Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: A Very Big Night Looms For Ben, Beau, Buffs
February 11, 2016 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - No one over the last several seasons has labeled Colorado basketball "The Ben & Beau Show" and it's unlikely anyone will leave the Coors Events Center late Saturday night saying that's what they witnessed.
CU's game against No. 4 Arizona at the CEC (7:05 p.m. tip) looms large in the Pac-12 and perhaps for those plans the Buffs hope to be making for March. Saturday night also is Senior Night, and that's where Mills and Gamble come in - and bow out.
They're the only two seniors on CU's roster and they've shared more bench time than court time during their Buffs days. But make no mistake, the days and nights have been good, even the dark times and the ecstatic times are never to be forgotten.
"The last four years have been probably the fastest four of my whole life, and the best four of my life," said Mills, who would stand a reasonable chance of winning a "Most Popular Buffs Reserve Ever" poll. "It's crazy that it's going to be my last game in the Coors Events Center, but it'll be a special one for sure . . . it's also going to be weird and scary. I've been here for so long, this being the last one it's hard to believe. I appreciate all the love the fans have given me, so it's going to be something special."
Asked why Mills has become such a fan favorite, CU coach Tad Boyle was stumped, sort of. "I don't know . . . he's seven-feet tall . . . good question, I don't know," Boyle answered. "But they've taken to him since day one. He's just such a likable guy. I've never heard Ben in an argument. I've never heard someone say a negative word about him. He's a genuinely good person. So maybe our students are pretty perceptive when it comes to that."
Boyle then dug a little deeper and talked about something sophomore center Josh Scott had explored about half an hour earlier - that Mills simply is a good teammate.
"Like the best teammate you can ask for," Scott said. "He's always willing to listen. He's always cheering you on regardless if he's playing or not playing. He's all about the team. That's a big deal. It's kind of hard to sit and watch and not play. The fact that he's able to come in and work hard (in practice) and cheer us on and cares about the team so much says a lot about Ben. I think that's what makes him such a good teammate."
Boyle called Mills "one of the best teammates I've ever experienced and been around. His teammates love him and the fans obviously love him."
ONE OF BOYLE'S FIRST PAIR of recruits (Andre Roberson was the other) four years ago, Mills, from Hartland, Wis., has played in 19 games, averaging 4.2 minutes, 0.9 rebounds and 1.3 points. He might be more apt to play Saturday night against the Wildcats than Gamble, a 2011 walk-on from Boulder (Fairview) via New Hampton Prep and Santa Clara who watched the Buffs as a kid from behind the CU bench courtesy of his parents' season tickets.
Mills' length coming off the bench could be more of a necessity against Arizona's formidable frontcourt. Plus, although he practiced Friday afternoon, Gamble has been slowed by a foot injury. He has played in seven games, averaging 1.6 minutes and totaling six points, five rebounds and five assists.
Boyle isn't among those college coaches who have a set-in-stone policy about starting his seniors in their final home games. "Probably not both," Boyle said, alluding to Gamble's heel injury. "We'll take look at that . . . I don't have a policy that says I do (start) seniors every time. It really is predicated on the situation. So we'll see."
Mills and Gamble know Boyle well enough to know he does right by his team first and will do right by them. Mills and Gamble know their roles, with their jobs in practice usually more vital than their game-night duties. Both can live with that, but still concede that watching rather than playing is difficult.
Said Mills: "The basketball part of CU didn't go as well as I wanted to, I didn't play as much as I wanted to. But I don't have any regrets. This is a great school and I've loved every second of it. I took every day in practice seriously and tried to make the team better."
He will leave CU being part of more wins (89 currently) during his career than any other player, which Mills called "something special; it shows where this program is going and where it's been. And it's just going to continue getting better and better." (The Buffs' four-season record under Boyle is 89-45, with four consecutive 20-win seasons, and a 60-8 mark at the CEC.)
Scott called Gamble "the Energizer Bunny." Boyle called him "the voice in the locker room, keeping guys loose and focused. He's brought a lot to the program in terms of intangibles."
For past couple of weeks, Gamble and Mills have conducted their own countdown for remaining home games. "Every game," said Mills, "it's been, GÇÿOK, we've got five . . . four . . . now it's one and it's finally here. It's crazy to think about coming to an end."
Added Gamble: "Now when we say one more, it's become a little more real . . . I saw a video on Twitter some kid made pumping everyone up for the Arizona game and I actually shed a tear. It's pretty surreal. It's coming to me more in the last 24 hours than it ever has. I hadn't really thought about it. Normally, I'm not excited to come to practice, but (Friday) I know I'm down to the final stretch."
NEITHER MILLS NOR GAMBLE can guess what they'll be doing at this time next February. "That's the million dollar question right there," said Mills, who will earn a degree in May in English and creative writing. "I have no idea. I'm still trying to figure that part out."
If the opportunity is there, basketball overseas appeals to him - but so does finding work and staying in the Boulder area.
Gamble, a communications major, "would like to stay in the sports world" and has an early interest in an internship the Pac-12 Network offers to former student-athletes. "I'm not going to the NBA," he said. "I plan on getting a real job. I like to joke with people about those NCAA commercials that say most of us will be going pro in something other than sports - and I'm proud to say I'm one of those people."
Gamble's only promise concerning his future: To be at next year's Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. And Mills vowed to accompany him if possible. "Love to," he said.
Gamble's experiences at Santa Clara and at CU have given him an appreciation of and strong respect for walk-ons. Nate Mensah, a senior walk-on when Gamble was at Santa Clara, called Gamble Thursday "just to say he was proud of me . . . that meant a lot."
What means more to him now, though, is the basketball program he grew up watching and now is a part of.
"The program means everything to me," Gamble said. "I told my roommate today I don't know if I'd gone to college if I couldn't play college basketball . . . I'm really looking forward to (Saturday). It's going to be a bittersweet day for me. But I'm really happy I made the decision to stick it out.
"It hasn't been the easiest years of my life but it's most definitely been worth it. Being a part of something greater than yourself is the best thing you can ask for in life. I truly believe that. And in my heart, being a Colorado Buffalo is everything to me."
Mills and Gamble, said Boyle, are "special in their own right. We owe it to them to honor them by playing well and sending them out in their last experience in the Coors Events Center as basketball players on a good note."
Calling it "The Ben & Beau Show" might even work.
BIG DAY, BIG NIGHT, BIG GAME FOR BUFFS: Saturday morning and night promise to be special for the Buffs, their fans, the campus and community.
ESPN's College GameDay makes its first basketball stop in Boulder, with morning and evening telecasts from CEC. Boyle calls it "a milestone for our program" and welcomes the exposure. "It's (GameDay's) 10th year, the first time in Boulder and hopefully not the last. It's a credit to our fans, players and program that they're here (and) an opportunity for us to show what Colorado basketball is about and showcase our university and Boulder and entire state . . . every college basketball fan in America will be tuning in to see what's going on here. It's a great opportunity and we have to make the best of it. I want our players focused on the task at hand and I think they are."
A major focus is starting fast - like Arizona did in its 69-57 win over CU last month in Tucson. The Wildcats leaped to 9-0 and 18-4 leads in the first six minutes.
"Yeah, we need to get off to a good start," Boyle said. "I don't know if we're going to be up on them 18-2 or 20-4 or whatever it was. But it was definitely a different venue and we're a different team than we were down there. And they are as well; they don't have Brandon Ashley (out with a foot injury)."
The Buffs have acclimated to the loss of Spencer Dinwiddie, who had been out of the lineup three games when CU visited Tucson. Boyle calls his team "more confident, more efficient and we've shown some progress defensively."
"We were trying to get the pieces together," Scott added. "I think you can see they've come together more now both offensively and defensively. We're a different team than we were then."
Boyle's Saturday night must-do list also includes rebounding. Arizona's board work leads the Pac-12 (plus 8.9 a game), with CU second (plus 7.4). "This is going to be a rebounding war," said Boyle.
Also, Arizona is allowing a league-best 57.7 points a game, and Boyle calls the Wildcats "as good a defensive team as we've faced all year . . . we have to earn everything we get. We have to execute and have to understand you're not going to get anything easy. If you do, you better take it, but don't force it. They're one of the best teams in the country in not allowing second shots."
As for the CEC atmosphere being electric on Saturday night and the Buffs being ready to play, neither rates a mention on Boyle's pre-game checklist of concerns. Both are a given, much like peeking out of the building's west side and seeing the Flatirons.
Saturday's game, said Boyle, "is not a game I'm going to have to worry about our fans or our players being ready. We will be ready to play. Sometimes it's the games that maybe the fans aren't as excited about or our players aren't as excited about . . . but for the most part we've taken care of business in those games. But this isn't case for (Saturday); our guys are going to be ready to roll."
Contact: B.G. Brooks@Colorado.EDU
