Should Jeremy Williams decide to become the seventh Ricardo Patton recruit to leave Colorado in the last year, the new coaching staff will view the talented forward as the one who got away.

CU head coach Jeff Bzdelik said on Thursday that he wants to see Williams -- who returned home to Memphis on Monday to think about his future -- come back to Boulder for summer school to get himself academically eligible.

Even if it benefits another program.

Bzdelik thinks a lot of the 6-7 sophomore who made progress in the classroom while redshirting last season. If Williams did the necessary work this summer to make himself eligible he could either play for the Buffs or at least leave the program in good academic standing, which would lessen the blow to CU's already sagging APR.

"As far as Jeremy, there is no answer right now," Bzdelik said. "To my knowledge he has never officially asked for a release (of his scholarship). He currently is still not eligible. But we have extended ourselves to him to continue to work with him the best we can to see if we can get it right academically. He is a wonderful young man that we want to help."

Williams has three years of eligibility remaining with the Buffs but will have two years at another school. His mother told the Camera last week that at least six other coaches had called her inquiring about her son's situation, which is an NCAA violation if true.

"I'm not going to worry about that," Bzdelik said when asked if he would like the NCAA to investigate. "I justwant to help the young man for all the right reasons whether it be for here or whatever he wants to do. We want him, but he's got to want to be here, too."

CU's now second-year head coach met with members of the media to discuss all things Buffs basketball, including:

The non-conference

schedule

The Buffs will be hosting Colorado State, Harvard, Louisiana-Lafayette, Montana State and TCU at the Coors Events Center. CU will play at Stanford, at SMU and at the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu against a field that includes Hawaii, Clemson, Pepperdine, George Washington, Coppin State, Vermont and CSU.

CU and CSU will be placed on opposite sides of the bracket during the Christmas tournament in paradise since they are already scheduled to play in Boulder.

Bzdelik took Wyoming and Denver off the schedule for a year in order to balance the Front Range slate. He will not continue the series with Air Force because of his friendship with Falcons head coach Jeff Reynolds.

"I'm not going to avoid them. I'll play anybody," Bzdelik said on the subject of local rivals. "Air Force though is the exception. Jeff Reynolds and I aren't going to play one another. Our friendship is too deep and we're just not going to do it. That's one exception."

Wyoming and DU have verbal agreements to visit Boulder during the 2009-10 season when CU travels to play CSU in Fort Collins.

Also, the Buffs will not play any exhibition games this season. Instead, CU will conduct two intense, closed-door scrimmages against prominent programs.

Before last season, Texas scrimmaged against NCAA Tournament darling Davidson, which benefited both programs. Bzdelik's last Air Force squad scrimmaged USC before that season.

Fancy new digs

Bzdelik gave a tour of the new facilities, which include a state-of-the-art production room where film can be broken down precisely and then sent to all of the coaches and players for game preparation.

The new men's locker room at the Coors Events Center -- which will include a players' lounge with flat-screen televisions, a study table, new lockers and a cold tub for rehab -- should be completed in the next two weeks or so.

There are also plans for a new weight room inside the Coors Events Center, and the practice facility Bzdelik's contract calls for by his third season is ahead of schedule in terms of the planning and fundraising.

The recruiting trail

Bzdelik has signed five promising freshmen-to-be to letters of intent and they will all be counted on in 2008-09. As many as three freshmen could be in the starting lineup, along with sophomores Casey Crawford and Cory Higgins.

The coaching staff doesn't expect to have any problems getting the group -- which consists of Nate Tomlinson, Austin Dufault, Trey Eckloff, Toby Veal and Ryan Kelley -- enrolled at CU.

Tomlinson, who will be in his native Australia working out (his father is the coach of a professional team Down Under), is the only member of the class who will not be spending part of his summer on campus in Boulder.

"We've got a fighting chance here now," Bzdelik said, referring to the support from the athletic department and donors that has led to the upgrade in facilities. "And that's why we've been able to recruit an Austin Dufault from the Pac-10 and Big 10. It's why we were able to get Toby Veal from the ACC and Southeastern Conference. It's why we were able to get Nate away from Tennessee and UNLV. It's why we're able to be involved with some of the kids we're involved with."

The Buffs have at least two more scholarships to give for this signing period, which ends on May 21, but Bzdelik will likely bank them for the 2009 class.

"We're going to be very particular," Bzdelik said. "If someone surfaces that's an impact player we'll use one. Otherwise, we're working hard for the early signing date next November."

Aussie rules

Bzdelik, who recently made a trip to Australia and New Zealand to scout talent, received some help from former Metro State head coach and Denver Nuggets assistant Mike Dunlap in making contacts Down Under.

"Mike Dunlap paved the way for us. Although, now he's at Arizona so he'll be paving his own way," Bzdelik said.

Dunlap, who took his name out of consideration for the CU job when it came open, officially left the Nuggets Thursday to become Lute Olsen's top assistant and likely successor with the Wildcats.

Buffs assistant Derrick Clark, who served as an assistant to Dunlap at Metro State and played professionally in Australia, still has plenty of mates CU can call on for help on the long recruiting trail.

APR concerns

CU has not met the NCAA's standards for the current four-year cycle of the APR, but Bzdelik believes the program will be more stable and in good overall academic standing with the players he has been able to bring in.

"We're making progress there," Bzdelik said. "You have to take what we need to accomplish academically with a young team into account as you build the schedule. Whereas last year we were all over the map."

Local talent

Bzdelik and his staff will host an "elite" camp at CU on June 21 and 22 that they hope will include the top players in grades 8-11 from Colorado and surrounding states. The invitees will receive individual instruction, learn offensive and defensive concepts, and get to play a lot of basketball during the two-day event.