After boasting the highest returning scoring percentage in the Pac-12 heading into last season, the Colorado Buffaloes are among the bottom three in the Big 12 Conference ahead of the 2024-2025 men’s basketball season.
The returning scoring percentages of each team were solidified after the 2024 NBA draft concluded last week. With the Buffs’ top three leading scorers getting selected, and three of their next four leading scorers transferring, they’ll enter the Big 12 returning only 12.5% of their scoring from last season. Only TCU (4.8%) and West Virginia (2.8%) have a lower percentage.
Senior point guard Julian Hammond II, the longest-tenured Buff, owns the highest scoring average from last season at 7.4 points per game. He is one of six returning players who scored a basket last season.
At 12.5%, that mark is the lowest returning scoring percentage Tad Boyle has experienced since taking over as head coach before the 2010-2011 season. The only time Boyle had a returning scoring percentage lower than 25% was before the 2011-2012 season (24.7%), which happened to be the last time a Boyle-led Colorado team joined a new conference. The black and gold won the Pac-12 Tournament that year, so maybe another magical, wildly over-performing season is in the works for the 2024-2025 Buffs.
The three highest returning scoring percentages in the Big 12 are owned by Houston (80%), Cincinnati (75.6%) and Iowa State (71.4%).
Big 12 returning scoring by percentage:
Houston 80%
Cincinnati 75.6%
Iowa State 71.4%
Kansas 56.7%
BYU 48.8%
UCF 48.4%
Arizona 45.8%
Texas Tech 43.9%
Utah 36%
Baylor 30.2%
Arizona State 19.5%
Oklahoma State 18.6%
Kansas State 13.8%
Colorado 12.4%
TCU 4.8%
West Virginia 2.8%— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 28, 2024
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