J’Vonne Hadley’s performance so far this season certainly counts as a welcome gift to fans of the Colorado men’s basketball team.
Was Hadley a pleasant surprise for CU’s coaching staff? Compared to when the Buffs first signed Hadley in May, yes. Compared to when he started turning heads in training, not at all.
As the Buffaloes enjoy a holiday break before resuming Pac-12 Conference play at Stanford on Thursday (9 p.m. MT, ESPNU), Hadley did more than just ease the transition for CU after losing Jabari Walker, the league’s leading rebounder last season. . Hadley has a chance to give the Buffs another league-leading rebounder this season, and he’s having an impact far beyond what was originally expected of a junior college transfer.
“I’m not that surprised, considering how much work I’ve put in,” Hadley said. “I’m just happy that it shows, finally. It’s kind of just about working and hoping for the best. It turned out that it kinda worked for me. I appreciate that and thank God for that. I’ll just stick to my roots.
Hadley is only two and a half years out of high school in St. Paul, Minnesota, but her college career has already been rocky. He first joined Northeastern, playing just 79 minutes in 13 games off the bench during the 2020-21 season. Hadley joined Indian Hills Community College last year and has blossomed over the years, averaging 17.5 points and 8.1 rebounds over the past 14 games.
Hadley had already established a relationship with CU associate head coach Mike Rohn. The combination of Walker making his departure official and the Buffs losing rookie Bobi Klintman to an academic compliance issue opened the door for Hadley.
“You never know when you sign junior players. But I knew even from our practices in the fall, J’Vonne was going to be a huge part of this team,” CU head coach Tad said. Boyle: “Then when you start playing five-on-five he sort of separates. I wouldn’t say it was a surprise. Maybe it was a surprise the moment we signed him. But since we had the chance to work with him, he didn’t surprise us.
“He surprised me in September. It was like Christmas in September.
Hadley recently ended a torrid five-game streak, but perhaps it’s the way he made valuable contributions in the last two games, when his finishing touch around the edge was off, that illustrates the overall impact by Hadley.
After missing two games with a right shoulder injury, Hadley returned to the lineup against Yale and continued to dominate, shooting .759 (22 for 29) while averaging 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds over the next five games. Hadley went cold in the next two games (4-for-11 vs. Northern Colorado, 3-for-8 vs. Southern Utah) but was no less effective. Hadley still nearly produced a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds (plus three assists) against Northern Colorado. He followed that with six points, eight rebounds, two steals, one assist and no turnovers in over 34 minutes against Southern Utah.
“It’s something I’m proud of too,” Hadley said. “Bouncing defensively, just bouncing in general, and just being active and being part of the team. I’m not really the biggest scorer. I don’t need to go out there and score 30 points. My biggest thing I’m proud of is trying to affect the game in some way. I try to be the most vocal guy on the court. I dive for the balls. I deflect the balls. balls. I bounce. I do a lot of little things that few people like to do. I like to affect games in ways other than scoring.
