Colorado Buffaloes
2023-2024 Result: 26-11 record (13-7 PAC 12), NCAA tournament appearance
Projected Starting Lineup
Head Coach: Tad Boyle (15th season)
Guard: Julian Hammond III (SR)
Guard: Javon Ruffin (JR)
Forward: Andrej Jakimovski (5th year)
Forward: Trevor Baskin (5th year)
Center: Elijah Malone (5th year)
Key Additions
Andrej Jakimovski (Washington State)
Trevor Baskin (DII Colorado Mesa)
Elijah Malone (NAIA Grace College)
Andrew Crawford (4-star recruit)
Sebastian Rancik (4-star recruit)
Key Losses
Tristan Da Silva
KJ Simpson
Cody Williams
Eddie Lampkin
Luke O’Brien
J’Vonne Hadley
Colorado is coming off their first NCAA tournament since 2022, but this Buffaloes squad will look a little different this upcoming season. Head coach Tad Boyle lost his trio of stars in KJ Simpson, Tristan Da Silva, and Cody Williams to the NBA Draft along with 3 other rotation players to the transfer portal and he took a rather interesting path to try and replace this talent. Boyle managed to recruit a couple 4-stars in Andrew Crawford and Sebastian Rancik, but he also brought in Division II transfer Trevor Baskin and last year’s NAIA player of the year in Elijah Malone. It will be interesting to see how these non Division I transfers fare in the Big 12, but it is almost a guarantee they will be playing a significant role on this Buffaloes squad that is starving for talent.
The backcourt is where the most concerns are with this team from an offensive perspective, as the duo of Julian Hammond and Javon Ruffin will be stepping into much more significant roles than they had a season ago. Neither of these guards profile as above average creators for an offense, so expect this perimeter group to really struggle in Big 12 play. However, the Buffaloes may be able to run some offense through Trevor Baskin and Elijah Malone. Baskin has a fairly versatile game from the power forward position and Malone has a post up game that can translate to some degree, but there is no telling how impactful they can be at the Division I level until we see it in real time. Andrew Crawford and Sebastian Rancik will most likely play significant minutes off the bench as well, and while Rancik has been flying up the recruiting rankings recently, it’s hard to believe a Freshman can be a reliable source of offense with a major lack of talent around him, especially in this era of college basketball. We should be surprised if this offensive unit finished above the bottom 3 in the Big 12.
As for the defense, Tad Boyle led teams bring their defensive value by using their size and length to control the glass, but this group doesn’t look great compared to some past Colorado teams. The unknown impact of Baskin and Malone along with the poor frontcourt depth from a rebounding perspective gives this defense a lower floor than past Tad Boyle squads. The perimeter defense appears to be solid and can hold their own in the Big 12, but they won’t necessarily move the needle for this unit. Not having a stable rim protection ability is most likely going to keep this team from having a 7th straight season inside the top 65 in adjusted defensive efficiency (per Torvik).
There isn’t much to love about this Colorado team, as the overall talent concerns will only be magnified more in the Big 12. Tad Boyle does have a track record for having solid defenses, so they may prove people wrong and be fairly competitive. The Buffaloes also have a significant home court advantage with the altitude (5430 feet above sea level), and there are a lot of teams in this league that have never played in Boulder so you could see this team steal a few games on their home floor. Besides that, there isn’t much to be optimistic about in the 2024-25 season for this team and we shouldn’t be surprised if they finished at the very bottom of the Big 12.