Tad Boyle will get a glimpse of his team’s capabilities during a four-game exhibition trip to Australia.
Yet the NCAA allows 10 practices ahead of the once-every-four-years international trips, and this week marked the final three of those workouts, which were spread across the past month-plus.
Those 10 practices might prove every bit as valuable as the four games the Colorado men’s basketball team plays Down Under, a run that begins against Hoop City in Melbourne on Saturday at 1 a.m. MT.
The Buffs welcomed eight newcomers this summer — six freshmen and two transfers — while one of the five scholarship returnees, former ThunderRidge star Andrew Crawford, is coming off a redshirt season. So while the Australian tour will give the Buffs a chance to take on outside competition, the internal competition so far this summer has given Boyle, heading into his 16th season at CU, some meaningful first impressions.
“I always look at things from the positive standpoint,” Boyle said. “We do have some talented guys. I think this group plays hard. I think they play together. From a negative standpoint, I think a lot of guys identify with their ability to score the ball. I want guys to score the ball, don’t get me wrong. I want them to identify on the other end of the floor and really take that as serious as they do on offense.
“I think this team needs to talk better and I’ve really challenged them on that. It’s a quiet group, and you can’t play basketball if you’re quiet. That’s something we’ve constantly challenged them on.”
The roster turnover has been so pervasive that second-year guard Felix Kossaras has played the third-most minutes for CU among the players heading overseas, and he averaged just 10.8 minutes in 29 games last season.
“Bonding off the court helps on the court, especially with past teams I’ve had when I was at a younger age,” Kossaras said. “Having that connection off the court just helps a lot. Being able to have this trip and just being around the guys the whole time, doing everything together, for a lot of us it’s the first time going to Australia. We’re just experiencing life with each other and it’s going to be great in the long run.”
Recovering
Bangot Dak didn’t make the trip to Australia, but before departing Boyle offered an encouraging update regarding the junior forward. Expected to play a premier role for the 2025-26 Buffs, Dak has been sidelined this summer due to an injury suffered early in the offseason.
“Bangot’s doing well,” Boyle said. “He’s obviously not cleared for contact or anything like that yet. But the swelling’s gone. He’s out and doing his rehab. He’s able to get some shots up. He can’t really elevate or go full-speed, but he can have a ball in his hands and shoot it, work on his free throws and that sort of thing. He’s progressing well. I’ll be anxious to see where he’s at (end of August).”
Notable
The Buffs are scheduled to return from the Australia on Aug. 5, and the players will have an opportunity to travel home before the start of the semester. … Sophomore Sebastian Rancik will take advantage of the traveling circumstances to make a rare trip to his native Slovakia following CU’s last game in Australia.
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