Boulder – In preparing for his first practice Friday as Colorado men’s basketball coach, Jeff Bzdelik was issued a CU warm-up suit that fit and he had help from two assistant coaches who accompanied him from the Air Force Academy.
Now, if Bzdelik could only get all the players’ names straight.
And vice versa.
“I called a few of them by the wrong names,” Bzdelik said after the two-hour workout.
“And some of them said they couldn’t pronounce my name (Buzz-DELL-ick) so they asked if they could call me ‘Coach B.”
The team’s best player, junior guard Richard Roby, said Bzdelik said exactly what he felt. Even if it stung a bit.
“I know he watched (tapes of) our games,” Roby said. “He said the main thing that stood out was we didn’t play as hard as we could possibly play every game, or for every possession.
“He said, ‘That’s not going to be acceptable this year. That’s not going to happen.'”
To accommodate the players’ class schedules, Bzdelik split the workouts into morning and afternoon sessions. Each player participated in one of the sessions. NCAA rules allow coaches to work two hours per week with players during the offseason until the conclusion of the semester.
After winning 50 games in two seasons at Air Force, Bzdelik accepted the job late Tuesday night and was introduced as Colorado’s new coach during a Wednesday news conference on campus. Bzdelik spent Thursday cleaning out his office at the academy.
“I was looking forward to this (first practice) because I wanted to meet the guys,” Bzdelik said Friday. “To me, this is the best part of the job. All the other stuff comes along with it. But this is what you enjoy, to be on the floor.”
If players had expected an informal, meet-and-greet session, they were mistaken. The two-hour workout was rigorous and intense.
“We did a variety of things,” Bzdelik said. “We shot 3s. Drove the ball. Passed the ball. Posted up.
“We tried to teach things individually and collectively. But we didn’t do too much so there wasn’t an understanding of what was expected.”
Roby said Bzdelik stopped things several times and told the players to start over.
“He made it clear that he wants things done the right way. And with precision,” Roby said.
“It’s not only tough physically, it’s also tough mentally to be in the right spots and run everything perfect. Everything had to be 100 percent. The coaches last year requested that. Coach Bzdelik makes us do that.”
Roby said players are impressed with assistant coaches Jeff Reynolds and Derrick Clark, who were assistants under Bzdelik the past two seasons at Air Force. Bzdelik said he would not comment on Reynolds or Clark until their contracts with CU have been finalized. Clark previously was an assistant at Metro State from 1997-2004.
“I’m definitely excited,” Roby said of starting a new era in Colorado basketball. “I think it’s going to be a totally different feel. When the fans see us play, they’re going to see a totally different team. I think it’s going to be a wonderful season next year.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
