Men's basketball: WSU transfer Andrej Jakimovski brings untapped potential to CU Buffs
Apr. 24—At one point this season, Andrej Jakimovski torched Colorado from long range.
A little 3-point marksmanship certainly is something the former Washington State forward brings to the table. Yet whenever CU men's basketball coach Tad Boyle put together a game plan against the Cougars, keeping Jakimovski off the glass always was one of the top priorities.
Boyle now will game-plan for Jakimovski instead of against him, as the 6-foot-8 forward announced his commitment to the Buffaloes last week as a graduate transfer. While Jakimovski checks off several boxes on the offseason to-do list for Boyle and his staff, particularly adding a dose of experience and 3-point ability to the mix, it is Jakimovski's rebounding skills that Boyle said made the former Pac-12 rival an enticing addition as the Buffs look ahead to rejoining the Big 12.
"He's a better shooter than the numbers indicate," Boyle told BuffZone this week. "He's a tough, tough kid who can rebound the ball. When we prepared against him it was take away his threes. Because if you let him get going from three, he can hurt you. And he did in Boulder. We did a better job in the other two games.
"But then, you've got to get him off the glass. I was more concerned with his offensive rebounding. That's where I always thought he could make a difference."
The Buffs are losing their top six rebounders from a club that won a team-record 26 games and ranked second in the Pac-12 in average rebound margin: Eddie Lampkin Jr. (7.0 rpg), J'Vonne Hadley (6.0), KJ Simpson (5.8), Tristan da Silva (5.1), Luke O'Brien (3.8) and Cody Williams (3.0).
In 120 games with WSU, Jakimovski averaged 4.6 rebounds. Jakimovski was a streaky shooter from long range, finishing with a .332 3-point percentage this year after struggling to a .273 mark (18-for-66) over the final 12 games. But his rebounding was more consistent, as he finished with a career-high 5.6 per game this past season while averaging 4.9 in Pac-12 play. Jakimovski also averaged 6.3 rebounds in WSU's four postseason games in the Pac-12 tourney and NCAA Tournament.
While Jakimovski shot just .332 overall with only 46 assists in 35 games, Boyle said he believes there remains untapped potential in Jakimovski's offensive game. Lampkin perhaps offers a comparison. Certainly Jakimovski is a different type of player, but following two seasons in the rotation at TCU, Lampkin's lone season at CU was marked by career-highs in rebounding, scoring, field goal percentage and, most notably, assists.
Lampkin recorded 54 assists in 57 games the previous two seasons with TCU, but recorded 82 in 37 games at CU. Certainly Lampkin's final total was aided by kick-out passes on a team that set a program record for 3-point percentage, yet he also went from a .531 free throw shooter in those two previous years at TCU to a .661 free throw shooter with the Buffs. Boyle believes Jakimovski is capable of making similar strides.
"I think he has some things in his game offensively — we talked about that when we recruited him — that maybe he hasn't shown," Boyle said. "Washington State really, really played through their two bigs this year, and I think Andrej's got some skills that maybe he hasn't been able to show here over the last couple years. We're excited to have him try to expand his game and continue to get better."
