Dominique Collier had not envisioned his Colorado basketball career playing out this way, coming off the bench in Pac-12 play his senior season, like he did Thursday night against Washington State. Collier, a graduate of Denver East, once ranked as the state’s top high school prospect. Now he sits in the rotation behind freshman point guard McKinley Wright.
But if Collier is bothered by his role, he hasn’t shown it — especially through the Buffaloes’ first three Pac-12 home games. In a stretch of wins against Arizona State, Arizona and Washington State, Collier combined for 38 points on 13-of-20 shooting (7-of-11 from 3-point range), nine rebounds and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 9:2.
His impact was especially critical in CU’s 82-73 victory against Washington State. Collier scored 12 of his 13 points in the first half over a span of just nine minutes; including a pair of 3-pointers that helped extend the Buffs’ lead to 15 at the break.
“The guys just told me to come in and be aggressive,” Collier said. “Thatap why I took an emphasis of just being ready when (my teammates) are driving to have my feet ready to shoot the ball. And when I have the opportunity to drive — attack.”
There is no lack of respect for Collier’s role among teammates and coaches, either. The win against Wazzu marked his 108th all-time appearance for the Buffs since 2014 during a career hampered by ankle and foot injuries.
“The whole key with Dom is that he quit putting pressure on himself,” CU coach Tad Boyle said. “You can just see in his body language, even if he misses a shot, itap not head down and pressing. … There is (a line of thinking) that you shouldn’t start your five best players, that you want to bring strength in off the bench, Recently, we’ve been bringing strength off the bench with Dom Collier.”