Lawson Lovering looks to continue improving before he arrives in Boulder

Quite a bit has changed since around Halloween of last year, when Lawson Lovering committed to Colorado, becoming Tad Boyle's first Class of 2021 verbal pledge.

The change has been two-fold — Lovering himself has worked hard to polish and expand his game while the Buffaloes have managed to put together a few more additions around him.

Here in mid-September, with Lovering, four-star forward Quincy Allen plus in-state point guard Julian Hammond all having committed to CU, the Buffs' 2021 class is ranked at No. 15 in the nation.

The 7-foot center out of Cheyenne Central High in Wyoming has enjoyed watching things come together for the Buffs since he gave Boyle the inaugural 2021 pledge last fall.

“It’s just been fun to watch, just to see who are going to be my teammates and how the team's going to build up," he said. "We now have a guard (Hammond), a wing (Allen) and me, a big guy. Filling spots like that, it’s exciting talking to the guys when they commit and just getting to know them.”

While Colorado's 2021 class has improved quite a bit since last October, so has Lovering himself.

He was on the receiving end of a significant rankings boost from Rivals early in the summer. To that point, he was unranked and a three-star prospect. After Rivals conducted a fresh round of evaluations, Lovering shot up to the No. 9 center in the nation and a four-star prospect.

Playing prep sports in the state of Wyoming at face value makes it tough to receive outside attention, and of course, when the COVID pandemic settled into everyday life in the U.S., it further kept Lovering under the radar.

However, Lovering admitted that his own game was far from where he wanted it to be a year ago and earlier in his high school career. He's looked to change that by upping his offseason workout regimen.

“Obviously, in Wyoming, it’s always hard to get seen by people because it’s not a very big market at all," he said. "My freshman and sophomore year, I really struggled and I don’t think I was working hard enough in the offseason. My junior year, I’ve tried to get in the gym as much as possible and just work, work work. It’s really paying off."

Lovering plays AAU basketball with the Adidas 3SSB-affiliated Utah Prospects in addition to at Cheyenne Central. The competition level and coaching within the former has played a significant role in Lovering sharpening his tools to date.

"I did most of my developing during the AAU season," he said. "Going up there, playing with those Utah kids, it's a lot better competition at practice and it makes me better. Playing in big-time games against highly-ranked guys, you definitely gain experience going up against the best. I love AAU and it’s helped me a lot.”

Case in point is the clip below from mid-August. Lovering has the ball at the top of the key, hoping to place it in the hands of one of his guards. But when the transfer doesn't materialize, he instead improvises and drives before spinning into the paint, edging a defender en route to a quick basket.

To Lovering's point regarding the increased competition he faces with his AAU team — look no further than No. 5 in red, whom he spins around before making the basket. That is no other than five-star 2021 forward Daimion Collins, a 6-foot-9 prospect from Texas that has 20 offers.

When he committed to Colorado, Lovering's film featured a lot of dunks and work in the post.

As time has gone on, there's been much more versatility displayed, whether it's something like the above clip or this below, where he receives an inbounded pass and quickly dishes it out to a teammate attacking the rim for an assist and two points.

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Lovering said consistency has been a major point of emphasis for him as he looks to continue improving by the time he arrives in Boulder.

“I have the mechanics down — everyone loves my mechanics, right, but I was very inconsistent," he said. "It’s just about refining those skills, sharpening them, getting a lot of game reps and having the same form every single shot. I think repetition is definitely going to build that. It’s going to take time and I’m going to keep working at it all season before I get to CU. I hope to be way more consistent by the time I get there.”

Given Boyle routinely challenges his guards to aggressively rebound the ball and play stout defense, it's easy to do the math on what Boyle's expectations of his incoming big man on the defensive side of the ball will be.

While Lovering noted that defense has been a strong part of his game for awhile now, there's always room for improvement and he has sought to continue bettering himself in that regard.

"I feel like I've put a lot of effort on defense," he sad. "I’ve improved my foot speed and all that, but I think I was always pretty decent at defense. This last year I think I’ve really improved. My rebounding has also really improved. I’m not timid going after boards and I go after every ball, especially on the offensive end, too."

"With pick and roll defense, I think I’ve gotten smarter in that. I’m more vocal out there calling out screens than I was a couple years back, I talk more on D, so I think I’ll do pretty well (in college.)”

When he committed, Lovering was a touch under seven feet tall and more than a few pounds short of 200. Now, he's closer to 7-foot-1 and 220 pounds.

Lovering still wants to add some more mass to his frame and was quick to list the areas he looks to keep getting better in before he joins the Buffs.

“Definitely my strength and outside shooting — that’s really big for me right now because it can open up a lot of different things we can do on offense," he said. "And then of course, I’m still a little underweight, so that’s a big one. (Also) refining my post footwork and my finishes around the run, just in never missing a bunny (shot) or anything.”