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The Buffs’ season has come to an end.

The Colorado Buffaloes’ postseason run has ended before it got started, as the Buffs fell 64-55 to the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second round of the WBIT.

After back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances, the Buffs narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament. It was a transition year for JR Payne’s squad, as CU lost a number of key contributors that needed to be replaced on a shoestring transfer budget. They managed well, winning 21 games this season, but they lacked the quality wins of the previous two or three seasons.

Colorado was chosen as a #1 seed in the WBIT, allowing them to host games in Boulder until the quarterfinals. This was a huge advantage that helped them demolish Southeastern Louisiana in the opening round. Gonzaga, however, is a much better team, and their defense is a whole lot better than the Lions’.

Colorado struggled badly to put the ball in the basket. They started strong, taking a 10-2 after a couple minutes, but the Buffs scored just 15 points the rest of the first half. A lot of that was CU missing makeable layups and going cold from outside, but credit to the Bulldogs because their length and athleticism clearly made the Buffs uncomfortable.

Despite the shooting slump, Colorado kept fighting and continued to play as a team. Jade Masogayo and Lior Garzon found some success attacking the basket, while guards Kindyll Wetta and Grace Oliver hit a couple shots. The Buffs were right there tied at 36 with 16 minutes left to play, but the Zags made back-to-back triples to put some distance between them at their Big 12 foes.

Colorado never recovered. Be it the cold shooting or the turnovers, the Buffs just didn’t have enough offensive firepower to compete. It’s hard to win when you shoot below 40% from the field, sub-30% from three and you lose the possession battle.

This is a sad end for the Colorado seniors. Lior Garzon, Sara-Rose Smith, Johana Teder and Kindyll Wetta all played their final games in CU uniform. Frida Formann played her last game two weeks ago, when she subbed in at the very end of senior day. Smith, Wetta and Formann were key pieces of those Sweet Sixteen runs and played a huge role in building the culture at Colorado basketball.

by Sam Metivier
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Every team is undefeated in the spring, and every coach talks with optimism ... But reading the tea leaves from the first two weeks of spring ball can give Buff fans reason for high hopes for the 2025 season ...

Stuart
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Colorado’s head coach had kind words for CSU’s current star ahead of the Rams’ tournament run

Once a Buff, you’re always a Buff.

Colorado head basketball coach Tad Boyle made that very clear, offering praise to former Buffaloes guard and current Colorado State standout Nique Clifford ahead of the Rams’ NCAA Tournament.

“I’m really proud of Nique,” Boyle said during his Tuesday presser. “He’s having the career and the year that we thought he could have when we recruited him out of Colorado Springs, he just finished it at Colorado State.”

Clifford began his college career with the Buffs in 2020 after Boyle recruited him out of The Vanguard School in Colorado Springs. After seeing limited playtime as a freshman, Clifford saw more and more minutes and responsibility the following two seasons, as he averaged over 20 minutes and roughly 6 points per game in 68 total games.

Everyone in Boulder saw the potential in Nique, but something was missing in Boulder and it became apparent that he needed a change of scenery. Clifford made the choice to move 60 miles north to Fort Collins to play for Nico Medved’s CSU Rams. It was a move that would give him more playtime, a larger role and offer a fresh start for a quiet kid.

Clifford broke out of his mold in 2023-24, averaging 12.2 points per game while playing second fiddle to Lamar Stevens on a tournament bound CSU. His combination of tools and production was enough to get drafted last year, but he stayed another year to be the guy for Medved. That’s proven a wise decision, as Clifford has become a full fledged superstar in his fifth year of college basketball.

Clifford has truly come into his own. He’s averaging 19 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. The forever Buff was named first-team All-MWC after carrying CSU to 11 wins in their last 12 games, including a conference championship and tournament MVP for the Colorado kid.

Clifford will play in the NBA next year, but it took him a long time to get to this point. Boyle said that he has Nique’s stats from 2022-23 in Boulder written on his whiteboard in his office and that he made sure all his returning players saw it. College basketball isn’t easy and it can take a while to find your groove, just as Clifford did, but it’s a lesson that he found important to relay to his players.

“[Nique’s journey] reaffirms to me that it’s a process,” Boyle said. “It took Nique Clifford five years to have this year and it doesn’t happen after one year or two years, sometimes even after three years.”

Boyle added that the decision to bring in five-star recruit Cody Williams in 2023 played a large factor in Clifford’s choice to move to Fort Collins, but that there’s no bad blood between the two sides. He added that his players will be hearing the “Nique Clifford story” from now on, along with the several other Colorado greats who have succeeded and made it to the NBA.

“Our players have heard the Derrick White story,” Boyle said. “They've heard the Jabari Walker story, the Spencer Dinwiddie story and all the other stories that we have to tell in our recruiting process. Now, what our players need to understand and hear is that you can still get to where you want to get. It’s just going to take some time and you have to respect the process.”

Although Clifford is a textbook transfer portal success story, Boyle made sure to emphasize that transferring isn’t always the best choice for player development. For as many stories as there are about success in the portal, there are just as many about players who would’ve been better staying put.

“In today’s world, those kids see that exit sign and it’s blinking pretty darn loud for them,” Boyle said. “They’re hitting [the portal] a lot quicker and faster than they used to. I’m trying to slow it down a little bit. You’ve gotta put in the time and the effort. The grass may sometimes look greener. Sometimes it may be, but many times it’s not.”

There’s a lot to learn from Nique Clifford and his five years in college basketball, namely patience and trusting the process. But Boyle wants to make sure his players are taking the right message away from it, not that transferring will turn you into a better player.

“Nique Clifford is a great story,” Boyle said. “How many guys have transferred and it hasn’t worked out?”

by RylandScholes
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Colorado will play Gonzaga in Boulder next Sunday

Sure, the WBIT might be a consolation prize for the Colorado Buffaloes, but it didn’t look like it at the CU Event Center on Thursday evening.

The Buffs were motivated and ready to roll in their first-round matchup with the Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions, handling business with a 73-41 win.

You’d be hard-pressed to ask the Buffaloes for a better start than they had against SLU, as they came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. Colorado properly utilized their size advantage over the Lady Lions to have their way in the low post, along with shooting well from beyond the arc.

After back-to-back three-pointers from Kindyll Wetta and Lior Garzon, the Buffs roared out to a quick eight-point advantage, which they’d maintain for the remainder of the quarter, leading 17-9 heading into the second.

The second quarter proved to be more of the same. CU started the period by going on a quick 13-2 run to give themselves a nice, cushy lead. Colorado continued picking on SLU’s tiny guards (both starters are 5-foot-5 or shorter) as Grace Oliver decided to get in on the three-point action, cashing in for one of her own and five points in the quarter.

Despite seven straight turnovers and some questionable calls in the minutes before halftime, Colorado’s steady shooting proved to be too much for the Lady Lions to handle, as they took a 33-20 lead into the break with no intention of slowing their roll.

Colorado’s third quarter could’ve been better, coughing the ball up six times. Thankfully, when you cannot miss from the floor, turnovers are easy to overcome. Led by Garzon and Nyamer Diew, Colorado went 7-10 from the floor, putting the nail in Southeastern Louisiana’s coffin early. After building a hefty 30-point lead in the early fourth quarter, the Buffaloes coasted to the finish line.

Colorado’s win was powered by four double-digit scoring performances from Garzon (18 pts), Masagayo (15 pts), Oliver (12 pts) and Wetta (12 pts). The Buffs finished the contest shooting 25-44 (56.8 %) from the floor, despite their 19 total turnovers.

Next up for Colorado will be the four-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs in Boulder next Sunday at 1:00 pm in the second round of the WBIT. Make sure to pack the stands so our Buffs have the best chance of moving on to the quarterfinals. Tickets are on sale now.

by RylandScholes
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Who’s next, David Garrard? Other Jacksonville Players?

Look, apparently I’ve been out of the NFL game too long. I remember Byron Leftwich the Jacksonville quarterback. I remember him sandwiched between Mark Brunell and David Garrard. I remember him throwing to Jimmy Smith and handing off to Fred Taylor. Why do I know so much about the Jags?

Well, I guess that guy also won a Super Bowl with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As an offensive coordinator. That’s awesome. Since then, he’s bounced around the NFL as a coach. Like many wayward NFL stars, he has now found a home in Boulder working for Coach Prime.

Byron Leftwich’s role on the staff hasn’t really been made clear. It appears that there’s a clear opening for him at QB coach. Obviously, having Leftwich as a QB coach, with Pat Shurmur at offensive coordinator, is a pretty overqualified offensive staff. These are resources that are only available to a team coached by Deion Sanders. This is a competitive advantage over every other program in the Big 12. Kaidon Salter and JuJu Lewis are in a great position for the 2025 football season.

by Jack Barsch
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