Putting together a college basketball roster in 2025 is like making hot dogs — you have to piece the team together from various sources and hope the end result is worth the mustard.
CU’s basketball team, fresh off the most disappointing season of the Tad Boyle era, is poised to welcome in 5 true freshmen and will probably add 2-3 incoming transfers, while jettisoning at least 2 players as outgoing transfers.
The biggest issue for the Buffs this past season was guard play and turnovers. CU turned the ball over too much, and didn’t force enough turnovers on the defensive side of the court. Overall, the Buffs ranked 352nd in KenPom’s turnover percentage and 357th in KenPom’s steal percentage — horrific numbers for a power conference team and indicative of the fact that the team’s guard play was not dynamic enough to be competitive.
The scary thing about those numbers is that the team’s highest usage player, point guard Julian Hammond, is graduating after being a somewhat steadying force with the ball in his hands. Hammond’s turnover percentage was 20.4%, which was among the best on the team. CU is bringing in true freshmen to help, but I suspect that landing a couple of ball-dominant guards in the transfer portal will be a high priority for Tad Boyle.
STATE OF THE ROSTER
Tad Boyle thinks about roster construction as needing 3 separate types of players: “bigs” (typically post players that are 6’8” or taller), “wings” (typically 6’4” – 6’8” and ‘jack of all trades’-type players) and “point guards” (players that are ball-dominant and run the offense).
—-> Returning Bigs:
CU returns 4 post players, including arguably the two most important players on the roster, Bangot Dak and Sebby Rancik.
Bangot Dak: Dak is probably the most important player on CU’s roster. The 6’11” (and 185 pound!) center from Lincoln, Nebraska is a force on the defensive end of the court, ranking 3rd in the Big 12 with a block rate of 8.8%. Dak is also a surprisingly good rebounder given his slight frame. He needs to continue to work on his outside shooting – he only shot about 27% from 3. BD has the talent to look like Kevin Garnett on some nights but the inconsistency to look like Ben Mills on other nights. Let’s hope we get more of the Big Ticket-style BD in the 2025/26 season.
Sebastien Rancik: Rancik is probably the 2nd most important player currently on the team’s roster. The 6’9” Rancik, a 4-star recruit from last year’s recruiting class, averaged 6 points and 3 rebounds this past season but his numbers, and play, improved materially down the stretch of the season. Rancik’s turnover percentage is too high – his turnover rate ranked 10th in the Big 12 this past season — but you can tell that his skills are there. CU needs him to take another step into becoming Tristan DeSilva 2.0.
Post Malone: The 6’10” 270-pound Post Malone is a beneficiary of the NCAA ruling in the Diego Pavia case that grants an extra year of eligibility to those that played in junior college or NAIA basketball. Thus, he has a “bonus” year of eligibility at CU. Malone struggled against athletic bigs but did improve down the stretch after learning to use his size better. He shot 58% from the field on 2 point baskets, which is very strong, but he didn’t get the ball enough. Malone averaged 7.6 points and 3 rebounds per game this season – I expect these numbers to improve next year, particularly if the guards can figure out how to make a post pass.
Assane Diop: Diop was a fantastic defender but struggled offensively. Diop turned the ball over too much and other teams often didn’t closely guard him when the Buffs were on offense. Diop averaged 4 points and 4 rebounds a game while shooting 41.5% from the field and 26.7% from 3. If Diop’s minutes are going to increase this upcoming season, he’ll need to work on his offensive game.
—-> Returning Wings:
Felix Kossaras, RJ Smith, Andrew Crawford. Note: Kossaras and Cawford may play point guard, but neither has yet shown the ability to run a team at the power conference level. For now, we’ll list them as wings with the abiity to slide over and play the point.
RJ Smith: Smith was Steph Curry-like in the non-conference portion of the season, making over 50% of his 3-point attempts. During Big 12 conference play, however, his 3-point percentage plummeted to 22%. While he still shot a very respectable 39% from 3 for the season, he can be a very dynamic (although low usage) 3-and-D player if he shoots the ball like he did early in the season. The 6’3” guard averaged 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists this past season.
Felix Kossaras: The 6’5” Montreal-native was a 4-star prospect in last year’s recruiting class. He got more minutes at the season progressed, shot 42% from the field, and averaged 2 points and 1 rebound per game. At this point there are still questions about how much he can contribute at the FBS level as he turned the ball over regularly (he had the highest turnover percentage among backcourt players at CU) but he does have some physical tools.
Andrew Crawford: The 6’6” freshman from ThunderRidge High School in Colorado redshirted this season after averaging 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists his senior year of high school. He was a 4-star recruit and was ranked the #85 player in the country on the ESPN100 rankings, but there are concerns about his explosiveness and ability to create off the dribble. This next season will be a test for him.
—-> Returning Point Guards:
None (but see Felix Kossaras and Andrew Crawford above).
INCOMING FRESHMEN
4-star Josiah Sanders
CU is bringing in the 38th ranked recruiting class in the country, with 5 players making up the class. These players are:
Jalin Howard: 6’4″ 4-star prospect and rated as the 130th best player in the country and 7th best player in Arizona by 247. He averaged 25.4 points per game as a junior at Los Lunas High School before joining Dream City Christian to play prep basketball his senior year. While at Dream City, he was a teammate of fellow CU commit Fawaz “Tacko” Iraola. Howard (along with Josiah Sanders) might be the most college ready guard among the freshman enrollees, and I expect him to be in the rotation in the upcoming season.
Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola: A 6’11” 245 pound center from Lagos, Nigeria by way of Dream City Christian in Arizona, Ifaola is ranked a 3-star player. He does all the dirty work that a big man should do — he sets screens, blocks shots and hits the boards. While he’s going to be a work in progress on the offensive end of the court, he will play in the 2025 season due to a lack of depth up front.
Ian Inman: Inman is a 6’5″ forward from The Woodlands, Texas. He is a 3-star player. Inman is a fantastic shooter – he shot 50% from 3 during his club season. He will step into the program and will immediately become one of the best shooters on the team. While I expect him to redshirt, it’s possible that his shooting forces him into the lineup.
Isiah Johnson: Johnson is a 6’1″ guard from Valley Village, California. He’s a 3-star prospect and ranked the 38th best point guard nationally. Isaiah is young for his grade and therefore less physically developed than many of his classmates. Still, he has the skill and tenacity needed to be an impact player — he’s just going to need to make a physical jump. I expect a redshirt.
Josiah Sanders: Sanders is a 6’4″ guard from Denver that has played with Colorado Prep for the last 3 years. The top ranked player in the state of Colorado, Sanders is ranked the #122 player in the nation. Like Holland and Tacko, I expect Sanders to play as a true freshman. In fact, I wouldn’t be shocked if Sanders was starting by the start of Big 12 play.
OUTGOING TRANSFERS
Outgoing transfer Harrison Carrington
The transfer portal is insane. There are over 1100 players already in the portal, representing nearly 25% of all Division 1 college basketball players (!). CU’s Courtney Anderson and Harrison Carrington both entered the transfer portal last week. Both Anderson and Harrington would probably not have played much next season, so these are minimal losses from an Xs and Os standpoiont.
Courtney Anderson: The 6’5” Anderson was a 3-star recruit coming out of Dublin (California) High School and was a member of the Buffs’ 2023 recruiting class. He redshirted his first year at Colorado — he was young for his grade and turned 18 while a freshman at CU — and then played in 4 games this past season, notching his only basket and assist on the season in a game against UCF.
Harrison Carrington: Carrington joined the Buffs as a walk on in 2022 but earned a scholarship last year. He played in 29 games this season and averaged 3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. The 6’7” forward displayed great effort, and his athleticism translated to good defense — we think he can be a centerpiece player at either the FCS or Division 2 level.
INCOMING TRANSFER POSSIBILITIES
Potential incoming transfers Langston Reynolds and Obi Agbim.
Following the portal entries by Carrington and Anderson, the Buffs have three scholarships to work with entering the offseason (in part due to the NCAA rule expanding scholarships at the D1 level from 13 to 15) although it wouldn’t shock me if Boyle banks at least one of those scholarships. In total, expect about 2 (maybe 3?) incoming transfers this upcoming season, giving CU a roster of 14 players.
Colorado’s middling NIL kitty will, in all likelihood, prevent the Buffs from going after the highest-level players in the transfer portal. Sources have told me that last year CU had agreements with 3 separate point guards to play in Boulder, but all 3 backed out after receiving higher NIL offers elsewhere. Assuming that no great benefactor has come forward, CU will need to look at lower-level transfer prospects that want to prove themselves under the brighter lights of the Big 12.
The most likely incoming transfer is probably Northern Colorado star Langston Reynolds. The 6’4” guard averaged 16 points per game, 6 rebounds per game, and 3.4 assists per game for the Bears, who won the Big Sky regular season crown and finished the season with a 25-10 record. Reynolds played his high school ball in Denver for Colorado Prep, and his family regularly attended games in Greeley. For this reason, he may be inclined to stay local and Colorado has expressed real interest.
Reynolds is great in transition and rebounds very well for a guard. The knock on Reynolds coming out of Colorado Prep was that he didn’t shoot the ball particularly well. It’s important to note, however, that Reynolds has improved his shooting each year he’s been at Northern Colorado, and this past season he shot 41% on 3s and 60% on 2s, which is very good. He’ll need to continue to work on his shooting to be effective at the Big 12 level.
Another backcourt player that Colorado has contacted and that has expressed reciprocal interest is Wyoming standout guard Obi Agbim. The 6’3” Agbim is from Aurora, Colorado (Rangeview High School) and averaged 17.6 points and 3.4 assists per game for the Cowboys. Agbim shot 43.7% from 3 and was a team leader in his only season in Laramie. Prior to playing at Wyoming, Agbim bounced around the RMAC playing for Fort Lewis and Metro State, as well as Northeastern Junior College. Agbim was named the Mountain West’s Newcomer of the Year and will be highly sought after in the portal. There are rumos that Baylor is coming after Agbim hard — if CU wants him, they’ll need to make him a financial priority.
North Dakota State guard Jacari White is another player that has expressed reciprocal interest in the Buffs. White averaged over 17 points and 4 rebounds per game for the Bison….so a move to Colorado will mean he doesn’t have to learn about a new mascot. Alabama may be leading here, though.
Another local prospect that Colorado has reached out to is Brennan Rigsby. Rigsby is from De Beque, Colorado and played his high school basketball at Wasatch Academy in Utah. Rigsby averaged 6 points per game this season at the University of Minnesota and averaged 6 points per game the prior two seasons at Oregon. Rigsby has been inconsistent thus far in his college career but has shown major flashes, including scoring 19 point against Michigan two seasons ago and 20 points against Nebraska this past season. Yesterday Rigsy verbally committed to Radford — but if Colorado calls and offers a roster spot, I wouldn’t be surprised for him to jettison the Highlanders for the Buffs.
One more backcourt player that CU has had discussions with is guard Conor Enright from DePaul. Enright is a pass-first point guard that averaged 7.5 points and 6 rebounds per game for the Blue Demons but is not much of an outside shooting threat. Indiana and Iowa are two other programs that are circling.
It may be that CU has enough NIL money (and minutes) to land one of Reynolds, Agbim, or White. Someone like Rigsby or Enright may cost less and therefore be a great secondary backcourt player in addition to Reynolds, Agbim or White.
Frontcourt players that CU has reached out to include Montana State forward Brandon Walker, who averaged 15 points and 5 rebounds per game, Miwaukee forward Jamichael Stillwell, who averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds per game, Vapraiaso forward Cooper Schwieger, who averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds per game, and North Dakota forward Treysen Eaglestaff, who averaged 19 points and 3 rebounds per game. These players are largely being recruited by big time / blue blood schools, so they may be priced out of CU’s range. Keep an eye, however, on Brandon Walker as I’ve heard he may be a strong candidate to land in Boulder. It’s possible that CU doesn’t spend money on another frontcourt player and instead uses that money for the 2nd backcourt player. This would make Tacko Ifaola’s development pretty critical as the 4th “big” on the roster.
My gut says that Colorado lands 2 guards in the transfer portal (Reynolds and Enright would fit well) and, maybe, 1 big man (someone like Brandon Walker). These players, along with the expected growth of Dak and Rancik, could make CU a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 team next season —- which means a team that could be on the bubble for an NCAA berth. Stay tuned to BuffsBlog as we continue to track roster developments.
BEST GUESS ROSTER FOR 2025-26 SEASON
Starters: Bangot Dak, Sebastien Rancik, RJ Smith, Langston Reynolds (or similar transfer), and Connor Enright (or similar transfer).
Bench Rotation Players: Post Malone, Josiah Sanders, Jalin Howard, Felix Kossaras, Tacko Ifaola.
Bench Depth Players: Assane Diop, Andrew Crawford, Ian Inman, Isiah Johnson.
This is the best coverage of the Buffs that I’ve read in a long time. Seriously, compare this to the Boulder Daily Camera article today about next year’s basketball team — it’s like reading a junior high news article vs. a well researched and smart pro’s article. We need more of this kind of coverage.
Thanks David for the kind words!
I thought Reynolds was the best player on the court v. the Buffs earlier this year. Strong, deceptively quick, with a deadly shot. He’d be a HUGE get for Tad this spring.
Thanks for your thoughts! I agree that he’d be a great add.