Colorado
Colorado men’s basketball transfer portal tracker ahead of 2024-25 season
Colorado basketball and coach Tad Boyle have had to re-tool the Buffs roster after one of the most successful seasons in program history.
Each of Colorado’s top six rotation players from the 2023-24 campaign have transferred or entered the NBA draft. Boyle’s Buffs won a program-record 26 games last season (and back-to-back NCAA Tournament wins for the first time since 1955) and a pair of transfers were crucial to that.
As Colorado transitions into the Big 12, the portal will have to be utilized once again with so much production on its way out of Boulder.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the players leaving the Colorado men’s basketball program and those who will join via transfer.
This list will be updated through the offseason as players leave and join the Buffaloes.
Colorado players entering transfer portal or NBA draft
EDDIE LAMPKIN JR.
Position: Center
Notable: The 6-foot-11, 265-pound big man was an emotional leader for Colorado in his first season with the Buffaloes. Lampkin Jr. played in all 37 games, averaging 10.6 points and seven rebounds per game. The former TCU center is headed to Syracuse to play for the Orange.
J’VONNE HADLEY
Position: Forward
Notable: The 6-foot-6, 205-pound senior improved mightily in his second season at Colorado, setting career highs in points (11.6), rebounds (six), assists (2.4), field goal percentage (53.8%) and 3-point percentage (41.7%). Hadley, a former junior college standout, will also spend the 2024-25 campaign in the ACC after committing to Louisville.
LUKE O’BRIEN
Position: Forward
Notable: The 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior spent the last four years at Colorado and set career highs in both points (6.7) and field goal percentage (45.6%) last season. O’Brien, a Littleton native, will finish his college basketball career at Georgia Tech.
TRISTAN DA SILVA
Position: Forward
Notable: The 6-foot-9, 220-pound senior spent the entirety of his college career at Colorado and was a three-year starter. da Silva, who averaged 16 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season, is headed to the NBA draft as a projected first-round pick.
KJ SIMPSON
Position: Guard
Notable: The 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior was a first-team All-Pac selection last season as he led Colorado in points (19.7 per game), assists (4.9), steals (1.6) and 3-point percentage (43.4%). Simpson declared for the 2024 NBA draft earlier this month and is projected to be a fringe first-round pick.
CODY WILLIAMS
Position: Forward
Notable: The 6-foot-8, 190-pound freshman flashed enough of his high upside as a true freshman to be a potential lottery pick. Williams missed 13 games last season with various injuries (wrist, face, ankle) but still managed to average 11.9 points on 55.2% shooting from the field on 41.5% shooting from deep. The former McDonald’s All-American should hear his name called early on during the 2024 NBA draft.
Players transferring to Colorado
TREVOR BASKIN
Position: Forward
Notable: The 6-foot-9, 200-pound forward was Colorado’s first addition from the transfer portal this offseason. Baskin averaged 18.5 points (39% from deep), 8.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game last season for Division II Colorado Mesa. After choosing the Buffs over Colorado State, Baskin projects to be a starter for Boyle in 2024.
“The first thing you look at when you see (Trevor) play is his diverse skill set,” Boyle said Monday in a news release. “For a guy that’s 6-foot-9 with a long wingspan, he can really shoot the ball, put it on the floor and he can pass and rebound. He can do a little bit of everything.
“When you lose a Tristan da Silva, who’s 6-foot-9, with a great diverse skill set, and you’re able to pick up a guy like Trevor, it makes you feel better about Tristan’s loss. Trevor’s going to be able to impact the game in a lot of different ways, and the thing I like about him is he can play multiple positions offensively and guard multiple positions defensively. Anyone who has followed Colorado basketball knows it’s something that we value.”
ANDREJ JAKIMOVSKI
Position: Forward
Notable: The 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior from Macedonia started all 35 games he played in last season for Washington State (33.7 minutes per game) and averaged 9.7 points to go along with 5.6 rebounds. Jakimovski dropped a team-high 19 points on the Buffs in Boulder on Dec. 31, has 80 career starts under his belt and should slot right into Colorado’s starting lineup for 2024-25 alongside Baskin.
More: Colorado basketball picks up Washington State transfer Andrej Jakimovski from portal
“I think our five-out system is really going to help Andrej expand his game offensively and show some other things he’s capable of doing, that he didn’t have a chance to at Washington State based on their personnel (primarily playing with two bigs),” Boyle said Monday in a news release. “They had a heck of a team, finished second in the league, one spot ahead of the Buffaloes. I’ve got great respect for Andrej, and what he’s done in his career at Washington State and I think he can build on that as he comes to Colorado for a year.
“We lost the majority of our 3-point shooting this year, and so to be able to sign a guy that is a proven 3-point shooter at the highest level of college basketball is something we needed to replace. The thing I love about Andrej is his toughness and his ability to rebound both offensively and defensively.”
ELIJAH MALONE
Position: Center
Notable: The 6-foot-10 big man was the NAIA Player of the Year last season as he averaged 17.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks last season at Grace College. Malone was one of the hottest names in the transfer portal, choosing Colorado over Boise State, Indiana, Notre Dame and others. The 2024 Bevo Francis Award winner, given to the best player among all of small college basketball (NCAA Div. II, Div. III, NAIA, junior colleges), gives the Buffs a formidable paint presence.
“Elijah could have left Grace College after his sophomore or junior years and very easily gone to the Division I level,” Boyle said Monday in a news release. “But the fact that he showed loyalty to his teammates and coaching staff that he signed with coming out of high school, that tells you everything you need to know about his character and kind of person he is. His value system and our value system are aligned very well.
“He wants to be able to prove himself at the highest level of college basketball and playing in the Big 12 is going to allow him the opportunity to do that. The way we play our style and the way he played at Grace College are very similar. So I feel really good about him in terms of what we lost and what we need for next year’s team. He fits the bill perfectly.”
Follow Colorado Buffaloes sports reporter Scott Procter on X.
Colorado
Game Preview: Oklahoma State Back at Home for Matchup With Colorado
Oklahoma State is back at home with a chance to turn things around.
The Cowboys have won only one conference game this season, but it came in Gallagher-Iba Arena, which should give them some optimism in their next matchup. Coming off of a two-game trip to Utah, the Cowboys are desperate to get a win, and it could happen against one of their worst opponents in conference play.
Game Information: Oklahoma State (9-7, 1-4 Big 12) vs. Colorado (9-7, 0-5)
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 18 at 3 p.m. CT
Where: Gallagher-Iba Arena – Stillwater, OK
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Spread: Oklahoma State -3.5
Total Points: Over/Under 145.5 points
Moneyline: Oklahoma State -170, Colorado +142
Over the past week, OSU has been in Utah with matchups against Utah and BYU. The Cowboys got throttled in each matchup but showed a bit of fight in their loss at BYU.
If the Cowboys can right the ship this season, it will have to begin with their matchup against Colorado. The Buffaloes are yet to win a conference game this season, and it is critical for the Cowboys to keep them winless in the Big 12.
Although the Buffaloes have struggled to find success in Big 12 play, they have been close to getting that elusive victory. They lost by only one point at UCF, which was the start of a three-game stretch of single-digit losses it holds coming into Stillwater.
Winning the turnover battle will be key for the Cowboys to come out on top. Colorado has had at least 14 turnovers in all five conference games and has only managed to force more than 11 turnovers in one of those matchups.
For an OSU offense that ranks 15th in points per game in conference play, getting easy scores off of turnovers will be instrumental to getting a win. Colorado has turned it over more than any other Big 12 team, which should fall right into Steve Lutz’s preferred style of forcing turnovers and playing fast.
Stopping Julian Hammond III will also be an important part of OSU’s attack. Hammond has been one of the only consistent scoring options for Colorado, averaging 15 points per game in Big 12 play. Keeping him off the foul line and forcing him into difficult decisions could erode the Buffaloes’ attack early and give OSU a runway to a convincing win.
Want to join the discussion? Like Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Cowboys news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
Colorado
Snow Blankets Northern Colorado Amid Hazardous Weather Outlook
Snow quickly blanketed parts of Colorado on Friday, January 17, as locals braced for several days of cold weather.
Ricky Bobby captured ongoing snowfall in Loveland on Friday evening.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported increasingly intense snowfall on Saturday, warning of difficult travel conditions at times.
Dangerous cold was expected to follow until Tuesday morning, the NWS said, with temperatures anticipated to reach lows of -15°F in places. Credit: Ricky Bobby via Storyful
Colorado
Toronto FC makes a deal with Colorado Rapids to add to Robin Fraser's coaching staff
TORONTO — New head coach Robin Fraser added to his coaching staff Friday with Toronto FC making a deal to pry loose two of his former assistants from the Colorado Rapids.
To get assistant coach Neil Emblen and video coach Jase Kim on board, Toronto sent its first-round pick in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft to the Rapids. As part of the deal, TFC may receive US$175,000 in general allocation money and retain a sell-on percentage if the pick turns out to be one of the top three in the drafts.
“I’m really happy that we were able to get them,” said Fraser. “I know it comes at a price but I think it’s worthwhile … I do feel like this project needed a fresh kind of feeling. And certainly these are people that I’ve been through a lot with and have a great deal of trust in.”
The two new additions join incumbent goalkeeping coach Simon Eaddy, director of performance Cesar Meylan and performance analyst Peter Galindo.
TFC left Friday for Spain to continue its pre-season preparations.
Emblen has spent the last seven years with Colorado, where he served as both an assistant coach and “the main coaching link to the recruiting department.”
A former defender and midfielder whose playing career stretched from 1987 to 2011, Emblem had stints with Tonbridge Angels, Sittingbourne, Millwall, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Norwich City and Walsall in his native England before moving to the Southern Hemisphere to play for the New Zealand Knights and Waitakere United.
“They still chant his name at Wolves,” said Fraser.
“I love his character. I love his enthusiasm for the game,” he added. “He’s a very good coach.”
Emblen coached Waitakere to three straight New Zealand league titles between 2010 and 2012. He managed New Zealand at the 2012 London Olympics before serving two matches as New Zealand’s interim head coach in 2014.
Kim joined Colorado in January 2018 as a first-team video analyst after serving first as a performance analyst and then head performance analyst for the New Zealand national team. Kim was also part of the New Zealand technical staff at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2025
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
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