Interview: CU Forward Evan Battey
Welcome to a very special edition in our series of interviews with CU student-athletes. Joining me for this episode is senior forward Evan Battey. The emotional leader of Tad Boyle\u2019s Buffs, Evan spoke with me just a few days removed from one of the most memorable games in CU history, a 79-63 win over No. 2 Arizona.\xa0We could have spent the entire interview on the Arizona game, but there is so much more to Evan\u2019s story. He talks openly about his fight with the California athletic system, which didn\u2019t allow him to play his senior year of high school. If that wasn\u2019t enough, Evan lost another bout the following year, this time with the NCAA, which decreed he had to sit out a red-shirt year rather than play as a true freshman. Oh, and yes, Evan suffered a stroke during Christmas break of his freshman year.Any one of those events would have been enough to discourage any young man, but, instead of using those setbacks as an excuse, Evan used them as a motivation to become one of the most popular players in CU history.\xa0We\u2019ll talk about Evan\u2019s first standing ovation, coming as he stood alone to shoot a free throw at the end of the half of CU\u2019s NIT victory over Norfolk State. Then there was the collision with Stanford\u2019s Oscar de Silva in Evan\u2019s sophomore year, and the emotional and touching way both teams handled the scary moments after de Silva\u2019s injury.\xa0This season, with a young team to guide, Evan has been a leader both on and off the court. We talk about his leadership, the ups and downs of this season\u2019s Pac-12 campaign, culminating in a Senior Day which Tad Boyle said could not have been scripted any better.\xa0So ... What was it like to be recruited by Tad Boyle, and be a part of a recruiting Class which included Tyler Bey, DeShawn Schwartz, and McKinley Wright? Why is it that Evan doesn\u2019t feel completely comfortable with being called the \u201cMayor of Boulder?\u201d ... And what was Evan\u2019s response when Tad Boyle offered him a job with the team for next season?\xa0Let\u2019s find out ...