What is the Colorado men's basketball team going to look like next year?

Jeff Bzdelik is asked the question all the time and consistently answers it this way:

"We're going to be really young, but I think eventually we're going to be really good. We could very well be starting three freshmen and two sophomores."

So how does the only senior in the program -- Jermyl Jackson-Wilson -- feel when he hears this statement? This is an intelligent, athletic, hard-working player who is quickly running out of eligibility.

"It doesn't bother me," said Jackson-Wilson, who made 21 starts last season. "I didn't start in high school. I came off the bench as the sixth man, so that never really bothered me. What's important to me is being in for the key moments in the game. Being in when decisions need to be made, when it's (crunch) time. In the last minute of the game, when it's a tie game, I want to be in that part of the game. When you have to implement things coach said in practice and you may not be able to hear him on the court, that's when Iwant to be in.

"If he starts three freshmen and two sophomores, so be it. As long as I work hard enough to give myself the possibility of being in at the end of the game."

Since transferring to CU from Ohio State, Jackson-Wilson has played for two head coaches and endured back-to-back 20 loss seasons.

So while the future may be looking a little brighter for the program with a promising five-man freshmen class set to arrive, Jackson-Wilson is running out of patience when it comes to the scoreboard.

"I'd like to implement the rule -- the only rule that we should have -- that we will not lose," Jackson-Wilson said. "I don't want a season like we've had the past two years. I don't want to lose anymore. I'm tired of losing."

Of course a year ago Richard Roby, Marcus Hall and Marcus King-Stockton were saying the exact same thing. And, despite working and playing hard for the new coaching staff, the Buffs failed to get out of the Big 12 basement during the 2007-08 campaign.

Jackson-Wilson, who has already been mentoring freshmen Trey Eckloff and Austin Dufault on campus this summer, believes having a young team will actually speed up the process of winning. This year all of the players in the program will be on board with Bzdelik, whereas last season some of the older players were obviously not on the same page as the new bench boss.

"Young doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be hard or that it's going to be bad," Jackson-Wilson said. "A lot of times when you have a lot of older guys they think they know everything. I'm older than a lot of guys, but I don't think I know everything. I still know I can learn a lot of things."

Three years ago, while sitting out his first season at CU per NCAA transfer rules, Jackson-Wilson watched closely as a 10-man senior class led the Buffs to a 20-win season. But ultimately, a late-season slide cost Ricardo Patton a third NCAA Tournament berth and likely a contract extension.

"The younger guys come in and they might make some mistakes, but at least they're trying to learn," Jackson-Wilson said. "I think it will be a lot easier than having a bunch of older guys saying, 'Oh, we've been here before so we're not going to listen to the coach.' ...

"It should be a little easier than when you have 10 seniors and everybody's like, 'Oh, it's my last year, I have to get mine now.' "

Last season Roby led the team in scoring (17.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 ppg). Hall was second in scoring (14.0 ppg), had 55 more assists than anyone else on the team and averaged a staggering 37.6 minutes per game. And King-Stockton contributed by erasing a lot of defensive mistakes with 49 blocked shots.

Jackson-Wilson says all three players will have to be replaced by committee.

"I don't necessarily think one scorer will replace Rich or one point guard will replace Marcus Hall. And I don't know anybody who's going to average five blocks in the Big 12 Tournament like Marcus King-Stockton did," Jackson-Wilson said. "But with the depth we have, maybe Dwight (Thorne) and Nate (Tomlinson) will replace Marcus Hall. And maybe Austin, Cory Higgins and myself, or anybody, will pick up the slack of scoring that Rich left. I think defense is collective, so maybe we'll all help out with defense."

Jackson-Wilson was second on the team in rebounding (4.4 per game) last season but only averaged 4.7 points in 19.1 minutes. Getting open looks wasn't the problem, taking the shot was.

Not surprisingly, knocking down the mid-range jumper has been the offseason focus for the 6-foot-6 forward.

"A lot of guys were sagging on me this past year, leaving me wide open. That was kind of disrespectful," Jackson-Wilson said. "Now I want them to know they're going to have to hold better defense on me because I'll hit the shot. I could hit it last year, but I'll be looking to knock it down more this year."

After splitting minutes with King-Stockton at center for most of the season, Jackson-Wilson was moved to the power forward spot down the stretch and seemed to play at a higher level. This season he's hoping to stay at the four position with 6-9 redshirt sophomore Casey Crawford expected to be the starting five man.

Dufault, Eckloff and Toby Veal should also be competing for significant minutes in the rotation. The loss of Jeremy Williams and Caleb Patterson, who both transferred after the spring semester, hurts the overall depth of the team up front.

On paper, the Buffs' probably won't experience much madness in March until at least 2010. That statement simply isn't good enough for the program's only senior.

"I just want to get to the NCAA Tournament ... I want to be on that 'One Shining Moment' video," Jackson-Wilson said. "Even if we're a Cinderella story, that would be just amazing. Especially me being the lone senior. It would be just a good note to go out on."