'New Team, New Season' For Boyle's Buffs
October 21, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — In the wake of one of the most successful seasons in Colorado men's basketball history, Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle finds himself hitting the reset button this year.
"We're really proud of what this program accomplished last year and what the players accomplished," Boyle said at Monday's CU media day. "But this is a whole new team and a whole new season."
Indeed, CU hoops fans may need a refresher course to familiarize themselves with this year's roster.
Gone from last year's squad are the top five scorers and top six rebounders, including NBA Draft picks Cody Williams, Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson.
Now, one year after a program-record 26 wins and two NCAA Tournament victories, the Buffs' lineup will feature a host of role players from last season along with a handful of transfers new to the program.
Boyle, entering his 15th season in Boulder, is embracing the challenge.
"I want to see how much improvement we can make from the beginning of the season to the end of this season," he said. "There's going to be peaks, there should be valleys, like every basketball season. Even last year's team, as successful as it was, had some bumps in the road. We had some injuries to overcome. This team is going to be no different, but I think the ceiling of this team is very high, and I'm excited about the returning players and I'm excited about the new ones."
Along with a new team and new season, Boyle's Buffs also find themselves in a new conference — arguably the best basketball conference in the nation. The first AP poll of the year had five Big 12 teams in the top 10, led by No. 1 Kansas. Also in that group are No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 Arizona, with No. 20 Cincinnati making it six in the top 25.
Boyle has been at CU long enough that he actually coached one season in the Big 12 — his first with the Buffs — before spending 13 years in the Big 12.
"The players are really good, the coaches are really good," Boyle said. "That was true in the Pac-12. It's true in the Big 12. The depth of the Big 12 is deeper and the venues are much more difficult to play, having coached in both leagues, and that's going to be the big difference … It's a hell of a challenge and we're looking forward to it as a team, as a program, and the time is now."
But while the Buffs will certainly have a new look, it's not as if the cupboard is bare. CU has some solid experience returning in the backcourt, starting with senior point guard Julian Hammond III, who will get the opportunity to run the show after playing mainly a reserve role in the previous three seasons.
Hammond did start in five games in each of his first three years in Boulder. His best year may have been the 2022-23 season when he played in all 35 games and took over the starting job down the stretch when Simpson was injured. In those final five games, he averaged more than 13 points and four assists per game.
Last year, Hammond missed the last 11 games of the season with a knee injury but is fully healthy now and ready to step into the lead role.
Also returning to give the Buffs some firepower in the backcourt is junior Javon Ruffin, a player who has been hampered by injuries but has shown flashes of excellence.
Boyle showed his confidence in the duo in the offseason when he chose not to add another point guard to the roster via the transfer portal.
"I think both Julian and Javon have the ability to run this team as a point guard," Boyle said. "Certainly they can play together, because they're both really good shooters, and they can play off of each other. But I think I showed a lot of confidence in Julian and Javon because I believe in them … What Julian hasn't done is prove he's able to do it over a 31-game schedule. He battled some injuries last year, but his ability to shoot the ball, his ability to run the team … He can keep guys in front of him defensively and I would put Ruff in that same category. I think they can run this team and understand what this team needs from them to win a game."
Up front, the Buffs have two promising sophomores in 6-11 Bangot Dak and 6-8 Assane Diop. Both had solid appearances last year and with a year of experience and strength training under their belts, should be ready to step into significant roles this season.
Dak had an excellent game in CU's 95-62 exhibition win last weekend over Pomona-Pitzer. In 21 minutes he finished with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting while also grabbing five rebounds and handing out three assists. Diop had six rebounds and hit his only field goal attempt.
"Bangot is one of the number of players in our program that's returning that has a chance to have a breakout year," Boyle said. "He was just scratching the surface as a freshman, obviously playing behind some really, really talented players last year. But explosiveness is sometimes even an understatement with him. He's probably one of the best shot blockers I've coached … He has a chance to be an elite defender and could have a breakout year, both offensively for us and defensively for us."
The Buffs will also be leaning heavily on several transfers. Newcomers include 6-10, 268-pound big man Elijah Malone, a two-time NAIA All-American from Grace College; 6-8 guard Andrej Jakimovski from Washington State; and 6-9 guard Trevor Baskin from Colorado Mesa.
Malone gives the Buffs a wide-body defender in the post who also possesses a solid scoring touch. Jakimovski is a solid all-around player who averaged 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 120 games for WSU, including a 14-point, 10-rebound game against the Buffs in a Cougars victory. Baskin, an in-state produce who played high school ball at Pomona in Arvada, averaged 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 56.6 percent from the floor in four years at Mesa.
"Elijah is a very skilled for guy his size," Boyle said. "He knows how to use his body. He knows how to swivel and get angles down low. When he gets the ball down low he can score it and he can pass it … And he's going to give us a presence at the rim that we need defensively, a guy who can match up against another big, strong, wide-body guy and hopefully guard one-on-one in the post so we don't have to double the post. He's going to be an important piece, both offensively and defensively."
Boyle also expects solid minutes from Jakimovski.
"He's an important piece to our team this year, his experience, his physicality, his ability to shoot the ball, his ability to make plays," Boyle said. "He is a key to this team. He's got the players respect in a very, very short period of time being on campus. He's going to be a critical piece of this year's team."
And, Boyle has some talented young freshmen. True freshman Sebastian Rancik, a 6-9 freshman, had 12 points and five rebounds in the exhibition, showing he could be a contributor right away.
"His ceiling, his talent, is unquestionable," Boyle said.
True freshman Felix Kossaras had 14 points against the Sagehens and fellow freshman Andrew Crawford has had solid moments in practices.
Also available for Boyle will be redshirt freshman guard Courtney Anderson, Jr., and sophomore guard RJ Smith. Anderson has been hampered by injuries thus far in practice while Smith is coming back from an injury that forced him to miss most of last season.
The Buffs did not get much respect in the Big 12 preseason media poll, picked to finish 15th in the 16-team league.
Boyle is fine with that prediction.
"What I know about this team is they're hungry and we've got some competitiveness to us," he said. "We've played extremely hard in practice. We've gotten after each other. There's been times where it's gotten a little chippy in practice, which, as long as it's under control, that's a good thing. The fact that we were picked 15th should put a chip on our shoulder. I know it's put a chip on my shoulder."
The goal, Boyle stressed, is to produce steady improvement through the preseason and be ready for conference play. Colorado opens the season Nov. 4 at home against Eastern Washington, and plays a non-conference schedule that will include a spot in the Maui Invitational. CU opens the tournament against Michigan State, and will play either UConn or Memphis in the second round. Other teams in the tournament include Auburn, Iowa State, Dayton and North Carolina.
The Buffs open Big 12 play on Dec. 30 with a home game against Iowa State.
"The Big 12 is a hell of a league," Boyle said. "But what I know about this team is we're going to compete, we're going to play hard. We're going to give our fans and give each other everything we've got."
