BOULDER — When Colorado running backs coach Darian Hagan first heard Thursday morning that CU had accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference, the former Buffs All-American quarterback shifted into his competitive mode.
“I can’t wait to get those Pac-10 teams to come up here (to altitude) so we can kick their butts,” Hagan said with a grin. “And we’re going to use that in recruiting. I’m loving it.”
A Los Angeles-area native who grew up in the inner-city, Hagan was recruited by Pac-10 schools but picked Colorado because he “wanted to get away.” CU has always recruited well along the West Coast, but becoming part of that area’s premier league should open more doors for a struggling program that needs any lift it can get.
For Hagan, the official 2012 start of an anticipated “Pac-16” couldn’t come soon enough.
It’s possible five other Big 12 schools — Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech — will follow Colorado to an expanded Pac-10. Being the closest of the newcomers to the West Coast can give Colorado a recruiting advantage, Hagan said.
“We’ll be able to plant a CU flag there in California and go recruit the big boys,” he said. “This is an opportunity for CU to be on a bigger stage.”
Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins and athletic director Mike Bohn declined interview requests Thursday, choosing to wait until today’s scheduled 11 a.m. news conference in Boulder to discuss the big move. Others on the CU campus expressed elation about the move. That included those on the academics side.
Along with its athletic prowess, the Pac-10 ranks among the nation’s top academic conferences with a membership that includes Stanford, California, UCLA and the University of Southern California. One of the CU programs that could be helped most is the school’s aerospace engineering sciences department. Other Pac-10 schools are strong in that field of study, and much of the aerospace industry calls the West Coast home.
Outside of the state of Colorado, the largest share of CU alumni resides in California.
“I’m really excited with CU going to the Pac-10,” said Ben Kemper, a first-year graduate student in aerospace sciences. “Our program and others on campus could bring in more money and support, maybe get more students interested in coming here. It’s amazing how football can also drive the business of education.”
Colorado alumnus Brad Gay, a Highlands Ranch resident and football season-ticket holder who has traveled to at least one CU road game a year for two decades, said he was proud that his school became proactive and found a future home amid all the speculation about the realignment of conferences.
“This is the best news that we’ve had come out of the athletic department in a long time,” Gay said. “I have not always been impressed with our school administration, but I was very impressed that CU became the first of the Big 12 schools to join the Pac-10. We became their 11th member and didn’t wait on Texas. I’m proud of that.”
With Nebraska headed to the Big Ten Conference, one question sure to come up in Boulder is which team will become Colorado’s chief conference rival? Texas Tech? Arizona State? Anyone?
“You really need a rival,” CU defensive backs coach Ashley Ambrose said. “I know Colorado State is our rival, but we’ll have to develop a rivalry with someone in the new league. I don’t know who that would be. But it will probably happen.”
Senior wide receiver Scotty McKnight, who hails from Orange County, Calif., said it will be exciting for the program moving forward to play against Pac-10 competition, but he also is sad leaving the Big 12.
“If we were to have stayed there (in the Big 12), I would have been happy,” McKnight said. “But moving to the Pac-10 just means change and good things to come.”
With one year of eligibility remaining, McKnight won’t get to play in a Pac-16, but an incoming freshman women’s basketball player, Shae Kelley, will get that chance.
“I expected to be playing in the Big 12, and it may be a hard transition after playing two years in one league and then all of a sudden everything changes,” said Kelley, a Denver East graduate named “Ms. Colorado Basketball” this spring by The Denver Post.
If Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State join the Pac-10, they will bring some familiarity — and tough competition.
“We welcome that,” said Ja-shon Sykes, a former CU linebacker from L.A. who now serves as the program’s coordinator of football relations. “That’s why you play the game.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
