Boyle's Buffs In Midst Of Key Offseason — Especially For Freshmen

BOULDER — It is a college basketball maxim that players make their biggest jumps in improvement between their freshman and sophomore years.

If that is indeed the case, the Colorado Buffaloes might be in the midst of one of their most important offseasons in recent memory — simply because the Buffs have so many freshmen in position to make such a jump.

"Now they know what their weaknesses are, they know what college basketball is all about, they know what the Pac-12 demands of them," Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said. "Now when they go into the offseason, they understand that."

It means those freshmen's job will be to address their weaknesses in the weight room and in the gym between now and next fall.

"It's a crucial offseason for us," CU strength and conditioning coordinator Steve Englehart. "We have some guys that need to gain some weight, some guys that need to get stronger, some guys that need to improve their stamina. It's a little different for every guy, but every player needs to put some work in if we're going to get better."

There's no doubt that this year's freshman class will be the heart and soul of next year's team. It begins with point guard McKinley Wright — the team's MVP this season — and continues with forward Tyler Bey, wing D'Shawn Schwartz, wing/guard Lazar Nikolic and big man Evan Battey, who redshirted last season.

"When they're incoming freshmen, it's the old adage that they don't know what they don't know," Boyle said. "It's not their fault, but they don't know what they're going to face. Now they've seen it first hand and they know how critical this offseason is going to be."

Four of CU's freshman — Wright, Bey, Schwartz and Nikolic — all played at least 13 minutes a game last year, with Wright putting in a team-leading 32.6 minutes per game. Those numbers — even for Wright — will almost certainly increase next year.

"It's a critical offseason for them," Boyle said. "That's why I challenge them when the year's over. I tell them just because we're a year older doesn't mean we're going to be a year better. We're going to be a year better if they take the things we've talked about that need to be improved upon and they get in the gym, get in the weight room, on the track — wherever they have to go to get it done."

Boyle and Englehart each hold one-on-one meetings with each player after the season and discuss what their specific goals should be in the offseason. But while each player has a slightly different list of priorities, the overall task is the same — make that jump from freshman to sophomore as big of a step as possible.

"Obviously we want every player to improve," Boyle said. "But that freshman group — they need to make the jump some of our freshmen have made in the past. I think about Josh Scott, George King from his redshirt year to his sophomore year, Spencer Dinwiddie, Andre Roberson — all those kids made big jumps from their freshman to sophomore years. If our guys can do that this year, if they can make that kind of improvement, it bodes well for Colorado basketball."

There is no question when it comes to the youngsters' potential. Wright, an All-Pac-12 All-Freshmen selection, led the Buffs last year in scoring (14.2 ppg), steals (31) and assists (175), and was third in rebounding (4.7 rpg). Bey, whose role grew as the season progressed, was CU's most accurate shooter (.503 from the field) and was second in rebounding (5.1 rpg) and second in blocks (22). Schwartz, who also came on at the end of the year, shot 38.3 percent from 3-point range while Nikolic averaged 2.3 rebounds, 2.3 points and had 30 assists in 15.5 minutes per game.

Battey, meanwhile, is coming back from a medical incident. His level of participation in workouts is slowly increasing under the watchful eye of the CU medical staff. If he does get back to full go, he will be a huge part of the equation.

"So far, our offseason has been good," Boyle said. "Their attitude, their effort, their intensity — it has all been what we need it to be. They're working hard in the weight room and I think they've been getting into the gym on their own. The key will be what they do in the weight room and what they do on their own in the gym. There's a lot we can help them with, but they also have to do a lot on their own."

Of course, it is not just the freshmen who need to make the most of their offseason. Redshirt freshman Dallas Walton, sophomores Lucas Siewert and Deleon Brown and junior Namon Wright will also be expected to improve their games and their bodies.

"We sat down when the season was over with every player and gave them a laundry list of things that needed to be improved upon," Boyle said. "It's a little different for every player, but there's some things that every one of them needs to improve on. I said multiple times last year that the future is bright for Colorado basketball — and they have to understand that the future is now. This is where we have to start getting better."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu