first day of the two-day conference event.  The Big 12 Football Media Days will be televised live on ESPNU from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. MT and simulcast on Big 12 Studios. Portions of the first day will also air on ESPN2
• The University of Denver hockey program has 22 current and former players attending 2026 NHL prospect development camps in July. Development camps are a time when teams can get prospects and invitees familiar with the professional level of the sport, so the players are prepared for the transition to the pro game. Camps typically last three to five days and focus on various aspects of being a professional, including on-ice skill work, nutrition and meal preparation, off-ice training, and finances. (link)
• Colorado State University Pueblo signed men’s basketball coach Zach Ruebesam to a five-year contract extension, keeping him at the school. through the 2030-31 season.  In his first season with the Pack, Ruebesam coached the ThunderWolves to a 22-8 overall record and posted a 15-5 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play and tied for second place in the league, and that was the best conference finish since the late 1980s.  CSU Pueblo also notched its first postseason win in 11 years, a 72-63 quarterfinal victory over Colorado School of Mines in the RMAC Tournament at Massari Arena. (link)
• Derek Brooks has returned to the Air Force Academy for his third stint as an assistant women’s basketball coach.  He initially served as the military assistant coach under former head coaches Andrea Williams (2014-2015) and Chris Gobrecht (2015-2017).  (link)
• Colorado Women’s Tennis HC Anthony Pham agrees to a contract extension through the 2029 campaign. (link)
• Northern Colorado men’s basketball coach Steve Smiley has added eight new players to the Bear roster. (link)
• Colorado Mesa men’s basketball program announced a six-player freshman class featuring a pair of state champions, two 1,000-plus career performers, and multiple all-state and all-league honorees. (link)
• Northern Colorado’s Athletics Department was busy with several hirings in the past 30 days, highlighted by the naming of Aiden Tank as the Director of Strategic Communications. The Bear hiring process began with Nick Maas taking over as the UNC cross-country and track & field Coach. Other new hires in Greeley have Kyle Ponsler joining the swim & dive staff, Samantha Schweikert as the new assistant director of marketing & fan engagement, Demitrius Martin as an assistant men’s basketball coach for player development, Matthew Delgado hired as assistant director of video services, and Jenna Knudson and Jamie Williams as assistant women’s basketball coaches. (link)
• After the retirement of Jen Fisher on May 20 and the hiring of Michelle Gascogne on June 8 as Colorado State’s 13th softball coach, the school announced the addition of new assistant coaches (Tony Smith, Jake Long, and Taylor Gilmore) to her staff on June 17.
• Zoe Bacon has joined Annie Van Wetzinga’s softball staff at MSU Denver as the top assistant.  She spent last season as the pitching coach at Colorado Mines. (link)
• Led by Colorado Mesa, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has announced the recipients of the 2025-26 Brechler Awards recognizing the top-performing academic teams across the league’s 22 sponsored sports.  The award is named after former RMAC Commissioner Paul Brechler (1976-1990), who, along with his wife, Wanda, was the first pair of inductees into the RMAC Hall of Fame. (link)
• The Mountain West has officially launched its new direct-to-consumer digital subscription platform MW+. Powered by streaming tech and services company Kiswe, the new platform will serve as the dedicated home for conference and member school live events, original programming and on-demand content not available through traditional broadcast partners. MW+ will be available for an annual subscription of $79.99 or a monthly subscription of $10.99. (link)
• With the University of Denver now an official member of the West Coast Conference, the Pioneers will shift their streaming platforms for athletic programs outside of hockey from Midco Sports Plus to ESPN+. The streaming shift applies not only to the programs making the transition from the Summit League to the West Coast Conference this athletic season, but also to Denver’s nationally ranked gymnastics (Big 12) and lacrosse (BIG EAST) programs. NCHC.tv will continue to be the streaming home for Denver hockey in 2026-27. Based on the fall sports schedules released so far and last season’s winter and spring schedules, ESPN+ will be the streaming home for approximately 140 Denver athletic events this coming season.  (link)
• Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould sits down with Yogi Roth on The Dawn podcast to discuss the vision, culture, and future of the reborn conference. (link)
• As the process unfolded step by step, the outside world looked on, dumbfounded. What the world watched from afar, Teresa Gould bore witness to from inside the building. (link)
• The Colorado State men’s basketball team has scheduled a game at Wisconsin on December 30.  It will be the first meeting between the two universities, as the Rams have only played twice in the state against a Wisconsin school – UW Green Bay in 1984 and 1988.
• Former CU men’s hoop standout Shaun Vandiver has been named an assistant at USC Upstate in South Carolina.  At CU, he was the Big Eight’s rookie of the year in 1988 and a two-time First Team All-Big Eight selection in 1990 and 1991. He led Colorado to a third-place finish in the National Invitation Tournament as a senior.  Vandiver was selected 25th overall in the 1991 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, but played the next nine years for various teams in Europe. He was the head coach at Emporia State in Kansas for seven seasons (2011-2018) and compiled an 87-112 record with the Hornets. He has been an assistant at Wyoming (2002-2003, 2005-2010, and 2018-2025), Bowling Green (2004-2005), Boise State (2010-2011), and Weber State (2025-2026). (link)
• Boulder Prep product and Colorado Mines freshman standout Sierra Wall won the USATF U20 3,000m steeplechase title on June 18, earning a berth in the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships, to be held August 5-9 at Hayward Field in Eugene.  During her first year in Golden at NCAA Division II meets, Wall finished 20th in cross country, seventh indoors in the 5,000m, and second outdoors in the steeplechase.  She was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s Freshman Track and Field Athlete of the Year. (link)
• Former Colorado College volleyball standout Jenny Jenks has rejoined the Tiger program as an assistant to interim coach Nikki Binetti. (link)