The roster is not yet complete, and further additions are on the way.
Yet in terms of the players Colorado basketball fans can expect to see in the rotation, the reconstruction essentially is complete for men’s head coach Tad Boyle.
Last week’s slew of signings and commitments reinforced the Buffaloes’ transfer portal-depleted frontcourt and added a dose of rebounding to a club that struggled in that department this past season.
The CU men’s basketball team made it official last week with two freshmen out of Australia, guard Alex Dickeson and forward Goc Malual, while getting commitments from transfer forwards Justin Neely (UNC Greensboro) and David Gomez (Charlotte).
Boyle also confirmed that guard Jon Mani and 7-foot-1 freshman Leonardo Van Elswyk, both of whom redshirted this past season, will not return in 2026-27. Van Elswyk originally was expected to return, but he had a change of heart and entered the transfer portal before it closed last week.
That flurry of moves left the Buffs with 10 scholarship players.
“As I look at the board right now, we’ve got 10 scholarship players and we’ll probably add two more,” Boyle said.
CU carried 14 scholarship players this past season, but Boyle has said several times so far this offseason the Buffs plan to have a lower total in 2026-27. The remainder of the 15-player roster will be filled by walk-ons.
Of the 10 scholarship players currently in the fold, only four return from the 2025-26 squad — starting point guard Barrington Hargress, plus three freshman wings in Jalin Holland, Ian Inman and Josiah Sanders.
With the possible exception of Dickeson, the backcourt will be manned by familiar faces in Hargress and the three rising sophomores. The frontcourt will be a different story.
CU lost its entire contingent of big men with the graduation of Elijah Malone along with the transfer portal departures of Bangot Dak, Sebastian Rancik, Alon Michaeli, Tacko Ifaola and Van Elswyk. While the Buffs are still finalizing their agreements with Neely and Gomez, CU began its frontcourt overhaul by adding North Dakota State transfer Noah Fedderson, who averaged 5.0 rebounds in 99 career games with the Bison.
The Buffs boasted one of the tallest, longest rosters in the nation this past season, but those tools didn’t prevent what arguably was the least productive rebounding season for CU in 16 seasons under Boyle. The 6-foot-6 Neely represents the polar opposite of that dynamic as an undersized forward who nonetheless boasts a far more accomplished rebounding pedigree than any of the forwards CU lost via the transfer portal.
Neely averaged 11.5 rebounds per game this season at UNC Greensboro, and in his two full seasons at Albany, Neely averaged 5.8 rebounds in 59 games.
“I feel like when itap all said and done, we’ll have four frontcourt players that can play next year,” Boyle said. “And all, except for Goc, bring some experience. Especially Noah Fedderson.
“Defensively, (Malual) is very, very versatile. The biggest thing with him is he plays with a huge motor. He plays extremely hard. He makes things happen. He can make things happen on the defensive side. He can step out a little bit but itap not his strength right now. You don’t really, really know 100% until they get there and they get in the gym. But he can be a very good player.”
