When Fernando Lovo was introduced as Colorado’s new athletic director on Jan. 5, Tad Boyle was in the midst of his 16th season as CU’s men’s basketball coach.
Itap not as if Boyle didn’t have time to meet the new boss. But the true getting-to-know-you sessions didn’t begin until after the season. Their new partnership reaped an early benefit last week, as former Buffs star and Boston Celtics guard Derrick White was .
Both Lovo and Boyle discussed an April trip to Boston to watch White’s Celtics while sharing a dinner to discuss the future of the program. And after working in tandem this spring to help bring White, and his $2 million donation, into the mix, Boyle emerged from the process with new insight to Lovo’s ability to lead the department.
“Fernando Lovo is the right guy at the right time for Colorado athletics,” Boyle said. “Fernando brings an energy. What I’ve really appreciated about him is he wants to learn. There’s a lot of institutional knowledge that I didn’t have when I got here. Fernando’s been really, really open to learning about Colorado. And I think thatap the first step. Then itap ‘OK, where do we go from here?’ He’s in the process of figuring that out.
“I’ve really, really enjoyed my conversations with him. He’s honest. He doesn’t tell you what you want to hear. He’s going to shoot you straight. Thatap something Rick (George) did as well. But he also knows we need to ramp things up in terms of basketball if we want to remain competitive. Especially in the Big 12 Conference.”
White endorsement
Zach Ruebesam was a graduate manager at CU when White was on the sideline for the 2015-16 season, a result of the now-defunct transfer rules after White moved to Boulder from UCCS.
Ruebesam, now the head coach at Division II CSU-Pueblo, grew close to White that season while he practiced every day amid a group that reached the NCAA Tournament.
“Huge credit to Derrick. Itap fantastic what he’s doing,” Ruebesam said. “It gives the program a lot of momentum to have Derrick — a homegrown Colorado guy, starred at UCCS and then to Colorado and the NBA and Olympic success that he’s had — to come back and join with the alumni phase of the program I think is huge. It should show recruits and current players what you can accomplish at Colorado.
“I think Derrick taking this role brings it back to the forefront that you don’t need to go anywhere else. Recruiting should still be about fit, it should be about culture, it should be about all the right things. And you can do everything you want to do at Colorado.”
Hargress honed in
Barrington Hargress delivered as hoped for as a scorer and play-maker during his first season as CU’s point guard. Hargress’ 3-point shooting was a pleasant surprise, as he finished with a team-record mark of .481.
Granted, Hargress’ 108 attempts (and 3.27 attempts per game) are the lowest marks among the top 13 season 3-point percentages in team history. Yet Hargress credited long hours in the gym for the dramatic jump from the .323 mark on 3-pointers he posted in two seasons as the point guard at UC Riverside.
“I’ve put in a lot of work, and I know that I’ve been putting in a lot of work on my jump shot for a long time,” Hargress said. “To have that payoff now is really huge. And itap an honor, honestly.”
