The requisite talent has arrived to potentially pull the Colorado men’s basketball team out of the Big 12 Conference basement.
Whether all the new Buffaloes actually do so remains to be proven on the floor. And, perhaps more critically in the new era of college basketball, whether they remain together long enough to get over that hump will be another challenge entirely.
Player retention isn’t at the forefront of Tad Boyle’s mind, at least not in week two of leading his 16th preseason as the head coach of the CU men’s basketball team. Yet even if the new-look roster makes a significant leap from last season’s last-place finish in the conference, a jump all the way into NCAA Tournament contention is unlikely for a team breaking in seven true freshmen.
CU has only one player whose eligibility is set to expire in sixth-year center Elijah Malone. So even if it’s a concern best left for the spring, player retention remains critical to the recruit-and-development model still followed by Boyle and his staff.
His players possibly receiving more lucrative revenue sharing offers is somewhat out of Boyle’s control. Setting the foundation for the young players’ experience as part of the Colorado basketball program is not.
Asked earlier this preseason if that dynamic — knowing the program building blocks depend on a solid percentage of player retention — has changed how he might coach a young player, Boyle said he believes it’s still best to just be himself.
“I’ve always felt like you coach kids from a place of caring,” Boyle said. “Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I don’t think that’s changed. Now, what has changed is money coming into the equation. There’s no question about that.
“But at the end of the day, if a kid knows you care about him, and you’re coaching him, they’re going to respond to that. And you coach them with respect. You coach them certainly with firmness and discipline, but also with, ‘Hey I care about you and I want what’s best for you.’ As long as you’re coming from a place of you’re trying to help the young man that you’re coaching, you can coach him as hard as you want.”
Of the Buffs’ 14 scholarship players, 10 haven’t played a minute of basketball for Boyle in seven freshmen, transfer guards Barrington Hargress and Jon Mani, and second-year wing Andrew Crawford, who was in the program last year but redshirted.
Fitting in
Last season was Bangot Dak’s first as a full-time rotation player. It also marked CU’s return to the Big 12 Conference, which was a step up in competition and physicality from the Pac-12.
Although Dak still is rounding into form following an offseason knee injury, he’s listed at 203 pounds, up from 185 a year ago, and he believes he is better equipped to deal with the physical rigors of playing 30-plus games.
“I feel like last year I kind of had to find myself throughout the year, how comfortable I could be around the perimeter and playing well with the physicality,” Dak said. “And all that coming towards this year, I feel like I’ve got everything I need and I know what to expect.”
Notable
The details still are being finalized, but the Buffs are planning to hold their annual Black & Gold intrasquad scrimmage ahead of the Iowa State football game on Oct. 11, which kicks off at 1:30 p.m. The event typically is open to the public at the Events Center and usually begins a few hours before kickoff. … The Big 12 basketball media days will be held in Kansas City on Oct. 21 (women) and Oct. 22 (men). … The Buffs will host Marquette in a closed scrimmage on Oct. 26. CU is scheduled to travel to Marquette next year for a closed scrimmage.
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