CU Buffs 3 extra points (April 1, 2024) – BuffZone
BuffZone writer Pat Rooney discusses three topics surrounding CU Buffs basketball as the 2023-24 campaign comes to an end with the CU women’s loss against Iowa in the Sweet 16.
Soldiering on
Saturday’s loss for the CU Buffs women’s basketball team against Iowa in the Sweet 16 did nothing to diminish what has been the greatest run for the program since CU coaching legend Ceal Barry stepped aside 19 years ago. Three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances hadn’t occurred since a run of four in a row from 2001 to 2004. Reaching consecutive Sweet 16s hadn’t happened since 2002 and 2003.
Coach JR Payne believes the foundation is set for sustained success, and certainly the bar has been set for future teams. Yet it still will be a challenge for Payne and her staff to reassemble a tournament-caliber team this offseason.
First off, assuming they return as expected, the trio of forward Aaronette Vonleh, guard Kindyll Wetta, and sharpshooter Frida Formann is a solid place to start. But losing other pillars of the three straight tournament appearances — Jaylyn Sherrod, Quay Miller, Charlotte Whittaker and, likely, Tameiya Sadler — will be difficult to replace on the fly.
Unfortunately for the Buffs, they haven’t been able to stockpile ready replacements in recent recruiting classes. Granted, it has been difficult for younger players to break into a veteran-entrenched rotation, but of the four freshmen from the 2022 class, only one (Brianna McLeod) remains on the roster. Of this year’s five freshmen, only two played sparingly (Mikayla Johnson 15 games; Jadyn Atchinson 14 games).
CU is set to welcome at least three freshmen next fall, including an intriguing four-star post prospect in Tabitha Betson. As it stands, CU’s staff has one open scholarship to work with this spring, though that number is all but certain to increase. Sadler still has a year of eligibility remaining, but in my experience going through Senior Day ceremonies, as Sadler did, usually is a telling sign of what’s next. If Sadler leaves, that’s at least two open spots. Sara-Rose Smith, also a senior with another year of eligibility, could return, and obviously Payne and her staff will have more openings if any of the younger players decide to move on.
Regardless, the Buffs have done well finding immediate help in the transfer portal. They’ll have to do it again, likely at multiple positions, to keep the NCAA Tournament streak intact.
One-and-done
Early in my tenure covering the CU men, one popular gripe I often heard regarding head coach Tad Boyle was his inability, or perhaps unwillingness, to land the sort of mega-talent in recruiting that reaches the one-and-done realm.
Admittedly, I’ve heard less of that criticism in recent years, even before Cody Williams committed to CU. Yet at long last, those fans probably got what they wanted with Williams. But to what end?
Obviously, Williams isn’t officially off to the NBA draft until he says so, but in a relatively weak NBA draft class this summer, a huge second season at CU would do little, if anything, to elevate Williams’ draft stock. If he has played his final game with the Buffs, injuries limited Williams to just 24 of 37 games, with 18 starts. Certainly Williams flashed his enormous potential — most notably with an 8-for-9 second half with 21 points at Colorado State, or a 10-for-13 night with a season-high 23 points in a home win against Oregon — but Williams never truly took flight after his final injury, a sprained ankle that kept him out of the final four regular season games.
The Buffs reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Williams’ maybe-only-year at CU, but the Buffs made much of their late-season push with Williams either sidelined or coming off the bench (often struggling). None of this is meant as a knock on Williams. The injuries that kept interrupting his season weren’t his fault. But his season does offer a reminder that an influx of talent, no matter how dynamic, often doesn’t dictate team success.
Portal diving
The offseason moves ahead for Boyle and his staff will be huge if the Buffs expect to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid in the first season of the return to the Big 12.
Payne and her staff have a perfect track record of filling holes with perfect fits via the transfer portal. It has been more of a mixed bag for the men, as the high-impact transfers like Jeriah Horne and Eddie Lampkin Jr. have been balanced with portal pickups like last year’s twin Ivy League transfers Jalen Gabbidon and Ethan Wright, serviceable rotation players who nonetheless fell short of fulfilling the roles they were pegged for.
CU probably already was in the market for immediate help before last week’s announcement that Lampkin and J’Vonne Hadley are transferring elsewhere. Now it becomes imperative the Buffs land, at the very least, a five-spot player and a guard able to step in immediately. If KJ Simpson opts to head to the NBA draft, that list becomes longer. And more desperate.
