CHAUNCEY BILLUPS 5-Time NBA All-Star, 2004 NBA Champion, 2004 NBA Finals MVP 17-Year NBA Career (Retired Sept
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HISTORY2012 Pac-12 Champions 1997 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK CHAUNCEY BILLUPS 5-time NBA All-Star, 2004 NBA Champion, 2004 NBA Finals MVP 17-Year NBA Career (Retired Sept. 2014) colorado buffaloes Colorado Basketball History Over the last four years of Colorado Basketball, head coach conference attendance figures are 9,000-plus each season with Tad Boyle and his coaching staff, have built the Buffaloes into season attendance has also increased for all games, reaching one of the elite Pac-12 Conference basketball programs, if not over 124,000 each season. the nation. The staff enjoyed their best start to a season in four years Four years have produced four-straight postseason ap- (14-2), a No. 15 nationally ranking, the highest a CU team pearances, a school-first three consecutive NCAA Tournament has seen since 1997, and a 10-game winning streak, the berths; four-straight 20-plus winning seasons, and Pac-12 fourth longest in the programs history. Conference Tournament championship. Under his tutelage, After making the conference freshman team in 2012-13, Boyle has won an impressive 92 games at CU, the fastest win junior-to-be Josh Scott made the Pac-12 first team a year later. total in the shortest amount of time in school history, and his Scott developed into CU’s constant force down-low and around postseason winning percentage of .650, also ranks first (with the basket making 51 percent of his shots, collecting 13 dou- a school-best 13 victories). ble-doubles and averaging 14.1 points and 8.4 rebounds a Very impressive for coach and a basketball program that game. Senior-to-be Askia Booker made the Pac-12 Tourna- had only four 20-plus winning seasons before his arrival during ment team for his outstanding play in the opening and quarter- the spring of 2010. final rounds, and Wesley Gordon began his initial season as a In those short four years, CU basketball history has been red-shirt freshman, making the conference all-Freshman team. re-written altogether. Boyle’s success has brought ESPN College During the 2011-12 and 2012-13 season, CU basketball GameDay to Boulder (Feb. 22, 2014); he has won a school saw back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths for the first time record 24 games in a single-season, twice; home dominance at in 50 years, in addition to a school-first, three-straight 20-win the Coors Events Center with 60 victories in 69 games, in addi- seasons with another school-first, three-straight post-season tion to school attendance records being broken, then re-broken appearances. a year later; and most importantly every senior that has made The coaching staff has also helped the Buffs reach unprece- his final year on the Buff roster, has graduated (Boyle’s staff dented heights in the win column. CU won a school record 24 is 13-for-13). games in each of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, with On the court, there have been six all-tournament team se- another 21 victories in 2012-13. The 69 victories were the lections; five conference first-team recipients; two tournament most victories in any three-year span in school history. most valuable players; one Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player Also in 2011-12, the Buffs won their first in-season tour- of the Year; and one Wooden Top-20 Finalist. nament since the 2002-03 campaign winning the Charleston Frosty Cox For the third time in the last four years, three student-ath- Classic that catapulted the Buffs into the national rankings for letes have left the program to pursue the next step of his the first time since the 2005-06 season earning a No. 23 spot basketball endeavors. Spencer Dinwiddie left school after his in the Associated Press top-25 poll. The following week, CU junior year (2013-14), where he was selected in the second earned a No. 19 nod in the AP/USA Today Coaches’ Polls. round of the 2014 NBA Draft (No. 38 overall) by Detroit. In It was also the first year of the Pac-12 Conference and at 2012-13, Andre Roberson was selected in the first round (No. inaugural conference tournament, the Buffs became just the 26 overall) by Minnesota then traded to Oklahoma City, then 10th team in the nation to win at least four games in four days in the 2011 draft, Alec Burks, became CU’s second-ever lottery to capture the tournament title (CU’s first since winning the pick, selected No. 12 overall by Utah. Big 8 title in 1968-69). CU earned its first NCAA Tournament Rounding out the four former players who have played for appearance since 2002-03 when the Buffs would go on to Boyle while at CU is the school’s all-time co-scoring leader, Cory upset No. 6 UNLV in the second round. Higgins (2,001 points). Higgins played with the Charlotte Bob- In addition to the last three years, a number of student-ath- cats from 2011-13. letes that have earned conference excellence with a number of Last season (2013-14) produced another banner year for conference accolades. the program. CU was seeded eighth at the NCAA Tournament, In CU’s first year of the Pac-12, Andre Roberson (first team, the highest seed since being the number nine in the 1997 all-defensive, all-tournament team), Carlon Brown (second tournament. The 23 victories was the third-most victories in team, tournament’s most outstanding player), and Spencer school history, and for the first time in 18 years, the Buffaloes Dinwiddie (freshman team) were all named to conference finished had a third place finish in the final Pac-12 Conference teams. standings, the program’s highest conference placing in 18 In year two of the conference, Roberson (first team, defen- years (in the conference tournament seeded fifth). sive player of the year, all-defensive team); Dinwiddie (first More attendance records fell once again as the program team) and Josh Scott (all-freshman team) all earned post-sea- set a pair of attendance records (season total: 173,429 bet- son accolades, and in CU’s last year of the Big 12 Conference tered the previous record of 155,884; non-conference total: in 2010-11, Alec Burks (first team, Big 12 All-Tournament 84,133, also bettered last year’s best of 61,513). team), Cory Higgins (second team), Levi Knutson (co-sixth Year four under Boyle, has seen a significant average each man award) were all recognized. and every year. For the first time in the programs history, the Although the 2012-13 season did not capture the exciting men’s basketball team has seen four-straight seasons where moments of another Pac-12 Tournament championship, the Sox Walseth 80 2014-15 COLORADO BASKETBALL colorado buffaloes highlight reel dunk in the final minute, snapping a streak of the World’s Most Famous Arena - Madison Square Garden, and 8:19 without a field goal. CU became the first team to win four a National Invitation Tournament semifinal appearance. games in Pac-12 Conference Tournament history, and just the Named the 18th head coach in CU men’s basketball his- 10th team from the “big six” conferences to do so since 1952. tory (on April 19, 2010), Boyle, 51, also etched his name At the NCAA Tournament, the Buffs, seeded No. 11 upset No. among the school’s great coaches becoming first head coach 6 and No. 23/25 ranked UNLV in the second round, then fell in 20 years to win his coaching debut; becoming the first CU to No. 3 Baylor, 80-63, two days later. coach since H.B. Lee (1950-51) to win his first two conference Carlon Brown was named the tournament’s most outstand- games in his first year, in addition to becoming the first Buff ing player, in addition being named to the all-tournament. head coach since Henry Iba (1933-34) to win his first three Andre Roberson also earned all-tournament team had a superb conference games. sophomore year becoming the first CU player to average a dou- “This is it (my dream job), there’s no doubt,” Boyle said. “I ble-double for the entire season (11.6 ppg., 11.1 rpg.) since remember talking with (former Texas A&M head coach) Mark Stephane Pelle (2001-02; 12.8 ppg., 10.8 rpg.). Roberson Turgeon once when he asked me where I wanted to be in 10 also became the 12th player in school history to lead the team years, and I said the head coach at the University of Colorado. in rebounding in back-to-back seasons, and just the third CU This is a destination job. I’m humbled and honored.” player to lead the team in rebounds, blocks, and steals in the From 2007-10 the program was led by Jeff Bzdelik, who same season, duplicating that feat during his freshman season. came from the United States Air Force Academy, where he led In addition, Roberson set the single-season rebounding re- the Buffaloes to a 36-58 (.383) record. His best season was cord (401) breaking a 58-year old record (Burdette Haldorson, his last, a 15-16 mark and 6-10 in the Big 12 in 2009-10. 1954-55); set the single-season defensive rebounding record Over his three seasons with the Buffs, Bzdelik experienced a (290) breaking the 225 by Shaun Vandiver (1989-90), 23 series of near-misses, losing 27 single-digit games, 18 of those years ago; and shattered sophomore season record for most in the Big 12.