Refortifying the frontcourt was priority No. 1 this offseason. Yet even with the return of point guard Barrington Hargress and three other young guards, the Buffaloes couldn’t entirely overlook adding reinforcements along the perimeter.
CU looked Down Under to fill both needs.
Last week, CU signed guard Alex Dickeson and forward Goc Malual, two recruits who committed to the Buffs and head coach Tad Boyle last month.
Malual expects to compete for playing time in a completely overhauled frontcourt set to include three transfers in Noah Fedderson (North Dakota State), Justin Neely (UNC Greensboro) and David Gomez (Charlotte). Dickeson, meanwhile, joins a backcourt helmed by Hargress thatap also set to include the Buffs’ only other returning players in 2025-26 freshmen Jalin Holland, Ian Inman and Josiah Sanders.
Dickeson watched CU play during the Buffs’ four-game exhibition tour through Australia last year, and Boyle credited the work of assistant coach Nate Tomlinson — a native of Australia who played for the Buffs — for getting Dickeson and Malual to the recruiting finishing line.
“(Dickeson) had his year, we had our year, and about mid-year we said we’re possibly going to need a guard and he was interested, and we just kind of took it from there,” Boyle said. “He got a chance to watch us play and Nate knows a lot of the guys around him, so it was a natural fit.
“Itap what’s happening to a lot of these young kids — whether itap Europe, whether itap Australia — they’re at the lower levels over there. They can come to America and better their situation.”
Hargress will hold down the point, but this past season he often played off the ball as well when Isaiah Johnson was on the floor. With Johnson having transferred to Texas, Hargress might need to shoulder a big scoring load, and Dickeson and Sanders are the top candidates to free up Hargress by taking shifts at the point.
Hargress and Sanders were the only players to appear in all 33 games for the Buffs, with Sanders averaging 4.4 points. Although Sanders shot just .125 on 3-pointers (3-for-24), his 36 offensive rebounds ranked second on the team, and he posted an assist-to-turnover rate of 2.12 (55 assists, 26 turnovers).
“When you put a team together, I feel like you always have to have three point guards. Three guys that can play that position,” Boyle said. “Itap really nice to have a couple guys that can play that position but also play off the ball, and I think thatap what we have with all three of them — Barrington, Josiah, and with Alex.
“You look at Josiah, he had a two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio. He can get downhill. He can get in the lane. He’s just got to work on his jump shot this summer, which he’s doing and is going to do. Alex, he’s not your typical freshman and neither is Goc. Thatap the nice thing about thing about those kids coming over is they’ve played against older guys all their lives. Alex can really, really pass the ball, but he doesn’t have to have the ball in his hands. He can play off the ball.”
