The makeover from one NCAA Tournament team in 2024 to what head coach Tad Boyle hopes will be the next one in the near future continued this week on signing day, as the Colorado men’s basketball team landed five prep prospects set to join the program next season.

After inking a group the Buffaloes hope will help the program become competitive in the Big 12, CU associate head coach and recruiting director Mike Rohn sat down with BuffZone to discuss a class ranked No. 33 in the nation on Wednesday, per 247Sports.

G Jalin Holland and F Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola

First, Buffs fans will find the incoming big man named frequently around the internet as Tacko Fawaz. He has clarified the moniker with CU, but by any name the 6-foot-10 Ifaola is projected as the second-tallest player on next year’s roster and a future candidate to fill the five-spot currently manned by graduate transfer Elijah Malone.

Holland is from the Albuquerque area. Ifaola is from Nigeria. But the pair plays for the same prep academy in Arizona, Dream City Christian, and while the Buffs took the long road in landing the 6-foot-4 Holland, it was that courtship that ultimately landed Ifaola as well.

Rohn: “We were in on Jalin forever. Tacko, we started recruiting him a little bit later. He didn’t visit until late. We had a couple guys in before him. Not because we weren’t really recruiting him. Until we went and saw Jalin again at the new prep school at Dream City. So we had seen Tacko a lot. We just never felt like we were going to have a chance to get Tacko. There were some other guys that we had been recruiting for a much longer period of time. But we started evaluating and watching Tacko this summer, because he was on the same team as Jalin. Once coach (Bill) Grier went back in early September to see Jalin in Phoenix, and then met with Tacko, we got a feel at that point in time that he’s wide open. Some of the things he had going for him fell through. He was going to visit Villanova. He was going to visit Stanford. We met with him, and I loved this kid. He’s us. He’s a great kid. He’s a hard worker. He’s a good student. We built that relationship and couldn’t push the envelope with some of the other guys that came in. They were kind of dragging their feet a little bit, and we were like, there’s not that much difference. He fit all the things we we’re looking for. High school five-man, true center. Obviously (Holland) helped us recruit him a lot, and Jalin swore by him. (Holland) said, ‘He fits everything you’ve been selling me for three years.’ It was kind of a unique deal. Timing sometimes is everything, and that’s what it was with Tacko. You can put three years of effort into a guy, and you don’t get him. Then you put in a summer and fall on a guy, and you get him.”

G Ian Inman

A 6-foot-5 wing out of the Woodlands, Texas, projects similarly to another big wing the Buffs culled out of Texas, George King. King remains one of the top 3-point shooters in program history and Inman, ranked as the No. 23 recruit in the state of Texas, has a chance to be the same.

Rohn: “He’s special. I just saw him on Saturday, they had their season kickoff in Houston with some of the top teams in the state. All the guards we signed are different in some ways, which is good. He’s the best shooter that we’ve recruited in a long time. He’s almost 6-6. He’s going to grow more. He’s a tall guard who can really play. He can really pass. The thing that makes him a little different is he really shoots the lights out. And we need shooting. Of that group, he’s different in that regard. And he’s got great size. We always love multi-dimensional big guards. But the thing that sets him apart is he’s a high-level shooter, day one. He can get it off. He’s got range.”

G Isaiah Johnson

Spencer Dinwiddie and KJ Simpson have given the Buffs good fortune with point guards out of Southern California. Johnson hopes to continue that Boyle-era tradition. The 6-foot-1 Johnson actually has a connection with Simpson, as Johnson’s father, Chris, is one of the head trainers for Klutch Sports. He helped train Simpson ahead of this year’s NBA draft.

Rohn: “All spring and summer, the Klutch clients were all working with Chris Johnson together. Well, Isaiah is always in on all those workouts. He’s been trained at a very, very high level. He’s been around elite players. He’s got a bright future. His body is probably the one thing that’s different than everyone else. He needs the weight room. But he’s got these long arms. IQ-wise and skill-wise? Dribble-pass-and-shoot guy? He’s high level there. It’s how soon is he going to be ready physically. He’s the guy that, in four or five years, he could end up being the best of them all.”

G Josiah Sanders

Sanders continues a long Boyle-era tradition of landing the top in-state player, as the Colorado Prep standout is the top-rated recruit in Colorado and the No. 122 player in the class, according to 247Sports. According to Rohn, the 6-foot-4 guard had plenty of opportunities to leave home but ultimately was swayed to join the Buffs.

Rohn: “It was a lot harder than we thought. He was recruited at a very high level. As the whole process went, I always felt like we’re going to get him, we’re going to get him. Then the longer it went, I was like, ‘Aw, man. We might not.’ Because it was becoming a financial thing. Not from our standpoint, but other people coming in. At the end of the day, it wasn’t the most important thing. It was important, but it wasn’t the end all, be all. Being at home for him, when all the smoke cleared, it was the No. 1 thing. Coach (Boyle) was very patient with him.”