On Monday, we published Part I of a lengthy summer Q+A session with CU head coach Tad Boyle. Below is the conclusion of that conversation.
In it, Boyle discusses the injury recoveries of several Colorado players, initial impressions of true freshman big man Joe Hurlburt, as well as a shaking up of the Buffs' corps of walk-on players.
CUSportsNation: I recently read via the Daily Camera’s Pat Rooney that there has been a somewhat significant shakeup on your walk-ons. What do you like about Greg Gerhardt and Harrison Carrington? Do you think you’re all set now with walk-ons or could there be room to add any more?
Editor's note: Amondo Miller and Cody Mains return to CU as walk-ons for the 2022-23 season, while Benan Ersek and Will Loughlin (the latter of whom was awarded a scholarship midway through last season by Boyle, graduated. Jack Pease opted to transfer to Colorado Christian. Thus, Miller, Mains, plus newcomers Greg Gerhardt and Harrison Carrington currently comprise CU's walk-ons.
Tad Boyle: "My whole thing with the walk-ons is, I sit down with every player on our roster when the season’s over with and we talk about what’s best for them. Whether it was Jack Pease, who decided to go to Colorado (Christian) and play, or is it better for them to come back and continue their roles — a lot of that with the walk-ons is their decision, not my decision.
When we talk about them coming onboard, obviously we want as good a player as we can get. But more importantly, we want good kids who are going to be team-first and understand their role.
Every situation is different. Amondo is a good example. He looked, put his name in the transfer portal to look at other opportunities, he saw what was out there, and decided to come back. Jack did the same thing and decided to go to Colorado Christian.
Every walk-on is on their own kind of schedule when it comes to if they’re going to be here for one, two, three (or) four years. You’ll get a guy like Benan Ersek, who goes through the program, Josh Repine, Beau Gamble, (who) kind of came in midway and finished out.
So, walk-ons are extremely important to this program. We value them, we rely on them — not necessarily for playing time or production — but for practice to get our guys ready.
When you talk about Greg and Harrison, they’re both bigger bodies that give us a little bit of a size look in practice that we may get from opponents. When you’re going against guys that are 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8 or 6-foot-9 in Greg’s case, that’s easier than going up against 6-foot-1 or 5-foot-11.”
Q: Here’s a three-in-one for you: The guys from last year, who, to varying extents, were banged up: Lawson Lovering (knee), Javon Ruffin (knee) and Quincy Allen (hip), how are those guys doing? Are all three at 100% in terms of participation right now?
TB: "They’re all going 100%. Lawson has looked really good this summer in his workouts. Javon is the one guy that I probably had the least amount of understanding of his game. This is week three where he’s been out there. He doesn't have a brace on, he hasn’t been talking to a trainer during practice, he has no restraints and has been on the court with his team and going through station work, offensive and defensive things — it’s good to see that.
Quincy got healthy towards the end of the year, so we saw him the summer before his freshman year for a short window. Then we got a short window at the end, but he’s back, fully healthy and ready to go. So, we’ll see.
Those three guys are really important, as well, because they do know the system, they do know the program and terminology — Javon and Quincy are coming in just like a freshman, with no experience, but they’ve got experience in the program. But Lawson I expect to make a big jump.”
Q: On my end, when I was doing my offseason check-ins with your incoming players, talking with R.J. Smith, I know he had suffered a knee injury in his state championship game. I don’t mean to pry too much, but do you have any clarity at this point in time on when he might be cleared to come back?
TB: "No. It won’t be this summer, it’ll be sometime in the fall or closer to the season starting. I don’t know that for a fact. And Rawley Klingsmith, our trainer, has been out on vacation the last few weeks, so I’ll get a better feel for that probably in September, (when) he’ll come back off the summer and having a few months of really getting in the rehab and getting two or three doctor visits under his belt.
When we get closer to having him back, I’ll have a better timetable for that. But right now, it’s just too vague. (Doctors) give you ranges, but you just don’t know if it’s going to be at the front of that range, at the back end, the middle part. So, we’ll see.
He could possibly redshirt or he could possibly be ready to go. I don’t know, but the one thing I do know is that he’s going to miss this summer access and he’s going to miss part of the fall. How much is he going to miss? I don’t know. How quickly is he going to acclimate once he gets back? I don’t know. The good news is he’ll make a full recovery.
R.J., I told him that when it comes to these situations, we always take the big-picture approach. We did it with Javon last year, with Quincy obviously, he had surgery, so we knew he was going to be out for the full year, but we’ve always got to keep the student-athlete’s best interests at heart with their longterm health.”
Q: For you and your staff, what’s been your initial impression of Joe Hurlburt since he’s gotten here?
TB: "Really skilled. There’s some guys you feel like you’ve been recruiting for three years and Joe’s one of them, because we have. He started coming to Elite Camp when he was like a sophomore in high school and then, we offered him as a junior. He came on an official visit, then he came on another official his senior year. His family’s been on campus multiple times — they vacation in Colorado every summer, so Joe feels like part of the family. So, it’s just nice to have him here on a day-to-day basis.
He’s going through an adjustment phase, there’s no question about it. Lawson went through it last year. I always say, big guys, it’s a bigger adjustment for 6-foot-11, 7-foot guys than it is for 5-foot-11, 6-foot- guys. It’s just the speed of the game, the physicality of the game, the pace of the game — it's just different.
He’s going to be terrific. He a really shoot the ball, which we knew he could do, but he’s got really broad shoulders. (Director of strength and conditioning) Coach (Steve) Englehart is getting a feel for him in the weight room. He says his upper body is really strong but his lower body needs some work to strengthen. That takes time. There’s no fast forward button to accelerate that.
He’s going to get in the weight room, work out and get on the court. But he’s a hard worker. He’s got the North Dakota toughness and he’s really skilled and can really shoot the ball. We’re going to need him at times this year, is my guess.”
Q: Last one for you. I am far from the only person still thinking from time to time about the aborted KU game. I know it won’t be pertinent for this upcoming season, but do you think that rematch is in the cards at all for some time in the future?
TB: "I hope it is and I’m hoping that they’ll honor the game. I know it’s not going to happen this year, and I understand that, but I want to play the game. I know Rick George wants to play the game. (KU head coach) Bill (Self) told me at the time last year when it was canceled that he would honor it, but I don’t know how (KU’s) administration feels. So, we’ll see. I don’t have an answer for that right now. I know we want the game and we’ll see if it ends up happening.”
