Coach: Jeff Bzdelik (second year, 12-20; overall record 87-67).
Last year’s record: 12-20, 3-13 Big 12, 12th.
Returning starters: G/F Cory Higgins, F Jermyl Jackson-Wilson.
Key subtractions: F Richard Roby, G Marcus Hall.
Key additions: PG Nate Tomlinson, the first Australian student-athlete in school history. … F Austin Dufault, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound player who has a deft shooting touch and learned the game from his father, a high school coach. … Redshirt sophomore F Casey Crawford gets to play after transferring from Wake Forest during the summer of 2007.
Reason to hope: Year 2 of Bzdelik’s rebuilding program includes more players that fit his style. The two remaining holdovers from Ricardo Patton’s tenure—senior Jackson-Wilson and junior guard Dwight Thorne II provide solid leadership and experience.
Reason to mope: The Buffs will miss Hall and Roby, who led the way in scoring and leadership during last year’s bridge season. Plus, a roster packed with youth is no way to compete in the Big 12. Fans might have to remind themselves this team could be really good down the road.
Quotable: “These young players, what is refreshing about them is they want to be coached. They want to do the right thing, they are very innocent, you can mold them the way you want to mold them, they are eager, they want to please and they want to play so bad and they want to do it together.”—Bzdelik.
