Analyst expecting rough welcome-back season for Colorado men’s hoops in the Big 12
With KJ Simpson, Tristan da Silva, Cody Williams and other key players moving on in their careers, Colorado men’s basketball could be entering a rough welcome-back season in the Big 12.
Head coach Tad Boyle has added some intriguing transfers, including Andrej Jakimovski (Washington State) and Trevor Baskin (Division II Colorado Mesa), but overall, the Buffs enter 2024-25 with some uncertainty.
Can Julian Hammond III be an effective full-time starting point guard? How quickly can incoming freshmen Andrew Crawford and Felix Kossaras adjust to the college game? Are Bangot Dak and Assane Diop ready for bigger roles?
247Sports college basketball writer Isaac Trotter, at least, doesn’t have a very optimistic perspective on what’s ahead for Colorado. Earlier this week, Trotter put the Buffaloes dead last in his way-too-early Big 12 men’s basketball power rankings.
Here’s some of what Trotter wrote on the Buffs:
There aren’t many proven high-major players in this rotation right now. Now, if KJ Simpson opts to exit the NBA Draft and return to CU, that’s a different story. He’d be a Big 12 Player of the Year contender. But as of now, Boyle is banking on his talent identification both for international prep prospects and outside the Division I transfer ranks.
The upside is tempting. The downside is terrifying.
Kansas took the top spot and Houston was No. 2 in Trotter’s rankings.
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