Colorado today received three NLIs on the first day of the 2020 signing period. The Buffs got started last week with Tulsa grad Transfer Jeriah Horne, who committed on April 9, and Jabari Waker, who verbally committed on the 7th.
On Thursday, the Buffaloes announced that Tristan da Silva, a German national and younger brother of Stanford standout Oscar da Silva, had signed an NLI along with Horne and Walker, completing Tad Boyle's 2020 class.
With the transfer of Daylen Kountz and Jakub Dombek leading into the spring signing period, plus Tyler Bey's decision to forego his senior season at CU and instead enter the NBA Draft, Boyle and the Buffs had three open scholarships to fill.
The signings of Honbe, Walker and da Silva give Colorado a five-man Class of 2020, with the aforementioned three players joining in-state stars Luke O'Brien out of Littleton (Columbine) and Dominique Clifford from Colorado Springs (Vanguard).
The signing of da Silva this morning, in other words, handing the final remaining available scholarship to him, additionally all but formally confirms Bey is indeed gone, and not testing the NBA Draft waters like his teammate, McKinley Wright IV, has been believed to be doing.
Da Silva, a 6-foot-8 forward, comes to Colorado via Munich, Germany, where he played with the MTSV Schwabing basketball team.
Under Boyle, only in 2012 has Colorado brought in a bigger class; that year saw six players sign. The last time the Buffs had a five-player incoming class was in 2017, the class which Wright IV and Bey were a part of.
Recruiting for the 2020 class has been anomalous for Boyle, as he discusses below with AltitudeTV. While O'Brien and Clifford were evaluated, recruited, committed and signed long before the COVID-19 began to change everyday society and with it, the world of sports, recruiting the likes of Horne, Walker and da Silva has been much different.
Of particular note, Horne, Walker and da Silva all have signed on to Colorado without being able to conduct a visit to campus. Neither, as Boyle admits, have they been able to meet their new coaches or fellow teammates.
Despite the limitations felt not only by Colorado, but all schools trying to recruit amidst a time where travel and face-to-face contact isn't a possibility, Boyle has taken some solid steps in the right direction in replacing the production of Bey and outgoing seniors Lucas Siewert and Shane Gatling.
Horne averaged 11.1 points and 5.2 boards last year with Tulsa and if da Silva is cut of the same cloth as his brother Oscar, who earned first team All-Pac-12 honors this past season with Stanford, then he'll obviously be a positive addition to CU's 2020-21 equation.
At face value, Colorado has brought in some respectable frontcourt reinforcements. With Wright IV likely to return for his senior season and Keeshawn Barthelemy ready to contribute after redshirting last year, the Buffs appear to have plugged some holes that needed to be plugged in the aftermath of losing two seniors and the team's most dynamic weapons in Bey.
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