With Colorado’s season opener just 10 days away, the Buffaloes are staring at a much tighter rotation than they had last year - and that puts a different kind of pressure on the freshmen stuck at the end of the bench.
CU opens Nov. 2 at home against Abilene Christian to begin the 17th season under head coach Tad Boyle, and the core of the rotation appears likely to come from a small group: guards Barrington Hargress, Alex Dickeson, Jalin Holland, Josiah Sanders and Ian Inman, plus forwards Justin Neely, Noah Feddersen, Goc Malual and David Gomez. Gomez may be on a limited early-minute plan as he continues recovering from foot surgery a year ago.
That’s a sharp contrast from last season, when the Buffs rolled through a far more crowded rotation. Colorado finished 17-16 overall and 7-11 in the Big 12, with 11 different players appearing in at least 20 games and seven logging at least 10 starts. This year, unless injuries force Boyle’s hand, there won’t be nearly as much mixing and matching.
That leaves a handful of freshmen in a very specific role: future pieces now, practice players first.
“Just develop,” forward Chase Hill said of his goals at CU. “I could’ve gone to Division III, and my goal would be to develop there and try to transfer up, or just come here first and just develop throughout this whole four, five years I’m going to be here. That’s the plan, for sure.”
Hill is part of a late-arriving group that also includes guards Amir Jones and Rider Portela, along with forward Eric Jacobsen. Portela, a wing from Phoenix, had already signed with Colorado last November, while the others joined the roster last spring.
Their routes to Boulder were anything but direct. Jacobsen, a 6-foot-1 post, spent part of his childhood in the Midwest before moving to Colorado Springs, though he played at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.
His recruiting stock took a hit after a torn ACL midway through his junior season. Hill comes from a basketball family: his father is the all-time winningest women’s basketball coach at Division III Trinity University in San Antonio, and his grandfather, Bob, was a longtime NBA coach who helped recruit Boyle to Kansas 45 years ago.
Portela also has a father who coaches, and Jones ended up reopening his recruitment after a coaching change at Georgia State, where he had signed.
Jacobsen said the adjustment to limited minutes has not been easy, but he’s come around to the reality of his situation.
“It was kind of tough to accept (not playing) at first, but now that I’ve gotten into that mindset I’m accepting a little bit more,” Jacobsen said. “I’m realizing I can go as hard as I can every single day and I don’t really have anything to lose. Just trying to earn what I can.”
Boyle doesn’t sound interested in treating those young players as permanent outsiders. Even if the “third five” doesn’t carve out regular game action soon, their daily work will matter to a Colorado team trying to punch above its weight in the Big 12.
“I don’t want them to feel like they’re on the outside looking in on a permanent basis, because they’re not,” Boyle said. “It’s a fluid situation.
Amir Jones (on Friday) had a really great practice. Eric’s done some good things, and Chase.
They’ve all got the capabilities. They’re just not there on a consistent basis because they’re young.
Where we are today in mid-to-late October versus where we are in December, it could be totally different spots.
“I want them to come to practice every day preparing, keep themselves ready, so they know when their number is called, they’re ready mentally.”
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