Noah Feddersen fills an immediate need for the Colorado men’s basketball team. The Buffaloes plan to patch more rotation gaps in the near future.
Feddersen, a 6-foot-10 post player from North Dakota State, committed to CU last week, filling a glaring frontcourt void left by the graduation of Elijah Malone and the transfer portal departures of forwards Bangot Dak, Sebastian Rancik, Alon Michaeli and Tacko Ifaola.
Feddersen won the Summit League’s Sixth Man of the Year award after averaging 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds — in an average of just 21.1 minutes per game — for a Bison team that won its conference tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament.
“An experienced player who’s coming from a winning program,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said of Feddersen. “A guy who’s got a great skill-set. Is able to pass, dribble, shoot for a big guy. Understands the game. A high-character guy. He could’ve left North Dakota State last year and probably made more money, but he stayed, finished what he started and is going to get his degree. He’s a great young man.
“Definitely a capable shooter. One of the things we talked about in the recruitment was we want him to be a 3-point threat. Not a high-volume guy, but a guy that can stretch the defense if we have a mismatch. I think he’s capable of that and I think thatap one of the things he’s going to work on these next seven months before we start playing games again in November.”
Boyle said he expects to add another frontcourt transfer in the near future, and while further additions are all but certain, the exact number of incoming transfers remains somewhat up in the air.
Feddersen’s addition leaves the Buffs with nine confirmed scholarship spots for the 2026-27 roster, including the returning perimeter quartet of Barrington Hargress, Jalin Holland, Josiah Sanders and Ian Inman. CU also has three incoming freshmen in Arizona wing Rider Portela, who signed with the Buffs in November, and the Australian duo of forward Goc Malual and guard Alex Dickeson, both of whom committed to the Buffs in late March.
The Buffs also are expecting the return of 7-foot-1 center Leonardo Van Elswyk, who redshirted this season as a true freshman. The status of CU’s other 2025-26 redshirt player, former Denver wing Jon Mani, remains up in the air as the transfer portal stays open through Tuesday.
CU carried 14 scholarship players this season but to 13 or even 12 next season.
“I feel really good about where we’re at,” Boyle said. “We’ve got one more that we really have to solidify and we’ll be in good shape.”
Dak, Rancik find new homes
On Sunday, On3 Sports reported that Rancik has committed to Florida State, while Dak is set to join former CU assistant Rick Ray at Vanderbilt.
Rancik was the Buffs’ third-leading scorer (12.3) and second-leading rebounder (5.6) who also averaged 2.0 assists per game. Rancik, who has two years of eligibility remaining, enjoyed a strong start to his sophomore season and finished with an .860 mark at the free throw line (111-for-129) that ranks sixth in team history. Yet Rancik’s efficiency tailed during Big 12 play — after averaging 13.2 points with a .373 3-point percentage in 13 nonconference games, Rancik’s numbers dipped to 11.5 points per game with a .299 3-point percentage in 16 Big 12 games.
Rancik missed the final two regular season games plus CU’s loss against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament due to an injury, and then didn’t play in the finale against Oklahoma after deciding to transfer.
Dak led the Buffs in rebounding (6.5) and also averaged a career-high 11.5 points per game. Dak’s 100 career blocks ranks 11th in team history. Ray, who just finished his second season as an assistant at Vanderbilt, spent four seasons on CU’s staff through Dak’s freshman year of 2023-24.
