A lack of firepower from long range was one of the biggest offensive shortcomings this season for the Colorado men’s basketball team.

The latest addition won’t necessarily light that long-range fuse for the Buffaloes. But there is a chance Barrington Hargress will bring much more to the table.

On Thursday, the high-scoring former UC Riverside guard announced his commitment to the Buffs, becoming the first of three potential transfer portal additions for head coach Tad Boyle.

CU finished with a .321 3-point percentage, the second-lowest for the Buffs in 15 seasons under Boyle. And that was with positive long-range seasons from the two guards who logged the most minutes for CU, Julian Hammond III (.375) and RJ Smith (.386). However, the Buffs also sorely lacked a playmaker at the point and also lacked a guard who could routinely get to the rim and finish or create.

Hargress more than fits that bill. Moreover, a Buffs team that often faltered at crunch time while starting 0-13 in the Big 12 is adding a player who developed a reputation as one who often stepped up at clutch moments against top opponents.

Hargress averaged a Big West Conference-leading 20.2 points per game, and in UC Riverside’s five games against eventual NCAA Tournament teams, he averaged 24.6 points. Hargress finished with a .329 mark on 3-pointers, but in those five games he went 16-for-40 (.400). Those efforts included a 31-point performance at Colorado State, when his half-court buzzer-beater sent the game into overtime and led to a UC Riverside road win, as well as a career-high 40 points on a 5-for-7 showing from long range against Big West champion UC San Diego.

UC Riverside finished second in the Big West, and in six games against the teams closest to the Highlanders in the standings (UCSD, UC Irvine, CSUN), Hargress averaged 25.8 points and posted a 3-point percentage ahead of his personal curve at .391.

While the Buffs’ guards struggled to make plays around the rim, Hargress shot .516 on 2-pointers. By comparison, Hammond shot .428 on 2-pointers and CU’s other fourth-year guard, Javon Ruffin, shot .430. Smith shot .535 on 2-pointers but did so in a small fraction of the attempts made by Hargress, who had 349 2-point attempts (Smith, who entered the transfer portal and recently committed to DePaul, had 71). Three-pointers accounted for 58.7% of Smith’s overall attempts, while Hargress’ long-range attempts accounted for just 38.6% of his shots.

Rancik recovering

Boyle recently confirmed the injury suffered freshman forward Sebastian Rancik against Houston in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals on March 13 isn’t expected to limit Rancik during summer workouts.

“We dodged a bullet with that one,” Boyle said.

Rancik appeared in 33 of CU’s 35 games with 11 starts, all during Big 12 play. Rancik averaged 5.9 points and 2.8 rebounds while improving down the stretch, posting five of his eight double-figure scoring games during the final seven games of the regular season.

Notable

Former CU guard Courtney Anderson recently committed to Montana. Anderson appeared in just four games totaling 16 minutes as a redshirt freshman before opting for the transfer portal. … The transfer portal for men’s basketball remains open until Tuesday.