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Colorado Basketball
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October 28th
… CU in the Arena …
Bangot Dak, Sebastian Rancik plan to lead CU Buffs out of Big 12 basement
… Buffs open the 2025-26 season on Monday, November 3rd, against Montana State … 7:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ …
From the Daily Camera … It has been just seven months since Bangot Dak and Sebastian Rancik last took the floor at T-Mobile Center.
In that time, the entire universe of Colorado men’s basketball has transformed around the pair of young, versatile forwards.
Only four rotation players remain for the Buffaloes from when Houston eliminated them in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament at T-Mobile Center in March. Role players a year ago who were still finding their footing as significant contributors at the power conference level, Dak and Rancik returned to T-Mobile Center on Wednesday, taking another step in their respective evolutions as leaders of coach Tad Boyle’s program by representing the Buffaloes at the Big 12 men’s basketball media day.
“For me, I’m just trying to be more vocal and kind of lead by example,” Dak said. “I’m trying to show my best effort on the court regardless of what’s going on and show that regardless what the situation is I’m trying to play through it, trying to fight through it. Other than that, I’m just trying to be a leader.”
Rancik’s last memory of T-Mobile Center is a painful one, as he exited the loss against Houston with a knee injury. He recovered in time to take part in CU’s summer workouts, but by then Dak had suffered an offseason knee injury that kept him on the sideline for the Buffs’ exhibition tour of Australia.
Rancik has been slowed lately by a sprained ankle, which kept him out of Sunday’s exhibition win against Grace College. Yet none of the physical setbacks have prevented the duo from ascending into leadership roles that often were lacking last year as the Buffs limped into a last-place finish in the Big 12.
“With both Bangot and Sebastian, they both have personalities that kind of lend themselves to leadership in that you can’t lead if you’re not willing to open up your mouth,” Boyle said. “Sometimes, opening up your mouth in difficult situations — whether that’s after a tough loss, whether that’s when your team is not performing at the level you need them to — both those guys aren’t afraid to do that. That’s what you need to start to become a leader. It doesn’t end there for sure, but it starts there. And they both have that.
“The younger players kind of look to those guys as guys they want to emulate and follow.”
… Continue reading story here …
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October 26th
… CU in the Arena …
Tad Boyle responds to arrest of CU Buffs basketball legend Chauncey Billups
From the Daily Camera … Only nine months ago, Colorado announced plans to unveil a “Wall of Honor” at the CU Events Center.
Affixed to the northwest wall of the arena, the “Wall of Honor” was created to honor the best of the best in the history of Colorado men’s basketball. CU head coach Tad Boyle wanted the honorees — or, in the case of a couple of the older former players, their families — to be in attendance for the unveiling of their framed jerseys.
Five of the 10 were revealed last season. Five others remain dark for future celebrations. One of those yet-to-be-unveiled frames belongs to Chauncey Billups, possibly the greatest player in CU history.
Arranging a time for Billups to visit the Events Center for that type of event has been problematic due to his duties as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. At the moment, Billups’ job is no longer filling his time. But a night in Boulder celebrating his accomplishments in a Colorado uniform probably isn’t happening any time soon.
After a pair of off days, Boyle’s Buffs resumed practice Friday, about 24 hours after the bombshell news that Billups had been arrested in a sweeping FBI probe targeting illicit and allegedly fraudulent high-stakes poker games. A separate investigation targeted the selling of insider information to manipulate NBA prop bets.
Like the rest of the Colorado basketball community — not just at CU, but across the state — Boyle was shocked by the news.
“I feel awful,” Boyle said. “I’m shocked. You never want to see your friends go through something like this.”
In a bit of a head-shaking coincidence, the Buffs held a program-wide meeting Friday morning with a former FBI agent, who educated a CU team that features seven freshmen on the perils of getting involved with organized gamblers as college athletes. The lecture has been part of the Buffs’ preseason routine for years, and Friday’s session was scheduled three weeks ago.
Boyle said the fact it occurred the day after the shocking news regarding Billups had his young team sitting a little straighter in their chairs during the session. At this point, Billups has only been charged in conjunction with the probe of the illicit poker games. But an anonymous alleged co-conspirator in the probe into the selling of insider NBA information matches Billups’ basketball background.
“Obviously it was a timely meeting, but we didn’t do it because of what just happened. What happened kind of brings everything to light,” Boyle said. “Hopefully we got our guys’ attention. It’s shocking. They can try to get to young college athletes in various ways, and our players have to understand how that happens. We’ve got to do our best to educate them to hopefully not make bad decisions.”
… Continue reading story here …
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October 16th
… CU in the Arena …
CU picked to finish 15th in Big 12 preseason poll
From the Big 12 … Fresh off an appearance in the NCAA Championship game, Houston was picked as the favorite in the Big 12 men’s basketball preseason poll. This is the Cougars’ first time sitting atop the preseason poll, after checking in at No. 2 in each of their first two seasons as part of the Big 12.
Texas Tech’s JT Toppin was named Preseason Player of the Year, returning to Lubbock after capturing postseason player of the year honors in 2024-25. Toppin is the second Red Raider to be named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, and first since the 2003-04 season. The Dallas native averaged 18.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
Kansas’ Darryn Peterson was picked as the Preseason Freshman of the Year, becoming the 10th Jayhawk to earn that distinction. The Naismith Trophy High School Player of the Year, he comes to Lawrence after averaging 30.4 points per game at Napa Christian High School. The Canton, Ohio native was a McDonald’s All-American that was tabbed as the No. 1 recruit in the nation by 247Sports.com and On3.com.
LeJuan Watts joined Toppin as Red Raiders to earn preseason distinction as Preseason Newcomer of the Year. The Washington State transfer averaged 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for the Cougars in 2024-25. The Fresno, California native is the fourth Texas Tech player to be voted as the Conference’s top newcomer in the preseason, and the first since 2020.
Toppin and Peterson were joined by BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Houston’s Milos Uzan as unanimous selections to the preseason All-Big 12 Team. Richie Saunders (BYU), Emanuel Sharp (Houston), Joseph Tugler (Houston), Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State), P.J. Haggerty (Kansas State) and Christian Anderson (Texas Tech) complete the 10-man team. Lipsey is making his second consecutive appearance on the Preseason All-Big 12 team.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team or student-athletes.
Preseason Poll
- Houston (14) – 224
- BYU (1) – 204
- Texas Tech – 200
- Arizona (1) – 179
- Iowa State – 170
- Kansas – 163
- Baylor – 137
- Cincinnati – 120
- K-State – 117
- TCU – 90
- West Virginia – 79
- Oklahoma State – 77
- Utah – 50
- UCF – 39
- Colorado – 37
- Arizona State – 34
Preseason All-Big 12 Team
AJ Dybantsa, BYU*
Richie Saunders, BYU
Emanuel Sharp, Houston
Joseph Tugler, Houston
Milos Uzan, Houston*
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
Darryn Peterson, Kansas*
P.J. Haggerty, K-State
Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
JT Toppin, Texas Tech*
*-unanimous selection
Preseason Player of the Year: JT Toppin, Texas Tech
Preseason Newcomer of the Year: LeJuan Watts, Texas Tech
Preseason Freshman of the Year: Darryn Peterson, Kansas
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One Reply to “Colorado Basketball”
I found a little info on their game with Grace College. Whoever that is. Supposedly they are a “powerhouse” at their level of competition. One of the Buffs on the roster came over from there (Malone?) It sounds like a few of the freshmen did most of the scoring. Grace actually had a lead in the first half until the Buffs shook them off in the second.
Up coming is a “closed scrimmage” with Marquette. This should be a legitimate test of where the Buffs stand before the season opens. Hopefully the fans will get a little info out of it.