The future of a Colorado men’s basketball team trying to rebound from a last-place finish in the Big 12 already is in Boulder.
Still, coach Tad Boyle’s Buffaloes added a valuable reinforcement on national signing day on Wednesday, adding Rider Portela to the mix for the 2026 recruiting class.
In an ode to the confidence he has in this year’s seven-player freshman class, along with a roster set to lose just one player to expiring eligibility, Boyle is bucking a recent trend by not over-signing.
Boyle has said repeatedly since practice opened in late September he intends to keep the core of the 2025-26 roster intact next year. Portela will fill the spot currently held by sixth-year center Elijah Malone, but beyond that, any gaps heading into the offseason will be filled via the spring/summer recruiting cycle.
“We’ve got one senior. And we’re signing one guy,” Boyle said. “Because I want every one of these guys in the program who’s here now to know we want them back. We’re going to do everything we can within our power to get them back and have some continuity.
“Now, the reality is, the numbers are the numbers. When’s the last time someone retained 100% of their returning players? Maybe it’s happened. If it (has), you can count them on one hand and still have some fingers left. The reality is, we probably won’t. But I want the message to be we want everybody back. We want to retain everybody. We want everybody to grow and build this thing. Whether we can or we can’t, we’ll find that out in March. But right now, in November, that’s the message I’m sending.”
Five of this year’s seven freshmen signed last November — Jalin Holland, Tacko Ifaola, Ian Inman, Isaiah Johnson and Josiah Sanders. At the time, the Buffs assumed they would have four vacancies from departing seniors Julian Hammond III , Trevor Baskin, Andrej Jakimovski and Malone.
Even with expanded scholarship limits in play for 2025-26, and with Malone later gaining an extra season of eligibility, the Buffs still had plenty of spots to fill after a roster overhaul following last year’s 14-21 campaign. The reboot led to the offseason additions of freshmen Alon Michaeli and Leonardo Van Elwyk, along with transfers Barrington Hargress and Jon Mani.
Not only does Boyle and his staff hope this season unfolds more victoriously, but they hope the roster doesn’t need a similar facelift next year. Portela is an exception.
A 6-foot-6 small forward out of Sunnyslope High School in Phoenix, Portela is ranked as a four-star recruit by 247Sports, which also ranks Portela as the No. 9 recruit out of Arizona and the No. 45 small forward prospect in the nation. Portela averaged 13.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals last year at Sunnyslope.
Portela fits the bill of the sort of bigger wings typical of the 16-season Boyle era, and it’s currently a position of youthful wealth on the Buffs’ roster. CU has an array of underclassmen among its two-guards/small forwards who are at least 6-foot-5, a group that includes Holland, Inman, Sanders, Mani, Andrew Crawford and Felix Kossaras. Seven-foot junior Bangot Dak and 6-foot-11 sophomore Sebastian Rancik play the small forward spot as well.
“He’s a good player,” Boyle said. “He fits the mold of Colorado basketball. He’s selfless. He’s a hard worker. He’s tough. He loves the game. He’s got a great work ethic. He comes from a great family. Our mantra for the kind of kids we recruit isn’t going to change.”