Buffs Men’s Basketball Heads to Costa Rica for Exhibition Tournament

Every four years, high level programs are given the opportunity to participate in an overseas exhibition tournament. This year, the Buffaloes are using this opportunity to play in   Costa Rica. 

This trip is following their previous international tour to Italy, four summers ago. The program is allowed 10 practices in preparation for their four exhibition games. Five practices took place near the end of June, followed by the last five in the approaching days of their departure for the capital city, San Jose.

“These last five practices have been more geared toward, ‘what does it take to play a game?’”, CU men’s head coach Tad Boyle said on Aug. 11 practice. “It’s [Aug. 6 to Aug 11. practices] been more game-like situations. These last few practices you’re always trying to build habits and create good habits. Right now, we’re trying to figure out how to play a game and react to certain situations that we may face.” 

The teams that will be facing off against the Buffs are experienced teams that are either currently participating in the Costa Rican League playoffs or a Costa Rican All-Star team. 

The itinerary begins with back-to-back hoops as they will play consecutive games the first four days in San Jose. After their four-day series, the team will be traveling to different tourist locations of Costa Rica to participate in team bonding experiences such as La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park, a guided tour of San Jose, a coffee plantation tour and a zip line tour in Los Suenos, according to the press release. 

With many new recruits, the incoming class this year has been ranked 1st in the Pac-12 and 12th in the nation due to the diverse and new talent. This class includes four-star recruits Quincy Allen, Lawson Lovering and KJ Simpson, along with Colorado Gatorade State Player of the Year, Julian Hammond III and Javon Ruffin. 

“I feel like my role is going to be very important,” freshman KJ Simpson said. “ [Coach Boyle] stressed it to the seniors, they got a lot of responsibility, but it’s up to the freshman as well. We’re going to have to come in and make a big impact and so I’m going to do that for the team.”

 “I love working with them everyday. Obviously, you take it day by day because they’re freshmen coming in, but we’re trying to help them as much as we can,” said Sophomore, Luke O’Brien, mentioning the new class. “They have so much potential.” 

The Buffaloes, under coach Boyle, have been highly competitive in the Pac-12 over the past few seasons. The Buffs have had three consecutive 20 win seasons and finished 23-9 last season along with advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Although the Buffs are losing around 60% of their scoring from last season due to the graduation of McKinley Wright IV and other key components of the team, players such as Eli Parquet, Jabari Walker, and Evan Battey are prepared to step into the leadership roles on and off the court. 

“It’s tough coming from being a young guy, then just switching to that leadership role, like in my second year. It is tough, but it’s something that I’m learning,”said Sophomore, Jabari Walker. “So I’m kind of talking about what I went through and I’m able to be more of a leader off the court and on the court, just kind of being a guy that has a big role in winning. That’s a big part in winning.”

Costa Rica will be a test for the team and an opportunity for them to find their team chemistry and identity. 

The Buffs will play their four games in consecutive days from Aug. 13 to Aug. 16, which. These games can be streamed on FloHoops.com. They Buffs are scheduled to take on four different Costa Rican professional teams. They will tip off on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. MST, 6:00 p.m. MST on Sunday, and the tour will finish up with their last exhibition game at 8:00 p.m. MST on Monday. 

Coach Boyle and the Buffs left Boulder on Thursday, Aug. 12 for the Costa Rica exhibition tour. 

“They’re out there really energetic, competitive, they want to learn. It’ll be a great opportunity for us to learn,” said Boyle about the opportunity.