Colorado men’s basketball competes in the Big 12 Conference under 17th-year head coach Tad Boyle, and this offseason brought the program’s biggest headline in years.
Derrick White Joins the Front Office — With a $2 Million Investment
On June 24, 2026, CU named Derrick White — the former Buffs guard and current Boston Celtics champion — as the program’s first-ever President of Basketball Strategy. White and his family also committed a $2 million donation to the program, which athletic director Fernando Lovo called “a transformational investment.” The timing matters: Colorado went 7-11 in Big 12 play in 2025-26, an improvement from a 3-17 conference mark the year before, and the program is leaning on White’s NBA network to keep that trajectory moving.
White was a 29th overall pick out of Colorado in 2017 and has gone on to a five-plus-year NBA career, including a 2024 championship with Boston, an Olympic gold medal, and a 2026 All-Defensive First Team selection. In his lone season at CU (2016-17), he led the team in points (615), scoring average (18.1 ppg), assists (118), steals, and minutes, and set the school’s single-season record for blocks by a guard (49). Fellow Buffs NBA alum Spencer Dinwiddie attended the announcement in Boulder to support him.
His new role gives the program an active NBA voice on roster strategy, NIL, and player development in a way few Big 12 schools can claim heading into 2026-27.
Coaching Staff
Boyle’s staff blends continuity with NBA-level pedigree. Assistant coach Danny Manning — the 1988 national champion and former NBA lottery pick — joined the bench, alongside assistants Bill Grier and Tyson Gilbert. Two members of the staff played for the program themselves: Nate Tomlinson (Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development) and Evan Battey (Assistant Coach/Quality Control Analyst) both suited up for CU before returning to coach it.
2026-27 Roster: A More International Buffs Team
This year’s roster leans further outside the U.S. than usual. Freshman forward Goc Malual arrives from the Sydney Kings, forward David Gomez transfers in from Spanish club Hestia Menorca by way of Charlotte, and guard Alex Dickeson joins from Adelaide, Australia. They join a core of returning and transfer talent:
- Jalin Holland (So., G) — Los Lunas, N.M.
- Ian Inman (So., G/F) — Houston, Texas
- Josiah Sanders (So., G) — a Denver native out of Colorado Prep
- Nick Randall (Jr., F) — a Colorado native out of Fort Collins
- Barrington Hargress (Sr., G) — grad transfer via UC Riverside
- Noah Feddersen (Sr., C) — grad transfer via North Dakota State
- Justin Neely (Gr., F) — a well-traveled transfer by way of UAlbany and UNC Greensboro
Program History Worth Knowing
CU has made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, with two Final Four trips (1942, 1955) and a 1940 NIT championship. The program’s most recent conference tournament title came in 2012, in its very first season in the (since-realigned) Pac-12 — a four-games-in-four-day run that ended with an NCAA Tournament win over UNLV. Colorado’s most recent NCAA Tournament trip came in 2024, when the Buffs won a First Four game and upset Florida before falling to Marquette.
Support CU Buffaloes men’s basketball NIL initiatives on RallyFuel — and follow every conference race and bracket storyline on our Men’s March Madness hub.
