KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With increased size at every position, Colorado is far more prepared physically for the rigors of Big 12 Conference play.
That wasn’t necessarily the plan. But it’s a happy accident the Buffaloes gladly will take going into their second season back in one of the premier men’s basketball conferences in the nation.
The Buffs’ heightened height was on display with the two players representing them in Kansas City, 7-foot junior Bangot Dak and 6-foot-11 sophomore Sebastian Rancik, neither of whom are expected to be regular back-to-the-basket options for the Buffs.
The Buffs have 6-foot-10 center Elijah Malone to man the post. And CU added two other 7-footers in freshmen Tacko Ifaola and Leonardo Van Elswyk, along with 6-foot-9 late signee Alon Michaeli. Along the perimeter, CU boasts six wings who stand at least 6-5 in Andrew Crawford, Jalin Holland, Ian Inman, Felix Kossaras, Jon Mani and Josiah Sanders.
While head coach Tad Boyle agreed his team indeed is more prepared for the physical battles within the conference, he also said his staff approached the task of roster construction the same way it always has.
“It’s nice to be bigger. You’d rather be bigger than smaller, all things being equal,” Boyle said. “But the bottom line is, we recruit the best players we can get. Guys that can hopefully dribble, pass, shoot, defend, compete, have toughness. All the things you need to win in this league.
“If you get guys with positional size, it’s a bonus. But it’s not something we made a concerted effort to go out and do.”
New faces
The Big 12 landed a number of marquee transfers during the offseason, leading with Kansas State’s PJ Haggerty, who was a second team Associated Press All-American selection last season at Memphis.
Haggerty is one of just three players from last season’s first and second team AP All-American selections returning to college basketball this year, a list that includes second team honoree and Big 12 preseason player of the year JT Toppin from Texas Tech.
“Why Kansas State? This man right here,” Haggerty said, referring to Wildcats coach Jerome Tang.
Among the other notable transfers joining the Big 12 are BYU’s Rob Wright (formerly of Baylor); Kansas State’s Nate Johnson, who was the MAC player of the year last season at Akron; and former Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa, who joined the fourth team of his collegiate career when the transferred to Cincinnati from Kentucky.
No-go
A recent plan by the Big Ten to infuse the conference coffers with private equity — essentially opening the league to outside shareholders — was recently derailed. During his session on stage at the Big 12 basketball media days, commissioner Brett Yormark reiterated that’s a direction the Big 12 isn’t currently pursuing.
“We like where we are right now,” Yormark said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not exploring different options. But private equity for us doesn’t work. We’re very bullish on our future. We’re not giving a stake to anyone.”
Pro’s game
New Utah head coach Alex Jensen is a Utes alum who played for legendary coach Rick Majerus. Like his coaching rival at BYU, Kevin Young, Jensen returns to the college game after a lengthy career as an NBA assistant, spending 10 years with the Utah Jazz and another two years at Dallas before returning to Utah.
Given a college basketball world that now includes revenue sharing/NIL player payments and annual roster makeovers, the college game has become more in tune with the skill sets of pro-level coaches.
“I truly believe there’s a path forward where there’s not a ton of change every year,” Jensen said. “I imagine there’ll be more guardrails and rules, answers to a lot of questions people have right now. But I think there’s a way to do it. Because I don’t want to coach 15 new guys every year. I don’t think that’s good for a player, either.”
Jensen and West Virginia’s Ross Hodge are the only first-year coaches in the Big 12.