LAS VEGAS — Tristan da Silva remains confident he is on the right path. And that path soon will lead to basketball paychecks, whether it’s in the NBA or back home in Germany.
For now, though, da Silva is happy to be back in Boulder for one more season with the Colorado Buffaloes.
Despite getting picked fifth in the preseason media poll, the hype train is beginning to ramp up for coach Tad Boyle’s club. Da Silva isn’t the only reason why. But he’s a big one.
Representing the Buffs, alongside guard KJ Simpson, at CU’s final appearance at the Pac-12 men’s basketball media day at the Park MGM on Wednesday, da Silva spoke of his decision to return to CU after testing his potential draft stock during the NBA pre-draft evaluation process.
The NBA wasn’t the only option for da Silva, who could have begun his pro career overseas. Instead, he hopes to end his CU career in similar fashion to how it began when the Buffs reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the end of his freshman season of 2020-21.
“It was a long evaluation process. I talked to a lot of former teammates, my family and friends, coaches, the people that I work with over the summer,” da Silva said. “Ultimately it got to a point where I recognized the position I could play myself into this coming year will put me in a better position to get where I want to be next year. It was an easy decision at the end to come back to Colorado. I stand by that and it was the right decision for me.”
Playing as CU’s primary offensive option for the first time last season, da Silva emerged as one of the top all-around players in the Pac-12. He ranked sixth in the league at 15.9 points a game (finishing just a few fractions ahead of Simpson) and was on the cusp of recording a top-10 mark in team history from the 3-point line until an 0-for-4 outing from the arc in the finale left da Silva with a .394 mark. Da Silva shot .496 overall and averaged 4.8 rebounds, a mark head coach Tad Boyle believes will improve this year.
Da Silva’s steady development provides another example of the program template Boyle has set throughout a CU tenure now going into its 14th season.
“Tristan da Silva is what college basketball is all about,” Boyle said. “To me, he’s one of the top players in the college game today. If he’s not top 10, he’s certainly top 20. I’ll go to war with him every night. He’s gotten better every year. He’s worked on his body every year. He’s committed. He could’ve left. He could be playing in Germany for a lot of money right now, but he wanted to finish what he started. We’re thankful that he did.”
At 6-foot-9 with a soft shooting touch, da Silva typifies the sort of versatile, all-around athlete that has sparked this year’s shift to a five-out offensive attack. He is CU’s top returning 3-point shooter, yet he is equally adept at taking advantage of size mismatches to score inside. Da Silva’s on-court leadership, along with Simpson, also will help alleviate the pressure of expectations from highly-touted freshman Cody Williams.
“A lot of people told me I’m on the right path, working myself up to being on the Pac-12 first team last year, and kind of leading my team to where we were,” da Silva said. “I’ve just got to keep working on the stuff I working on — keep (being) versatile, and keep improving in all aspects of the game. That’s what I’m trying to do and that’s the goal for this year. I feel like I’m on the right path.”
