According to all involved, the plan will be a work in progress.
Yet if the experiment succeeds, Derrick White’s return to the Colorado men’s basketball team and his family’s $2 million gift to the program will prove to be only the beginning of a new era for the Buffaloes.
White was introduced as the men’s basketball program’s first president of basketball strategy, a newly created role that will see the former Buffaloes great and current Boston Celtics guard become involved in all aspects of trying to make the Buffs competitive in the Big 12 once again, from recruiting to player development to fundraising.
It is that latter responsibility that might prove most critical and, in the most ideal scenario for the Buffaloes, White’s donation will open the sort of financial floodgates that could keep the Buffs afloat in the race for Big 12 talent.
“Hopefully this gift from Derrick and his wife and his family (will) create momentum thatap very, very positive,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “Stories like this, his story, has been well-told. Now itap being re-told. And it deserves to be, because itap a special story. But I want it to be the impetus for positive change. Instead of talking about what we don’t have, letap talk about what we can have.
“We need a broader, deeper donor base. I want to do whatever I can do to help that. And Derrick has obviously stepped up in a big way. Hopefully it can be the impetus for some change.”
By any definition, White’s $2 million donation was extremely generous. Itap also a total that won’t stretch far in modern college basketball.
While CU hasn’t disclosed how much of the $20.5 million revenue-sharing pie has been earmarked for each of the Buffs’ athletic programs, Boyle’s team gets a much smaller share than Deion Sanders’ football program, and the Buffs’ NIL ventures also lag significantly behind their Big 12 competitors.
A report published last year by CBS Sports estimated eight teams sported rosters , including CU’s Big 12 rivals at Texas Tech and BYU. Last month, Texas head coach Sean Miller said on a podcast for The Field of 68 that it’s his guess at least “20 to 25” teams will feature rosters of .
Boyle’s latest attempt at a program rebuild generated a modest level of optimism this past season, as CU went from 3-17 in the Big 12 to 7-11 behind a roster comprised almost entirely of underclassmen. But three of the key figures from that rotation bolted for the transfer portal to reap bigger fortunes elsewhere — Bangot Dak (Vanderbilt), Sebastian Rancik (Florida State) and leading scorer Isaiah Johnson (Texas).
So, while Boyle certainly will put White’s $2 million to good use, turning the gift into a steady and reliable donor base will be even more valuable to the Buffs than any wisdom White imparts to potential recruits.
“This role and this relationship is going to be fluid. We’re going to figure it out as we go,” Boyle said. “We have a job title, but I’m not sure we have a job description yet. Itap just the give and the take. Derrick wants to learn from us, but in over 32 years of coaching Division I basketball, I’ve learned more from the players that I’ve coached than I think they’ve learned from me. I want to learn from him and what makes San Antonio so special in his eyes, what makes Boston so special in his eyes.
“We’ll figure this out as we go. But itap good to have him on board.”
