Tyson Gilbert certainly had a formal interview with Tad Boyle before officially joining the staff of the Colorado men’s basketball team.
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Yet Gilbert already had been quietly making his case on a daily basis for the past two years.
Last month, Gilbert was promoted to an assistant coach role on Boyle’s staff after spending the past two seasons with the Buffs as a graduate assistant. Gilbert took the spot vacated by longtime assistant Mike Rohn, CU’s recruiting coordinator and associate head coach who had been on Boyle’s staff since he was hired in 2010.
Gilbert won’t immediately replace Rohn’s experience, yet Boyle said Gilbert, a Colorado native who starred at Alaska Anchorage, already boasts veteran savvy with his communication skills.
“I think the relationships that he has built, his communication skills, his maturity for a guy his age in terms of being able to interface, whether it be a player or a recruit, or whether it’s a donor or fan,” Boyle said. “Just like with players, you want great chemistry with your team, but you want the same thing with your staff. His ability to connect and interface with multiple constituents as it relates to a college basketball program, Tyson was really exceptional in being able to do that.”
Gilbert has formed a tight bond with another young coach, former CU player Evan Battey, giving Boyle’s staff some age balance between that duo and veteran assistants Bill Grier, Danny Manning and Nate Tomlinson.
“It’s not so much how Tyson relates to the players, or how Evan relates to the players, relative to us. It’s having that younger perspective in the room when we’re talking about personnel or strategy,” Boyle said. “It’s as much for a staff perspective as it is from a player relationship standpoint. Having people like Tyson, like Evan, who are young, energetic, bring new ideas and bring new perspectives to the staff, I think that’s as beneficial as anything.”
Schedule taking shape
Sources confirmed the Buffs once again will play in the Acrisure Series, a multi-team tournament in Palm Desert, California. CU played there last year, defeating San Francisco and Washington to claim the tournament crown.
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While the matchups will be announced at a later date, if the tournament maintains the same format the Buffs will play two games in Palm Desert, plus a home game still to be determined.
CU’s nonconference schedule also includes a home date against Colorado State and the completion of a home-and-home set at Providence.
“We’re getting closer,” Boyle said of the nonconference schedule. “(This week) I’m going to sit down with my staff and see how many (games) we have left, what do we have to do, what’s the best direction to go.”
Quick assimilation
Summer workouts have grown exponentially more important in the transfer portal era, as the bulk of every team’s roster are pieced together year-to-year. The Buffs are no different, as they welcome at least five freshmen to the mix, as well as one transfer, David Gomez, who played only two games last year at Charlotte before suffering a season-ending injury.
Boyle, though, expects that process to be smoother with the other two frontcourt transfers in Noah Feddersen, who played in 99 games in three seasons at North Dakota State, and Justin Neely, who has played more than 100 collegiate games between his time at Albany and UNC Greensboro.
“You’ve got guys like Justin and Noah who are going into their fifth years,” Boyle said. “They’ve got pretty good basketball IQ. They’ve been around the game. There’s going to be a lot of concepts that are familiar to them.”
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