Men’s basketball: Andrew Crawford continuing homegrown tradition with CU Buffs

Colorado men’s basketball freshman Andrew Crawford, left, during a practice on June 5, 2024, at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colo. (CU Athletics)

Andrew Crawford believes the structure and style of prep club basketball prepares recruits for the challenges of adjusting to the next level.

It’s that talent at the next level that has struck Crawford so far.

Continuing a tradition under coach Tad Boyle of landing the state’s top recruits whenever possible, the former ThunderRidge standout has begun his initial workouts with the Colorado men’s basketball program this month.

Crawford has had the easiest adjustment, at least geographically, among CU’s 2024 recruiting class. Guard Felix Kossaras is from Montreal. Forward Sebastian Rancik grew up in Europe and played prep basketball in Southern California. Crawford grew up less than an hour from Boulder, and he believes his combination of a standout prep career, combined with the miles logged on the club circuit, have helped ease the transition.

“Being a basketball player for a while, I’ve been on a lot of different teams. You make friends with a lot of new guys. That’s nothing new to me,” Crawford said. “It’s the level that I’m interacting with now. There’s a Washington State transfer (Andrej Jakimovski) who averaged double-digits a game. Like, (out of respect) I had nothing to say to that dude. It’s been super fun getting to know those guys and getting to learn from them in practice.

“It’s just team bonding. We have to get to that level where we’re very comfortable around each other and we’re able to go out and battle with each other.”

The arrival of the 6-foot-6, 175-pound Crawford continues CU’s homegrown pipeline that began in earnest with a 2013 recruiting class that included Josh Scott (Lewis-Palmer), Xavier Talton (Sterling) and Wesley Gordon (Sierra). Since then, the list of four or five-year players from Colorado to star for the Buffs includes Dominique Collier (Denver East), Dallas Walton (Arvada West), D’Shawn Schwartz (Sand Creek), Luke O’Brien (Columbine) and current Buffs guard Julian Hammond III (Cherry Creek).

That list can also include newly-crowned NBA champion Derrick White (Legend), who transferred to CU after three seasons at Division II UCCS; new transfer Trevor Baskin (Pomona), an Arvada native who played at Colorado Mesa; and two Colorado natives who transferred out of the program following multiple seasons with the Buffs in Daylen Kountz (Denver East) and Nique Clifford (Vanguard).

“Honestly, it’s been really easy for me as an in-state guy,” Crawford said. “Unlike these guys, I’ve gotten the chance to come up here. I’ve gotten a chance to meet everybody and kind of get acclimated to the campus and where I’m going to be working out. Coming from their position, they’re international guys and haven’t really been able to really interact with anybody up here. I found it very fortunate that I am an in-state guy and able to come up here.”

The task for Crawford and his fellow newcomers in learning CU’s various offensive and defensive systems will come into narrower focus when preseason workouts begin in the fall. Until then, the local recruit will be getting acclimated to his new surroundings — especially the CU weight room.

“Even the weight room kind of aspect of it, they’re getting hit by (strength) coach (Steve) Englehart pretty hard every day,” Boyle said. “Their bodies are sore. They’re maybe a little bit tired. They’re learning they better get to bed on time or they pay for it the next day. It’s a learning curve for the freshmen, for sure.”