Tyson Gilbert was going to keep playing as long there remained opportunities. In that regard, he was never any different than any other young player.
Yet Gilbert always was shrewd enough to understand those opportunities would end someday. Probably sooner than he preferred. Thatap why, even while starring at Rock Canyon High School, pursuing those next opportunities at recruiting showcases, Gilbert realized the scenes in those gyms offered a glimpse of his future.
And it wasn’t from the action on the courts.
“Growing up playing, I’d see coaches on the sideline and the baseline,” Gilbert said, “and I literally would be like, ‘Thatap something I want to do some day.’”
Gilbert is getting that opportunity now.
Last week, Gilbert was promoted on the staff of Colorado men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle, taking over the assistant coach role vacated by Mike Rohn after two seasons as a graduate assistant with the Buffs.
A Colorado native, Gilbert was born in Denver and grew up in Aurora and Highalnds Ranch. His mother is a CU graduate, and Gilbert followed the Buffs closely as a teenager, often attending games at the Events Center. He split his collegiate playing career between CSU Pueblo and Alaska Anchorage, helping the Seawolves to reach the 2024 NCAA Division II Tournament.
“I’ve always wanted to get into coaching,” he said. “I’ve been in the gym for as long as I can remember. I’ve had some incredible coaches and mentors. Itap just one of those things that you’ve been around it so long, and you’ve been around people who’ve impacted you in such a way that you kind of want to do the same thing.”
While Boyle’s staff has been marked by long-term loyalty throughout his 16-season tenure — Rohn had been at CU since Boyle was hired, and assistant Bill Grier just finished his 10th season with the Buffs — he also has a track record of giving young, aspiring coaches early opportunities in their careers.
Boyle’s staff includes two former Buffs players in Evan Battey, who just finished the second season of his first coaching job after finishing his CU playing career in 2022, and Nate Tomlinson, now in his second tenure on the Buffs’ staff. Tomlinson started his collegiate coaching career at CU, and Boyle also helped mentor the coaching career of CU alum Zach Ruebesam, a former Buffs student manager who just finished his first season as the head coach at CSU-Pueblo.
Gilbert already has been on the road for the Buffs on the recruiting trail, and he and Battey give the staff two younger coaches who can connect with the Buffs’ players on a more personal level.
“I’m super-grateful for the opportunity,” Gilbert said. “I’m grateful for what coach Boyle and what he sees in me, and allowing me to have some autonomy the past couple years as a GA. A lot of GAs don’t get to do some of the things that I’ve been able to do. Just a real sense of gratitude and I really appreciate the opportunity.
“I have an immense sense of pride for this state. To be able to go out on the road and have Colorado on my T-shirt, representing this school and this state, itap something I don’t take for granted.”
