Josiah Sanders admits it. Not long ago, he was trying to fight through a freshman wall.
It’s not a barrier that’s easy to break through. Yet Sanders has done just that.
One of three true freshmen who received their first career starts in a win against TCU on Sunday, Sanders pushed those recent struggles even further into the background with his performance in the Buffs’ 87-61 victory.
“I think I had faith,” Sanders said. “I think I stayed in the gym. I stayed talking to my people. You’ve just got to keep working, no matter if I was playing the best basketball of my life or the worst basketball of my life. I got to wake up the next day, I got to get in the gym and get better. I just tried to stay with that. Hopefully I can build off these two games and just keep getting better.”
Prior to last week’s trip to Iowa State, Sanders endured the biggest rut so far of his freshman season. Beginning with CU’s loss at West Virginia on Jan. 17, Sanders went three consecutive games without scoring a point, going 0-for-4 during that stretch with only three rebounds. The run of frustration culminated with Sanders playing a season-low 2 minutes, 52 seconds during CU’s home loss against Central Florida on Jan. 24.
However, during last week’s 30-point loss at Iowa State, Sanders was one of the Buffs’ few individual bright spots. Turning in what, at the time, was his second-longest outing of the season at 21 minutes, Sanders went 3-for-6 with six points and five rebounds, matching his second-highest rebounding total of the season.
The 6-foot-5 guard from Denver was even better against TCU. Inserted into the starting lineup alongside fellow freshmen Jalin Holland and Tacko Ifaola, Sanders made an immediate impact on both ends of the floor and turned in his best all-around performance of the season.
Sanders recorded the first of his season-high six assists on an early 3-pointer by Holland. He then knocked down his own 3-pointer — giving the Buffs an early lead they never relinquished — and promptly forced a TCU turnover on the defensive end of the floor.
Sanders finished 5-for-9 with a season-high 12 points, playing a season-high 26:55. With six assists and only one turnover, Sanders improved his assist-to-turnover rate to 1.94 (35 assists, 18 turnovers).
Although the next starting lineup won’t be revealed until the Buffs hit the floor again on Wednesday at Baylor (5 p.m. MT, Peacock), chances are forwards Bangot Dak and Sebastian Rancik will return to the starting five, while Sanders and Holland return to their bench roles. But all the rookies pressed into action showed they’re making strides as the Buffs near the midpoint of the Big 12 schedule.
“I was really, really proud of the way they responded,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “The thing that’s nice to see (with Sanders), he’s starting to figure out who he is right now. It’s interesting, I had a meeting with all of our players the last week, and I remember talking to some of those freshmen, ‘Who you are today as a freshman is not who you’re gonna be maybe next year as a sophomore.’ But you have to understand who you are today.
“So many of these guys, they want to do what they can’t do. Or try to do what they struggle at doing. No reason to do that. Don’t show people what you can’t do, show them what you can do. And (Sanders) can defend, he can rebound, he plays with energy, toughness. He made his first three, but didn’t fall in love with the three. Jalin Holland, the same way. To me, that shows progress from those freshmen.”