Windsor – Ricardo Patton’s young Colorado basketball team can joke that it will get its feet wet this fall by competing for an unofficial Mountain West Conference championship.
CU announced Thursday during media day activities at Pelican Lakes Golf and Country Club that the Buffaloes will face six of the nine MWC men’s teams this fall. Although the schedule is being finalized and dates were not made available, Patton said the Buffs will play home games against Colorado State, Wyoming, Air Force and Texas Christian. CU will travel to New Mexico and Utah.
Colorado’s nonconference schedule also will include home games against Denver and Northern Colorado.
“We’ve added some local flavor to our schedule,” Patton said. “Hopefully people will catch on and have an interest in seeing in-state teams competing against each other.”
Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn and Tom McGrath, special assistant to the athletic director and a former staff member of USA Basketball, had vowed to beef up CU’s nonconference schedule by replacing low-major programs such as Cal Poly, Mercer and Savannah State with area and regional opponents that Buffs fans can relate to.
Also, playing local schools saves on travel expenses.
“People are looking for some competitive games, and they recognize a Wyoming or an Air Force,” McGrath said. “We hope this will get people interested in basketball early in the season.”
Bubble update
Bohn said the long-awaited football practice bubble is all but officially a go. An October 2007 opening is planned for the $2.6 million facility. The bubble also will be used by other CU athletes for conditioning work and by intramural and club teams.
Bohn said the proposal has “passed through all the committees” and a naming-rights gift to complete the necessary funding could be announced as soon as next week.
First-year CU football coach Dan Hawkins called the practice bubble “tremendously important” to the success of the program.
“The foundation of a program always starts with recruiting,” Hawkins said. “The reality is, you’re in an ‘arms race’ with other institutions. Even though the weather here is better than people realize, you still have the perception that from a kid in Florida that it’s going to be colder in Colorado.”
Hawkins said the bubble will help CU players get in better condition during the winter months as they prepare for spring drills.
Footnotes
Bohn said a five-year contract with CU women’s basketball coach Kathy McConnell-Miller was signed Tuesday. Her annual base salary is about $350,000. … Although Patton said he couldn’t comment on recruits, it appears the Buffs have landed 6-foot-10, 250-pound center Marc Van Burck of Regina, Saskatchewan. Van Burck will be eligible this fall, joining six other freshmen. He will join 6-10 Sean Kowal, a freshman from St. Louis, as the tallest players on the team. … Total donations to CU’s athletic programs are up 43 percent over last year, Bohn said. Season-ticket sales for football are at an 80 percent renewal rate, Bohn said.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
