Colorado Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Buffaloes

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Colorado Buffaloes mascot Chip performs during the team's quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Arizona won 92-78. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 08: Head coach Tad Boyle of the Colorado Buffaloes signals his players during a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on March 8, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats won 83-67. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Key Reserves

One of the first names that Coach Boyle calls off the bench should be JUCO transfer Shane Gatling. Although Gatling doesn’t have experience playing at the Power-5 level, he’s an older player (Junior) that can light it up from three-point range (39% in his last season at Indian Hills CC). On a team lacking in experience and three-point shooting, he’s a perfect player to have ready to relieve Wright IV (or to work in tandem with him).

In terms of returning talent, D’Shawn Schwartz should be able to fill in at either forward position. The former top-100 recruit averaged 3.4 points per game as a freshman, and at 6’7″ 223, he’s able to guard multiple positions on defense. Deleon Brown, a 6’4″ guard who averaged 5 points per game last season, should also see meaningful playing time and maybe even start in certain matchups.

Daylen Kountz, a 6’4″ 3-star freshman from Denver, will give Boyle yet another option to work with in the backcourt. It’s hard to tell how many minutes he’ll get in his freshman year, but he’s extremely athletic and is another player, like Schwartz, who can be plugged in at various positions.

Barring blowouts and injury problems, Boyle’s rotation will most likely run 9-deep. All things considered, there’s a good amount of versatility in terms of height and playing styles for him to work within the aforementioned players. Expect him to use that to his advantage by putting out a wide variety of lineups, especially early in the season as he establishes roles and determines who fits in which spots.

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