Brooks: Boyle Looks Abroad For Pair Of Spring Signees

BOULDER - Tad Boyle and his Colorado men's basketball staff are mostly accustomed to recruiting west of the Mississippi River. But he and Buffs staffers looked east of the Mississippi - way east - to land a pair of prospects for their Class of 2015. Try across the Atlantic...

In Boyle's five seasons at CU, Europe hasn't showed up on his recruiting radar until the current cycle. At the end of a very different season, Boyle went in a different direction.

The Buffs have signed guard Thomas Akyazili (Belgium) and power forward Kenan Guzonjic (Bosnia) to national letters of intent. The spring signing period started Wednesday and continues until May 20. In addition to the two scholarships taken by the Europeans, another became available last week when sophomore Jaron Hopkins announced he will transfer.

Akyazili and Guzonjic - his first name is pronounced KEN-an - become the Buffs' 11th and 12th international players (see chart). Boyle isn't promising that their signing signals a trend in CU recruiting, but he concedes nowadays it's best to keep all options open.

"We'll see...we took a little different approach," he said. "It has to be the right fit and the right need. You see how it plays out (but) I don't foresee us having an international roster."

But many Division I schools have looked overseas with spectacular results, and this recruiting period found the Buffs looking too.

In Guzonjic's case, Boyle made the discovery by accident: He went to Midland (Texas) College to check on a post player that CU had recruited in high school. During practice he also watched Guzonjic and determined, "I'm here to see the wrong guy. This is the guy who really has what we need in terms of his ability to shoot the ball, his skill level and his understanding of the game."

So his chase shifted to Guzonjic - and CU landed him. Guzonjic didn't play last season at Midland, electing to return to Bosnia and rehab after minor knee (meniscus) surgery early last fall. He's said to be fully recovered.

Kenan Guzonjic

As for landing Akyazili, the Buffs needed an assist and got it from perhaps Division I basketball's foremost international source - Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd. His boss, Mark Few, is a close friend of Boyle's, and the two will coach together the USA team this summer in the Pan-American Games - Few as the head coach, Boyle as his assistant.

Mostly due to Lloyd's connections, Gonzaga's roster often reads like a United Nations roll call. Lloyd, said Boyle, has been recruiting overseas for the past decade and is so plugged in to the Euro hoops scene that "if there's a kid in this country or that, he'll tell you, 'Here's who you call.'"

The Buffs dialed the right number for Akyazili, who was considered one of two top European guards available and is currently playing for the Antwerp Giants. NCAA rules now make it possible for non-salaried international players like Akyazili to compete at that level but maintain college eligibility in the U.S.

"Their world over there is so different," Boyle said. "Educationally it's different, and if you're a good player you have an opportunity to be a professional at 18 or 19 years of age or younger sometimes. They have to weigh the value of getting an American education versus staying home and playing professional basketball at a very young age.

Thomas Akyazili

"Every kid is different based on what their values are, their family and the value they place on education. (Akyazili) does, and a lot of it depends on the country you're coming from and the level of basketball being played there. What's your market value there? Thomas is really serious about becoming a professional player, but he also understands the value of an American education at a place like (CU)."

Knowing they would lose senior guard Askia Booker, the Buffs began searching the American high school scene for a replacement. "When we looked at all the kids in high school who had not signed early (November), there was a handful that were pretty high-level players, but they really weren't in our wheelhouse," Boyle said.

On the West Coast, CU identified "maybe one who hadn't had a test score," noted Boyle, "so the rest were back east . . . we just never felt like we had an 'in.'"

After a mention from Lloyd, Akyazili "kind of popped up on our radar," Boyle said. "It's very unusual. We actually never went to Belgium to see him. But he came over here last summer. He was the only foreign player invited to the Stephen Curry camp in San Francisco. It was his first time in America and he played very well there (and) impressed a lot of people. His name kind of started circulating, especially when he came out and said he wanted to come to America to go to college."

International Players In Colorado Men's Basketball
Student-Athlete (Years)	Hometown
Dave Bolen (1974-78)	Bonn, West Germany
Dan Becker (1986-89)	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Mark Dean (1991-94)	Nassau, Bahamas
Stephane Pelle (1999-2003)	Yaounde, Cameroon
Michel Morandais (2000-04)	Guadeloupe, French West Indies
Amadou Doumbouya (2001-04)	Conakry, Guinea
Julius Ashby (2004-06)	Trinidad and Tobago
Marc Van Burck (2006-07)	Star City, Saskatchewan, Canada
Nate Tomlinson (2008-12)	Sydney, Australia
Shane Harris-Tunks (2009-10, '11-13)	Liverpool, NewSouth Wales, Australia
Thomas Akyazili (2015-)	Antwerp, Belgium
Kenan Guznojic (2015-)	Sarajevo, Bosnia

Akyazili is a "solid player" who reminds Boyle of former Buffs guard Nate Tomlinson, a native Australian. "He can pass, make an open shot. I don't know if he's got the spit and vinegar that Nate had but we'll find out. He's that kind of guy - rock solid and you can count on him.

"We felt like Thomas brought the toughness that's going to be needed for our team to make the next step. You get that by playing with and against older grown men who are professionals and are beating you up every day - literally. He's a kid who brings both of those things to our team . . . we need that help, especially in the backcourt."

After Boyle's trip to Midland, the Buffs began recruiting Guzonjic in September without knowing if a scholarship would be available. That has become a common recruiting practice, what with schools now more likely than not having a player or two transfer. A spot ultimately opened on CU's roster, creating room for Guzonjic.

"I feel very good about him," Boyle said. "His story is completely different (from Akyazili's). Bosnia is a war-torn country; he's seen and experienced things in his life that most Americans can't even fathom. In terms of toughness, he's had a tough life. He comes from a tough part of the world. He's had to survive some tough times."

If it seems that Boyle is emphasizing toughness for his 2015-16 team, make no mistake, he is. It's one of two areas in which he wants the Buffs to improve, the second being skill level. He's after "guys who can pass, shoot, dribble the ball - and European players are usually highly skilled."

Along with Akyazili and Guzonjic, CU's 2015-16 roster will include redshirts George King (third-year sophomore) and Josh Fortune (junior transfer). The infusion of that foursome, said Boyle, gives the Buffs "four guys who can shoot the ball. I would expect our ability to knock down 'threes' and shoot from the perimeter goes up significantly. And that's one area where we struggled last year. I'm not calling any guys out but we didn't have guys who knocked down shots this year on a consistent basis. We're going to hopefully have that next year. It can be a totally different, totally different team than what we had this year."

THOMAS AKYAZILI

Position: Shooting guard

Height: 6-2

Weight: 180

High school: Koninklijk Atheneum Deurne, Antwerp, Belgium

Vital stats/storylines: Averaged 15.6 points, 4.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds for Belgium's Under-18 team last summer...Was the leading scorer on national team in the U-16 and U-18 European championships...Currently playing for the Antwerp Giants and most likely will be involved in their division playoffs until well into June. His high school graduation is not until June 30...Although the Buffs didn't travel to Belgium to see Akyazili, they watched every Euro Championship game in which he participated as well as some of his club games...He was rated one of the top two Euro guards who could come to the U.S. and enroll in college...Akyazili visited two American schools - St. John's and CU - and ultimately picked the Buffs because he liked the campus, the facilities, the coaching staff and Boulder...His CU visit was only his second trip to the U.S.; he attended Stephen Curry's Under Armour Top 20 guard camp last summer...For the first time, Akyazili will play with the older group in the U-20 Euro Championships in July in Italy. That commitment will prevent him from arriving on campus until early August.

CU scouting report: Boyle and his staff hope Akyazili can transition to Division I basketball more quickly than some freshmen because of his experience playing against older competition in Europe...That experience also could lend itself to filling a void in backcourt leadership...Akyazili is an effective perimeter shooter, but his height and strength also make him a threat to get to the rim...He can play either guard position, having the ability to score and run the team. With his size, the Buffs are counting on him to fill either role and be able to play alongside sophomore-to-be point guard Dom Collier.

Boyle's take: "At what level is he going to be able to contribute and how quickly can he acclimate, those are all unknowns like with any freshman. But you've got a kid who's played with and against professional players. He was on their 18-and-under national team this year, under 17-and-under teams in years past. He's got some international competition, which I think will help. So I think he's a little more mature physically and certainly with his experience level more than most incoming freshmen are."

KENAN GUZONJIC

Position: Power forward

Height: 6-8

Weight: 240

High school: Cathedral High School, El Paso; Midland (Texas) Junior College.

Vital stats/storylines: Guzonjic, a lefthander, came to the U.S. for his senior of high school, where he averaged 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in about 15 games...With his transcripts and foreign information incomplete at the NCAA Eligibility Center, he enrolled after high school at Midland and averaged 8.4 points, 5.4 rebounds in his only season (2013-14)...Before his second year at Midland, he injured his knee (meniscus) and had surgery. Finding out he would be a full academic qualifier, he elected to return to Bosnia to rehab and work out. It also afforded him the opportunity to play three years in Division I, which Boyle calls "a bonus."...Guzonjic is not the least bit shy in shooting the 3-ball; in fact, his highlight videos from high school and junior college feature his perimeter scoring as much as his points in the paint...He beefed up while spending last season in Bosnia: listed initially at Midland as 215 pounds, then at 225 pounds by some recruiting services, CU now puts him at 240...Was rated three stars and ranked as the No. 23 JUCO recruit by 24/7 Sports in its 2015 Top 50...In addition to CU, his official visits were to the University of Buffalo, Southern Miss and Loyola Marymount...He will arrive on campus in June.

CU scouting report: With his big body, Guzonjic can be the kind of inside "banger" that the Buffs need as well as use his skill as an outside shooter to keep defenses honest...Down low, he'll need to develop better use of his right hand against Pac-12 competition...Also in league play, his on-ball defense will need to improve...As with Akyazili, Boyle and his staff believe Guzonjic's inherent toughness will benefit the Buffs...CU assistant Mike Rohn calls Guzonjic "a skilled 'big' playing inside and out, with 3-point range." Comparing Guzonjic with former Missouri star Linas Kleiza, who now plays in Italy, is an accurate early appraisal, said Rohn.

Boyle's take: "Kenan will play the 'four' or 'five.' He's a post player who can step out and shoot the 'three' and stretch the defense. He's physical and has the ability to bang down low; he's a good rebounder with a high level of toughness and skills."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU