Colorado University Athletics
Woelk: Future Bright For Boyle's Buffaloes
March 19, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Thursday afternoon, with the wound from a 74-67 loss to Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament opener still painfully fresh, Colorado coach Tad Boyle wrapped up his postgame press conference with a simple promise.
“The future of Colorado basketball is bright,” Boyle said. “The future of Colorado basketball is in good hands in terms of the players we have in our program and the ones we have coming in. We will be back here.”
There's no reason to think otherwise. While it did not produce the desired result, the Buffs nevertheless this season earned their fourth NCAA Tournament berth in the last five years. It's an unprecedented stretch of success in program history and one that shows no signs of abating.
NCAA Tournament berths at Colorado are now the expectation, not the exception. They have become the baseline measurement at Colorado, not the standard of success. The fact that Boyle has accomplished that transformation in just six years at a program that once went through four coaches and nearly three decades without a single NCAA berth — and just three in 48 years — is nothing short of spectacular.
But the Buffs aren't where Boyle wants them to be, and judging from fan reaction after Thursday's loss, the feeling is mutual. A fan base that once celebrated simply at seeing “Colorado” in their NCAA bracket is now hungry for more.
Guaranteed, that hunger is is even stronger in the CU basketball offices.
Boyle is a Colorado native who currently occupies what he has oftentimes called his dream job. There's no other place he'd rather go to work every day than the Coors Events Center.
But Boyle, who played his college ball at Kansas, also has some of that Jayhawk pedigree in his veins. He knows what it's like to be part of a blueblood program — and he envisions a day when Colorado is included in such conversations. He envisions a day when Colorado makes regular runs deep into the tournament, when the Buffs play regularly in front of a full house, when the Buffs are considered a program by which others in the Pac-12 and around the nation measure their success.
It won't happen overnight. Building such a program requires time. It requires a foundation that can withstand the occasional setback, and a culture shift that requires not only change from within, but throughout the entire support system.
Slowly but surely, all those things are happening.
Colorado players and coaches now expect to win. They expect to be in the conversation when it comes to conference title contenders. They have the support of an athletic and university administration that expects the same, and they are building a fan base that believes that 20-win seasons are the norm.
But maybe the best measure of Colorado's climb? The reaction from Thursday's latest early ouster from the NCAA Tournament.
Five years ago, a narrow first-round loss to a program that has won four NCAA championships in 15 years would have been greeted by CU fans with a hearty “good try” pat on the back.
Colorado, however, is past that point. Anyone who saw the tears in the CU locker room, the looks worn by CU coaches, knows that nobody in the Colorado Athletic Department — from Rick George on down — was content with this year's finish. Colorado coaches, players, administration and fans expected the Buffs to end their one-and-done string.
Now, it will be another year before they have the chance for the next step.
But the good news is that even though the Buffs lose two valuable seniors — including arguably one of the top 15 players in CU history — next year's team could be better.
That in itself is another indication of how far the CU program has come. Ask yourself this: how many times has CU lost one of its best players in history and been better the following season? When Haldorson, Meely, Humphries, Billups or Harrison departed, did the Buffs improve?
They did not. Each time, the program took a step back — and understandably so.
But the success of Colorado basketball no longer hinges on one player. Boyle has built a strong enough foundation that losing one of the best Buffs in CU history won't send the program tumbling.
Rather, the Buffs have enough coming back next year that they should again be in the conversation when it comes to Pac-12 title contenders — and be ready to get past the one-and-done obstacle.
“We've got a lot of good guys coming back,” Boyle said Thursday. “We are losing two good players and we had two good players sitting out.”
Nobody believes replacing Josh Scott will be easy. Fact is, it probably won't happen, at least not one player picking up Scott's scoring and rebounding averages.
But if everyone on the current roster returns next year, CU will be fine.
Anyone who saw Wesley Gordon play when Scott was out with an ankle injury knows what Gordon is capable of producing. Gordon is a legitimate double-double threat on a nightly basis. Throw Tory Miller — a youngster who improved by leaps and bounds this year — into the mix and Colorado's front line will be solid. Add Xavier Johnson to the equation and it has the potential to be among the Pac-12's best.
On the wings, Colorado returns George King, Josh Fortune and Tre'Shaun Fletcher. At guard, Dominique Collier and Thomas Akyazili return. All were contributors this season; all should be better next year.
Then there's Derrick White, the transfer from UCCS. White is a player with next-level potential on both ends of the floor. He can score, play defense and is an adept ball handler. White will likely step into the starting lineup immediately and be a significant factor from the outset.
And, CU has two incoming recruits — Deleon Brown and Bryce Peters — who Boyle has said more than once could come in and be impact players as true freshmen.
The cupboard is by no means bare. A team that was picked to finish seventh in the Pac-12 this year and instead won 22 games, finished fifth in the conference and earned an NCAA berth, has the bulk of its lineup returning and two quality veterans to add to the mix.
Clearly, nobody associated with Colorado basketball was happy with the way the most recent season ended — nor should they be. But in a year when such programs as Michigan State, Arizona, West Virginia, Baylor and Texas all took first-round tumbles, it was also an indication of just how much parity now exists.
Still, CU coaches, players and fans are hungry for more. Expectations have grown with success. It's the natural order.
But people who know college basketball, people who know where Colorado once was and where the Buffs are today, also know that Boyle was right.
The future is bright.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
