As his collegiate playing days were winding down, Evan Battey made it clear he wanted to be a coach someday.
Specifically, Battey said it would be a dream come true to eventually return to his alma mater to lead the Colorado Buffaloes.
As it turns out, that coaching journey will begin exactly where those collegiate playing days ended.
On Monday, CU men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle announced the addition of Battey to his staff as an assistant coach/quality control analyst.
“There’s no better Buff in my mind from head to toe than Evan Battey,” Boyle said in a release. “He loves the University of Colorado. He loves what it did for him and he’s a kid that wants to just give back and being a coach is the best way to do that. He’s going to bring a lot of knowledge about playing college basketball and representing the University of Colorado. He will have the ability to impart the wisdom that he’s learned through his years as a player both at CU and as a professional. He’s helped impart that on the players in our program and he’s going to be able to sell our program.”
Battey ended his CU career in 2022 as one of the most popular Buffs in recent memory. He spent the 2022-23 season playing professionally in Bulgaria and spent this past season with the Lugano Tigers in Switzerland, averaging 19.1 points and 8.0 rebounds in 26 games.
Battey battled through major adversity during his freshman year at CU in 2017-18, getting forced into a redshirt season due to an academic technicality before suffering a significant stroke that winter. Yet Battey returned to be a model of consistency over the next four seasons, playing in 133 games (fourth all-time at CU) with 108 starts (eighth).
Battey is ranked 20th on CU’s all-tine scoring list (1,307) and 18th on the all-time rebounding list (667). He is one of only 12 players in program history to collect at least 1,300 points and 600 rebounds. As a fifth-year senior in 2021-22, Battey was a second team All-Pac-12 selection after averaging 12.4 points and 4.7 rebounds with a .488 3-point percentage.
With Battey in the lineup, the Buffs reached the 2019 NIT quarterfinals as well as the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Battey and the Buffs were in line for an NCAA bid in 2020 as well before the tournament was canceled at the start of the COVID pandemic, and his 88 wins in a CU uniform are the most by an individual player in program history.
In his new role, Battey will be able to recruit on the road in addition to his duties on the floor. In 2022, Boyle said he would’ve considered Battey for his staff’s the then-vacant role of director of player development if Battey had not opted to begin a professional playing career.
“It’s so surreal,” Battey said in a release from CU. “Having the experience of playing here and the experience of forming relationships with the coaches, staff and community and then to be welcomed back with such open arms … it’s been great.
“I’ll bring the energy, the emotion, the experience. Just coming from a place that I can relate to the players we have now, in being a former player. I know what they’re going through, and I can add insight and perspective. A lot of communication with the guys. I just want to make sure these guys have the best experience they can have in college basketball.”
