Ricardo Patton called it the best recruiting class of his tenure at Colorado.

Seven freshmen -- Kal Bay, James Inge, Sean Kowal, Xavier Silas, Dwight Thorne, Marc Van Burck and Jeremy Williams -- arrived in Boulder two years ago believing they were the future of Buffs basketball.

But just before the 2006-07 campaign began, Patton announced that he would not seek a contract extension and would be leaving CU after completing his 11th season as the head coach.

Former Denver Nuggets and Air Force head coach Jeff Bzdelik was hired to rebuild the program, which had gone from a 20-win season in 2005-06 to a 20-loss season in Patton's lame duck finale.

Two years later, Thorne is the only member of his recruiting class still in the program. The other six players have all transferred for a variety of reasons.

Thorne admits that the coaching change was "stressful" at times, but after surviving Bzdelik's culture change he is very excited about the direction CU basketball is headed in and his role as a leader on and off the court.

"I'm a lot more comfortable," Thorne said. "Last year Coach was making a lot of changes and sometimes I wasn't sure if I was going to be here.

"Now I'm one of the last men standing from my recruiting class."

Junior walk-on Trent Beckley also remains a member of the team. Senior Jermyl Jackson-Wilson and sophomore Levi Knutson are the only other Patton recruits still on scholarship.

Thorne believed he was a good fit for Bzdelik's version of the Princeton offense from the beginning, but a bum knee plagued him throughout the 2007-08 season.

About a week after scoring 14 key points off the bench in CU's 91-84 double-overtime victory over Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament, the 6-3 guard from Arlington, Texas, had surgery for a torn meniscus and had 12 ounces of fluid drained from the knee.

"It took a while to get back in the full swing of things, but the knee is getting stronger every day," Thorne said. "I'm definitely going to be a step quicker, a step faster."

Despite seeing two roommates and close friends, Silas and Williams, transfer from CU at the end of the spring semester, Thorne is more confident with his status in the program.

"My role is to be the guy that Coach depends on," Thorne said. "I want to be the guy who Coach, no matter what he needs, can trust and count on."

The Buffs lose three key seniors from last season, including point guard Marcus Hall and shooting guard Richard Roby, the team's two leading scorers. With five freshmen set to join the program by the fall -- including promising Australian point guard Nate Tomlinson -- Thorne is suddenly one of CU's more experienced players.

"This is going to be a big year for me. I feel like I'm going to be in more of a leadership role," Thorne said. "But the funny thing is I'm a junior and I'm 19. Some of those guys who are sophomores are 20 and 21. I think we're going to have a good combination of veteran players and young players."

Thorne, who will turn 20 on Sept. 23, will have to carry the banner alone at CU for Patton's best recruiting class.