BuffZone writer Pat Rooney discusses three topics surrounding CU Buffs athletics as basketball additions arrive and spring football concludes.
Big men on campus
The Colorado men’s basketball team has significantly bolstered its collective size with its spring additions, getting a commitment from 6-foot-10 NAIA player of the year Elijah Malone on Monday following the additions of 6-foot-8 Andrej Jakimovski (Washington State) and 6-foot-9 Trevor Baskin (Colorado Mesa). They join a mix set to return 2023-24 freshmen Bangot Dak (6-11) and Assane Diop (6-8), while CU also will welcome incoming 6-foot-8 freshman Sebastian Rancik.
That’s a lot of bulk, with only Dak, the tallest of the bunch, falling short of being described as thick-shouldered. At the very least, the Buffs will bring a little muscle into the upcoming fights in the Big 12. Yet by not adding any guards so far, the latest moves also signal a certain level of confidence head coach Tad Boyle has in the projected backcourt.
The Buffs still have another open scholarship, and adding depth along the wing likely will be the priority. Julian Hammond III looks to be the presumptive starter at point guard in his senior season. Hammond, who has played in 88 games in his career but missed the final 11 this past season due to a knee injury, will be surrounded in the backcourt by talent and uncertainty.
Javon Ruffin has played in 42 games but has battled knee issues in all three of his seasons at CU. RJ Smith, coming off a redshirt season, played in only seven games before suffering a season-ending leg issue. Courtney Anderson redshirted as a true freshman, and the Buffs also have two incoming freshmen guards in Felix Kossaras and ThunderRidge standout Andrew Crawford.
When healthy, Hammond has been solid, and he enjoyed a stellar run as the starting point guard in place of a sidelined KJ Simpson late in the 2022-23 season. Yet if the Buffs hope to compete for a postseason spot in their first season back in the Big 12, at least one and probably two players from that group will have to take significant steps forward in 2024-25.
New era
The addition of standouts from the NAIA and Division II levels might reflect the new reality for CU’s recruiting in the NIL era.
While it certainly would have been wonderful for the Buffs to add a marquee transfer like Arizona’s Oumar Ballo, Colorado simply cannot put up the money for college basketball’s top free agents (national hoops reporter Jeff Goodman reported the asking price for Ballo, who committed to Indiana, was $1.2 million).
That’s not at all to suggest CU “settled” for small school players like Malone and Baskin, but players with those sorts of backgrounds better fit the profile of the Boyle era Buffs. They will arrive in Boulder as players still looking to prove themselves (Will already-proven players like Ballo still have that fire after they’re paid?). Plus, the opportunity itself likely will provide the most rewarding payoff for players climbing up from the small school ranks. Joel Scott enjoyed a superb season for Colorado State this year after transferring from Division II Black Hills State.
Recruiting often is more about targeting who you can get, rather than who you want to get. Players moving up from the small school level make big impacts across college basketball every year. In the era of unfettered free agency, finding those diamonds in the rough might become more routine for the Buffs than entering into bidding wars for top transfers.
Spring shuffle
Spring football concluded with the annual Black & Gold game on Saturday. Making any reasonable assessment regarding the state of the program was probably not in the cards, not with the roster whittled by transfer portal losses and the rainy conditions making it less than ideal to truly let loose.
Yet much like last year, the key to the 2024 Buffs will be less about what went down during the spring than how they gather reinforcements, and integrate the new talent, ahead of the start of preseason practice.
For my two cents, the most important position group to watch this fall will be the offensive line. Not a groundbreaking revelation by any means, but unlike other position groups, the projected starting lineup operated together throughout the spring. That can still change of course. But if not, it will be critical for the spring work to pay dividends this fall. If the Buffs hope to reach a ceiling significantly above .500, the offensive line can’t be just a little bit better. The group has to improve by leaps and bounds.
