Elijah Malone has been all business during his preseason with the Colorado Buffaloes.

Like his new CU teammates, Malone hopes to surprise the Buffs’ many doubters this year. And, much like his fellow graduate transfers, Malone is hoping his lone season in Boulder ultimately bolsters his prospects next spring as a potential pro.

In the end, though, Malone says he came to Colorado for one thing.

“Wins,” Malone said. “I just want to win games.”

Malone will get his chance at that first Colorado win on Monday, when the Buffaloes tip off their 122nd season of men’s basketball at home against Eastern Washington (7 p.m., ESPN+).

The new big man in the middle fits the typical profile on the Buffs’ 2024-25 roster — a player unproven at the Division I level who nonetheless brings an intriguing skill set to the mix. In Malone’s case, it’s size (6-foot-10) and an excellent scoring touch around the rim. Malone finished a four-year career at Grace College, an NAIA school in northern Indiana, as the program’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (.635).

Like fellow graduate transfer Trevor Baskin, a former standout at Division II Colorado Mesa, Malone enjoyed a decorated career at Grace but has not yet logged a minute at the Division I level. That will change on Monday, as a wealth of CU newcomers and youngsters will be counted on to produce quickly in the program’s return season in the Big 12.

“The biggest adjustment has probably been the speed of the game. It’s a little faster,” Malone said. “We’ll see on Monday. There’s still some spotty areas I’ve got to get better at, of course. And then there’s some areas I feel pretty comfortable.”

Going into the 15th season under head coach Tad Boyle, the 2024-25 Buffs will be the most inexperienced club of his tenure. Including a few games played by walk-ons, the roster collectively has logged just 206 games with the Buffs, with only a combined 17 starts.

Most of those starts are owned by guard Julian Hammond III, who has made 15 career starts. Javon Ruffin owns the other two, from two seasons ago.

The closest comparison during the Boyle era is the 2017-18 club, which welcomed a freshman class that included McKinley Wright IV, Tyler Bey, D’Shawn Schwartz and Evan Battey. But even that club featured players like Dominique Collier and George King, who went into that season with a combined 117 starts to their credit.

Certainly, those numbers don’t quite tell the entire story. CU’s third graduate transfer, Andrej Jakimovski, played 120 games during a four-year career at Washington State, starting all 35 games last year for an NCAA Tournament team. Malone and Baskin logged more than 100 games at their previous schools.

Still, the Buffs will be forced to lean heavily on players limited during their careers by injury, like Ruffin and RJ Smith; returning players trying to step into bigger roles, like Assane Diop and Bangot Dak; and rookies like freshmen Sebastian Rancik, Felix Kossaras, Andrew Crawford and Courtney Anderson, a redshirt freshman.

“We’ve got 30 days of experience. But in terms of game experience, yeah, we don’t have it,” Boyle said. “That’s why we play the exhibition and put the uniform on and get those jitters out. All I want is to play how you practice. So, to me, fans in the stands and cameras on, to me it’s all the same. You play like you practice, you’ll be fine. There’s no reason to be nervous or scared. And we won’t be.

“The strength of this team is our team, is our depth and ability to play together. It’s going to be different guys on different nights. Based on matchups, based on where our advantage is. Early in the season, Elijah Malone’s going to have an advantage offensively. So we’d better take advantage of it by getting him the ball down low.”