Coach Tad Boyle and the Colorado men’s basketball team are still waiting to get the first true glimpse of one of the Buffaloes’ key offseason acquisitions.
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An injury limited David Gomez’s first collegiate season to just two games last year at Charlotte, and late last week Boyle said Gomez’s continued recovery has kept the 6-foot-8 forward out of full-contact team drills this summer.
Gomez appeared in just two early-season games for Charlotte last year, going 2-for-4 with a pair of 3-pointers, six points and four rebounds against Illinois State before going 2-for-2 with four points and three rebounds against Richmond. A foot injury ended Gomez’s season, but previously he gained significant international experience in his native Spain, playing a role in his country’s gold medal run at the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup.
After a coaching change — Charlotte hired former Cincinnati coach Wes Miller — Gomez transferred to CU in hopes of rebranding a Buffs frontcourt that struggled to rebound last season before the transfer portal lured away forwards Sebastian Rancik, Bangot Dak and Alon Michaeli. Boyle said forward Goc Malual, a 6-foot-8 freshman from Australia, also has been limited by an injury this summer.
“I have no idea what (Gomez) is going to bring to the table. He is a true X-factor,” Boyle said. “He looks good on the sideline. He’s (6-foot-8) and broad-shouldered and that sort of thing. But I have no idea what he’s going to bring. Goc Malual has been limited for us. But when he’s been on the floor, he’s been very, very impressive.”
Boyle said the same of CU’s other Australian recruit, 6-foot-4 guard Alex Dickeson, who could step immediately into a rotation role in the backcourt. Like Michaeli, an Israeli recruit for CU last season, Malual and Dickeson competed in more pro-like settings back home.
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“I’ve said this before, those kids are going to be a little bit further along than your typical freshman coming from America,” Boyle said. “Just because they’ve been playing with, and against, older guys their whole upbringing.”
Familiar foes
At this point, Boyle has some sort of history with almost all coaches who have been around as long as he has.
Purdue’s Matt Painter is no exception.
Last week, CU announced a matchup with Big Ten power Purdue, with the rivals set to meet for the first time in 39 years on Dec. 19 at the Indy Classic in Indianapolis. Boyle was an assistant at Wichita State in the early 2000s when Painter was a young assistant at conference rival Southern Illinois. Painter took over the head coach job at SIU for the 2003-04 season before moving to Purdue, where he has been the head coach the past 21 seasons. Painter owns a mark of 501-224 at Purdue and has led the Boilermakers to 11 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
“He and I go back a long ways. We go back to the Missouri Valley days,” Boyle said. “Obviously I’ve watched his career at Purdue and we’ve been on some committees together. Matt’s really well respected not only as a coach, but as an ambassador for college basketball. He’s been good for the game. Great guy, great coach. Does it the right way. That’s one thing I really, really respect about Matt Painter is he does things the right way.”
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