All of a sudden, depth is plentiful

B O ULDE R » Tad Boyle has one of those problems many of his coaching colleagues would be glad to have.

As Colorado’s men’s basketball coach and his players met the media at the program’s annual preseason media day Wednesday at the CU Events Center, one recurring theme regarding a team expecting to compete for a Pac-12 title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament was the Buffaloes’ impressive depth.

It’s not just a talking point. In the frontcourt, the Buffs boast a first team all-Pac-12 selection and likely NBA draft pick in Tyler Bey, the top returning rebounder in the Pac12; a 264-pound bruiser in Evan Battey who is a skilled passer out of the post and who has the potential to be a dominant rebounder; Lucas Siewert, who can change games when he gets hot from 3-point range; and 7footer Dallas Walton, who adds a dynamic defensively missing last year when he was sidelined by a knee injury.

That rotation doesn’t even include junior Alex Strating, who proved capable of making contributions in limited minutes late last year; 6-foot-11 redshirt freshman Jakub Dombek; and Boulder native and walk-on Frank Ryder, a former scholarship player at San Diego that Boyle said he “wouldn’t hesitate” to use in the season-opener in China against Arizona State if needed.

Along the wings, the Buffs feature Colorado natives D’Shawn Schwartz and Daylen Kountz, both of whom have been cited by Boyle on multiple occasions this season as potential breakout stars; 3-point aces Shane Gatling and newcomer Maddox Daniels; defensive specialist Eli Parquet; and, of course, point guard McKinley Wright, a potential player of the year candidate in the Pac-12.

Boyle’s challenge early in the season will be to find the proper mix of minutes and rotations. And then making sure each player keeps his focus on the big picture if those minutes and roles fall short of individual expectations.

“There’s not enough minutes to go around for all the players to be happy. And there are going to be some players on certain nights that aren’t going to play, or they’re certainly not going to play as much as they want to play,” Boyle said. “Or maybe that they deserve to play. There’s just not enough minutes to go around for this team. Can I keep everybody happy with minutes? The answer is no.

“So we have to do it through the buy-in that we’re playing for Colorado, we’re not playing for myself. If our players can buy into that, we’ve got a chance. If they don’t, we’ll have some unhappy guys. Because you know what? We better be winning. Because if you’re winning and you’ve got unhappy guys, you’re winning. But if you’re losing and you’ve got unhappy guys, that’s when you’ve got problems. We don’t want that.”

“I’ve got a former teammate, George King, who would always tell me there’s no such thing as pressure if you’re prepared,” CU point guard Wright said. “I think Coach is doing a great job of preparing us.

“Guys are getting in the gym every day working on their games individually, getting in shape. Getting in there and running on our own. I don’t feel no pressure. We’re excited.”

CU hasn’t been ranked since mid-January of 2014. … Season ticket sales are trending slightly ahead of last year’s pace. A year ago, the Buffs sold 4,729 season tickets; as of Wednesday morning, CU had sold 4,343 for this season. Those figures do not include student sports passes, which are sold out for this year.