It's been a year now since Jeff Bzdelik rolled up his sleeves and began the task of attempting to build a competitive basketball program at Colorado.

One 12-20 season later, Bzdelik's approach hasn't changed. CU's coach is still fiercely confident that he will do what no one has been able to do at CU in more than 40 years.

Win. Not just once in a while, not just non-league games, but consistently. Recruit good students, good players and build a foundation that will support a program that is annually in the mix for an NCAA Tournament berth.

It's not a job for the faint of heart. Definitely not a task for that breed of coaches who prefer daily tee times to daily recruiting calls.

And certainly not one for anyone who has even a shred of doubt about his abilities or those of his staff.

Bzdelik has no doubts.

"If people stay with us, we'll turn this thing around," Bzdelik said Thursday morning. "But it's not going to happen overnight."

Still, Bzdelik believes concrete progress has been made in his first 12 months.

Facilities have improved dramatically, with more improvement on the immediate horizon. Coaches have moved into the new basketball offices, the locker room renovation is almost complete, and construction on a weight room should begin soon.

And, plans for a practice facility are ahead of schedule.

"Bud Peterson, Mike Bohn, Tom McGrath and Tom McGann have been absolutely awesome," Bzdelik said of the CU administrators. "Everything that Bud and Mike said to me when wetalked about this job, they've delivered."

Other areas have also improved. CU's offseason conditioning and training program has been stepped up, and the team's academic performance has improved dramatically over the last regime.

But perhaps most importantly, Bzdelik is building a foundation of players.

His players.

No doubt, there have been questions concerning the rapid attrition rate within the program since his arrival. Unless Jeremy Williams has a change of heart and decides to return to CU next fall, the number of players who will have left the program since Bzdelik's arrival will be seven.

If Bzdelik had recruited those players, concern would be merited. It is no doubt disconcerting when a coach brings players on campus, then decides they are no longer a fit.

But fact is, Bzdelik didn't recruit those players -- and most of them had no business on a Big 12 team. That may sound harsh, but you only need to see where they landed upon leaving Colorado.

They aren't at BCS-conference schools today.

In their places are players who do belong in the same conference as Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas State. Players who received offers from the likes of Gonzaga, Tennessee, Minnesota, Washington State, Arizona State and UNLV.

Simply, programs that are familiar with the college hoops postseason.

"I'm excited," Bzdelik said. "I'm don't think I'm going to have to coach effort next year. I'm confident that you're going to see some real skill out there."

Of course, that's by no means a guarantee of dramatic improvement right away. While it's not unfair to expect an improvement over last year's record, the reality is that Bzdelik could be starting two sophomores (Casey Crawford and Cory Higgins) and three freshmen next season (we'll take a guess at Austin Dufault, Nate Tomlinson and Toby Veal).

Three starting freshmen in the Big 12 isn't exactly a recipe for success.

But give next year's team a season of baptism under fire, and it's also not unrealistic to expect a team that could be competitive in the Big 12 as soon as the 2009-10 season. That's also the season that we should see in a big hurry how much the Buffs have actually matured. CU is scheduled to play in the Maui Invitational that year against a field that will also include Arizona, Wisconsin, Louisville and Gonzaga.

But that's still the distant future. Directly ahead for Bzdelik and his staff is a summer of more recruiting, helping the new players get acquainted in a hurry and doing their best to push the maturation process as fast as possible.

"I said when I got here that I didn't have a magic wand," Bzdelik said. "But we've got a fighting chance here now."

Given CU's history, even a fighting chance is a step in the right direction.