When Maddox Daniels signed his NLI to play basketball at Colorado, after two years at the JUCO level with Florida SouthWestern State, head coach Tad Boyle at the time said that he "fits what we need (and) checks a lot of our boxes."

Two big boxes in that regard are three-point shooting and defense, areas which two years after developing at the JUCO level, Maddox feels are more than ready to be tested by Pac-12 competition.

Last year, Colorado's 32.3 three-pointer make rate was third-worst in the Pac-12, better than only Oregon State and Stanford. Bringing in Maddox was a clear move to make sure there isn't a repeat situation of that in 2019-20.

It's on that note that Maddox hopes to make an immediate splash with the Buffs.

“It’s going to start with being able to shoot on the perimeter and playing with confidence," he said. "That’s the biggest thing (Boyle and I) have talked about — being a perimeter player who spaces the floor. When I get a look, just knocking it down and being confident about it. That’s something I like to do."

Last season with Florida SouthWestern State, Daniels shot just over 43 percent from long range and Boyle is confident he can keep up the good work with the Buffs this season.

"I think he gives us an extra shooter out here who can stretch the defense," Boyle said. "One of the strengths of this team is our bigs inside, and for bigs to have room to operate down there, they gotta be surrounded by shooters and Maddox is a good shooter."

Maddox echoed exactly that after practice Friday, a good sign that he and Boyle share similar expectations and visions for his role with the Buffaloes.

“I like to shoot from the perimeter which opens up the rest of my game but I like to space the floor," he said. "I feel like that’s definitely my strength — catching and shooting, moving without the basketball and once that happens, I can decide to get inside. Defensively, using my length guarding the ones through the fours, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Notes and observations

Maddox reflected that coming out of high school, he had zero offers. But via two seasons with the Buccaneers, he developed himself to the point where Boyle and associate head coach Mike Rohn made him a major recruiting priority last spring.

"I just worked on all aspects of my game, definitely my physicality — getting stronger and getting to where I’m able to hold my own defensively at this level," Daniels said. "My sophomore year I felt really comfortable on the court. It was really great to see hard work pay off. Coming out of high school, I had no offers. I went to prep school — nothing. I just kept working, trusted the process and that’s what I’m going to continue to do (at Colorado)."

The Buffs begin their season on Saturday, Oct. 26 at the CU Events Center, taking on Pomona-Pitzer.