Colorado’s returning players may be the minority in a roster that has changed dramatically, but Jalin Holland says the group that stayed has a clear purpose this summer.
The Buffaloes brought back five players from the 2025 season, and Holland is one of three returners from Colorado’s freshman class. With so many teammates moving on, the players who chose to remain had to sort through their own futures. For Holland, the answer came down to one shared objective.
“Having all of our old teammates leave us, it’s something that happens now, but we talked about it, and we knew what we needed to do,” Holland said. “[We needed to] be together and be this unit to show these new guys what Colorado basketball is. How we take defense seriously, and how we take the little things seriously.”
That mission has shaped the tone of summer workouts. The returning group, from seniors to sophomores, has taken on the job of keeping CU basketball’s culture intact while helping introduce the next wave of Buffaloes to the program.
Barrington Hargress has been central to that effort. The senior guard’s decision to come back gave the program a lift after the roster turnover, and Holland said it also influenced other teammates to return.
“Barrington is going to be huge for us,” Holland said. “He helps us every single day, lets us know everything that happens on the court; he’s a really good dude off the court, but on the court he’s letting all of the freshmen know all the little things.
What to do, what not to do, why we do it. He’s a really big help.”
Hargress has become the model for how the returners want to lead. He’s setting the standard for the younger players, and the rest of the group is following that example as they work through the summer.
Holland is trying to grow into that same kind of presence while also pushing his own game forward. He said the minutes he played and the Big 12 experiences he picked up last season are already helping him handle a bigger role.
“My role wasn’t that big, but I think playing those minutes, being in those game-time situations, I learned so much,” Holland said. “I’ve seen it as we’ve been practicing, just the little things; it’s just a lot better and a lot easier [for me].”
As Holland develops, Colorado’s returners are trying to stay locked in on the same goal: bringing the new roster together while preserving what they believe Colorado basketball is supposed to be.
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