A look back at the year in CU athletics
May 11, 2021
Senior guard McKinley Wright IV and junior forward Evan Battey pretend to high five what would be the student section after winning the game. Jan. 27, 2021 (Casey Paul / CU Independent)
From the start of classes in August to the beginning of May, University of Colorado athletic programs had a lot to celebrate during the 2020-21 season.
The CU football team had a short, yet successful season, finishing second in the Pac-12 South behind Southern California. That matchup between the Buffs and Trojans was canceled, however, due to COVID-19 issues with USC. The Buffs finished with a 4-1 regular season record and had the opportunity to compete against Texas in the Alamo Bowl, where they were ultimately defeated by a strong Longhorns team. Sophomore tailback Jerek Broussard led the Pac-12 with 172.3 yards per game and won Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors. He was also the CU Co-Athlete of the Year on the men’s side, an h
. Next is the Pac-12.
On March 1, less than two weeks before Selection Sunday, the state of Pac-12 men’s basketball was fairly ho-hum. Colorado was the only team that appeared in the AP Top 25 poll (No. 24), with three others (USC, UCLA and Oregon) receiving votes. Oregon State had just improved to 13–11, though that likely failed to make waves outside of Corvallis.
Frankly, few beyond the Pac-12’s footprint were probably paying much attention to what was going on in the Pacific time zone. Then, four weeks later, no one in the college basketball world could look away.
The 2021 men s NCAA tournament played out like something from a Bill Walton fever dream, with the Pac-12 taking center stage all March long. An astounding three teams advanced to the Elite Eight, with UCLA returning the conference to the men s Final Four for the first time since 2017 and giving the Bruins their first appearance since 2008. Combine that with the all-Pac-12 women’s national title game, and it w
As Arizona and USC stumble, Tad Boyle is proven right
Share this story
Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images
Having just wrapped up one of the most successful seasons in Colorado Buffaloes history, Tad Boyle has been vindicated. That’s not because of anything happening in Boulder, but because his rivals are in the spotlight.
Back in 2017-18, the Buffs were a baby-faced team that was still figuring out how to play together. Led by freshmen McKinley Wright and Tyler Bey, this team flashed a ton of potential and even more grit. The highlight of the season was consecutive upsets over Arizona and Arizona State, the former of which was embroiled in FBI investigations into their recruiting practices. When asked if beating Arizona meant more because of those FBI investigations, Boyle answered emphatically, “Absolutely.”
Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Now that everyone in college basketball can freely transfer one time, the transfer portal is exploding with multiple impact players entering it every day.
As that occurs, the Kentucky Wildcats keep finding new potential targets each day. One of the earliest transfers Kentucky reached out to once the offseason began was Western Carolina grad transfer Mason Faulkner.
However, Faulkner is now off the board, as he just committed to the Colorado Buffaloes.
A Glasgow (KY) native, Faulkner was an All-Southern Conference Third Team selection after averaging 16.3 points, 5.5 rebound and 4.8 assists per game this past season. He scored in double-figures 19 times, including eight 20+ point outings.
BOULDER – The University of Colorado men s basketball team has signed
Mason Faulkner, a graduate transfer from Western Carolina, to play for the Buffaloes in 2021-22 head coach
Tad Boyle announced on Friday.
A 6-foot, 1-inch, 190-pound guard from Glasgow, Ky., Faulkner averaged 17.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 53 games over two seasons with Western Carolina. He shot 42 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free throw line while averaging nearly 34 minutes per game.
Faulkner adds experience and depth to a Colorado squad that features only two scholarship upperclassmen – seniors-to-be
Evan Battey and
Eli Parquet – and nine underclassmen at this moment for the 2021-22 campaign. Faulkner joins a 2021 signing class that already ranks No. 13 in the nation, and tops in the Pac-12, according to 247Sports.com.