There will be a void. Of that, there is no doubt.
A void in the Colorado rotation, which only a select handful of players have been a part of for more games. A void in the stat sheet, no doubt, as the Buffaloes eventually will go into the offseason in need of replacing a player who was the team’s second-leading scorer, top 3-point shooter, and a dependable rebounder.
This void, however, will extend far beyond game night. It will be felt across campus, where the jovial big man with the winning smile made quick friends with anyone and everyone within his very sizeable orbit. It will be felt at the south end of the CU Events Center floor where day after day, long after his teammates had retreated to the locker room, he slowly honed his shot with dutiful precision.
Soon the remarkable journey that has been Evan Battey’s basketball career at CU will come to an end. But not just yet.
With a critical Senior Night showdown looming against No. 2 Arizona on Saturday, the Buffs must first take care of Arizona State on Thursday in the opener of Battey’s final regular season homestand.
“Your last games, you’re kind of are grateful for it all,” Battey said. “You’re grateful for the highs and lows. You’re grateful for experiencing the road trips with your teammates, with your coaches. I don’t have many words to say about Senior Night because I can’t tell the future in that sense. But I don’t look at it as a loss or as a thing I should be sad about. I look at it as, what a career here and what a time I’ve had.
“I’ve seen the program and the culture really change, and honestly that was my mission coming in — make the Colorado basketball team, and really Colorado athletics, as much of a family as we can be. I think we have started that ball rolling. Obviously itap going to take more work and continue that shaping. But I feel like I’m well-accomplished in my time here. I don’t have any regrets.”
Given last year’s seniors, particularly McKinley Wright IV, were denied the traditional Senior Day ceremonies with the fan-less atmospheres of the 2020-21 season, Battey’s Events Center farewell has a chance to be one of the more emotional senior fests in recent history. Few players in program history have combined Battey’s production on the floor with his pied piper-like allure, affability and leadership off the floor.
Battey’s name is firmly etched in program lore. The 6-foot-8, 259-pound forward goes into the ASU game tied for 10th all-time in games played (127) and tied for 11th in starts (102). With a minimum of four games remaining, Battey is on pace to finish in at least the top eight in both categories. Battey ranks 24th all-time at CU in scoring (1,213) and 22nd in total rebounds (635).
During a win at Stanford on Saturday that clinched a three-game road sweep, Battey became just the 14th player in team history to record at least 1,200 points with at least 600 rebounds.
Yet much of Battey’s wide-ranging appeal has sprung from his ability to remain infectiously positive throughout a run of adversity that might have permanently scarred other players. Those trials have been well-documented — most notably the lack of a senior season of high school and a forced freshman-year redshirt at CU due to the same mild eligibility matter, followed by the frightening stroke he suffered during that redshirt season on Dec. 26, 2017.
Even when his playing career remained in doubt, Battey’s optimism never wavered. Beyond anything he has done on the floor, itap that attitude that has made him an all-time CU fan favorite.
“There’s excitement in the sense that five years ago, four years ago, things seemed challenging. Even going back into his high school years things seemed challenging. But he did fine. He did great,” said Rosalind Lewis, Battey’s mother and a game day fixture the past four years at the Events Center and on the road. “I’m proud of him. I’m extremely proud of him. I’m so appreciative of where we ended up in Boulder, Colorado. The way that the city and the campus embraced him and embraced us. I just can’t think of a better place for him.
“I get these comments from folks all the time saying I did a wonderful job raising him. I say thank you of course, but in my mind, it wasn’t just me. He has the support of family and friends far and wide. The one thing I can always say is I always believed in him, even when things were truly dark. The person that you see, thatap who he is.”
No player has been on the floor for more wins at CU than Battey (85) who, despite the early medical scare, has not missed a single game during his career. At the same time, Battey last year served on the inaugural Player Development Coalition created by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and he was one of the first two inaugural recipients of CU’s Colorado Athletics Visibility Award for championing the advancement LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport.
It was nearly three full years ago when Battey, alone on the Events Center floor late in the first half of an NIT win against Norfolk State, was showered with a spontaneous standing ovation from the CU faithful. It was a vocal and boisterous appreciation for the journey Battey battled through since the medical scare a year earlier. Battey finished with the first of his seven career double-doubles that night, yet already there was a sense the fans’ adulation extended far beyond any numbers.
“Thatap one of my favorite memories of Evan’s career here,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “The spontaneous standing ovation at the end of the half and how he didn’t know how to handle it. It was so genuine and spur of the moment.
“McKinley had his own things he had to overcome in his life. Evan has had a totally different set of things, but he’s had to overcome them. Obviously the stroke being the main one. And the fact that he wasn’t able to play his senior year of high school and freshman year of high school. Two years out. To not let that deter you in terms of your attitude and your outlook on life, you never heard him feel sorry for himself one time. He never makes an excuse. He’s as special of a young man as I’ve ever coached.”
Arizona State Sun Devils at CU Buffs men’s basketball
TIPOFF: Thursday, 7 p.m., CU Events Center.
BROADCAST: TV — Pac-12 Network; Radio — 850 AM and 94.1 FM.
RECORDS: Arizona State 10-16, 6-10 Pac-12 Conference; Colorado 18-9, 10-7.
COACHES: Arizona State — Bobby Hurley, 7th season (114-99, 156-119 overall). Colorado — Tad Boyle, 12th season (251-152, 307-218 overall).
KEY PLAYERS: Arizona State — G DJ Horne, So., 12.4 ppg; F Kimani Lawrence, Gr., 10.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, .535 field goal percentage; G Marreon Jackson, Gr., 10.0 ppg, 3.9 apg, 3.7 rpg, 3.0 apg. Colorado — F Jabari Walker, So., 14.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg; F Evan Battey, R-Sr., 11.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .509 3-point percentage; G Keeshawn Barthelemy, R-So., 11.0 ppg, 2.5 apg; Tristan da Silva, So., 9.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg.
NOTES: ASU had won three consecutive games before suffering a 66-52 loss on Monday in a makeup game at No. 12 UCLA…The Buffs have won their past five games against ASU, including a 75-57 win in Tempe on Jan. 15…Former CU Buffs star George King received an impressive honor on Wednesday as he was named to the roster for USA Basketball’s World Cup qualifying team, which begins competition against Puerto Rico on Thursday in Washington DC. King appeared in four games with the Dallas Mavericks earlier this season but has spent most of the year with the Agua Caliente Clippers of the G League…CU plays its final regular season home game on Saturday against No. 2 Arizona.
