Tag: Evan Battey

You Pick: Who should be the Colorado Buffaloes Wire Player of the Year?

Vote for the Colorado Buffaloes Wire Player of the Year

We’re turning it over to you, the fan, to pick our inaugural Colorado Buffaloes Wire Player of the Year.

You may not agree with our finalists, but we’ve narrowed it down to five Buffs for this prestigious award: McKinley Wright IV, Nate Landman, Carson Wells, Evan Battey and Mya Hollingshed.

To remind you just how special these Buffs were in 2021, check out our favorite article from each finalist.

These players all excelled in their respective sport. But who made the biggest impact? We’ll let you decide.

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Buffs Player of the Game in victory over Stanford: Evan Battey

Evan Battey is the Buffs player of the game against Stanford.

The Colorado Buffaloes men’s basketball team kicked off Pac-12 play earlier than usual in a strange scheduling quirk.

They faced Stanford on Sunday in Boulder and walked away with a narrow 80-76 victory. The Buffs also earned their sixth victory of the year and move to 6-1 as November reaches an end.

The Buffs had five players finish the game in double figures in a balanced effort for Tad Boyle’s team. The player of the game, you guessed it, is Evan Battey.

The Buffs senior forward finished with a season-high 22 points against the Cardinal on a respectable 8-of-11 clip and he knocked down four three-pointers.

Oh, and Battey scored his 1,000th career point on Sunday.

The fans in attendance went crazy for Battey, who has done well in his four seasons with the Buffs and they treated him with a standing ovation.

Battey has been a rock all season long for the Buffs, scoring double figures in all but one game, the victory against Maine being the exception.

Battey continues to impress in the early portion of the season and is rounding out his game nicely in his final year in Boulder.

More than that, the Buffs as a team have won three straight after a disappointing loss to Southern Illinois. Now, they face UCLA and Tennessee in the span of a few days in a couple of gigantic tests for Colorado.

With the Pac-12 beginning to take shape a bit during non-conference play, this is a great opportunity for Colorado to show what they are really made of, and Battey will be a major factor for that.

5 things every Colorado fan should be grateful for

Buffs fans have plenty to be grateful for

With the holiday season now upon us, we thought it would be appropriate to share a few things we’re grateful for in the sometimes arduous life of being a Colorado Buffaloes fan. While we’ve swallowed a few more losses than we’d like this season, at least we’re not CSU.

This list goes out to those who won’t turn off the television when faced with a 30-point deficit, or for those who still hold hope for another national championship. Let’s start with winning the Pac-12 first, though.

Put aside your gripes with administration or coaching and let’s remember why we’ve stuck with this program and have hope for the future.

Nobody enjoys watching a game with a pessimistic fan, and hopefully this list can help justify your Buffaloes obsession.

Buffs Player of the Game in victory over Brown: Evan Battey

The Colorado Buffaloes finished the Paradise Jam with a victory and Evan Battey got player of the game honors.

The Colorado Buffaloes finished their time at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament with a narrow victory over Brown on Monday.

The Buffs escaped with a 54-52 win against the Ivy League school and finished the Paradise Jam with a 2-1 record after losing on opening night to Southern Illinois.

It wasn’t the most encouraging performance, but it was a telling sign of what Tad Boyle’s team needs to improve.

In turn, the Buffs player of the game is senior forward Evan Battey.

Battey finished with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-15 from the field and added a pair of boards. He was one of only two Buffs players to finish in double figures on a night where neither team had success scoring the basketball.

Battey was also named to the Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team.

He wound up finishing the tournament with 46 points and 12 rebounds, scoring double figures in every game.

Now, the Buffs sit at 5-1 with December around the corner and an absolutely brutal stretch of games.

On Sunday, the Buffs face Stanford and follow that up with No. 2 UCLA on Wednesday โ€” in Los Angeles.

Following the Bruins game, the Buffs face No. 15 Tennessee in Boulder in what should be a jam-packed arena.

Then, on Dec. 21, they face Kansas after a few buy games against Eastern Washington, Milwaukee and CSU Bakersfield.

That is a torrid stretch and one that will show everybody how good this Buffs team can be. So, while a 54-point outing against Brown isn’t exactly encouraging, Battey’s performance throughout the Islands is something that will be huge for Boyle’s Buffs squad going forward.

WATCH: Evan Battey and K.J. Simpson drill first half three’s in season opener

Evan Battey and K.J. Simpson each made a three in the first half of CU’s season opener

It wasn’t a particularly pretty first half, but the Colorado Buffaloes did impress from beyond the arc early in their season opener. After struggling from deep in their two preseason exhibition games, the Buffs went 6-for-11 in the first half.

Regardless, trailing 38-35 to Montana State entering halftime was not an ideal beginning to the season.

Evan Battey, who played just six minutes in the first half with two fouls, made Colorado’s first three of the season two minutes into the affair.

From there, Jabari Walker, Keeshawn Barthelemy and K.J. Simpson each drilled a three of their own to give CU a 16-11 lead about five minutes in.

Simpson added another soon after to give put the Buffs up 25-19 โ€” a lead that would soon disappear.

As I previously hinted, things got ugly quickly. Turnovers were a frequent problem in the first half and the Buffaloes committed eight compared to the Bobcats’ four. That 25-19 advantage dissolved as Montana State made its final four shots to make things interesting in Boulder.

CU Buffs men’s basketball picked to finish sixth in Pac-12 preseason poll

Tad Boyle’s Buffaloes are looking to exceed expectations once again.

Tad Boyle and company are back to their traditional spot for expectations for the 2021-22 season, right in the middle of the pack.

The Colorado Buffaloes men’s basketball team was picked to finish sixth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll released on Wednesday.

The UCLA Bruins, coming off a Final Four appearance, received 32-of-34 first-place votes to sit atop the preseason poll.

The Bruins return all five starters from their team that finished fourth in the Pac-12 this season and have bolstered their roster with five-star recruit Peyton Watson and Rutgers big-man transfer Myles Johnson. They are not only picked to win the Pac-12 but one of the favorites for the national championship.

The Oregon Ducks, who only return two starters from a year ago, come in at second in the preseason poll followed by the USC Trojans, Arizona Wildcats and Oregon State Beavers to round out the teams ahead of Colorado in the polls.

With 10 freshmen and sophomores on the roster and only two upperclassmen, the Buffs will be one of the youngest teams in college basketball next season. But it isn’t without star power.

Senior Evan Battey was selected to the preseason All-Pac-12 first team while sophomore Jabari Walker was an honorable mention. Boyle brings in the best recruiting class in program history, a class that finished 13th in the nation and No. 1 in the Pac-12 on the 247Sports rankings.

A team that has a lot to prove, but if there is anything we know about Tad Boyle it’s that he likes to exceed expectations.

2021-22 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

1. UCLA

2. Oregon

3. USC

t4. Arizona

t4. Oregon State

6. Colorado

7. Arizona State

8. Washington State

9. Stanford

10. Utah

11. Washington

12. California

CU Buffs Evan Battey and Jabari Walker receive Pac-12 preseason honors

Two Colorado Buffaloes received Pac-12 preseason recognition.

Colorado Buffaloes forwards Evan Battey and Jabari Walker are receiving some preseason attention.

The senior, Battey, was selected to the Pac-12 preseason All-Pac-12 first team while Walker was an honorable mention as selected by the Pac-12 media.

Battey, a 6-foot-8 forward, has had a steady career so far for the Buffs as a defender, rebounder and someone that can score in the paint. He has averaged 9.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in his CU career.

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Battey has started all 64 of the 64 games he has played in over the last two seasons.

Being one of just two upperclassmen on this season’s roster, he will have to take his game to the next level if the Buffs want to have any success this season.

Tad Boyle’s program was picked to finish sixth this season in the preseason media poll.

Walker is expected to be a breakout star for the Buffaloes this season. Also a 6-foot-8 forward, Walker showed flashes of his potential throughout the 2020-21 seasonโ€”highlighted by a 24 point performance in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Walker was selected to the 2020-21 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team averaging 7.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while playing just 14.2 minutes per game.

They may be undersized but Colorado’s frontcourt is as lethal as anyone’s in the conference.

2021-22 Pac-12 men’s basketball preseason media all-conference teams

First team

Warith Alatishe – F – Oregon State

Marcus Bagley – F – Arizona State

Evan Battey – F – Colorado

Tyger Campbell – G – UCLA

Jaime Jaquez Jr. – G/F – UCLA

Johnny Juzang – G – UCLA

Bennedict Mathurin – G – Arizona

Isaiah Mobley – F – USC

Will Richardson – G – Oregon

Noah Williams – G – Washington State

Second Team

Boogie Ellis – G – USC

Quincy Guerrier – F – Oregon

De’Vion Harmon – G – Oregon

Jarod Lucas – G – Oregon State

Azuolas Tubelis – F – Arizona

Honorable Mention

Efe Abogidi – F – Washington State

Daejon Davis – G – Washington

Jaiden Delaire – F – Stanford

Harrison Ingram – F – Stanford

Jabari Walker – F – Colorado

Peyton Watson – G – UCLA

Pac-12 releases finalized conference schedule for Colorado men’s basketball

We learned the finalized dates and tip-off times for the CU men’s basketball team’s Pac-12 schedule.

One day after the Colorado men’s basketball team hit the court for its first preseason practice on Tuesday, the Pac-12 announced the Buffs’ completed conference schedule.

Head coach Tad Boyle is entering his 12th season at the helm and will lead a young Buffs team that lost to Oregon State in last season’s Pac-12 Championship Game.

This year’s Buffaloes will play a pair of exhibition games on Oct. 27 and Oct. 31 before opening with the Big Sky’s Montana State on Nov. 9. Colorado’s early season Pac-12 opponents come soon after with Stanford on Nov. 28 and at UCLA on Dec. 1.

Mar 22, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Colorado Buffaloes guard Keeshawn Barthelemy (11) passes the ball defended by Florida State Seminoles guard Nathanael Jack (11) in the second half in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Doug McSchooler-USA TODAY Sports

Boyle’s Buffs will fully emerge into Pac-12 play when they travel to Oregon to face the Ducks on Dec. 30 before facing the Beavers on New Year’s Day. Their nine-game Pac-12 home schedule will begin next with Washington State on Jan. 6. A March 5 trip to Utah will close the Buffs’ regular season before the conference tournament tips on March 9 in Las Vegas.

In terms of television, nearly all of Colorado’s regular season games will be broadcasted on either FS1, ESPN 2, ESPN U or the Pac-12 Networks.

The complete schedule including tip-off times and television info can be found at CUBuffs.com.

Colorado men’s basketball tabs Zach Ruebesam as Director of Player Development

The CU men’s basketball team has a new Director of Player Development

The familiar face of Zach Ruebesam has taken over the vacant CU men’s basketball Director of Player Development position, Ruebesam was a student manager for the Buffs from 2012-2016.

Head coach Tad Boyle announced the move on Monday.

“Iโ€™m a Buff, I bleed black & gold, and I love Colorado basketball more than anything,” Ruebesam said. “Itโ€™s a huge honor for coach Boyle to hire me on his staff full time.”

He will replace Nate Tomlinson, who took an assistant coaching position at the former-Buff hotbed of George Mason.

Upon graduating from CU with a business management degree in 2016, the Berthoud, Colorado native then earned a master’s degree in sports coaching from the University of Denver. While completing his master’s degree, he was a graduate assistant for the Pioneers before becoming their Director of Player Development for the 2018-2019 season.

Ruebesam then moved to Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina to become an assistant coach prior to the 2019-2020 season. The Division II program went 39-15 with two NCAA Tournament appearances during Ruebesam’s tenure.

In 2019, Ruebesam was an assistant coach for Team Colorado, an alumni team that competes in The Basketball Tournament. He was going to be its head coach in 2021 before COVID-19 canceled the event.

Boyle had high praises for his regained asset.

โ€œZach brings a lot to the table,โ€ Boyle said. โ€œHeโ€™s one of the best managers weโ€™ve ever had at Colorado since Iโ€™ve been here, and weโ€™ve had a lot of good ones. Heโ€™s got a good feel for not only how our program works, but heโ€™s going to be a big asset to our players in the sense that he can relate back to some of the players that were here when he was a manager, what they were like as teammates and why they were successful.”