Cool, Calm And Collected - University of Colorado Athletics

Isolated at the top of the key, he waves off his teammates. He waits, focused. He glances at the shot clock while surveying his terrain. He drives, pulls up on the right wing, and as his Air Jordans leave the hardwood, he hits the fade away jumper?leaving his defender reeling. Swish.

Cory Higgins’ No. 11 gold and black Colorado jersey hangs from his long, lean frame. The Buffs’ starting freshman guard approaches the game with an unquestionable sense of belonging. Higgins was born to play basketball.

“I’ve been playing ever since I could pick up a ball,” said Higgins, smiling wide enough to reveal the dimple in his right cheek.

On the court, a smile rarely graces the freshman guard’s intensely focused face, but in the quiet moments when the fans are gone and the game is over, his reveals his smile. The warm smile that accompanies his calm, reassuring voice is reserved for the moment when he sees one of his biggest fans?his mom, Concetta?or when, away from the lights and the hype, his role model father approaches his son after a game. In that moment, Cory is not a promising young star on the University of Colorado men’s basketball team and Rod Higgins is not the general manager of the Charlotte Bobcats?they are just simply father and son.

For Higgins, basketball is the family business.

Higgins’ father, Rod, has 23 years of NBA experience as a player, coach and front office executive. His legacy includes four years as a forward/center for the Fresno State Bulldogs and 13 NBA seasons with the Bulls, Sonics, Spurs, Nets, Warriors, Kings and Cavaliers from 1982 to 1994. Higgins served as the general manager for the Warriors before being lured to the Bobcats by his former teammate and friend, Michael Jordan, part-owner of the Bobcats.

Growing up around the game gave Cory a much deeper love for basketball. He played soccer and baseball in his younger years, but when it came to focusing on one sport, the decision was easy to make.

“Basketball was always different for him,” said Rod Higgins.

Rod didn’t see many similarities between Cory’s game and his own, but there was one thing he saw in common.

“The feel for the game,” said Rod Higgins while reminiscing on his own playing days.

That feel for the game, which comes with a lifetime of basketball ?experience,’ is evident in the confidence and focus that Cory shows on the court. His easy-going, even-keeled demeanor comes through as he finds a way to stay grounded amid the screaming fans, the dunks, the coaches’ critiques, the three-point shots and the opponents’ stifling defense.

“What sets Cory apart is that he’s driven, he’s intelligent and he’s coachable?and that will take him far,” said Jeff Bzdelik, the CU head men’s basketball coach. “He’s quiet, but focused?very focused. He’s a great listener and he’s very demanding of himself, which is a great quality. He’s a player that has a great upside.”

Higgins’ coaches aren’t the only ones that are noticing the immense talent and potential that this young, Danville, Calif., native has?his teammates also are taking notice.

“He’s a very intelligent player,” said Javon Coney, Higgins’ fellow freshman teammate, roommate and friend who he met at Michael Jordan’s basketball camp in Santa Barbara, Calif., a few years ago. “He always makes good decisions. He’s a good, solid shooter, especially from the ?three.’ He’s unselfish?he always looks for his teammates.”

The parallels between Higgins’ on and off court demeanors seem to be endless.

“I would describe Cory as the most unselfish player and person I know,” said Rick Higgins, Cory’s older brother and only sibling. “He always puts everybody else in front of himself both on and off the court.”

Rick, 20, currently plays for the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo basketball team?also carrying on the family business. Before going their separate ways for college, the two Higgins brothers had the opportunity to play on the same varsity basketball team at Monte Vista High School in Danville, Calif.

“My favorite memory of Cory is just being able to play together on the same team in high school. That will always be the most fun I will ever have playing basketball,” Rick Higgins said.

Cory expressed similar sentiments, “The greatest highlight of my playing career will always be playing with Rick for those two years in high school.”

The close relationship between his two sons is something that Rod Higgins is extremely proud of, but his pride for Cory doesn’t end there.

“I’m proud of the kind of kid he’s been. He’s a good guy. He’s really loyal to his friends and family. He always tries to do the right thing,” said Rod Higgins while getting the rare opportunity to watch a Colorado basketball game in person as the Buffs took on the Kansas Jayhawks prior to his Bobcats’ game against the Denver Nuggets.

Higgins’ coaches have also been proud of the way that he’s handled his starting role for the Buffs. He shows a sense of maturity and confidence beyond his 18 years, yet he has remained humble and focused.

“He’s handled getting a lot of minutes in a very good way,” said assistant coach Steve McClain. “With a lot of young players you often see it change them, but not with Cory. He comes every day eager to learn and eager to get better. We just challenge him to be more assertive and play with more force as his game develops.”

Higgins will continue to work hard on the court for the Buffs and when the off-season comes he’ll focus that hard work towards getting “bigger and stronger.”

“He’s has been very steady from the first day he got here. Cory has a very serious attitude and he wants to be a better player,” McClain said.

Getting better is what Higgins strives to do each time he laces up his Air Jordan 22’s and takes his confident swagger onto the Coors Events Center floor. He’s focused?on the game ahead, on the play at hand, and on his role in Coach Bzdelik’s system. Higgins speaks with the same sense of calmness and focus that he brings to the game.

“I came to Colorado because it was a new start under Coach Bzdelik and it’s a major program,” Higgins said. “I know Coach Bzdelik is going to take this program to new heights.”

With his basketball pedigree, his knowledge and his focused passion for the game, Higgins will definitely play a role in Colorado’s climb up the rankings of the Big 12 Conference. When talking about the direction of the program, Higgins expresses the same unwavering confidence that his game relies on.

“Nothin’ but up,” Higgins said.