By Ken Cross
Although the Oregon Ducks are the pick by the Pac-12 media to win the Conference of Champions in 2019-20, the Colorado Buffaloes are roaming that terrain according to most preseason publications that are in the prognostication business.
Colorado returns a stellar starting five and it’s top six scorers, led by point guard McKinley Wright and as athletic of a small forward as there is in the nation in Tyler Bey. Coming off a 23-win season, the stage is set for them to achieve at a high level this year.
“As I look at our junior class, we’ve got McKinley and Tyler here,” said CU coach Tad Boyle. “We just talked about D’Shawn Schwartz, and Evan Battey is only a sophomore but only because he redshirted, but those four guys, that nucleus of players, we’ve kind of added to that.”
Both Wright and Bey were first team in the league as the Buffs finished 12-4 over their last 16 games and potentially could have been an at-large team in the NCAA Tournament before going to the Final 8 in the NIT where they lost to eventual champion Texas.
“The fact that people have picked us where they’ve picked us maybe makes you feel good for a minute, but it’s not going to win you any games,” Boyle noted. “Just like when they pick you 11th, it’s not going to lose you any games.”
Schwartz and Battey have huge roles in Boyle’s arsenal. Boyle noted that Schwartz really worked hard on his shot and overall game during the off-season after making only 31.3 percent of his threes last season. He did shoot 56.2 percent inside of the arc so supplementing his game will change matchups when opponents play Colorado.
“He’s (Schwartz) really worked hard on his game, and his body looks good,” Boyle said. “He’s shooting the ball well, and I think he can have a breakout year.”
Battey had a stroke in 2017 and made it all the way back to where he is a solid contributor on the squad. He is a source of inspiration and admiration for Boyle, the staff, and teammates. He averaged 8.1 points, 4.4 boards, and shot 48.1 percent from the field last season.
As Boyle made the improvement of the three-point game an emphasis in the off-season, ball-handling with an eye on creating steals on the perimeter to feed into the transition game was also a huge point as well. The Buffs’ three-point percentage of 32.3 percent was 272nd according to kenpom.com and they only had a 10.1 steal percentage per 100 possessions last season.
The experience and the chemistry that Boyle has built will play a major role as well. After Wright, who has had injury problems opted to come back instead of taking what would have been an ill-advised move into the NBA, it helped to stabilize the team and the program. Many think that this may be the best Colorado team, potentially in the history of the program.
“We’re putting new actions in, something maybe we haven’t run or tweaking some things,” Boyle noted. “Every year you do that, you go through your playbook, what did we run and not use, let’s get rid of that, what did we run and worked well, let’s keep that, what did we run and didn’t work, let’s get rid of that.”
Ken Cross, the self-proclaimed “CEO of College Hoops,” has a plethora of experience over a 25-plus year period in both print and broadcast journalism as a free-lancer on the east coast and in the Charlotte, NC area, in particular. He started with the now defunct Sports Fan Radio Network in 1997 as a reporter, giving in-game updates and then facilitating postgame interviews with players on winning teams after games via smart phones. He has also worked in the same capacity for ESPN Radio, CBS Sports Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Sporting News Radio, Yahoo! Sports Radio over the same period.
In print and on the Internet, Cross continues to write for Lindy’s Sports Annuals as one of the primary writers for the College Basketball preview as well as a writer on the Lindy’s College Football preview staff. He also contributes frequently to the Lindy’s Sports website with articles on all sports throughout the year in a feature, editorial, and game summary mode. He also writes preview material for Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and covers Wake Forest basketball for Rivals.com.
Now in Tampa Bay, he covers the college basketball and college football scene in Florida plus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Orlando Magic.
Cross has a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Appalachian State University and a Master’s in English and Education from Radford University in Virginia. He is a member of the US Basketball Writers Association and the Football Writers Association of America.