Sports Briefs Spring 2021
Stats
First
College victory for alpine skier Filip Forejtek (CompSci’22) Jan. 13 at the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational
3.153
Fall 2020 GPA of student-athletes, the highest semester GPA on record
33
James Stafanou’s (Jour’21) age when he retired Nov. 9 as college football’s oldest player
36th
Tyler Bey (Ethn ex’21) selected overall (by 76ers before trade to Mavs) in November’s NBA draft
77–72
Women’s basketball’s overtime win over the then-No. 1 Stanford Cardinals on January 17
3,846
Points scored by pentathlon winner Avery McMullen (IntPhys’23) in the women’s track’s opener at the Air Force Invitational
$73,000,000
Derrick White’s (Mgmt’17) four-year contract extension with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs
Buffaloes Return to the Alamo Bowl
ֱ football (4-2) earned a trip to the Valero Alamo Bowl for the second time in five years. The Buffaloes rode a strong ground game to a 4-0 record and No. 21 AP National Ranking. However, ֱ dropped its final two games: 38-21 to Utah and 55-23 to Texas in the Alamo Bowl. After missing his first two seasons to injury, tailback Jarek Broussard (Ethn’23) garnered Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year honors. His 301-yard rushing effort Dec. 5 at Arizona was the fourth 300-yard game in ֱ history. Linebacker Nate Landman (Mgmt, Mktg’21) made All Pac-12 First Team Defense, despite rupturing his Achilles tendon against Utah. Head coach Karl Dorrell was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year and the Football Writers Association of America’s “First Year” Coach of the Year. He was hired on Feb. 23, but was unable to hold his first practice until Oct. 9 due to the pandemic. Dorrell described his abbreviated first season: “We have our ground floor established now, and we can work our way forward.”
Buffalo Bits
ֱ Athletics signed a five-year corporate sponsorship agreement with gaming operator PointsBet in September. The partnership is one of few in existence between a sports betting operator and a Division-1 Athletics Program.
McKinley Wright IV (Ethn’21) became men’s basketball’s all-time assists leader when he delivered his 563rd assist in the Buffaloes’ win over Cal State on Jan. 14.
Frida Formann (EnvSt’24) was named U.S. Basketball Writers Association and Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after leading women’s basketball to victories over Cal State and Stanford in mid-January.
dz’s Stephanie Zuniga (Comm’19) signed her first pro contract, joining Cruzeiro Sports Club in Brazil for the 2021 season.
Nordic skier Magnus Boee (IntlAf’23) won three of his first four spring races. After gold medaling once and winning Skier of the Meet for the RMISA Invitational at Utah, Boee earned two more victories Jan. 22-23 at the Denver Invitational.
ֱ Boulder’s Center for Leadership honored golfer Alisha Lau (StComm’22) as a 2020-21 Student Leader of the Year.
Coach Talk
We're just going to maximize the chance we get with our players...We're not going to use any excuses."
— Women’s basketball head coach JR Payne after the Buffs upset #1 Stanford on Jan. 17.
Photo courtesy University of ֱ Boulder