McKinley Wright IV is gone but the Buffs have options at point guard

BOULDER — Keeshawn Barthelemy cherishes the time he spent with McKinley Wright IV.

“I got to see the blueprint of what a good point guard is,” Barthelemy told DNVR on Wednesday. “He’s already one of the best PGs to ever play here so I got to see what it was like every day in practice.”

Wright started at Colorado for four years and finished his career as the school’s all-time leader in assists, double-digit assist games, double-digit scoring games and points-assists double-doubles. In the 62-year history of the Pac-12, no other players has put up 1,800 points, 600 assists and 600 rebounds.

Now, Wright plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Barthelemy is the favorite to replace him in the starting lineup.

“It’s no pressure, man. At the end of the day it’s just basketball,” Barthelemy said. “This is what I want. I wanted to be here and make plays for this team to win.”

While Barthelemy may not feel any pressure, his level of play may be the biggest factor in determining how far the 2020-21 Buffaloes can go.

Back in April, the Buffs signed Mason Faulkner as a grad transfer point guard out of Western Carolina. He was supposed to be a poor man’s McKinley Wright and provide a baseline level of play at the point guard position.

If Barthelemy—or one of the other young guards—was ready to take the keys to the team, that’d be great.

If not, Faulkner was capable of keeping the train on the rails at the very least.

But, last month, Colorado’s backcourt safety blanket announced he was headed back to the transfer portal.

“I was shocked, man. He was our brother for a little bit, man,” Barthelemy said. “It was kind of tough but at the end of the day it opens up a spot for somebody to step up.”

On Wednesday, head coach Tad Boyle said he wasn’t concerned by Faulkner’s departure.

“No change in plans,” Boyle said. “It’s just your depth takes a little bit of a hit.”

Colorado has a young team. Wright, of course, is gone, but he isn’t the only one. Dallas Walton and D’Shawn Schwartz were both regular starters a year ago and have now moved on. Jeremiah Horne was the best sixth man in the conference and he is gone, too. Maddox Daniels is gone after playing in every game and averaging almost 20 minutes.

Those five combined for 3,440 minutes played last year, or about 54% of Colorado’s total minutes played.

The inexperience may be most obvious at the point guard position.

“I look at our point guard position as a three-headed monster; Keeshawn, K.J. (Simpson) and Julian (Hammond),” Boyle said. “I look at it as a three-pronged approach when it comes to replacing McKinley and not just one guy. It’s not like an heir apparent but Keeshawn is doing some really, really good things. Hearing his voice, it’s been really good. I’ve mentioned it before; he’s had a great offseason and he’s poised for a breakout year.”

Being more vocal is a shift for Barthelemy, who is now in his third year at CU.

“I try to just talk a lot, just saying anything because at this level you’ve got to have a vocal leader at the point guard position,” Barthelemy said. “That’s what I’m trying to be for this team.”

Wright came back to town two weeks ago when the CU football team took on Minnesota. He hung around the basketball facilities and spent some one-on-one time with Simpson, a true freshman from West Hills California who was ranked No. 99 in the 2021 recruiting class by 247Sports. Simpson and Wright have spent plenty of time on the phone together, but this was the first time they’d met in person.

“He gave me some great advice,” Simpson told DNVR. “A lot of stuff can get repetitive sometimes—wake up early, do the same thing, go to class, do the same thing the next day—I just ask him questions like, ‘How do you approach it? What do you focus on to get better? What’s your mentality to go throughout the day?'”

While he’s never played on the same court as Simpson, Wright has still been a valuable resource.

“He’s like a big brother,” Simpson said. “I wish I had the chance to go head-to-head with him in practice, but just him giving me advice is enough.”

While Wright has moved on to the next level, don’t be surprised if you hear more about him helping out the Buffs’ young guys behind the scenes.

One more note…

I asked Barthelemy and Simpson which two other Buffs they’d want on their three-on-three team.

Barthelemy laughed and said he wasn’t throwing anybody under the bus.

Simpson said he’d take Evan Battey and Jabari Walker.

“Gotta keep it LA,” he said. “We’ve gotta represent LA.”