Buffs land commitment from WSU forward Andrej Jakimovski

The spring means roster rebuilding for teams across the country, and on the basketball side the process is moving quickly now that the season has wrapped up. Colorado has been working to retool its roster after several departures since the end of the NCAA Tournament run for the Buffs.

Sunday, Tad Boyle's program earned a key commitment when Washington State forward Andrej Jakimovski announced his pledge to CU following a recent visit to Boulder.

The 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior from North Macedonia has spent the entirety of his four-year career with the Cougars where he stepped into a leadership role and contributed to the team's rise in recent seasons.

In the 2023-24 season, Jakimovski was a key starter for Kyle Smith's squad that eventually finished in second place in the Pac-12 race and earned a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 9.7 points and 5.6 rebounds to go with 1.3 assists per game in his fourth season in Pullman.

Jakimovski improved his statistics every season and will head to Boulder with plenty of experience having played in 120 games, with 80 starts, throughout his career at WSU.

The veteran forward, who also connected on a career-high 67 3-pointers last season, is exercising his option for an additional year of college eligibility that was granted to players after playing in the 2020-21 season.

He is the second transfer addition this week for Boyle and Buffs, who added Colorado Mesa star Trevor Baskin on Thursday.

CU is looking to replace most of its production after losing top scorers KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva to the NBA draft and J'Vonne Hadley (Louisville) and Eddie Lampkin (Syracuse) to transfers. Luke O'Brien also opted to enter the transfer portal after the season while the Buffs await a decision from freshman Cody Williams on his future and a likely move to the NBA after one year in Boulder.

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