When the dust settled from the transfer portal departures after last season, it was easy for the Colorado men’s basketball team to see the challenges on the horizon.
There wasn’t a lot of height blocking the view.
In May, the Buffaloes were in danger of going into the 2025-26 campaign, the 16th under head coach Tad Boyle, as a size-challenged bunch that might have trouble keeping pace physically in the demanding Big 12 Conference. Now CU is on track to have not only the biggest team of Boyle’s tenure, but the biggest in program history.
Thanks to a combination of late growth spurts and late-summer additions to the roster, the 2025-26 Buffs certainly won’t lack for size.
Two players — freshman Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola and junior forward Bangot Dak — previously were listed at 6-foot-11 but have been upgraded to 7-foot. Last month, the Buffs added to their sizeable freshman class with 7-foot-1 center Leonardo Van Elswyk.
CU has never had multiple 7-footers on the roster before. Now they have three. That trio joins a frontcourt group already set to include 6-foot-11 sophomore Sebastian Rancik and sixth-year, 6-foot-10 center Elijah Malone. This month, the Buffs added an seventh player to its freshman class in 6-foot-9 forward Alon Michaeli.
The Buffs will also boast some size along the wing in 6-foot-7 Denver transfer Jon Mani, 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman Andrew Crawford, and 6-foot-6 freshman Ian Inman. Guards Felix Kossaras and Ian Inman are listed at 6-foot-6, while freshmen guards Jalin Holland and Josiah Sanders check in at 6-foot-5.
Sanders, at a sturdy 210 pounds, was lauded by Boyle for helping to set the tone physically for CU during a four-game exhibition trip to Australia earlier this month. A very young Buffs team will have plenty to work on when preseason practice begins in late September, but Boyle said he was pleased with how his team didn’t back down from the older, more experienced competition they faced in the more physical brand of international basketball they encountered Down Under.
Certainly the listed heights often are crafted through the eyes of the beholders — Tristan da Silva, as one example, was listed at 6-foot-9 during his senior season at CU, but 6-8 as a rookie with the Orlando Magic. Regardless, the physical play the Buffs endured, and gave back a little, during their trip through Australia was a good sign for a team that was outclassed physically during much of last year’s 21-loss campaign.
“Especially that Boomers game (Australia’s national team), that environment,” Boyle said. “There was 5,000 people there. It was a great environment. They want to see their national team do well. We knew Josiah Sanders, his physicality would translate, because he’s for a guy his age, he’s big and he’s strong and he’s physical. And he showed that. I thought we competed on the defensive glass really, really well.”
Back to work
In addition to his team’s physical play, Boyle in general was pleased with the way the Buffs shared the ball and executed offensively in Australia. One of the points of emphasis during the preseason will be to work on what happens after CU puts up a shot.
“Transition defense for sure. Getting back,” Boyle said. “And also offensive rebounding. We relied a lot on the ball going in. As you know, some nights the ball isn’t going to go in and you’ve got to find how to get second and third possessions, second and third shots. I would say those two things.
“If we were killing it on the offensive glass, but our transition defense is bad, you say OK, there’s a give-and-take there. But if you’re not offensive rebounding, and you’re giving up stuff in transition, that just means your guys aren’t dialed-in like they need to be.”
Scheduling quirks
CU’s nonconference schedule will feature five games against programs the Buffs have never faced — Providence, Alabama State, UC Davis, California Baptist and Portland State. CU’s matchup against UTSA will be the first since Dec. 22, 1995, and the possible matchup against Nevada in the second round of the Acrisure Series in Palm Desert, Calif., would be the first since Dec. 17, 1994.
