Buffaloes lose Dak and Rancik to transfer portal

Bangot Dak (left) and Sebastian Rancik (right) spent the past two seasons together at Colorado. (Photos by Tyler Phillips and Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports)

The Colorado Buffaloes have had a rough week in the transfer portal, losing three of their top stars in guard Isaiah Johnson and now forwards Bangot Dak and Sebastian Rancik.

The Buffaloes have a lot of work to do in the transfer portal with their newly increased NIL budget to make up for the departing talent.

Bangot Dak

Dak emerged as a true star for the Buffaloes in 2025, becoming one of their most meaningful and consistent contributors. 

Dak was Colorado’s leading rebounder, averaging 6.5 rebounds per game, in addition to being its fourth-leading scorer, averaging 11.5 points per game. Dak combined his scoring and rebounding prowess often, recording five double-doubles this season.

Unfortunately for Buffs fans, the last time they saw Dak (barring him playing in the College Basketball Crown) was in the press conference of Colorado’s loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. In that press conference, Dak voiced his frustrations with how much time CU spent playing small.

“It just hurts us when we’ve got to go small,” Dak said. “Because we’ve got a 6’5” dude on a bigger dude, I feel like that’s the only problem.”

But Buffs head coach Tad Boyle disagreed with Dak in response to the same question.

“We didn’t play [small] a lot tonight,” Boyle said. "A lot of times they were small when we were small, especially down the stretch.”

Dak was right, though. The Buffaloes played with four guards for a combined 21:34. 

While fans can only speculate, this type of disconnection may have been where the problems stemmed from that led him to the portal.

On Monday, Dak reposted a video from the Ohio State Buckeyes' official account on his Instagram story.

Sebastian Rancik

For most of Dak’s time at CU, Rancik’s name was typically mentioned alongside his in most discourse. The frontcourt duo was looked at as a major part of the Buffaloes’ future, but this week has thrown a wrench in those plans.

Rancik had an up-and-down 2025 season, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and two assists per game. However, he also led the Buffaloes with 50 turnovers, an average of 1.7 per game.

Rancik just completed his sophomore season, so he still has plenty of time to develop. His 6’11”, 220 lb frame will be intriguing to many high-major programs.

“I want to thank the University of Colorado for the past two years,” said Rancik in a statement released on Instagram. “...Thank you to Coach Boyle and the entire staff for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to compete in the Big 12 Conference; it means a lot.”

It was reported that Johnson, Dak and Rancik will all travel with the team to Las Vegas for the College Basketball Crown Tournament, although it has not been confirmed whether or not they will participate in any of the games.