Sophomore walk-on Trent Beckley getting more minutes off the Colorado bench than scholarship freshman Caleb Patterson in recent games may come as a surprise to Buffaloes fans.
Perhaps it shouldn’t.
Last spring, an unnamed coach from a Missouri Valley Conference school evaluated Colorado players that were going to transfer after the coaching change. Needing size, the MoValley coach looked over the two scholarship big men, 6-foot-10 Sean Kowal and 6-11 Marc Van Burck, but told the CU staff that the 6-10 Beckley had a greater upside – although Beckley had logged just eight minutes of playing time as a freshman.
Beckley arrived last season in the same class with Kowal, who followed coach Ricardo Patton to Northern Illinois and is sitting out this season as a transfer, and Van Burck, who scores 2.1 points per game at Salt Lake Community College. Beckley averaged 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in 2005-2006 as a senior at Battle Mountain High School in Vail.
Patterson? CU coach Jeff Bzdelik says repeatedly that the 6-11 freshman from Ringwood, Okla., comes from a town of 400 people and is having a hard time adjusting. Bzdelik has said that he likes Patterson’s potential.
Patterson and Beckley have quicker feet than either Kowal or Van Burck and also are more accomplished jump shooters — two requirements for Bzdelik’s system. For now, Beckley appears stronger and more aggressive than Patterson, particularly when defending and battling for rebounds.
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Speaking of Patton, he has gone back to his favorite recruiting area to get Memphis native DeAngelo Riley, a 6-8 forward-center who is playing junior-college hoops.
Patton’s first Northern Illinois team is struggling. As of Tuesday, the Huskies were 5-13, including 2-4 in the Mid-American Conference.
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Trivia question: How many times has Kansas lost to Colorado in men’s basketball since the 1990s began?
Answer below.
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This might be the upset of the century. (OK, this century isn’t that long). It appears Texas football coach Mack Brown will strike out on the top three recruits in the Lone Star State this year.
Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, on the other hand, is poised to pull off a hat trick. According to rivals.com, OU has oral commitments from the top three Texans: 1) R.J. Washington, a defensive end from Keller; 2) Jermie Calhoun, a running back from Van; and 3) Stephen Good, an offensive lineman from Paris.
To be fair, UT’s Brown does have oral commitments from four of the top 10 in-staters and is battling Colorado for Darrell Scott of Corona, Calif., the nation’s top running back prospect. But there is no denying that Stoops is working Barry Switzer-like magic across the Red River, snagging six of the Texas top 20.
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By the way, as of this week only one of the top-100 players in Texas is listed as a commitment for Colorado. That’s defensive back Stephen Hicks from Whitehouse, who is No. 100.
CU’s other commitment from Texas, wide receiver Chance Blackman of Tatum, did not make that state’s top 100.
That has to be disappointing news for Buffs fans, considering all the talk of CU placing a greater emphasis on recruiting that state.
Colorado won twice in Texas (beating Baylor and Texas Tech) last season. And offensive line coach Jeff Grimes is a native of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and played at Texas-El Paso. But barring some late surprises and switches before the Feb. 6 national signing day, CU efforts in Texas haven’t yet yielded blue-chip successes.
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In looking over the list of CU commitments on Internet sites, one thing that surprises me is the absence of cornerbacks.
Hicks is the only cornerback listed thus far, and that appears to be a position of need. All-conference stalwart Terrence Wheatley has completed his eligibility. And the other 2007 starter, senior-to-be Benjamin Burney, faces multiple offseason surgeries and may consider redshirting this season.
Good thing that top reserves Gardner McKay, Cha’pelle Brown and Jimmy Smith return. And the coaching staff likes the potential of redshirt-freshmen Lamont Smith and Anthony Wright.
The offseason departures of two reserves, defensive lineman Chris Perri and offensive lineman Wes Palazzi, will be easier to replace on the depth chart.
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I’m not making this up:
Lubbock Smith is a defensive back from Dallas who committed to Kansas. It does not appear that Lubbock was recruited by Texas Tech, which would seem to have been his natural destination – but challenging for headline writers there.
Kansas also has a commitment from a Dodge City (Kan.) High School quarterback named Kale Pick. He’s one player that KU coaches must hope will never live up to his name.
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Coachspeak to remember: It comes from Ohio State men’s basketball boss Thad Matta, as quoted this week by the Columbus Dispatch newspaper:
“The three types of people we talk about in the game of basketball are those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and those that wonder what (pause) just happened.’’
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Trivia answer: Twice. The Buffaloes beat Kansas in 1991 (79-71) and 2003 (60-59). Both games were in Boulder.
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