Ford’s decision to withdraw his name from the transfer portal shortly after Logie was hired last spring is, in retrospect, one of the more important moments of the program’s last 12 months.

His leadership and effort ensured that the Bobcats were never out of a game or, as it turned out, out of the Big Sky Conference title race. For the season, Ford averaged 16.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.85 steals per game. He had at least one steal in every game except for his last one.

According to MSU, Ford’s 100 steals and 266 rebounds this season make him just the fifth player since 1979 to have at least 100 steals and 250 rebounds in a season — joining Clyde Drexler in 1982-83 at Houston, Ron Harper in 1985-85 at Miami (Ohio), James Posey in 1998-99 at Xavier and Eric Coley in 1999-2000 at Tulsa. At 6-foot, Ford is the only player under 6-5 to achieve that feat.

In the final game of Ford’s career, he was his usual do-everything self: 26 points on 9 of 13 shooting (6 of 8 on 3-pointers), six rebounds, four assists. Twenty-two of those points came after halftime as he did all he could to keep MSU close after losing a 14-point lead.

“Rob chose us, and he wouldn’t let us fail,” Logie said. “The perseverance that he built in our program through his example this year is going to be echoed for years and years to come.”

Ford is hopeful that is the case.

“I hope I just left grit,” he said. “We’re looking to win, and we’re looking to play as hard as we can. So I hope that’s what I left behind.”

While Ford was second on the team in minutes with 1,185, Olmsted had a vastly different season. But in his 262 minutes, he became a beloved combination of savior and folk hero that MSU fans will remember for a long time.

Olmsted spent four seasons as a walk-on at Arizona State before becoming a Bobcat. He appeared in 27 of MSU’s 35 games and played more than 10 minutes just four times in his first 21 times on the floor. But when he was called into action on March 2 after teammate Brandon Walker was ejected at Eastern Washington, Olmsted changed the trajectory of MSU’s season.

The Bobcats lost by four in overtime to EWU and then won four straight games, an incredible response that ended with a Big Sky championship. That stretch, along with Wednesday’s game against Grambling State, represented Olmsted’s best basketball of his college career.

The Bobcats went 4-2 in their final six games of the season as Olmsted played 24 minutes per game and averaged 10.3 points on 78.1% shooting from the field (helped by an incredible series of dunks) with 4.1 rebounds. All three 3-pointers of his five-year career came in that six-game stretch, including one against Grambling.

Logie and other MSU players praised Olmsted for his work and support throughout the season. They saw how talented he was behind the scenes. But in the public eye, his flash-in-the-pan end of the season should be considered MSU lore.

“I think John’s journey this year, I’m really glad it got the exposure that it did because the inspiration that he is to so many young people, if they’re paying attention, is just incredible,” Logie said. “He’s a young man that is all about the team, that waited his turn, that kept fighting, that had amazing attitude. And when we needed him the most, he rang the bell.”

As Olmsted and Ford end their careers, they expect their teammates who will be returning to learn from this season and use the run to a Big Sky title as motivation for next season.

“I think the biggest thing is they got this experience under their belt,” Olmsted said. “They know what it feels like. They know what it took to get here, through the ups and downs of this year.”

Ford noted that while the Big Sky has other “great players” and “great teams,” MSU is best positioned to reach these heights again next season.

“The biggest part is understanding what it takes to get there, and when you get there what it feels like,” Ford said. “I’ve been through this twice, making it and losing in the first game. It’s tough. I think that’s one of the things that fueled me last year. So coming back, I think it will be great, the feeling of wanting to get back and wanting to get a win in the NCAA tournament.”

Teammate Brian Goracke said the program’s returning players owe so much to Ford and Olmsted.

“They’ve been just incredible examples, incredible leaders, for us all year,” Goracke said. “And their impact will last longer than they’re here. So it’s just important to honor their legacy and carry it on and keep building, keep pushing ourselves and remember that anything is possible.”

That level of belief was talked about all season long — even while enduring injuries and some frustrating results.

Asked after Wednesday’s loss to reflect on his first season as MSU’s head coach, Logie spoke of that everlasting positive attitude and how it can propel his future Bobcat teams.

“What I’ll remember the most about this group is how they never let go of the rope for our culture and our standards. I came to Montana State to compete in the NCAA tournament. This place has proven you can do that year in, year out.

“Ultimately, knowing the way the cards are stacked against us, the priority that we placed in what we sometimes refer to as Year 0, Year 1, was the culture. And I think this group established that that culture is not going anywhere. The best for this program is definitely yet to come.

“And now that we have a core group of guys that have a year under their belt with our new design and our new systems in place, I think we’ve got a tremendous opportunity here to continue to get back here in the future.”