CU Buffs big man Eddie Lampkin Jr. relishing biggest opportunity of college career
INDIANAPOLIS — The first time Tad Boyle saw Eddie Lampkin Jr. will always stick with him.
It was two summers ago when Boyle was coaching with USA Basketball and getting ready to lead the U18 team at the FIBA Americas Cup. They held a training camp down in Houston and got some local college and pro players to come scrimmage against the crop of young players.
One of them was Lampkin, who was a 21-year-old coming off his sophomore season at TCU. Only Boyle thought he was 26 or 27 and just back in his hometown after a professional season overseas.
“One of the guys on our staff said, ‘No, that’s Eddie Lampkin, who’s at TCU,’” Boyle recalled Saturday. “All I thought to myself was, ‘Don’t schedule TCU’ because this dude’s a problem.”
A year later, Lampkin was in the transfer portal and Colorado was one of the first teams to reach out to him. Now, less than 12 months since Lampkin signed on to play for the Buffaloes, he’s one of the biggest pieces to a No. 10 seed CU team that has a chance to reach its first Sweet 16 in 55 years with a win on Sunday vs. No. 2 seed Marquette.
The Buffs are at their best when playing through Lampkin. Case in point, Friday’s first round game against No. 7 Florida. Not only did Lampkin score 21 points on an efficient 8-for-14 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line, but he also dished out five assists, one off his career-high.
Of all the improvements Lampkin has made in his lone season at CU, it’s his free throw shooting that’s impressed his coach the most.
“To see him put in the work and to see him succeed, because that’s something he’s struggled with in the past,” Boyle said. “I don’t even think about him missing free throws. I expect them to go in now, and I think he does, too. I’m really, really proud of him.”
Four years into his college career, it’s the most involved he’s ever been offensively.
“This is the most I’ve ever touched the ball with (us) playing through me at the top of the key or down low,” Lampkin told The Denver Gazette. “I just have a feel for the ball. If I’ve got a feel for the ball, I can make a lot of shots.”
With the way he’s been playing recently — averaging nearly 12 points and seven rebounds over the last 11 games in which CU is 10-1 — he’s getting double-teamed on a regular basis, rivaling the other big man that plays in the state of Colorado, Nikola Jokic.
Like the Nuggets’ two-time MVP, Lampkin has a knack sensing when a double team is going to come and likes to keep his dribble until the last possible second, preferring to pass off the dribble when he can.
Although he says you can never know what you’re getting from a player until they get on campus, Boyle said it didn’t take long last summer to realize that they had a pretty special weapon on offense.
“It’s nice for guards and perimeter players to know that if they throw it to him, they’re not throwing it into a black hole,” Boyle said. “And there’s some post guys who when they get it, they’re shooting it and it’s a black hole. Eddie’s is not that. He is a willing passer.
“So, he creates double teams because he’s so big and strong and when he creates double teams and he passes outs of ’em, we’re playing advantage basketball.”
If the Buffs get past Marquette on Sunday, Lampkin will play a big part. He’s just hoping to create a few memories with a team and a fan base that has accepted him for who he is almost instantly.
“They brought me in as family quick,” Lampkin said. “It’s just crazy that it happened that quick. I was a fan favorite at TCU and now it’s the same thing here. I love it.
“I feel like if we win the next one, we can keep going and almost win this thing. That’s all that really matters.”
THE MATCHUP
No. 10 Colorado vs. No. 2 Marquette
CU’s starting lineup
PG KJ Simpson (19.7 points per game, 5.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists. 1.6 steals, 44.1% 3-pointers, 87.6% free throws)
SG J’Vonne Hadley (11.7 points, 6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 53.9% field goals, 42.2% 3-pointers)
SF Luke O’Brien (6.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 46.5% field goals, 39.2% 3-pointers)
PF Tristan da Silva (16 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 49.2% field goals, 39.4% 3-pointers)
C Eddie Lampkin Jr. (10.6 points, 7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 57.6% field goals, 65.8% free throws)
CU’s coach: Tad Boyle: (14th season, 298-182 overall, 4-5 NCAA Tournament)
Marquette’s starting lineup
PG Tyler Kolek (15.1 points per game, 7.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 48.8% field goals, 40% 3-pointers, 86.2% free throws)
SG Stevie Mitchell (9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 52.9% field goals, 77.2% free throws)
SF Kam Jones (17.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals, 50.2% field goals, 41.5% 3-pointers)
PF David Joplin (10.9 points, 4 rebounds, 41% field goals, 36.8% 3-pointers)
C Oso Ighodaro (13.7 points, 7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 57.6% field goals)
Marquette’s coach: Shaka Smart (3rd season, 74-29 overall, 2-2 NCAA Tournament)
How Marquette got here: Five of the Golden Eagles’ nine losses this season have come against UConn, Creighton and Purdue — three of the top teams remaining in March Madness. Outside of those games, Marquette is 26-4. Long story short, this team has been a juggernaut. All-American point guard Tyler Kolek is the key to it all, but this is a deep team that can beat you in a variety of different ways, whether it’s with Kolek and Kam Jones hoisting 3-pointers on the perimeter or with the likes of Stevie Mitchell and Oso Ighodaro powering their way to the rim. Shaka Smart’s team is a legit threat to get to the Final Four.
King’s prediction: Marquette 77, Colorado 71
Tip-off: 10:10 a.m. (CBS)
