Colorado basketball schedules non-conference games with San Diego

The Colorado Buffaloes are putting the finishing touches on their 2017-18 non-conference schedule. Per Jon Rothstein, the Buffs will host the San Diego Toreros of the West Coast Conference.

San Diego was 13-18 last season and 9-21 under coach Lamont Smith. The eight seasons before that, the Toreros were coached by current Buffs assistant coach Bill Grier, who led them to one of the program’s four all-time NCAA Tournament appearances in 2007-08.

Colorado playing a coach’s former school seems to be the theme for the Buffs’ upcoming schedule. Tad Boyle also scheduled a game with Northern Colorado, his former school, and with the Denver Pioneers, who are coached by Grier’s predecessor, Rodney Billups.

Grier is known for his recruiting ability, particularly in southern California. Hosting the Toreros in 2017 and visiting them in 2018 will present a great recruiting opportunity for the Buffs. San Diego isn’t quite the basketball hotbed that Los Angeles is, but plenty of pros have come out of there, including Bill and Luke Walton, Jared Dudley and Chase Budinger. And before you ask, Kawhi Leonard is from Los Angeles.

In addition to having a beautiful campus and a world-renown law school, San Diego is known for their many famous alumni, most notably Theo Epstein and Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs, and Robert Kardashian.