By the time he graduated from Columbine High School last spring, CU sophomore guard Luke O'Brien had put together a preps career full of accolades and accomplishments.
Named the CHSAA Class 5A State Player of the Year as a senior, behind a 26-point, 12-rebound per game campaign, O'Brien is Columbine's all-time leader in a multitude of statistical categories, including points, points per game and rebounds.
However, with O'Brien joining a CU squad last year that was dominated by six scholarship seniors, including D'Shawn Schwartz and Maddox Daniels, who played O'Brien's position on the wings, he was served a slice of humble pie, coming off the bench in 10 games for an average of 4.6 minutes per appearance.
O'Brien is far from the first or last high school standout to be used sparingly upon joining the college ranks, and the upperclassman-heavy makeup of Colorado's roster last year undoubtedly amplified that reality as far as his playing time was concerned.
That said, O'Brien admitted that mentally and physically, his game was not where he wanted it to be last year as a true freshman.
“I feel like throughout (last) season, my conditioning and my mental level (were) really bad," he said. "Sometimes I’d go up and down the floor once or twice and be gassed. And then if I’d make a mistake, I was putting my head down for the rest of the day."
"I feel like from last season to now, I’ve made huge growth in that."
O'Brien paid particular attention to the likes of Schwartz and Daniels during his true freshman campaign.
In the Buffs' first year without McKinley Wright IV, the 2021-2022 team, boasting just two seniors in Evan Battey and Eli Parquet, must find a way to replace 65% of its total points scored last year, 60% of its rebounding and 70% of its made three pointers.
Even in real time last year, O'Brien was well aware that new faces would have to step up in what will be a significant transitional season for the Buffaloes under Tad Boyle.
Thus, O'Brien tried to make the most of his reservist role and be a sponge when it came to picking things up from the seniors.
“I learned a lot," he said. Every day I was like, ‘OK I know I’m not playing, but I'm going to try to take every day and learn from the older guys — D’Shawn (Schwartz), Maddox (Daniels) — the dudes at my position. In the games I watched their footwork and what they did offensively and defensively."
"Even just one-on-one conversations with them outside of games, (I) just asked them questions and kind of picked their brains of what to do next season. I knew once they were gone, I’d have to step up.”
Back in August, when the Buffaloes embarked on their Costa Rican exhibition, O'Brien had a chance to showcase the steps he's taken from year one to two.
In four exhibition matches, O'Brien shot 50% (16-of-23) from the field, averaging 10.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
While his head coach pointed out that there's still much room for growth, O'Brien has started to look the part of a player that can chip in offensively and defensively for Colorado this upcoming season.
"His aggressiveness offensively — I think he’s as good as any guys we have in making quick decisions for precision drives when he catches the ball and he’s done a really good job of that," Boyle said.
"Like a lot of our guys, he’s got to work on finishing when he gets in there. But Luke continues to get better and better. He’s not perfect, but I love his aggressiveness and when he rebounds, defends and is making simple decisions, he makes our team better.”
With freshman forward Quincy Allen out for the season following hip surgery, there are more minutes to go around on the wings as Boyle and his staff look to hash out what CU's rotation is going to look like.
Whatever that role may end up being, O'Brien is confident that he can make an impact on the court.
“I feel that there’s a bigger role for me," O'Brien said. "That doesn’t mean points per game but just getting on the floor and helping my team contribute — that’s the biggest thing for me. I feel like I definitely have taken that step and I’m just excited.”
