Jeriah Horne continues to take his game to the next level at Colorado
In many ways, the presence Jeriah Horne has had for Colorado could have been expected. After all, in two years at Tulsa from 2018-2020, he enjoyed a role that blended a starter's gig with coming off the bench.
In those two seasons, he averaged double digit points per game and was the Golden Hurricane's leading three-point shooter.
Horne was brought to Boulder in large part to help Colorado replace some of the regular production — offensively and defensively — that Tyler Bey did for the team before declaring for the NBA Draft.
To be specific, that entailed 13.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
Horne hasn't produced at quite that level — he's averaging 11.0 points and 5.6 boards per game for CU with two regular season games left to play — but he has far from fallen short of expectations in general.
The 6-foot-7 grad transfer senior is Colorado's leader in free throw percentage (92%), his 134 boards and 5.6 per game average leads the team, while among CU's regular most regular three-point shooter (players with north of 50 attempts) his 44% make rate (39-of-89) is also a team-best.
Not to mention that he's shooting 49% from the floor in general.
His performance Thursday against No. 19 USC was nothing short of stellar. He tied his season-best in points with 24, shot 75% from the floor (9-of-12) and was near unstoppable from long range, drilling six three-pointers while also chipping in 11 rebounds.
“When Jeriah gets going, he is a rhythm shooter," Tad Boyle said. "He knows how to get his shots off, he’s got quick release and (teams) know he’s a three-point shooter. The scouting report is out on Jeriah. People are switching his ball screens, but he’s just a crafty player and gets himself going.”
Rebounding is another part of Horne's game that was good when he was at Tulsa but that's been enhanced at CU.
Horne averaged 4.9 and 5.2 boards per game in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, respectively and is on pace to exceed both those numbers by the end of this year.
“I really give credit to coach Boyle for that," Horne said. "He’s challenged me to be a good rebounder, especially within the last week or so, just crashing the offensive glass. That’s something I’ve really keyed (in on) to try to do whatever I can to help this team win."
"My family has a running joke of ‘painting the floor.’ So whenever I’m out there, I’m trying to be all over the place, as much as possible."
There are many impressive aspects of Horne's game and among them is his incredible ability to make bad shots.
Last night alone, Horne converted a 180-degree turnaround jumper from the right elbow, a Dirk Nowitzki-style back foot fadeaway jumper near the arc and then a corner three-pointer as the shot clock expired.
No matter the situation, the defense or the angle, Horne has displayed a terrific ability to put the ball in the net.
“Some would say a bad shot is if it doesn’t go in, but I just continue to look," Horne said. "Some shots like that come out when I play one-on-one and get three dribbles. That third dribble you’ve kind of got to hoist one up sometimes. Confidence and repetition of working on my jump shot, trusting in my jump shot and just having confidence all-around I think is why that’s happening.”
Whether Horne anticipated making such a pronounced difference for Colorado upon committing to the Buffs is hard to say.
Horne's certainly been asked that question a fair amount of times, and when is asked that, he will often bring up his faith and talk a lot about trusting God.
Given the numbers he's put up in the past, perhaps "surprised" isn't the best word to use when it comes to describing how he's fit into the equation in Boulder.
But without question, Horne has taken the solid foundation he laid over two years at Tulsa and taken it to a completely new level.