Sports Mailbag: Favorite men’s basketball player edition

Sports Co-Editor Scott Annis

My favorite Buff basketball player of all time has to be Chauncey Billups. He was a hometown kid born in Colorado who chose CU over the likes of Kansas and Cal. Billups was electric for the Buffs and was good enough to get his picture added to the wall at the Coors Event Center. In college, he averaged 18 points per game and led the Buffs to their first NCAA tournament appearance in over 30 years. Billups only stayed two years, as he was drafted to the NBA in 1997 after being named a first-team All-American his sophomore year. Billups has remained a hometown favorite, as he spent five years playing for the Denver Nuggets. Billups is still in the NBA and plays for the Los Angeles Clippers.

(Josh Shettler/CU Independent Illustration)

Sports Co-Editor Jillian Arja

It was hard to select just one favorite CU men’s basketball player. However, if I could choose one, I would choose sophomore guard Askia Booker. As a sophomore, he has already grown to be a great asset for the Buffs. He was named the Charleston Classic Tournament MVP at the start of this season and has been named the Pac-12 Player of the Week. Throughout the season, head coach Tad Boyle has pushed him to work harder and do more with his game and effort. I believe he has done this and shown just how much of a team player he is. His work ethic and attitude are reflected in the leadership role that he plays on the court. We are lucky to have him as a Buffalo for two more years.

Reporter Grayson O’Roark

My favorite basketball player from CU has to be Alec Burks. Burks was, in many ways, the main catalyst for the CU basketball program’s current momentum. When I came to Boulder as a freshman and witnessed Burks and the Buffs have the season they had, especially after Colorado’s disappointing football season, it really had an impact on my opinion of CU. I still wish Burks would have stayed for one more year. His time with Utah indicates he may have left a year early, as well.

Reporter Alissa Noe

After his explosive junior season this year, my favorite Colorado athlete is forward Andre Roberson. He is CU’s clutch defensive player and currently leads the conference in rebounds and steals, a feat that no big man in the Pac-12 has ever accomplished before. He is one of nine players since 1996 to lead any conference in total rebounds and steals and the only player in any major conference to do so. In addition to these incredible statistics, he currently leads the entire NCAA in rebounds, averaging 11.5 per game. Although this is only his third year at CU, he is getting dangerously close to breaking Stephane Pelle’s rebounding record of 1,054. With just two games left in the regular season, not to mention post-season play, he only needs 35 more rebounds to tie Pelle’s record.

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