Posts tagged Kansas State
Boyle lands TOP high school prospects
Nov 13th
by B.G. Brooks CUBuffs.com contributing editor
BOULDER – Not long after Tad Boyle was named Colorado men’s basketball coach in April 2010, he began a courtship of a slight but highly skilled Denver point guard named Dominique Collier.
Boyle had to get in line.
On the national recruiting scene, the most elite high school hoops circles began and ended with Collier. Scholarship offers arrived at the Collier home from Arizona, UCLA, Gonzaga, Oregon, Kansas State, Iowa and other schools highlighted on basketball’s national map.
But as the recruiting process went on, the clearer Collier’s decision became to him, the Buffs and several of the schools in pursuit. “The longer it went,” said Boyle, “it became pretty clear that he was ours to lose.”
The Buffs didn’t. And after narrowing the field in early May, Collier verbally committed to Boyle and the Buffs.
On Wednesday, he completed the promise, signing CU’s binding national letter of intent on the first day that high school prospects are allowed to do so. Also signing and returning CU’s national letter of intent was power forward Tory Miller, of New Hampton (N.H.) Prep.
Collier told BuffStampede.com that he “just like the way that (Boyle) has changed the program around. I like the way he coaches, the team and the relationships I have with the staff. It’s great to be born and raised in Colorado, go to high school in Colorado and then college in Colorado. I’m a Colorado kid. To go there and have all the support you could have, to follow in Chauncey Billup’s footsteps (means a lot).”
For Boyle, landing Collier represents another in-state recruiting milestone. Boyle and his staff managed to keep the in-state Class of 2012’s highest profile members – Josh Scott of Lewis-Palmer and Wesley Gordon of Sierra – at home.
“And outside of Josh and Wes,” said Boyle, “Dominique was the marquee recruit we had to keep home. We did – and we’re thankful and happy for it. He won’t be the last, but it’s critical for the program that we continue to have the success that we’ve had with those three.
“I said three-and-a-half years ago that if players of (Collier’s) caliber can help us win the Pac-12, then it’s imperative for us to get them. That’s what kind of player he is. I appreciate that he wanted to stay home. I’m very excited about it.”
Collier, said CU assistant Rodney Billups, was targeted early by CU, a move that obviously paid off: “Coach Boyle always said, ‘He’s our guy,’ and he got our best shot.”
Collier already lists several current CU players as friends, among them Scott and Gordon. They played together two seasons ago in an all-star game when Scott and Gordon were finishing at their respective high schools. The 6-10 Scott played last season as a true freshman, while the 6-9 Gordon redshirted. The high school rivals finally are sharing court time on this year’s Buffs team, which plays Wyoming Wednesday (7 p.m.) at the Coors Events Center.
Boyle said the Collier family “became part of our family” during the recruitment process and called working with veteran Denver East coach Rudy Carey a “tremendous experience.”
Collier has often stated a desire to emulate CU legend Chauncey Billups, who went on to make a lasting mark in the NBA. Rodney, Billups’ younger brother, was key in Collier’s recruitment – “Maybe more so than I was,” Boyle said. “Rodney obviously has ties in the Denver basketball community. He really was our lead recruiter (on Collier). Dominique’s family (parents Lori and Darryl) love Rodney; he made a good connection with them.”
“I’ve had a relationship with ‘Dom’ for a long time now,” Rodney Billups said. “He started out with Billups Elite when he was a freshman, really going into his eighth grade year. I had a chance before I was even at Colorado to build a relationship with him and his family. Just talking to him and recruiting him was kind of easy for me.”
Collier, an only child, is “a great kid, shy at times, but his personality really comes out on the court,” Rodney Billups said. “There’s a good balance there for him to have a really good character. Staying home was important to him and his family, especially Lori – that’s her baby. She wants him close.”
Boyle said landing Collier and Miller fills two needs for the Buffs – a savvy ball-handler in Collier who is a “terrific talent and great defender” and a big-bodied “enforcer type” in Miller.
A capsule look at CU’s two 2014 signees:
DOMINIQUE COLLIER
Position: Point guard
Height: 6-1
Weight: 166
High school: Denver East
Vital stats/storylines: Averaged 20.1 points, 3.6 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game as a junior; East went 25-3, lost to Eaglecrest in the 5A state championship game at the Coors Events Center . . . . Four-star prospect, currently ranked No. 94 nationally . . . Collier was named Colorado Mr. Basketball and Gatorade Player of the Year after junior season . . . . Top western schools – including Pac-12 members Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA – took an intense in Collier during his sophomore and early in his junior seasons. But as the recruiting process lengthened it became apparent that he had targeted CU . . . Iowa and Kansas State also joined the pursuit . . . . Collier verbally committed to the Buffs on May 7.
CU scouting report: A pass-first, very unselfish type of point guard who already has international basketball experience (USA Basketball, three-on-three competition in Indonesia with FIBA’s USA team) gained through summer travels . . . . Can get wherever he wants to on the court with his tremendous first step and ball-handling skills . . . . A very good on-ball defender with great anticipation.
Boyle’s take: “He’s got a good basketball body, but he’s a little slight right now and knows he going to spend some time in the weight room. I love that he can get wherever he wants to go on the court. Plus, he’s got lots of experience – more than the typical incoming freshman. I expect him to have an impact right away. In fact, I’m counting on it.”
TORY MILLER
Position: Power forward
Height: 6-8
Weight: 255
High school: New Hampton (N.H.) Prep
Vital stats/storylines: Averaged 12.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and shot 58.7 percent from the field last year in his junior season at New Hampton . . . . A three-star prospect whose rating could rise after his senior season . . . . Miller is from the Kansas City area and played on the same AAU team (Kansas City Run GMC) as fellow CU signee Collier . . . . Took official visits to Arizona State, Marquette and Iowa, but committed to CU over Marquette on Oct. 19 . . . . Eric Bossi, Rivals.com’s national basketball recruiting analyst, said Miller “can be a rugged rebounder and explosive finisher around the rim capable of playing through contact. (He) can also step out and make 12-to-15 foot jumpers with pretty good regularity . . . and he’s physically ready to play in the Pac-12.”
CU scouting report: Big, wide-bodied player who is physically ready to compete at the next level . . . . Roster is well-stocked with runners, jumpers and finesse-type players – and Miller also can play with finesse, but he’s best as an enforcer type . . . . Good hands, long arms make him a capable shot blocker; plays bigger than 6-8 . . . . What makes him special is his big body, his ability to use to his advantage on defense and his ability to lower his center of gravity, making him difficult to move.
Boyle’s take: “Tory gives us a wide presence that we haven’t had since I’ve been here. He’s a skilled player and very competitive. With his body type and strength, he can finish down low with contact. He doesn’t look like he would be a good jumper, but he is. Plus, he’s 19 years old now and will bring an age and maturity level to us that’s a little further along than you’d find in a typical freshman. He’s got all the physical tools necessary to be a very good Pac-12 player and he understands what it means to be successful.”
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Roberson, CU Men Stay With It, Edge Ducks
Feb 8th
EUGENE, Ore. – Colorado basketball coach Tad Boyle had wanted his Buffaloes to play a 40-minute game, and it took them nearly that long to take their first lead on Thursday night against No. 19 Oregon.
But when CU finally got its advantage, it held. Andre Roberson’s lay-in with 29.5 seconds to play, coupled with intense defense on the Ducks over the final 41/2 minutes earned the Buffs a dramatic 48-47 win at Matt Knight Arena.
Thursday night marked CU’s first win in Eugene in 58 years, and it was accomplished in the manner Boyle expected. “Playing Oregon is like a street fight; they’re tough,” he said. “And we tried to prepare our guys for that . . . we gutted it out, we didn’t play our best. We won with our defense and our rebounding at the end.”
CU’s offense was hard to find; the Buffs’ winning total was their fewest in the modern shot clock era. The last time CU won while scoring fewer than 50 points was on Feb. 2, 1967 in a 49-42 victory over Oklahoma State.
On Thursday night, the Buffs shot only 36.5 percent from the field, but they held the Ducks to 36.2 percent. CU’s defense was particularly unforgiving in the final 4:26, holding the Ducks scoreless after they had taken a 47-40 lead.
“You shoot 36 percent on the road . . . you find a way,” Boyle said. “Hopefully our guys can learn from that and take some confidence from it. We’re going to start playing better offensively and making some shots and become more efficient. We’re in a little bit of a funk offensively right now, but we’ll break out of it.”
CU had only one player in double figures – Roberson, who collected his 35th career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. It his Pac-12 Conference leading 10th double-double this season.
Roberson scored four of his points and grabbed three of his rebounds in the final 2:15. “There was a look in his eye, a determination, an energy that I hadn’t seen before,” Boyle said. “It was reminiscent of what I saw out of Carlon (Brown) and Nate (Tomlinson) and Austin (Dufault) towards the end of last year. Those seniors said we’re going to get this done and find a way. Andre was the same way.”
Said Roberson: “I didn’t want us to lose, and it starts with me . . . I just took it on myself to go out and play defense and continue to fight. We were still right there; we just weren’t getting over that hump to get the lead. I tip my hat to each and every one of our guys.”
The first tip of his hat might go to Spencer Dinwiddie, whose late defense was as critical as Roberson’s, according to Boyle. Dinwiddie pressured E.J. Singler on Oregon’s final full possession into a difficult shot, appearing to get a piece of the ball.
Said Boyle: “Spencer was terrific . . . those two guys (Dinwiddie, Roberson) were the difference in the game for us defensively. He played great defense (on Singler). Whether he got a touch, I don’t know. We had two fouls to give. We talked about maybe giving one on the drive or on the dribble. We didn’t want to foul a shooter, obviously, (Oregon) being down one. We showed very good judgment there.”
Dinwiddie, who finished with eight points and four assists, gave more credit to Roberson’s ‘D’ than his own. He also said ‘Dre’ “pulled down every single big board we needed. One time he even let out a primal scream after he got one of those boards. He’s big for us because he’s our best rebounder and that means so much for us. As you saw, with his nose for the ball, he got the last shot blocked, got it right back, scored it and it didn’t even faze him. He won the game for us.”
After falling short last weekend in a disheartening loss at Utah, CU (15-7, 5-5) needed a healing night on the court. So did Oregon (18-5, 7-3) after dropping a pair of games in the Bay Area. But it was the Buffs who finished strong this time, closing out the game with an 8-0 run and improving to 2-2 against ranked opponents this season.
CU also has beaten then-No. 16 Baylor but lost at then-No. 3 Arizona and then-No. 9 Kansas. The Buffs’ last road win against a ranked opponent was on Jan. 12, 2011, when they defeated No. 21 Kansas State 74-66.
Oregon freshman point guard Dominic Artis missed his fourth straight game with a foot injury. But until the final minutes, the Ducks weren’t as turnover prone Thursday as they had been in their previous three games, when they totaled 65. By halftime, forging a five-point lead, Oregon had committed just four turnovers to CU’s eight.
But the Buffs committed only four second-half turnovers and never succumbed to the Ducks’ pressure. Oregon also finished with a dozen turnovers.
The Buffs never led in the opening half and trailed by as many as eight points (15-7) with 11 minutes before the break. During the stretch when they fell behind by that margin, they strayed from what Boyle wanted from them – specifically, to attack the rim in transition and run after getting stops. Problem was, the stops weren’t plentiful enough to allow CU to speed up its transition game. The Buffs stayed out of sorts offensively for nearly 6 minutes.
“I’m really proud of our players, to win when you don’t play your best,” said Boyle. “You have to do it at some point of the year, you just do, and multiple times sometimes because it’s not always going to be pretty.”
After the Ducks took their eight-point first-half lead, the Buffs got strong minutes off the bench from Jeremy Adams, who hit a pair of free throws and three-pointer during a 10-2 run that pulled CU into a 17-17 tie.
But Oregon, responding with a 9-2 surge, went back on top by seven points (26-19) and CU needed a turnaround jumper by Josh Scott at the halftime buzzer to trail 28-23 at intermission.
Oregon got 12 first-half points from Singler and eight off the bench from Emory. Singler and Emery finished with 14 each for the Ducks, who had won 20 consecutive home games stretching back to the 2011-12 season (14-0 this season).
The Buffs opened the second half with a traditional three-point play from Dinwiddie – his first points of the game. That cut the Ducks’ lead to 28-26 with 17:57 to play, and another Dinwiddie layup brought CU to within 30-28 less than a minute later.
An Xavier Johnson trey – his second of the game – pulled the Buffs to within 32-31 with just over 15 minutes remaining. But the Ducks outscored their visitors 7-2 over the next 4 minutes and increased their advantage to 39-33 with 11:02 left.
CU pulled to within 47-43 at the 3:01 mark on one of two free throws by Askia Booker, to 47-44 on one of two foul shots by Scott, then to 47-46 on a putback by Roberson with 2:07 to play.
After each team squandered a possession apiece, the Buffs got the ball after an offensive foul by Singler with 50.1 seconds remaining. Boyle called timeout with 46.2 seconds showing, and Roberson’s lay-in gave CU its one-point lead at the 29.5 mark.
After rebounding Singler’s miss in the final 2 seconds, Roberson was fouled and went to the foul line to shoot one-and-one. He missed the first attempt and Oregon’s Arsalan Kazemi rebounded. But with less than a second to play, the Ducks were done.
“Our guys got stops when they had to,” Boyle said. “As painful and as disappointing as that Utah loss was for us, it might have done this team some good. We learned a couple of things: We know we have to play from the get-go, which I think we did . . . we competed. And secondly, knowing we can come back at the end. We came back and we won.”
The Buffs play next at Oregon State on Sunday (7 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Network).
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MacINTYRE NAMED HEAD FOOTBALL COACH AT COLORADO
Dec 11th
BOULDER — Mike MacIntyre, who led San Jose State to its first 10-win season in 25 years, has been named the 25th head football coach at the University of Colorado, athletic director Mike Bohn announced Monday.
MacIntyre agreed to a five-year deal with a salary of $2 million annually; as with all hires of this nature, the contract is subject to final approval of CU’s Board of Regents.
He replaces Jon Embree, who was dismissed as Colorado head coach on November 25; Embree was 4-21 in two seasons at the reins of the program.
MacIntyre, 47, led San Jose State to a 10-2 record this fall, with a final regular season ranking of No. 24 in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls as well as in the final BCS Standings. The Spartans earned a berth in the Military Bowl opposite Bowling Green on December 27.
He assumed the SJSU position in December 2009, compiling a 16-21 record with the Spartans; he took over a team that had gone 2-10 in 2009, but began instilling a different culture despite a 1-12 record his first season in San Jose. His second Spartan team went 5-7, but closed the year with thrilling wins over Navy and Fresno State. His SJSU team has thus won 12 of the last 14 games.
San Jose State’s most impressive wins this fall came over San Diego State (38-34), Navy (12-0), BYU (20-14) and Louisiana Tech (52-43), teams that otherwise combined to go 30-12 in 2012. Louisiana Tech was an offensive powerhouse (led the nation in scoring, second in total offense and fourth in passing), but Tech personnel felt MacIntyre and his staff put together the best plan to disrupt its high-octane offense of any of its opponents, including Texas A&M. The losses were to Stanford (20-17 in the season opener, as the Cardinal won on a fourth quarter field goal) and to Utah State.
The 2012 season under MacIntyre is one of the best in San Jose State’s nearly 120-year football history. In recording their first 10-win season since 1987, the Spartans did it with a highly-productive offense that scored 423 points, a defense that ranked among the national leaders in many statistical categories and reliable special teams.
His third Spartan saw a SJSU single-season record 16 players earn All-Western Athletic Conference honors, which came in a year that 36 school and conference records either were tied or broken.
MacIntyre’s San Jose State teams performed in the classroom as well. In 2011, the school had a record number of Academic All-WAC team members – 13 – while defensive end Travis Johnson became the Spartans’ first player in 30 years to get Academic All-America recognition this fall. In addition, San Jose State’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) score in the last reporting period was 981, second best in the WAC.
Before his 2010 head coaching debut, MacIntyre instituted a comprehensive recruiting plan and initiated a “Summer Bridge” program for his first recruiting class to provide his newcomers a smooth transition into life as a college football player. Facing five nationally-ranked teams early in the season, the Spartans rebuilt themselves repeatedly, and were positioned late for victory in four of their final five games before finishing with a 1-12 record.
The 2011 Spartans produced the fourth-best positive turnaround in their football history with a 4½-game improvement. San Jose State exhibited the resiliency and resourcefulness to find a winning way.
Four of the team’s five wins were in the final minute of the fourth quarter. The opportunistic Spartans were the co-national leaders with their 20 fumble recoveries, tied for fourth in turnovers gained with 33, were disciplined as the second least penalized team in the Football Bowl Subdivision and were ranked in the top-25 in passing offense (23rd) for the first time in eight years.
After the season, San Jose State was so pleased with the direction of the program that they extended hiscontract through 2017.
A veteran coach of 22 seasons, MacIntyre arrived at San Jose State after two years as the defensive coordinator at Duke University, where he was reunited with head coach David Cutcliffe from earlier in his coaching days. Those Blue Devil defenses were among Duke’s best statistically over a 20-year span, and in 2009, Duke’s five wins were the most in a season by the Blue Devils since 1994. The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) named him its 2009 FBS Assistant Coach of the Year.
Prior to returning to college ball, MacIntyre spent five seasons in the National Football League with the New York Jets (2007) and Dallas Cowboys (2003-06) coaching defensive backs. Working for legendary coach Bill Parcells, the Cowboys returned to the NFL playoffs in 2003 and again in 2006 after missing out on postseason competition during the 2000 through 2002 seasons.
MacIntyre has coached on both sides of the ball, spending four years at Ole Miss (1999-2002) where he started as the wide receivers coach for two seasons and the defensive secondary coach in his final two years. The Rebels posted a 29-19 record in that time with bowl appearances in the 1999 and 2002 Independence Bowls and the 2000 Music City Bowl. The 2001 Rebels ranked fifth nationally in pass defense, allowing just 161.3 yards per game.
At Mississippi, among his recruits were two high profile student-athletes that one could sign to letters-of-intent, quarterback Eli Manning and linebacker Patrick Willis. And along his coaching trail, he has mentored many current and former NFL players including recently retired former Dallas and Cincinnati safetyRoy Williams, a five-time Pro Bowl player. At Dallas, he also tutored Terrence Newman, the former Kansas State cornerback who longtime CU fans certainly remember.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Georgia, working two years (1990-91) in that capacity. He then coached one year as the defensive coordinator at Davidson (1992), four years at Tennessee Martin (1993-96) and two seasons at Temple (1997-98) before he joined Cutcliffe’s staff at Ole Miss.
A 1989 graduate of Georgia Tech, he lettered twice (1987-88) at free safety and punt returner for legendary head coach Bobby Ross. Prior to becoming a Yellow Jacket, MacIntyre played two seasons (1984-85) at Vanderbilt for his father, George, the head coach of the Commodores from 1979-85. The elder MacIntyre was the national coach of the year in 1982 when Vandy beat Alabama on its way to an 8-4 record.
MacIntyre earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Georgia Tech and his master’s in Education with an emphasis on Sports Management from Georgia in 1991.
He was born George Michael MacIntyre on March 14, 1965, in Miami, Fla., and he and his wife, Trisha, have three children, Jennifer, Jay Michael and Jonston.
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