On Sunday, fall began and marked a new season.
On Monday, the Colorado Buffaloes and the nation’s Division I men’s basketball programs had their first practices, focusing on a different season’s start.
“I love the first day,” head coach Tad Boyle said, beginning his 15th season in Boulder, his first back in the Big 12. “The day I’m not excited for this practice (is the day) I need to get out of coaching.”
As it appeared, Boyle wasn’t the only one looking forward to Monday morning. The players, though inexperienced in terms of high-major basketball, flew up and down the floor. Whether someone drained a contested 3-pointer during five-on-five play or a wide-open midrange during a drill, the team was hooting and hollering as if it was beating down an opponent in March. The shoes were squeaking, the ball was bouncing and the press curiously peered from media row, where they’ll be camped for the next half year. It felt good to be back.
Still, the glaring fact about the Buffs who dusted off the CU Events Center’s hardwood for the 2024-2025 season is that they’re a completely different team from last year. They only returned 16.4% of the minutes played in 2023-2024, marking the lowest percentage in Boyle’s time at CU. Julian Hammond III, the senior guard expected to run the show this year, accounted for over 40% of those minutes. He averaged 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 24 games, including five starts.
“It was kinda crazy seeing all the guys leave, interesting too,” Hammond said, speaking on Colorado’s top six minute-getters from last year departing this offseason. “I've been playing with (them) since I've been here. We grew up in college together, we had a bunch of classes and stuff like that.”
Three of those players were 2024 NBA draft selections: Cody Williams (Utah Jazz - No. 10 pick), Tristan da Silva (Orlando Magic - No. 18) and KJ Simpson (Charlotte Hornets - No. 42). The others were graduate transfers: Luke O’Brien (Georgia Tech), J’Vonne Hadley (Louisville) and Eddie Lampkin Jr. (Syracuse).
When looking at their replacements, which could be anyone on Boyle’s roster, the differing, occasionally unconventional backgrounds offer the luxury of upside. And, the horror of a potential, somewhat expected crashing and burning.
“Look at your team, you always look at the talent. I see a lot of talent out there,” Boyle said. “I don’t see a lot of experience and there’s no substitute for experience.”
Some Buffs, like sophomore forwards Bangot Dak and Assane Diop, are working to build off the limited time they saw last season. Others, like redshirt sophomore guard RJ Smith and Hammond, are returning from injury. True freshmen Andrew Crawford, Sebastian Rancik, Felix Kossaras and redshirt freshman Courtney Anderson Jr. have only seen high school ball and the only DI experience between NAIA big man Elijah Malone and Division II forward Trevor Baskin is Malone’s Grace College’s early 98-51 loss to the national championship runner-up Purdue Boilermakers last season.
However, players like Malone and Baskin get picked up for a reason.
“He's great to have in the locker room, great to have around, he helps young guys,” Hammond said of Baskin, a standout at Colorado Mesa. “On the court, he’s an athlete, he plays inside and outside, has a lot of versatility and length. He’s very important for our team this year.”
Coming off his 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Player of the Year campaign, Baskin decided to stay in-state, choosing CU over the rival Colorado State Rams. He was a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the D2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-American last season as well, helping lead the Colorado Mesa Mavericks to a 29-5 record. At 6-foot-9, the lanky, athletic Baskin averaged 18.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game on 57.4% shooting from the field and 36.5% from beyond the arc. He also flourished on defense due to his frame.
With Boulder's past success with DII transfers, some hope he will become an NBA selection, similar to former Buffs star and current Boston Celtics guard Derrick White. But, Boyle doesn’t think this will be the year for a non-DI transfer to make the jump. He mentioned that White, who became an NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist this year, redshirted before his 2016-2017 breakout year. Despite the lack of 365 days to prep, Baskin still has the chip a DII transfer is expected to have on their shoulder, and the brain of one too.
“Half these guys wouldn't even realize that Elijah and I would rebound for ourselves at our old schools,” Baskin said, but understanding his role. “...I tried to ask them questions as much as possible, just when we're hanging out, just trying to understand what flies here and what doesn't.”
The guidance of Boyle, though blunt, has helped too.
“It's definitely different, but I appreciate it,” Baskin said of Boyle’s coaching. “You got to listen to what he's saying because he has such a great mind when it comes to the game, and I think they just got to listen to what he's saying, not how he's saying it sometimes. He's never mean or cruel or anything, he's very passionate. It's clear. And there (are) a lot of coaches out there that aren't passionate, and I, 10 times out of 10, want to have a coach that's passionate and gets on me for not being in the right place or doing the right thing than one who doesn't give a crap about us. It's awesome.”
With 41 days until the season opener, Baskin and his teammates will be fighting, but working together, to find valuable experience and some unsuspecting wins.
“The returning players were here last year, they were in practices, and they know what they expect, but they didn't get the minutes, maybe that they deserved or wanted,” Boyle said. “So that’s not the new guys who came here that know the opportunity that's in front of them… It's going to be an interesting preseason.”
Cover photo by @CUBuffsMBB/X
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