O’brien keeping options open
CU senior enters portal, gauging pro potential
Luke O’brien is done playing college basketball at Colorado. But he may not quite be done playing college basketball.
Per a Wednesday report by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, CU’S versatile senior wing expects to explore his options in the transfer portal.
It was about 11 months ago when O’brien told Buffzone he likely would explore international professional opportunities following his fourth year at CU. Situations can change over the course of time, and that pro option isn’t necessarily off the table for O’brien. Yet entering the portal allows the 6-foot-8 wing from Columbine High to keep his options open regarding the next step in his basketball career.
O’brien has an extra year of eligibility available, as he was a true freshman during the 2020-21 season. All NCAA players received a bonus season of eligibility that year from the NCAA. In the NIL era, the right situation collegiately might prove more enticing to players like O’brien than playing for a lower-tier international professional league.
O’brien finished his senior season averaging a career-high 6.7 points, while shooting a solid .376 from 3-point range. A late surge in assists — O’brien matched a career-high with four in CU’S NCAA Tournament win against Florida and had four again in the second-round loss against Marquette — left O’brien with a career-high 44 assists this season.
Due to CU’S substantial injury issues, O’brien, pegged as one of the top players off the bench prior to the season, ended with 19 starts. He started the final 10 games of the season, much of which coincided with CU’S run of 10 wins in 11 games that ended with the Marquette loss.
O’brien enjoyed one of the best games of his career in CU’S wild 102-100 win against Florida in the NCAA Tournament first round, going 5-for-5 with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Among his senior season highlights was a careerhigh 18 points against Utah Tech on Dec. 21, and the game-tying dunk just before the buzzer in what turned into a pivotal double-overtime win at USC on Feb. 17.
O’brien played in 111 games in his CU career, with 29 starts.
“I’m going to take a couple weeks off and figure out what I want to do,” O’brien told Buffzone following CU’S season-ending loss against Marquette on Sunday. “There’s a lot of options. I’m just going to talk it over with my family. But right now I don’t even want to think about basketball. I just want to take a break and stuff. Hopefully go to some Avs games.”