As Colorado’s season came to a disappointing close Saturday, the Buffaloes honored their seniors and graduating students on Senior Day against TCU.
Colorado will travel to Kansas City next week for the Big 12 Tournament. They are already locked in as the 16th seed.
Although this wasn’t the Buffaloes' last game of the season, it was the last time seniors Julian Hammond, Javon Ruffin, and Jack Pease played in front of a CU home crowd. Graduate transfers Trevor Baskin and Andrej Jakimovski are the two other seniors on Tad Boye’s roster who played their last game at the CU Events Center on Saturday.
Graduate transfer Elijah Malone still has another year of eligibility at the D1 level, but he is undecided on whether or not he will return to Boulder next season.
CU head coach Tad Boyle started all his seniors except Pease, who ended up getting in the game late to a standing ovation from the crowd.
Here’s a look at some of the accomplishments from this year's seniors:
Julian Hammond III
This season Hammond averaged 12.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Hammond also shot an efficient 41.6% from the field throughout the year.
In his years prior, Hammond was always Colorado’s first look off the bench. With KJ Simpson leading the guard room last year and then leaving for the NBA Draft in 2024, Hammond had big shoes to fill, which he did.
“He’s our guy,” Boyle said.
The senior stepped up in times this season that no other Buff did, tallying six 20+ point games this season.
Javon Ruffin
Ruffin suffered a major injury mid-way through his tenure with the Buffaloes, sidelining him for a majority of his sophomore and junior years. However, Ruffin’s role at CU mainly had him as a bench piece before this season.
This year, Ruffin averaged 5.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He paired that with 38.2% shooting from the field.
Ruffin grew up in the spotlight. His dad, Michael Ruffin, had a nine-year tenure in the NBA and previously worked as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns.
Ruffin is a leader in the locker room, with years of experience playing on teams with NBA prospects as well as teams that didn’t do so well.
Jack Pease
Pease didn’t see too much action at Colorado. He redshirted his freshman year with the intent to transfer to a Division II school after his sophomore year. An injury changed his plans, in which he took a gap year.
Pease was a large part of Colorado’s main practice squad alongside Nick Randall and Greg Gerhardt.
Pease only played a handful of minutes with the Buffaloes this season, but saw some action on Senior Day.
Trevor Baskin
Baskin, a Colorado native, transferred to CU from Division II school Colorado Mesa before this season. Baskin averaged 13.4 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game and shot 56.6 percent over four seasons at Colorado Mesa. Baskin was also a three-time All-RMAC First-Team selection and two-time all-region pick.
This year, Baskin averaged 7.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He was also quite efficient, knocking down 51% of his shots.
Baskin does not have any college eligibility left.
Andrej Jakimovski
Jakimovski was arguably Colorado’s most valuable addition in the offseason. Jakimovski transferred from Washington State to Colorado at the beginning of the season, making an immediate impact in the starting lineup.
Jakimovski started every game he was healthy in for the Buffs this season. He averaged 9.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He shot 39.1% from the field throughout the season.
Jakimovski is also looked at as one of the leaders in the locker room.“Probably Andrej, I think he’s helped me out a lot, getting used to what college basketball is like,” freshman Sebastian Rancik said regarding his biggest mentor at CU.
Although these five athletes won’t be with Colorado after the conclusion of the conference tournament, they will always be Buffs for life.
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