The Colorado Buffaloes are checked in and ready to embark on their Australian summer tour. They will play four games in a 10-day span, competing against a training academy, the Boomers national team, the NBL\u2019s Sydney Kings, and another that\u2019s TBA.<\/p>\n
While the Buffs take a few licks \u2014 very likely now that Bangot Dak will miss time recovering from a knee injury<\/a> \u2014 it will be a great way for Tad Boyle to assess the team\u2019s strengths and weaknesses before pre-season practices begin in August.<\/p>\n Apropos of that, now seems a good time to take a broad look at the 2025-26 roster. Boyle brought in a promising freshman class, landed an impact transfer, and then did the most important thing keeping Dak, Elijah Malone and Sebastian Ran\u010d\u00edk in the program. Ideally the Buffs would have landed one or two more transfers, but it\u2019s difficult with the program\u2019s lack of NIL budget.<\/p>\n Projected Starters<\/p>\n G \u2014 Barrington Hargress, Jr. These would be the familiar names: four returning contributors and the prized transfer.<\/p>\n Dak is the team\u2019s two-way star, a frenetic mess of arms and legs who can block shots, hit threes and do enough with the ball to run a bit of the offense. He\u2019s still raw and has yet to produce real numbers, but the talent is there and he continues to grow \u2014 quite literally, actually, as the Buffs now list him at 7\u20190.<\/p>\n Ran\u010d\u00edk also flashed potential<\/a> in his freshman season. The Slovak international had some bigger programs sniffing around, as they saw a 6\u201911 forward with a high BBIQ, the ability to handle the ball and drive to the basket, and a jumpshot that looks good even if his shooting numbers ran more cold than hot. The Buffs will invest heavily in his development.<\/p>\n Malone should be the same player as last year. He\u2019s 6\u201910, 270-lbs. and that size comes with its strengths and slownesses. He\u2019s maybe not the best interior defender and there\u2019s probably a reason he was in Tad Boyle\u2019s doghouse for half the season. But he\u2019s a real big man who will set mean screens, box out (even if his own rebounding numbers are poor) and has a mean post game<\/a> the Buffs unlocked down the stretch.<\/p>\n The last returning contributor would be Felix Kossaras, the sophomore guard from Qu\u00e9b\u00e9c. Like Ran\u010d\u00edk, he had to work hard for a rotation spot, impressed the coaches while filling in for injuries, and stole minutes from more experienced guards down the stretch. It\u2019s difficult to project a player who averaged 2.0 points per game, but he looks like a typical Tad-ball guard. He\u2019s 6\u20196, looks smart on both ends of the floor, good rebounder for his position, and is a bit raw as a shooter and driver. The Australia tour should be a good time to evaluate him as a potential starter.<\/p>\n And finally we have Barrington Hargress, the 6\u20191 scoring guard from UC Riverside. He\u2019s dynamic on the ball, a dangerous pull-up shooter, gets low and plays strong on the drive, and a good enough passer whose assist numbers would be higher with better shooters around (not that CU can shoot). There\u2019s a chance that he\u2019s a chucker in the [pick-your-<\/a>Bobby-Hurley-ASU-era<\/a>–undersized-<\/a>guard<\/a>]-mould, but he\u2019s better suited to be the Buffs\u2019 lead guard than the miscast Julian Hammond III. (No disrespect to Hammond \u2014 he did his best on a team that had next to nothing in terms of offensive creativity.)<\/p>\n Projected Bench<\/p>\n G \u2014 Andrew Crawford, r-Fr. The bench is difficult to project, mostly because we just don\u2019t know much about any of these players. Crawford was highly recruited out of ThunderRidge (Littleton, CO), but he didn\u2019t impress in pre-season practices and redshirted. Mani transferred from Denver after averaging 14 minutes per game on an 11-win team. The rest are true freshmen who might be good, might not be, might be somewhere in between.<\/p>\n Crawford is a bit of a mystery. He came to Boulder needing to work on his body, adjust from Colorado prep basketball to college ball, and then develop as a shooter and scorer. He has a good head on his shoulders, but was too raw physically and skill-wise to play games, then got injured and missed vital practice time. He\u2019s a blank slate, still growing \u2014 now listed at 6\u20198 \u2014 and still refining the skills that will get him on the court. <\/p>\n Mani\u2019s numbers at DU don\u2019t jump off the page \u2014 2.9 points per game, 33% shooting from the floor \u2014 but it was a messy situation with head coach Jeff Wulbrun getting fired midseason. He projects as a good team player, a smart cutter, spot-up shooter and opportunistic defender \u2014 and yes, he models his game after Tyler Herro and Austin Reaves (lol). He\u2019s eager to play after a tense summer<\/a> in which his time on the Israeli U20 team coincided with the U.S.-Iran standoff.<\/p>\n Sanders was the highest ranked recruit in the Buffs\u2019 2026 class and could work his way into the rotation. He\u2019s 6\u20193, strong and athletic, and wants to get downhill on his favored left hand. His shot needs work and he\u2019s still adjusting to major college basketball, but the coaching staff seems excited<\/a> about him as a driver and scorer. <\/p>\n While it\u2019s still questionable which of the freshman guards step into a rotation role (more on that below), there\u2019s no doubt Tacko Fawaz will play a ton off the bench. For one, the Buffs are dangerously thin in the frontcourt, as Fawaz is one of three traditional bigs on the roster. For another, he\u2019s actually quite good. He plays extremely hard and projects as a plus-plus rebounder and rim protector. The coaching staff is very excited<\/a> about him and will give him every chance to prove himself.<\/p>\n Possible Redshirts<\/p>\n G \u2014 Jalin Holland, Fr. \u2014 4-star (AZ) Of the four players above, Johnson has impressed the most so far. He\u2019s a six-foot-nothing guard who learns quickly and is fearless in competition. He wouldn\u2019t be the first CU guard of that profile to overperform his recruiting rank and crack the rotation as a true freshman.<\/p>\n Inman has impressed with his shooting ability and he\u2019s a good athlete in a 6\u20196, 200-lbs. frame. He\u2019s a long-term project, but so are most of the freshmen, so there\u2019s certainly a chance he plays his way into minutes. The shooting would certainly help.<\/p>\n
G \u2014 Felix Kossaras, So.
F \u2014 Sebastian Ran\u010d\u00edk, So.
F \u2014 Bangot Dak, Jr.
C \u2014 Elijah Malone, Sr.<\/p>\n
G \u2014 Jon Mani, So.
G \u2014 Josiah Sanders, Fr. \u2014 4-star (CO)
C \u2014 Fawaz \u201cTacko\u201d Ifaola, 4-star (AZ)<\/p>\n
G \u2014 Ian Inman, 3-star (TX)
G \u2014 Isaiah Johnson, 3-star (CA)
C \u2014 Leonardo van Elswyk, unranked (Italy)<\/p>\n