Report: CU Buffs hoops to add two in-state walk-ons
The Colorado Buffaloes have added two walk-ons to the men’s basketball team for next season.
Pat Rooney of the Daily Camera reported that CU is expected to add two Colorado high school stars to their roster, Owen Koonce and Isaac Jessup.
Koonce is a 6-foot-5 guard that was receiving division one looks after a stellar senior season at Centaurus High School. He averaged 19.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. More impressively, he shot 56 percent from the field and 52.5 percent (32-for-61) from beyond the arc.
Koonce has averaged over 15 points per game since his sophomore year of high school and played in 15 games as a freshman.
The other addition is also a sharpshooter. College basketball fans should recognize Jessup’s last name as Isaac’s brother, Justinian, set the all-time Mountain West made three-pointers record this past season. He knocked down 325 three-pointers, at a 40 percent clip, during his four years at Boise State.
Isaac Jessup hails from Resurrection Christian High School and has a very similar game to brother despite being a few inches shorter.
He averaged double-digit points for RCHS as a freshman. His family moved to Spokane for a year and when Jessup returned to Colorado before his junior season, he was forced to play JV due to CHSAA transfer rules.
Jessup averaged 16.7 points per game as a senior and averaged 44 percent from three-point range during his varsity high school career. His team made it to the 3A semifinals before it was cut short due to the pandemic.
The Buffaloes only have one walk-on moving on, Frank Ryder, who decided to take a scholarship opportunity at Denver. The other three Benan Ersek, AJ Martinka and Aidan McQuade are expected to return.
The NCAA does not enforce roster restrictions but there are limits as to how many players a team can have on the bench.
