It wasn’t as if the Colorado men’s basketball team featured a patchwork backcourt while struggling through a 21-loss season. Some of the more durable players in the rotation filled those spots.

Senior point guard Julian Hammond III played in 33 of 35 games, starting in every appearance. RJ Smith, now headed to DePaul, played in 34 games. Javon Ruffin, coming off three seasons limited by knee injuries, played in 33.

While that trio generally answered the bell, getting consistent scoring punch out of the backcourt was a separate issue. Tad Boyle believes the Buffs have addressed that shortcoming with the addition of former UC Riverside point guard Barrington Hargress, and CU’s head coach also spoke with BuffZone about a pool of backcourt candidates that will evolve from sparse to abundant next season following the transfer portal addition of former Denver guard Jon Mani.

Hargress fills the void of a playmaker who can attack the rim. He averaged a Big West Conference-leading 20.2 points, along with 4.0 assists per game. Hargress shot just .329 on 3-pointers but finished at .444 overall.

Not only could Hargress bring a consistent scoring punch to a Buffs squad that sorely lacked a go-to scorer this past season, but he adds a veteran presence to a backcourt mix that will be long on potential but extremely thin on experience.

“A guy that’s proven. A proven scorer that can play with the ball in his hands, can play without the ball in his hands,” Boyle said of Hargress. “Can score it, can pass it. He’s just a good player. And experienced. He was a big pick-up.”

In Mani, Boyle said he believes the Buffs have added a player with “huge upside.” At 6-foot-6, Mani brings size to the perimeter mix, and although he shot just .330 in 30 games at DU, averaging 13.9 minutes and 2.9 points, CU is confident Mani can uncover the potential that made him a top-25 recruit within California a year ago. “He’s a big guard that can play multiple positions, guard multiple positions,” Boyle said. “He can pass the ball, he can dribble the ball, he can shoot the ball. You can plug him in at a lot of different spots. And he’s got three years of eligibility. The longer I do this, I like having guys that can really grow into being good players at Colorado. It’s just hard to do that in just one year, I don’t care how talented you are.

“Jon brings three years of eligibility and huge upside. I do think the biggest jump kids make is the summer between their freshman and sophomore year. Now that he’s been through Division I basketball for a year, even though it wasn’t Big 12 basketball, he learned a lot. And he’s going to become a better player because of it.”

Mani’s 30 games at DU will make him one of the more experienced candidates for the backcourt rotation outside of Hargress. Felix Kossaras averaged 10.8 minutes in 29 games off the bench this past year as a freshman and improved down the stretch. Former ThunderRidge star Andrew Crawford redshirted. Joining the perimeter mix are incoming freshmen Josiah Sanders, Jalin Holland, Ian Inman and Isaiah Johnson.

“Our practices should be very competitive,” Boyle said.