Jeff Bzdelik continues to add more players to try and right the ship, this time it is JUCO transfer Marcus Relphorde. Relphorde, the 6'7" 225 pound wing/guard combo, played at Indian Hills Community College last season and will have three years to play two at Colorado. Relphorde was being recruited by Arkansas, TCU and Colorado. Marcus would be the fifth incomer this year to go along with 6-11 Shane Harris-Tunks from Australia, 6-6 Keegan Hornbuckle of Los Angeles and 6-5 Alec Burks of Grandview (Mo.) and 6-0 Shannon Sharpe of Corona (CA). And we thought last year's team was young. This should end this year's recruitment for Bzdelik as this most recent scholarship was opened up by the departure of freshman G Ryan Kelley.

In 2007, Relphorde officially signed a letter of intent with the St. Louis Billikens and played one year there. Here is how the article from the St. Louis website described Relphorde at the time of his commitment:

Relphorde played at Homewood-Flossmoor in Chicago before attending American Christian School in Alston, Pa. last year. He scored 13 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out 3.5 assists per game. At Flossmoor, Relphorde helped the Vikings to a 27-4 record and a spot in the Illinois Supersectionals in 2004-05. He played on that team with current Kansas sophomore Julian Wright, who has declared for the NBA Draft this summer.

"Marcus is a tremendous signee for this program," Soderberg said. "He has the `hard to find' combination of size, skill and agility. I am not exaggerating when I say he has the ability to play all four perimeter positions equally well and, if necessary, could probably do some damage in the post. Marcus is unique in that he has the size and strength necessary to defend lane players yet quick enough feet to defend perimeter players. He poses match-up problems for opposing defenses because he can score both inside and out. He is a great passer with a very good feel on the offensive end."

I like the versatility that Relphorde brings to the program and hopefully his 6'7" size can cause matchup problems on the perimeter. Last year at Indian Hills C.C., he averaged 10.6 ppg and shot a +40% from downtown. He was named honorable mention All-Region team in the 2008 - 2009 season and Indian Hills, considered a powerhouse in the community college ranks, finished 30 - 3.

In 2007/2008, his freshman year at St.. Louis University, Relphorde played sparingly in 21 games, averaging 4.3 min/game and 1.0 point/game.  Relphorde transferred from St. Louis around the time that Rick Majerus took over the helm, along with three other St. Louis players.

The good thing about this signing was it continues to fill in the gaps for each class, something that both Dan Hawkins and Jeff Bzdelik say is important in developing a successful program. Both football and basketball are really one year away from getting the right distribution of players between classes. Here is how the Buffs current roster will breakdown:

Incoming Freshmen: Shane Harris-Tunks, Keegan Hornbuckle, Alec Burks and Shannon Sharpe.
Sophomores: Nate Tomlinson, Austin DuFault, Toby Veal and Trey Eckloff
Juniors: Casey Crawford, Levi Knutson, Cory Higgins and Marcus Relaphorde
Senior: Dwight Thorne

Here are a few short videos of Relphorde after the jump...

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• Sharpe averaged 17.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg and 7.7 apg his senior year at Corona Centennial H.S.
• First team Division 2 All CIF selection his senior year (2008). Until 2008, Sharp was a sixth man averaging less than 6.0 ppg.
• During his recruitment in early 2008, rivals.com listed the 6'0" 190 pound guard with having offers from Fresno State, Pepperdine, New Orleans, Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge and Montana State. It looked like Sharpe was going to commit to either Pepperdine or Fresno State last July but after that, I am not sure what happened.
  
• A self described 6'0" point guard with great hops and athletic ability. More of an uptempo guard that likes to get things moving, something that might be a challenge in Bzdelik's offensive scheme but something most Buff fans welcome. 
• Playing for the Compton Magic (traveling team - look at some of the alumni on that page), he received tons of notoriety, in one such case at a tournament in Las Vegas where his offensive skills weren't the only thing on display:

Point guard Shannon Sharpe (Senior, Corona, Calif./Corona Centennial) absolutely changed the game with his defensive effort against aggressive the Celtics' Trae Golden (Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern), shutting down Golden's penetration to the hoop.

• The same article offers up these scouting notes on Sharpe from the tournament (they also added three inches to him):

Shannon Sharpe, 6-3, PG
Senior, Corona, Calif./Corona Centennial
Sharpe has very good lateral quickness, long arms and good strength that he uses to control the game on the defensive end. He slides his feet well and rarely comes out of his defensive stance, all while applying outstanding ball pressure. He hustles all over the court and has a nose for the ball. Sharpe has great energy and plays passing lanes for steals well.

• Another article from ESPN on Sharpe's Compton Magic team
  
• BallisLife.com called Shannon Sharpe their "surprise player of the summer:"

Here is the our surprise player of the summer: Shannon Sharpe. Sharpe who just graduated high school this year, caught our attention at the Pangos All West Camp a week ago by his athletisism and his overall play, especially his hustle and defense. Sharpe has no problem taking it to the hole, matter of fact that's what he likes to do best (we didn't see him shooting much), he has great athletisism and he uses it well to his advantage, he never gives up on a play, plays tremendous D and NEVER complains.

• And if you haven't seen Sharpe's jam fest on our post yesterday, make sure you check that out. These videos are pretty sensational and have definitely been widely spread all over the net.

It hasn't been confirmed by any Denver media based papers but according to pe.com, G Shannon Sharpe will be wearing the black and gold next year for Jeff Bzdelik. From an earlier post:

3-3 NR (AP) NR (USA Today)

December 10 , 2008 Who: Colorado Buffaloes vs. Colorado State Rams Where: Coors Event Center (Boulder, CO) 8:07 pm MT TV: FSN Rocky Mountain Radio: AM 760 Live Stats: ESPN.com Line: Buffs by 3.5

3-5 NR (AP) NR (USA Today)

Tonight, the 3 - 3 Colorado Buffaloes welcome rival CSU from the Mountain West Conference. This is the second straight game against a Mountain West Conference team and let's hope tonight goes a little better than the last performance. The talk about this Buffs team after last week was an apparent lack of heart and determination against a bad TCU team. The Buffs were missing freshman guard Nate Tomlinson due to a leg injury but he will be back tonight, hopefully in affect fashion. See today's Buff Bites with more information about tonight's game. CSU comes into tonight's game 3 - 5, on a three game losing streak against San Francisco, Nevada and Boise State. The Rams have not won on the road yet this season and were picked to be finish second to last in the Mountain West conference.

The game is on FSN Rocky Mountain tonight

Go Buffs.