Woelk: Young Buffs Growing Up, Future Bright For CU Hoops

It was just a week ago, one day after a disheartening loss to Oregon State, that Colorado coach Tad Boyle received a letter from a fan urging him to apply a little perspective to the Buffs' plight.

The letter, from 2007 CU grad Dan Cashmore, reminded Boyle of what Colorado basketball was before he took the reins in 2010. Cashmore remembered what being a CU basketball fan meant during his time as a student, and how much the environment and atmosphere around the program has changed since.

For those with short memories, it was not a particularly golden era. In the 10 years prior to Boyle's arrival, Colorado basketball produced almost as many 20-loss seasons (three) as it did winning seasons (four). In those 10 years, CU made three postseason appearances — two NIT and one NCAA — and went 0-3 in those appearances.

Attendance, meanwhile — to put it delicately — was dismal.

That changed in a hurry when Boyle took over. In his first year, the Buffs were snubbed by the NCAA Tournament committee, but they focused their anger at the rejection by advancing to the NIT Final Four. A year later, Colorado won four straight games in the Pac-12 tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament berth, then knocked off UNLV in the opener before falling to Baylor in the second round. Colorado then added three more NCAA Tournament appearances in the next four years, plus another NIT berth.

That's four NCAA Tournament appearances and two NIT bids in eight years.

Naturally, that success ramped up interest, and the Buffs then began to routinely set Colorado basketball attendance records.

But success also breeds expectations — and now, the program that has produced more than half of Colorado's 20-win seasons in school history (five of nine) and seven winning records in eight years is expected to match or exceed that production every year.

When it doesn't happen, the grumbling begins.

"I understand that," Boyle said when he spoke about the letter he received. "The expectation level has changed. When you have a loss like (Oregon State), people are upset and they should be."

It is the price of success — and Boyle noted, even coaches sometimes have a problem putting things in perspective.

"It's difficult to keep or to have during tough times," he admitted.

But now, one week after Cashmore's letter arrived, the outlook for Colorado has changed again. After insisting throughout a difficult 3-8 stretch that his team was capable of making some noise in Pac-12 play, Boyle's Buffs have turned up the volume. In back-to-back games, they have produced their two best efforts of the year. First came a rout of a talented Oregon team at home last Saturday, then came a stellar road win at UCLA on Wednesday.

It appears Boyle was right. The young Buffs are growing up, just in time to make their stretch run in Pac-12 play an interesting one. While Colorado currently sits in 10th place in the league standings with a 4-6 mark, the second and 10th-place teams in the league are separated by just two losses — meaning anything can happen over the next month.

No doubt, making a run to the top four will be a difficult climb, even with a favorable schedule (Colorado plays five of its last eight at home). Thanks to injuries and other issues, the Buffs are down to nine available scholarship players, and more often than not, are playing a seven-man rotation. In Wednesday's win at UCLA, CU's five starters all played at least 30 minutes, and the Buffs used just seven players in the entire second half.

Now for the perspective, that oftentimes unpopular point of view that is so easily lost in the world of sports.

An NCAA Tournament berth is a long shot at best. It would almost certainly require Colorado to run the table at the Pac-12 tournament. But an NIT bid — and valuable postseason experience — is still within reach.

That alone would be a positive step forward.

But more importantly, every win from this point on will be part of the growth process for a team that is currently centered around sophomores and freshmen. Every win, every positive experience down the stretch, will be invaluable in the long term.

And that long term is on a solid foundation. It includes one of the best point guards in the country in sophomore McKinley Wright IV. It includes one of the most athletic players in the Pac-12, sophomore Tyler Bey, as well as steadily improving sophomore D'Shawn Schwartz — a potential Pac-12 force. It also includes a talented freshman corps, led by big man Evan Battey, and a pair of productive juniors, Shane Gatling and Lucas Siewert.

And it includes a head coach who has already had more success at CU than any other coach in half a century.

Earlier this year, CU athletic director Rick George did what he has done every year since he arrived in 2013 — he automatically rolled Boyle's contract over to keep it at five years.

But George's annual extension of Boyle's deal was not, as some interpreted it, a "vote of confidence" in his coach.

There was no need for such a vote because George has never doubted Boyle.

Rather, George firmly believes he has the right man in the right place. He believes the foundation of Colorado basketball is strong, and he believes the future is bright. He looks ahead and sees a program capable of consistently winning, a program loaded with young stars and a program capable of winning championships in the future.

It is a big-picture view, a perspective that is hard for some to see through the snap-judgment lens so prevalent in today's world of sports.

But one needs only look back in history to see why that perspective is so important. Then, as Dan Cashmore pointed out, it is much easier to see how solid the foundation of Colorado basketball actually is.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu