Whelan: Legacy in the form of letdown for CU Buffs’ seniors

It was not, I repeat it was not, supposed to go down like this. Not for this team, these seniors, and these coaches in a year that the head man in charge talked of finally breaking through and taking advantage of the good timing his Colorado Buffaloes program had so often missed.

Preseason talk of a Sweet 16 run and an expectation of celebrating of CU’s model, signing under valued but talented recruits and developing them over four years as opposed to signing one-and-dones, caved behind the team’s lack of urgency and miscalculated coaching decisions. Despite a brief turnaround, Thursday night’s paltry defensive effort against what can only be described as the Cosmo’s Pizza of the Pac-12—it’s fine, they’re fine, but usually only when it’s 2 a.m. and there’s no other option—sealed Colorado’s second losing record in conference play since Tad Boyle arrived.

More importantly though, it was the final anecdote needed to confirm even our most hesitant leanings towards the legacies that certain members of this team, this program, will endure.

Let us start with the two seniors who have spent five seasons in Boulder, both recruited as a part of Boyle’s 2012 class that changed expectations in Boulder, specifically recruiting expectations. Wes Gordon committed early, sticking with his pledge despite inquiries from a number of high-major programs, including Arizona, later on during the recruiting cycle. He was praised by Rick Barry as one of the best high school shot blockers Barry had ever seen and, admittedly, I followed up that claim. Gordon possessed timing, length, and enough athleticism to compete as a rebounder, rim protector, and occasional offensive threat. Five years later, he’s the same player that he was as a freshman, but with more responsibility and less room for error without Josh Scott next to him. Xavier Johnson committed later on in the 2011, but came with more lofty expectations than Gordon, being from Mater Dei High School and being named his section’s Player of the Year. As a senior, he’s turning in his best all-around offensive season, shooting barely less than 50-percent from the field on more shots taken than ever before, turning the ball over less, and hitting three-pointers at nearly 40-percent. Despite the absence of Josh Scott, though, his rebounding numbers are still what they always have been, just good enough.

But for these two seniors, their legacy will not be one defined by statistics or the moments they were key contributors in, an upset of Kansas in Boulder or the numerous battles against Arizona at home. Unfortunately, two players who were recruited to lay the foundation for the future of Boyle’s program, will be remembered for this—a lost season, unexplained suspensions, and an untimely camera shot of them on the bench serving those suspensions. This was supposed to be their turn at leading the Buffs to the NCAA Tournament, their chance to step into a spotlight that had been focused elsewhere their entire career.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

There are two other seniors too, each with their own story, in Josh Fortune and Derrick White. Fortune’s performance this season has been beyond understanding, with his shooting touch vanished from his arsenal and his focus on taking care of the ball often, well, non-existent. But, as Boyle has said throughout the year, the Providence transfer hasn’t let his struggles affect his work ethic, his attitude, his approach to being a part of a team. If nothing else, Fortune’s legacy will be one of, “Oh yeah, he was here for two years, huh?” In the case of White, however, things will end on a different note.

While we don’t need to rehash his journey to Boulder, as it’s about the only thing a single announcer knows about him from game to game, though Bill Walton did think UCCS was a culinary school if that’s any window into just how far White has come. But dammit, I’m not willing to let this go. Derrick White, who torched Xavier, ASU, and Utah for 23, 35, and 31 points respectively, was playing Division II ball two years ago. Now, there are few who respect how good the players are at that level more than I do, but DERRICK WHITE WAS BEING GUARDED BY CSU-PUEBLO FOR THE LOVE OF…okay, you get it. After his one season, White will be remembered as a “what if,” with fans wondering if he and Scott could have teamed up one year earlier and made national waves. He’s efficient, deadly in the most crucial of times with the ball in his hand. He’s started to become a poster maker, the Michelangelo of don’t jump. Sadly, in Boyle’s words, too many of his brightest moments have been wasted by negligent efforts from a team that, once, had so much to play for. Once the sting of this season has worn off, he should also be remembered as the best scoring guard since Alec Burks. He supposed to be the missing piece to a team looking for just one explosive guard to steady the back court. But alas…

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Finally, there is the man with whom the buck stops.

One thing that I hope fans of the program realize is how lucky they are that they have a coach who is open, honest, and realistic with himself and his team. Boyle has never been one to B.S. the media or his players about how they played, how he coached, and where the program is. His willingness to be so open was why, when I sat down with him last August, it was so interesting to hear him talk about his own expectations for this season. When speaking of his team’s experience in the past, he’s stuck with his famous line about experience not making you better, only older. But in August, his tune was higher pitched.

“Now is the year where we need to reap those benefits,” he said.

Thing is, they haven’t and, ultimately, they won’t. His team full of redshirt seniors and veteran juniors too often plays like spring chickens, uptight and without focus. Boyle, himself, couldn’t push the right buttons for this group with any sort of consistency, struggling to find the right line-up fits for Bryce Peters, Lucas Siewart, and even George King. Defense was an afterthought for a team sporting a defensive-minded uniform.

No, it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

“We’re not out there out-recruiting anybody. (We’re) going into year seven and we haven’t signed any McDonald’s All-Americans and we have haven’t had any one-and-done guys. We have to recruit really talented guys that have a chip on their shoulder, have big upside, and we have to develop them into legitimate players. I think this year’s team is a great example,” he said to me then, a quote particularly poignant the morning after losing to Utah, a program that fielded the worst high-major team I’ve ever witnessed during the two programs’ first year in the new conference. Now, Utah has won seven straight against Colorado, largely thanks to developing under recruited players like Delon Wright, Brandon Taylor, Lorenzo Bonam, Kyle Kuzma, and most of all, Jakob Poeltl.

Despite CU having their highest rated recruiting class coming to campus next year, along with former four-star Namon Wright set to become eligible after transferring in from Missouri, here we are. We’re discussing lost legacies and a recruiting formula that, if we’re being honest, either hasn’t been executed or hasn’t worked well enough as of late.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but it is. This is reality.

Soon, we’ll be talking about this season in the passed tense. That is, after all, what legacies are about, the passed events of one’s career. The accomplishments, the failures, and the what-if’s. While the conversations that will be held in office break rooms, bar tops, and Coors Event Center ticket lines weren’t supposed to be like this, they will be. A lost season, legacies, and let downs.