Projecting Colorado’s 2021-22 rotation

BOULDER — McKinley Wright IV, Dallas Walton, D’Shawn Schwartz, Maddox Daniels and Jeriah Horne are gone.

Wright, who started at point guard for four seasons, is the biggest name among the group, but Schwartz and Horne were also among the top-five on the team in total minutes played last season. Daniels finished sixth and Walton came in seventh.

Luckily for Colorado, the eighth-ranked recruiting class in the country (according to 247Sports’ composite) will be on campus this fall and other youngsters already on the roster appear primed to take a step in 2021.

But how exactly will Colorado disperse the 110+ minutes per game that came open over the offseason?

The honest answer is that about a dozen guys, and maybe more, will be competing for those opportunities over the course of the next six months and throughout the season.

That answer is no fun though, so let’s take a stab at projecting the rotation.

THE STARTERS

PG: Mason Faulkner
SG: Eli Parquet
SF: Tristan da Silva
PF: Jabari Walker
C: Evan Battey

A few guys seem locked into the starting lineup: Eli Parquet, Evan Battey and Mason Faulkner.

Parquet became a lockdown defender last season, while continuing to grow on the offensive end, where he made nearly 42% of his 3-point attempts. Parquet started every game he played last season and that should be true again next season.

Battey has been a starter for a couple of seasons now and he plays his role well. While he isn’t a stretch-big by any means and he doesn’t have the length or athleticism to excite NBA scouts, he’s got a barrel for a chest and can hold up in the post on both ends against just about anybody in the country. His touch around the rim is pretty special for a college player. His best fit is at power forward but, given the structure of the current roster, I think he’ll slide in at center to open things up… at least early in the season.

Faulkner is a senior point guard who transferred to Colorado over the offseason. He’s a three-level scorer with heart, who should take over McKinley Wright’s role. Those are some tough shoes to fill though and while he fits the mold perfectly, the question will be how close he can come to filling those shoes.

Jabari Walker is the next man up, and he’s close to being a lock for the starting lineup. But Walker didn’t start a single game in his first season in Boulder despite being one of the most talented players on the team. Bringing Walker off the bench again in 2021 would be wasteful, but the Buffs have a logjam at power forward. Regardless, Walker will be one of the most important pieces for CU this season.

Tristan da Silva fits into my sixth man spot because of the flashes we saw from him as a true freshman last season in a similar role. He’s a finesse forward who can provide a scoring punch from the bench at all three levels. His defense is still a work in progress and his hit rate on 3-pointers will need to tick up, but he has a smooth jumper so getting from 4-of-15 from deep last season to at least 35% isn’t a stretch. Da Silva could slide into Daniels’ spot in the starting rotation with a strong offseason.

THE KEY ROLE PLAYERS

6th Man: Lawson Lovering
7: Keeshawn Barthelemy
8: Quincy Allen

Colorado’s roster is remarkably young and the youth will lead to a massive competition for rotational spots.

Lawson Lovering could also be an opening day starter. The true freshman will be the only pure center on CU’s roster and if he shows up ready to play, he could take the starting job. In that case, Battey would likely move to power forward with Walker taking da Silva’s place. (Walker fits better at power forward than small forward, so he or Battey could wind up playing off the bench if Lovering starts.)

Lovering is at least 7-feet-tall and he’s filled out his frame well already. He can shoot, pass, defend and do pretty much anything else you’d hope for from a center. As one of the 50 best recruits in the country, Lovering is absolutely capable of cracking the starting lineup early, though it may be more likely that he moves into the starting lineup sometime during conference play.

Keeshawn Barthelemy should be one of Colorado’s key contributors off the bench, but he’ll need to develop his game over the offseason to hold off some of the other youngsters. Barthelemy redshirted in his first season on campus before serving as Wright’s primary backup last season. The results were mixed, with more negatives than positives. By the end of the season, Barthelemy had improved his shooting percentages slightly and looked more comfortable in his role, but a similar level of performance this season will leave him with a 50-50 chance of cracking the regular rotation.

Quincy Allen makes it into this tier for a couple of reasons. First, he’s incredibly talented. As CU’s second-rated recruit in the ‘21 class behind Lovering, Allen is capable of providing some scoring immediately, though his finesse game may not translate to the high-major level right off the bat.

The second reason I see Allen as a contributor is the construction of the roster. As of now, he’s the only true small forward on the team, in my eyes. If Allen can hold his own on the defensive end and his sharp shooting shows up in camp, then there’s no reason he can’t compete for a starting job.

NEXT UP

• Javon Ruffin
• Nique Clifford
• K.J. Simpson
• Luke O’Brien
• Julian Hammond

The end of Colorado’s bench is going to be one of the most fun groups in the country. However the rotation shakes out, some very, very talented players are going to be spending the majority of their time on the pine.

I’d guess that Colorado’s normal rotation is going to be about 10 players deep during the season, which means the top two from this group will receive regular minutes. (And any of these guys are capable of taking one of the “key role player spots,” while a couple are capable of serving as starters.)

Establishing an order is tough. Javon Ruffin and K.J. Simpson are high-end prospects but Nique Clifford, who was no slouch out of high school himself, has a year in the program under his belt (though he only played 54 total minutes.) All three project as shooting guards. Simpson is more likely to serve as a point guard, while Ruffin (who measures in at 6-foot-5) could compete for minutes at small forward. Freshman Luke O’Brien, another guard, is probably on the same tier and true freshman Julian Hammond isn’t far behind.

In this tier, there isn’t a lot of size. There’s a talent logjam in the front court, but there aren’t many depth pieces that will require pieces. There should be enough minutes to go around.

In the backcourt, though, the rotations could change often. The coaching staff will likely be rotating through its young guards early in the season to figure out who pops.