Colorado University Athletics
For Wright And Buffs Teammates, Summer Development Is Crucial
June 28, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado guard McKinley Wright and his teammates are in the midst of what Wright calls "the most important summer we've had since we got here."
The CU junior, who is almost fully recovered from shoulder surgery, isn't exaggerating. After a strong finish last season — and with virtually every contributor back for another year — Colorado is suddenly on everyone's radar. The Buffs will likely be picked to finish in the top three in the Pac-12, and are being mentioned in the conversation when it comes to potential top 25 teams.
That is no surprise. Tad Boyle's Buffs will have two first-team All-Pac-12 players in their lineup in Wright and forward Tyler Bey, as well as seniors Lucas Siewert and Shane Gatling, junior D'Shawn Schwartz and sophomore Evan Battey, all starters who played key roles in Colorado's stretch run last year. Also returning after a year out with an ACL injury is 7-foot sophomore Dallas Walton, along with sophomores Eli Parquet and Daylen Kountz and junior Alex Strating, reserves who also had key contributions last year.
Now, those players are a year older and there is no better teacher than experience. They have been through the battles and that experience should pay off.
But the one thing none of the current Buffs have experienced? The role of the favorite. Nobody will be casting Colorado in the role of the underdog this year. Instead, the Buffs will likely be one of the teams everyone is aiming for, something the Buffs will have to deal with from the very beginning.
"We've talked about that," said Wright, whose role as a team leader has been unquestioned almost since the day he first stepped foot on campus. "We're not going to feed into all the noise. We have all our guys back that played last year. That's good. We know what we're capable of, but we have to block out the noise and keep focusing on getting better every day."
Wright acknowledges that CU players know the early hype exists. But he is already doing his best to make sure the Buffs enjoy the notoriety — but don't let it affect their daily preparations.
"We're all on social media," he said. "We see everything, we see people talking about us being a top-two, three team in the league, returning all of our guys, getting top 25 mention. To be honest, it feels good because we know how hard we've worked and we know what we're capable of. But at the end of the day, coach always stresses to block out the noise and keep getting better. Every day. It goes back to just doing what we did last year — focus on getting better every day."
Indeed, Boyle will no doubt once again stress the mantra that led to last season's strong stretch run.
After losing eight of 11 in late December and early January, Colorado reeled off a five-game Pac-12 win streak that included road wins at USC and UCLA. The Buffs made a run to the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, earned an NIT bid, and came up one game short of a trip to the NIT final four, finishing with a 23-13 record (10-8 Pac-12).
It all came about after Boyle refused to panic after the rough stretch, and instead centered the team's focus not on the big picture, but on improving each day.
That has stuck with the Buffs, Wright in particular. Now he is pushing his teammates to keep that same focus over the summer.
"Get better every day," Wright said. "This is our biggest summer yet. We have guys who are committed to wanting to win. Everybody's bought in. We want to get this defensive thing down to a 'T.' Get everyone communicating, and that's where it starts. We have so many scorers, offense shouldn't be a problem for us. Defense — getting everybody to talk, that's going to be huge for us. It's going to be an important summer for us."
The summer is also important for Wright as he continues to rehab from surgery. He suffered a dislocated shoulder midway through the season — but missed just one game. He returned and played the rest of the year in a harness, then underwent surgery as soon as the season was over.
Now, he expects to be cleared to return to full contact by the end of July or early August.
"Shoulder's feeling great — I'm almost back to 100 percent," he said. "I'm doing everything with the team except for the contact stuff. It's coming along great. It's been a really long process, but it's good."
Wright has even tried to make the most of missing out on some of the Buffs' organized scrimmages and pickup games.
"I've had the chance to analyze these guys in practice," he said. "It's different from being on the court and playing. It's kind of like being a coach. I get to watch them, see where they like to catch the ball, see where they're most effective. Just analyzing everything has been good. It's been really valuable."
That plays into another shift for the Buffs this year — their experience level. Last year, there were nights when their starting lineup had as many as four underclassmen. While they never used it as an excuse, they were in fact a young team.
Now they will be a veteran squad — one that shouldn't be prone to youthful mistakes.
"We never used age as an excuse last year because at the end of the day our opponents have five dudes on the court and we have five dudes on the court," Wright said. "We're all playing Division I basketball. But yeah, now we're a veteran team and we have to play like it. We have to come together, talk more, take care of the ball, play defense and rebound. That's going to be our focus. Getting stops, getting out and running and taking care of the ball. We have to play like a veteran team."
If the Buffs do that, they have a very good chance of not only returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, but of making a run past the first weekend.
"We know what we're capable of," Wright said. "But we can't listen to the noise and worry about all the stuff that's way ahead. We have to worry about today, focus on getting better every time we step on the court. If we do that, all the other stuff takes care of itself."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
