Since Colorado joined the Pac-12 Conference, the Utah Utes have been a particularly troublesome opponent for Tad Boyle's teams.

Under Boyle, the Buffaloes are 9-12 against the Utes, but five of those nine wins came from 2011-2014.

More recently, Colorado has struggled against the Utes, with an eight-game losing streak over the span of four seasons from 2013-2017 serving as a particularly frustrating time.

The Buffs have struggled to do much of anything positive in Salt Lake City, as under Boyle, they own a 2-8 record there, with last year's McKinley Wright IV-led team earning Colorado's first victory at the John M. Huntsman Center since 2012.

Looking in the immediate rearview mirror, the Utes have dealt Colorado some crushing losses.

This past January, Utah rallied from a 19-point deficit with less than nine minutes remaining in the second half, coming back to beat CU in Boulder, 77-74.

Near the end of the 2019-2020 season, Wright IV was called for a controversial foul on Utah's Both Gach, who was launching a desperation three-pointer as overtime expired in Salt Lake City.

He sank all three free throws and the Utes won the game, handing the Buffaloes their fourth straight conference loss at that point in time.

Overseeing the Utes during the aforementioned time period had been Larry Krystkowiak, who, as head coach in Salt Lake City from 2011-2021, posted a career record of 183-139 before being fired this past March.

Despite more than a handful of frustrating losses against him, Boyle invited Krystkowiak to attend a few of CU's preseason practices.

“He’s a guy that obviously I’ve competed against for 10 years and I’ve got great respect for him and what he did at Utah," Boyle said. "We had battles against each other. He’s also a friend, a guy I consider a friend...it’s great to have coach Krystkowiak in the building and in a friendly sense this time.”

A second-round NBA Draft pick by the Chicago Bulls out of Montana, Krystkowiak played professionally from 1986-1998, including a year overseas in France, before beginning his coaching career back at Montana.

Krystkowiak was an assistant for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2006-2007 and was elevated to head coach late that season, serving in that capacity for the entirety of the 2007-2008 campaign.

Before taking the Utah job, Krystkowiak was working as an assistant with the New Jersey Nets.

"He knows the league, he knows our team and he knows our program," Boyle said. "It’s a different set of eyes, a fresh set of eyes and I do it so so players have somebody that they can talk to who coached in the NBA and played in the NBA. He coached, obviously, in the Pac-12, so, he’s a resource for our players and our coaching staff."

A number of Colorado's players got to chat one-on-one with Krystkowiak, including sophomore forward Jabari Walker, who was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team last season.

One of Krystkowiak's former standout players was Kyle Kuzma, who played at Utah from 2014-2017, earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior before being selected in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Primary within Krystkowiak's message to Colorado's players was taking care of one's mental health, a battle that Kuzma fought while in college.

“He actually recruited me a little bit, so we kind of go back to there," Walker said. "We talked a little bit about areas of strengths and weaknesses and how I can improve upon stuff. We really just talked about the mental aspect. One of the things he mentioned was Kuzma, and he let social media get to him."

"I was dealing with some of the same things and he talked to me about how Kuzma found that balance not to let it affect him on the court."

Previous coaches Boyle has invited to Boulder have included John Robic, a Kentucky assistant from 2009-2016 that served as a graduate assistant at Kansas from 1986-1987 when Boyle was an upperclassman player for the Jayhawks, as well as Steve Donahue, head coach at Pennsylvania, who formerly coached Boston College.

Boyle grabbed dinner with Krystkowiak a few times earlier this week and entrusted him to take some notes based on observations he made as the Buffaloes were practicing.

"I’ve been doing this for the last four or five years — I bring two guys in a year that are out of coaching and might be taking a little bit of a break...and just get their perspective," Boyle said.

"If I can glean two or three things from (Krystkowiak) that’ll help this program, it’s a really productive couple days."