Woelk: This Year's CU Freshman Class Has Chance To Be Special

BOULDER — Every freshman recruiting class is special, a class coaches hope will continue to build a foundation of success for their respective sport.

But every once in awhile, a truly significant class arrives, one that has the potential to establish transformational change throughout an entire athletic department.

The 2017-18 Colorado freshman class appears to have that capacity. It is a class that had immediate, positive impact on just about every sport this year, and one that shows all signs of building on that early success for the next several years.

Some of the names are already quite familiar to Colorado fans.

In men's basketball, the freshman class made perhaps the biggest splash, with McKinley Wright IV, Tyler Bey and D'Shawn Schwartz all providing a substantial impact in their first year (with redshirt Evan Battey poised to join that group next season).

But there were plenty of other first-year student-athletes making a name for themselves immediately in other sports: Laviska Shenault Jr., K.D. Nixon, Nate Landman and Jacob Callier were among those who flashed football; Brynna DeLuzio in volleyball; Hannah Cardenas and Marty Puketapu in soccer; Annika Jank and Mya Hollingshed in women's basketball; and Devon Bayer, Sadie Grozier and Madi Wifall in lacrosse.

Those are just a few of the names in a class that was productive virtually across the board, with many of them earning all-league honors in some fashion in their first years as Buffs.

But there's more to this class than just on-the-field production. It is also a tight-knit group that takes pride in encouraging, supporting and — on occasion — challenging each other in their pursuits.

"We hang out together, we support each other and we want to see each other succeed," Wright said. "We all come from different backgrounds, but we're all here for the same reason — make our families proud, make each other proud and make Colorado successful. We all want to see each other succeed and we're all supporting each other as much as we can."

While not unique, it is admittedly rare when athletes from different sports are so close off the field. Not because they don't get along, but more so because they have different schedules, different classes and different interests.

But that isn't the case at Colorado, especially with this year's freshman class. The bond between the football and men's basketball team was forged early on, and it is one that is now spreading throughout the department. Not only were CU's freshman football players regulars at Buffs basketball games this year, it wasn't uncommon to see both groups at soccer, volleyball and lacrosse matches when their schedules allowed it.

They not only want their sport to succeed, they want that atmosphere of success to spread throughout the department.

"I think we all have the same mindset — we're all hungry and we all want to succeed," Nixon said. "You always hear that football players and basketball players never get along, but we're here to change that. We wanted to support them because it's a different culture here now. We're all a big family. If you want to be great, you have to bring others with you."

It is no surprise to anyone who knows either Wright or Nixon that they have been instrumental in helping build the cross-sport camaraderie. Both are outgoing individuals who thrive in social environments — and who also put in the work in their sport.

"Honestly, I don't remember how we first met but we kind of reached out to each other and we became good friends," Wright said. "Me and K.D. aren't exactly shy. That circle just grew through all the freshman football guys and the freshman basketball guys, and pretty soon it was all the sports. The thing about college is you're only here once. You want to reach out to people, build relationships and build friendships while you're here."

One big factor in helping build those cross-sport relationships has been a centralized training table that brings athletes from all sports together for meals and snacks at the Champions Center.

"What you are seeing is the training tables really building a strong culture throughout the department," said CU associate athletic director Lance Carl (a former Buffs football player). "The student-athletes get to know each other, they become supportive of each other and it helps reinforce that atmosphere of success. They share their experiences and they learn from each other, and they know that success breeds success."

Midway through the basketball season, just after Wright had helped the Buffs to back-to-back wins over ranked Arizona State and Arizona squads, Nixon and Shenault were among those on the floor after the game waiting to congratulate their freshman cohorts. Nixon was all smiles as he waited to talk to his buddy Wright.

"We're going to leave our mark," he said. "We want this freshman class to be one to remember."

Already, that spirit of togetherness seems to be spreading throughout the department, and it is by no means limited to first-year Buffs. Many of those same student-athletes — as well as a large number of upperclassmen — were on hand at the recent Pac-12 women's lacrosse tournament.

"Support is the best thing a person can ask for," Nixon said. "You never know if it's going to be your last day in college. You have to enjoy these moments because you can't get these times back. Us going to lacrosse games, basketball games, soccer games — you try to build that foundation for relationships so later on in life you keep that. You always remember who supported you, who you supported and how much fun you had."

And in the end, they all hope to be part of a class that will leave a lasting legacy at Colorado as a group that produced success across the board during their time as Buffs along with a foundation for the future.

"We talk about that once in awhile," Nixon said. "I think the whole freshman family wants to have that impact. It's not that we're selfish, but we're all trying to strive for success and pushing each other. We want to take Colorado to that next level in every sport."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu