Q+A with Forever Buff Austin DuFault
From 2008-2012, Austin Dufault played in 136 career games for Colorado, starting 130.
The former remains a CU program record, while DuFault is now tied at second with McKinley Wright IV in career starts at CU; DuFault's former teammate Cory Higgins owns that record, having started 131 games from 2007-2011.
After a successful collegiate career with the Buffaloes, DuFault enjoyed a six-year professional career overseas, five of which he played in Europe and the final year being in Japan.
The 6-foot-9 forward and four-year starter at Colorado began a coaching career shortly after wrapping up his playing days, beginning with the L.A. Lakers for a year as a coaching associate.
He recently completed his second season with the Detroit Pistons, serving as an assistant video coordinator.
It is on that note that CUSportsNation's chat with DuFault begins.
Q: What exactly does your assistant video coordinator position with the Pistons entail? What's a day in your life with the team look like?
DuFault: “My role was, as the game is happening live, I would be cutting up the film in real time: chopping up the game, putting in play calls for both teams, so, I’d have to know what we’re running and what the other team is running, as well. So, scouting in advance and understanding what other teams are running and then also tagging results and players."
"Every halftime, we’d show an edit to the team that’s anywhere from six to nine clips, half offense, half defense. I would go in and run the film at halftime that’d we’d run to the team. Our defensive coordinator would present his three or four clips, points of emphasis that we had going in, if we were doing things really well or if there were things we were struggling with, we’d address it. And then we’d do the same thing on the offensive side of the ball."
"Outside of that, various projects would each be assigned to a coach, so any film projects coaches would need, we’d help put those together for them so that they could present them to the team.”
Q: You don't often see Division I hoops prospects coming out of North Dakota. You, of course, are an exception, as is 2022 Colorado commit Joe Hurlburt. Do you know Joe at all and if so, what is your relationship with him like?
DuFault: “I heard about Joe when he was a freshman. He would to go to the elite camp at Colorado in the summer, so a couple of coaches hit me up and said ‘Hey, there’s this kid, he’s from Enderlin, North Dakota, he’s 6-foot-9 and really skilled. We’ve seen him play a little bit. Do you know the family or anything about him?’"
"North Dakota is a pretty small place. I didn’t know Joe personally, but they mentioned his high school coach, Calvin Kraft, and I played in the same AAU program as Calvin growing up. We’re around the same age, so we played on different AAU teams but within the same program. We travelled to AAU tournaments together and spent a lot of time together."
"I didn’t know him really well but I always knew who he was, and, it’s interesting, going back even further, my mom and his mom were classmates in college. My parents have known his parents going back to their college days, so I always knew the Kraft family. When they mentioned that (Hurlburt’s) high school coach was Calvin Kraft — that’s such a small world."
"I heard about (Hurlburt) as a freshman and just followed him as he was recruited. He reached out to me this past summer and at the time, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. I just offered him some advice. As a kid coming from such a small town, it can be a whirlwind when you get recruited by these bigger schools and it’s something that’s hard to navigate."
"He seems like he’s a great kid — really smart, hardworking (and) has a great demeanor about him. We’ve talked back and forth a little bit and I’ve always told him if there’s anything I can do to help or teach you from my experience to benefit you with everything you’re going through, I’ll always be there to lend any advice that I can.”
Q: Have you ever tossed on his film? If so, what sticks out about him and how would you evaluate what the Buffaloes are getting in him?
DuFault: “I’ve watched a little bit of him, some of his high school stuff and then him playing in AAU. What I can say is that he’s got a much bigger frame than I did coming out of high school. He’s going to be a big kid. It’ll be great to see once he gets in the weight room at Colorado, the type of athlete he can turn into."
"He moves really well, can really run the floor, can space out and shoot the three, but, he seems like he’s a really good teammate. He plays really hard and all the guys that he plays with seem to like him. That’s really important."
"It’s something that you look for and something that I’ve learned, being in the NBA — the way they evaluate guys is (by asking) ‘Are these guys talented?’ Yeah, but do guys enjoy playing with him? How do his teammates interact with him?' From everything I’ve seen, he looks like a great teammate and great kid. He’s another typical kid that coach Boyle would want to recruit. He always seems to find great kids who love to play.”
Q: Switching gears, you were entering your junior season when Tad Boyle replaced Jeff Bzdelik as head coach at CU. When Boyle came in, Colorado was coming off a 15-16 year in 2009-10. What were your initial impressions of Boyle, as he got situated in Boulder?
DuFault: "We didn’t really know what to expect. We didn't know much about him. We’d scrimmaged Northern Colorado (where Boyle was head coach from 2006-2010) the two years prior and they had really handed it to us every time we scrimmaged them, but we didn’t know what to expect."
"He came in from day one and just had a great demeanor. He spoke about all the right things and one of the things he wanted to do was keep our group together. We had already been together for a couple years and built something. Guys like Cory Higgins and Levi Knutson had been in the program for a few years and that was one of the things that was most important to him — keeping the group together and not losing anybody to transfers."
"We all kind of decided after we met with him as a team, we got together and said, ‘Let’s keep it rolling and give him a chance.’ It couldn’t have been a better hire for Colorado. He’s one of the best coaches, if not the best, in school history, with what he’s been able to accomplish. Even continuing into this upcoming season, bringing in a top 10 (2021) recruiting class — that’s something that was unheard of when I was being recruited by Colorado."
"It’s amazing what he’s done with the program and he does a great job of maintaining a relationship with all his former players. Whether you’re working in the NBA or as a financial advisor — all of our guys still have great relationships with him and he’s really big on keeping the guys around the program to help them in any way he can.”
Q: In Boyle's first year in Boulder, your junior year at CU, a program record for wins was set with 24. Did you guys as players hit it off with Boyle right away or did it take some time to establish some player-coach rapport?
DuFault: “It took a little bit of time. We had a couple of slip-ups early in the year. We lost at the University of San Francisco and then we lost at Harvard, which were both two really good teams that year, but obviously not power conference teams. They were (in) tough conferences (to play against) on the road."
"One thing I thought (Boyle) did a good job of was holding us accountable after that and really challenging us as a group to play better and play to our potential. Those two losses were turning points in the season where we all bought into what he was trying to do. We just built from there. It could have gone the other direction, where guys could have been upset about not getting their numbers — things change when there's a new coach — but we all collectively were able to buy in."
"Coach Boyle had a great message and as a season, we just got better and better. I still think that that was one of the most talented teams that I’ve ever played on and has ever come through Colorado. Looking back, the talent that was on that team was pretty incredible.”
Q: Colorado fans will undoubtedly recall your senior campaign of 2011-2012, in which you captured a Pac-12 Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. What are your primary recollections of that year?
DuFault: “In general, looking back on it, I couldn't have imagined a better end to a college basketball career. We came in as freshmen and won nine games our first year. We were in every game our freshman and sophomore years, but just struggled to win."
"We really built it over the course of four years and got to where we were in a position to win a championship and were able to. It was a really great way to cap a career at Colorado. Then we went to the (NCAA) Tournament, got another win and so, it’s something to look back on and really be proud of from where we started and how we were able to finish out on a high note, leaving the program in a better place than when we got there.”
Q: Final question for you: Many of Boyle's former players speak highly of him in terms of what he taught them off the court or about life in general. Was your experience playing under him for two years like that? Is there anything Boyle taught you that has stuck with you over the years?
DuFault: “He’s a guy to this day that if I pick up the phone and call him and have a question about the coaching industry or anything, just life in general, he’s going to give you great advice and put things into a perspective that you might not have thought about prior to talking about it with him. At the end of the day, he’s a great guy. He cares about family, he treats his players like they’re family, and he really cares about the people more than just the player, which is something I’m trying to do now working in the NBA."
"It’s important, because not every coach and program treats their guys that way. I think it’s why he’s had so much success at Colorado and why he’s been so sustainable. He goes after the right kinds of kids that fit what he envisions and he’s able to build those principles and values within all the guys that he coaches."
"Seeing how he is as a human being, as a father and how he carries himself as a man, it’s something that I’ve learned a lot from both as a player and now as a coach working in the coaching world.”