When Keeshawn Barthelemy stepped on the scale Wednesday morning, he saw a disappointing number: 170.
The freshman point guard is redshirting this season and there’s a long list of things he needs to improve upon before he’s ready to take the court next fall. The first thing on the list is gaining weight.
“It’s part of the process of getting stronger,” Barthelemy said. “It’s fun putting good things in my body and just getting stronger. I’m always motivated and I know what I want, so it’s not that hard.”
The process is simple—eat more, lift more and drink more protein shakes—but it takes time. Barthelemy has packed on about 10 pounds pounds since arriving on campus in August. According to starting point guard McKinley Wright IV, Barthelemey is still about 10-15 pounds away from where he should be.
“He came in around 162 and he’s to 172 now,” Wright said. “He’ll be 185 by the time he’s ready to play.”
It’s impressive that Wright can pull Barthelemy’s weight out of thin air, even if he hadn’t heard that Barthelemy had dropped two pounds this week, but that’s the type of thing we’ve come to expect from Colorado’s general on and off the floor. That’s also part of the reason Barthelemy wound up in Boulder.
Barthelemy, a Montreal native who moved to Toronto, planned to attend a prep school for the 2019-20 season, making him part of the 2020 recruiting class. In August he decided to reclassify to the 2019 class, taking the Buffs’ last scholarship. Instead of starring for a prep school, he thought an extra year in Boulder to develop would be more benficial.
“There’s a lot of good guards that came out of Colorado,” Barthelemy said. “I felt like that was a good fit for me. That was a huge part.”
The line of Buffs guards who have made the jump from the NCAA to the next level is long, from Chauncey Billups to Spencer Dinwiddie to Derrick White. Next up is Wright and when he leaves, it will be Barthelemy’s turn to run the show at The Keg. Barthelemy is trying to learn as much as he can from the junior.
“He’s a great player and a good example for me for what I have to do the next few years for this team,” Barthelemy said. “He’s a really quick point guard and he’s really hard to guard when he’s playing at his full pace.”
Barthelemy’s debut in the fall of 2020 will give Wright a chance to play off the ball more. For now, the combo is only visible on the CU practice floor, where the potentially elite guard pairing shows flashes of dominance.
“I like playing off-ball when I’m playing with Keeshawn,” Wright said. “He’s going to be a really good piece of the puzzle for Colorado’s future.”
Wright isn’t the only one who’s convinced Barthelemy could be something special for the Buffs. Head coach Tad Boyle says that the freshman is ready to compete offensively right now, but the process of learning how to defend Pac-12 players is still on-going.
“He’s capable defensively,” Boyle said. “Keeshawn’s going to be a good player, but the biggest adjsutment most freshmen have to make is on the defensive side of the ball. Can he guard (senior Oregon point guard) Payton Pritchard? Obviously he won’t have to because Payton will be gone. Can he guard (Oregon State guard) Ethan Thompson?”
There’s a lot to look forward to when the spidery 6-foot-2 point guard finally sees NCAA action, but for the next nine months, the Buffs’ coaching staff will continue to convert the four-star prospect and 17th-ranked point guard in his class into a Pac-12 basketball player.
“I’m just being patient in my process,” Barthelemy said. “I wish I could help these guys out a little bit but they’re doing just fine without me, so I’m just happy for them.”
