A vastly different-looking Colorado team took the floor on Wednesday for the first preseason practice of the 2026-27 season.
Returning guards Barrington Hargress, Josiah Sanders, Jalin Holland and Ian Inman (and walk-on Nick Randall) remain from last year’s squad, leading the charge early on and holding down the perimeter. The fifth-year Hargress is fresh off one of last season’s better showings from a Big 12 guard, averaging 14.9 points and 4.5 assists per game while leading the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio. Sanders, Holland and Inman, while with different skill sets, offer size in the backcourt, high motors and look to make sophomore-year leaps.
“Obviously, Barrington has proven himself at the Big 12 level,” head coach Tad Boyle said. “I think Jalin and Josiah and Ian have certainly had good freshman years, and they've had great offseasons. I think they're ready to make their jump to becoming dependable everyday guys at the Big 12 level.”
The other 11 faces, mostly in the frontcourt, are finding their roles in the program. While some of them have years of college or overseas basketball under their belt, CU’s six interior players have no Big 12 experience; four mid-major transfers and two unranked freshmen make up the frontcourt.
“When I look at this team, I look at the frontcourt as the question mark, if you will,” Boyle said. “All four of those [returning] guys are perimeter players. So the guys that haven't proven it, that haven't been there, are the frontcourt guys.”
Of course, there is some optimism. 6-foot-6 UNC-Greensboro forward Justin Neely (17.9 PPG, 11.5 RPG) and 6-foot-10 North Dakota State forward Noah Feddersen (9.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG) are the premier pickups. 6-foot-9 Australian forward Goc Malual is 20 years old and brings NBL experience. Boyle noted all those guys are “capable,” and this summer, he said that he recruited for defense and rebounding, areas where CU has struggled the past few seasons; he also expects his taller guards and wings, from Sanders and Holland to freshmen Rider Portela and Alex Dickeson, to help.
Gomez dealing with foot pain
However, while 6-foot-9 Charlotte transfer David Gomez and 7-foot Jacksonville transfer Iaroslav Niagu may bring significant height and depth inside, their statuses are currently up in the air.
After the 22-year-old Gomez arrived in Charlotte last season, he suffered from two stress fractures in his foot just two games in and didn’t return to the court, needing to receive surgery. After the procedure, the Spanish forward entered the transfer portal with size, skill and age, and wound up in Boulder this offseason. But he hasn’t practiced. He was sidelined this summer and the first week of preseason.
“I listen to our doctors, listen to our training staff. Really good doctors, really good training staff,” Boyle said. “Most doctors and training staff in this day and age are very conservative. According to them, he's fine, he's ready to go. But David doesn't think he is. He's got some pain there, so he's not practicing.”
Niagu fighting for extra year
For the 23-year-old Niagu, he isn’t dealing with an injury and is practicing. But his eligibility is in limbo.
Before 2020, an athlete like Niagu would be out of eligibility. He played a year at USC, a year at Charlotte and two at Jacksonville State without any redshirts. Yet, with the eligibility chaos of recent years, everything is changing.
This offseason, the NCAA adopted a “five-for-five” eligibility model. It starts a five-year timeline for college athletes after they turn 19 or enroll as full-time college students. The NCAA adopted the model because the transfer portal and NIL era have resulted in several eligibility lawsuits, especially after the NCAA gave those competing amid the COVID-19 pandemic an eligibility waiver to play an extra year.
Yet, those who graduated high school in 2022 never received a pandemic waiver, and many never redshirted, meaning they graduated before the new model was adopted and played four years while watching classes of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023 onward receive five years. While class of 2021 athletes feel similar pain, getting four years, the class of 2022 would technically still be eligible if the model had been introduced a year earlier.
So, former Northern Colorado hooper Brock Wisne, a class of 2022 athlete who never redshirted, sued the NCAA this offseason and won his case on July 31, giving him, Niagu and others an extra year of eligibility. Because the NCAA appealed the ruling, many athletes granted an extra year, including Niagu, also sued the NCAA at the state level or were listed as plaintiffs in state-level lawsuits against the NCAA. That way, when the NCAA was given a stay on Aug. 21, re-taking away the extra season, athletes had a backup lawsuit.
Currently, Niagu is one of 52 plaintiffs listed in the Chisom Okpara et al. v. NCAA lawsuit in North Carolina. While a ruling date for that lawsuit is undetermined, a ruling in favor of the athletes would override the Wisne v. NCAA stay for the plaintiffs, as seen with similar state-level cases involving players such as Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey. And while the NCAA plans to appeal the lawsuit involving Lipsey (Stephen Daley et al. v. NCAA in Indiana), meaning these rulings aren’t permanent, neither is the Wisne v. NCAA stay. The final ruling in that lawsuit will likely come in mid-October, which could deem all the state-level lawsuits meaningless.
“It's an interesting time. There's no doubt about it,” Boyle said when asked about the College Sports Act and potential collective bargaining agreements. “But there's just so many unknowns. I've asked three or four people on our campus, and nobody has an answer. I don't know if you guys do.”
Whether Niagu becomes eligible or not, the move was a surprise, as Boyle made it clear during the offseason that he wasn’t too interested in signing anyone who became eligible following the first Wisne v. NCAA ruling.
After the signing, though, Boyle’s stance hasn’t changed.
“I told him when we signed him, ‘For him, personally, I’d like him to be able to play. But if you ask me generally on what’s best for the game of college basketball, I think it’s time for guys to move on,’” Boyle said.
Boyle said the move was partially due to the conflict happening in Niagu’s homeland of Krasnodar, Russia. Niagu moved to Australia in 2021 to develop in the NBA Global Academy before spending the last four years competing in American college basketball.
“People know what's going on in Russia right now. So to have him on a college campus is a good thing for him,” Boyle said. “It's a good thing for us to be able to help a kid like that out. He's in a little bit different situation, maybe, than a kid who's not coming from a country that's at war and sending their young kids to war.”
If Niagu can’t play, he is an enrolled student at CU, which could make him a practice player; Boyle isn’t sure if that would be allowed.
If Niagu is eligible, he would add depth and height, especially if Gomez’s recovery is prolonged.
Where to go if Gomez, Niagu can’t play
While Boyle named several players who need to produce inside and have shown they can since arriving in Boulder, he probably didn’t plan for Gomez’s recovery to take a turn. It’s likely why his final two additions were big men: 6-foot-11 freshman Eric Jacobsen and Niagu. But obviously, Niagu’s status is up in the air.
Naturally, the height and length of CU’s guards and wings could be very important.
“We'll have to play a lot of small ball and figure some things out [if we don’t get Gomez back],” Boyle said.
To address a potential thin interior, Sanders, Holland, Inman, Dickeson and Portela are all 6-foot-5 or taller and can help down from the backcourt. Freshman Amir Jones is slightly shorter, but he has a high motor and will look to earn playing time with his defense and rebounding. Scoring-wise, the group will have to look to the smaller Hargress, who was highly efficient. And despite Sanders and Holland working on their shooting strokes, Inman shot 36.7% from deep last season, offering a notable 3-point stroke as CU hopes to spread the floor.
Inside, Feddersen and Malual are holding things down. Neely, playing wherever is needed, has a bigger impact in the frontcourt than the other wings. And while Jacobsen is the least experienced of the bigs, he moves well and has a decent shot for a 6-foot-11, 240-pounder. All four players seem to be versatile.
“If we ever get David Gomez back, if he steps up, we'll be in good shape,” Boyle said.
Of course, only time will tell whether Gomez or Niagu will play this season. The season opener is over a month away.
Yet, after the frontcourt struggles across the past few years, the interior’s status entering the preseason will likely be the main storyline.
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