Only nine months ago, Colorado announced plans to unveil a “Wall of Honor” at the CU Events Center.
Affixed to the northwest wall of the arena, the “Wall of Honor” was created to honor the best of the best in the history of Colorado men’s basketball. CU head coach Tad Boyle wanted the honorees — or, in the case of a couple of the older former players, their families — to be in attendance for the unveiling of their framed jerseys.
Five of the 10 were revealed last season. Five others remain dark for future celebrations. One of those yet-to-be-unveiled frames belongs to Chauncey Billups, possibly the greatest player in CU history.
Arranging a time for Billups to visit the Events Center for that type of event has been problematic due to his duties as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. At the moment, Billups’ job is no longer filling his time. But a night in Boulder celebrating his accomplishments in a Colorado uniform probably isn’t happening any time soon.
After a pair of off days, Boyle’s Buffs resumed practice Friday, about 24 hours after the bombshell news that Billups had been arrested in a sweeping FBI probe targeting illicit and allegedly fraudulent high-stakes poker games. A separate investigation targeted the selling of insider information to manipulate NBA prop bets.
Like the rest of the Colorado basketball community — not just at CU, but across the state — Boyle was shocked by the news.
“I feel awful,” Boyle said. “I’m shocked. You never want to see your friends go through something like this.”
In a bit of a head-shaking coincidence, the Buffs held a program-wide meeting Friday morning with a former FBI agent, who educated a CU team that features seven freshmen on the perils of getting involved with organized gamblers as college athletes. The lecture has been part of the Buffs’ preseason routine for years, and Friday’s session was scheduled three weeks ago.
Boyle said the fact it occurred the day after the shocking news regarding Billups had his young team sitting a little straighter in their chairs during the session. At this point, Billups has only been charged in conjunction with the probe of the illicit poker games. But an anonymous alleged co-conspirator in the probe into the selling of insider NBA information matches Billups’ basketball background.
“Obviously it was a timely meeting, but we didn’t do it because of what just happened. What happened kind of brings everything to light,” Boyle said. “Hopefully we got our guys’ attention. It’s shocking. They can try to get to young college athletes in various ways, and our players have to understand how that happens. We’ve got to do our best to educate them to hopefully not make bad decisions.”
In response to the arrest of a legend who was inducted into CU’s athletics Hall of Fame in 2015, CU released a statement that read: “Chauncey Billups has been a valued member the CU Buffs community. CU Athletics learned Thursday through the media about the allegations against him. As this is an ongoing investigation which does not involve CU, we have no further comment.”
Boyle, though, is closer to Billups than anyone in CU’s athletic department. Billups’ brother, current Nuggets assistant Rodney Billups, spent six years on Boyle’s staff, the final four as an assistant coach. As the most recognizable alum of the CU program, Chauncey Billups has kept his Buffs affiliation in the national spotlight throughout the highlights of his post-playing career, from joining Portland in his first head coach job to his induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Billups was put on leave from Portland, and Boyle reiterated the state of Billups’ place on the newly christened “Wall of Honor” is “the furthest thing from my mind,” as Billups’ legal saga has only just begun.
“Look, Chauncey’s a friend of mine. I speak as a friend, not as the basketball coach of Colorado, when I say I’ve got great respect for our law enforcement, and I think we have to respect the process as it unfolds,” Boyle said. “But Chauncey’s a friend. And friends stick by friends when they’re having tough times. And he’s got obviously a big road ahead of him. I don’t know what happened or what didn’t happen, so I’m not going to comment on that. I’m just going to say Chauncey’s a friend. The Billups family are great people. It’s shocking. It’s sad. But he’s my friend, and I’m hoping he gets through this the best way he can.”