This man has represented Chico State as number 33 on the court for the past four years, received multiple California Collegiate Athletic Association awards and is now on the road to a professional basketball career on the Armenian National team.

“Corey is a dynamic scorer and a great on ball defender,” said Chico State men’s basketball head coach Greg Clink. “He has the ability to score in different ways and because of his quickness and ball handling skills, he can play multiple positions.”

In his career at Chico State, Silverstrom finished his career atop the leaderboard in several different categories.

• Seventh in points scored – 1,310
• Fourth in 3-pointers – 187
• 10th in assists – 262

Silverstrom is also one of 11 players in Chico State men’s basketball history to record 100 or more career steals, according to Chico State Sports Information Director Luke Reid.

Silverstrom’s dreams of playing professionally were finally realized during a phone call after his senior year.

“It really was just a phone call,” Silverstrom said. “I didn’t do anything special to get them to notice me. They already knew who I was and what I could do.”

Being put on the roster of a professional international team is no small feat, although it seems to have begun to be quite a trend for Chico State Alumni.

“Corey is the 11th player in the last 10 years to have the opportunity to play professionally,” Clink said. “He has a bright future and he’s going to do great things.”

Every great player must start from somewhere and for Silverstrom, everything began when he began playing basketball with his older brother. For them, it was a way for the to bond over something that they mutually enjoyed doing.

Silverstrom came to Chico as a graduate of Bullard High School in Fresno. His time as a Viking showed strong talent on the court coming out of high school. Silverstrom was named as County/Metro Athletic League MVP as well as the Division I First Team All-State honors from Cal-Hi Sports.

Silverstrom was a redshirt freshman his first year on the team and made sure to observe and absorb everything he was learning from the older players and coaches.

2014-2015

Finally becoming an active player in the 2014-15 season, Silverstrom played an average of 18.5 minutes per game but struggled with scoring accurately, finishing out his first season with 5.9 points per game and a .379 3-point field goal percentage. His down numbers only encouraged Silverstrom to work harder and perfect his technique.

2015-2016

The 2015-16 season was quite an improvement for Silverstrom. Moving up to 12.6 points scored per game, Silverstrom also increased his 3-point field goal percentage to .411. He moved from being ranked seventh to third on the team in points scored but surpassed everyone in 3-pointers made, holding the title forever in the books.

2016-2017

There wasn’t a huge improvement on scoring for Silverstrom during the 2016-17 season, moving his average up to 13 points scored per game. Silverstrom was knocked out of his number one position in 3-point field goals made, but moved up ranks to first on the team in total points scored.

2017-2018

Showing improvement in one way or another throughout his years at Chico State, Silverstrom finished his senior year strong. In the 2017-18 season, he once again sat in the number one spot for most points scored, and was also number one in field goals made. Silverstrom fell just short of the scoring the most 3-point field goals in the 2017-2018 season to teammate Jalen McFerren.

Following his duties with the Armenian team, Silverstrom is looking to continue his basketball career in either Spain or Germany before attempting to play in the NBA.

Courtney Chapman can be reached at [email protected] or @courtneychaps on Twitter.