Horne, Walker, da Silva To Join Basketball Buffaloes

University of Colorado head men's basketball coach Tad Boyle has added three players to his 2020 recruiting class.

Someday soon, he hopes to meet them face to face. Someday soon, those players will be able to see campus in person, for the first time.

Despite the inability to conduct in person, on campus visits, reputation and research allowed the Buffaloes to sign Jeriah Horne, Jabari Walker and Tristan da Silva as the NCAA's regular signing period opened on Wednesday.

All three, listed in the 6-foot, 7-inch to 6-8 range, will bolster the Buffaloes front court. Walker and da Silva, combined with the November signings of guards Luke O'Brien and Dominique Clifford, and then add in redshirt freshman Keeshawn Barthelemy, represent the future nucleus of the Colorado basketball program.

"It's an exciting, talented and deep class with multiple players at multiple positions," said Boyle noting five freshmen could have impacts next season. "We will lose a big chunk of our production (from five seniors) after next year so this class is about the future of Colorado basketball the next 2 to 4 years."

"What is unique is that all three young men decided to come without ever setting foot on campus, obviously due to conditions beyond control," Boyle said. "To have all three come to Colorado, when they had other choices, that means a lot to us."

Horne, a 6-7, 220-pound forward from Overland Park, Kan., is a graduate transfer, a first for the Buffaloes in the Boyle era. He spent the last two seasons at Tulsa where he averaged 10.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in 63 career games with the Golden Hurricane.

"(The process) was different in terms of checking out the school," Horne said. "I had to rely on research, reputations and conversations with coaches and players. I like CU's style of play, the passion they play with together at a high level."

Horne was Tulsa's third leading scorer (11.1 ppg) and second leading rebounder (5.2 rpg) in 2019-20. He will receive his degree in Organizational Studies with a minor in Sports Management from Tulsa in May.

With the departure of forward Tyler Bey, the 2020 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, to the NBA, the addition of Horne will help to fill that void. As a graduate transfer he is eligible immediately for his final collegiate season.

"Jeriah is just what the doctor ordered for us," Boyle said. "To bring in a guy of his caliber is going to lessen the blow (of Bey leaving) to a high degree.
"He can fill that void in a lot of different ways. He can shoot the ball, score, rebound the ball, a good defender with a lot of experience. The one thing you can't replace with a freshman is experience level."

Walker is a 6-8, 200-pound forward from Inglewood, Calif. He played his senior season at AZ Compass Prep in Chandler, Ariz., averaging 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game on the The Grind Session for coach Ed Gibson.

"Coach Gibson told me (Colorado) was interested in me," Walker said. "I imagined about being there (at Colorado) before they even talked to me. It all came together.

"I talked to the coaching staff and a few people at CU who had nothing bad to say about it. The campus environment is great; a great program. I got to see that through meetings and pictures, so I felt comfortable making that decision."

Walker is rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports.com. He is the son of former Louisville standout and 10-year NBA veteran Samaki Walker.

"Jabari is a guy that from watching him play and talking to him that his best basketball is ahead of him without a doubt," Boyle said. "One thing about Jabari, in the short time I've known him, is that he respects and honors the process and won't try and short circuit it.

"The weight room will be very important to development; getting on college campus playing against high level talent will make him a better player. His skill set and work ethic and size are going to be what allows him to be a great basketball player."

A 6-8, 200-pound forward from Munich, Germany, da Silva joins the Buffaloes after playing simultaneously with Schwabing, in Germany's Regionalliga, and IBA Muenchen (International Basketball Academy, Munich), in the NBBL, this past season. He is the younger brother of Oscar da Silva, an All-Pac-12 forward for Pac-12 rival Stanford.

"Coach Anthony (Coleman) approached me and I obviously heard of Colorado before because they play in the Pac-12 and because of that incident with my brother (who suffered a head laceration during the CU-Stanford game in Boulder in February). I was just amazed by the level of basketball they play while still providing such a great education.

"Unfortunately, I could not do visits to any schools this year, so I have only seen Boulder on the screen and the nature there was just beautiful. Looking forward to experience it in person."

In 12 games with IBA Muenchen, da Silva led the team in scoring at 16.9 points per game while shooting 53.2 percent. His shooting with Schwabing was even better at 58.3 percent while averaging 14.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 16 games. Da Silva was set to play for Germany at the 2020 U20 FIBA World Championships, before that tournament was cancelled.

"Knowing and coaching against Oscar for two years, watching his development, and then coming across Tristan who has a high skill set passing the ball, dribbling and shooting the ball for a guy at his age, it excites you as a coach for what he can be down the road," Boyle said.

"He's a good student; a versatile player. The nice thing is he can play on the perimeter and guard on the perimeter. He has great size. As his body develops and gets accustomed to the level of play here in America, the sky is the limit for him."

Players Mentioned

Keeshawn Barthelemy

Tyler Bey

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