Former Arizona signee KJ Simpson says Colorado fits him 'perfectly'

In any college basketball coaching transition, recruits are often collateral damage.

Some stay under a new coach, and don’t always find the role or style of play they expected. Others leave, scrambling to quickly find a new home. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t.

But it’s all good for KJ Simpson, the way the former Arizona signee explained it Monday.

Simpson, who signed in November 2020 to play for the Wildcats under Sean Miller, said he’s happy to be at Colorado today. Simpson was released from his national letter of intent after Arizona hired Tommy Lloyd to replace Miller, and is now playing a key reserve role for the 11-3 Buffaloes entering a date with Arizona on Thursday at McKale Center.

“It was definitely wild times, especially with what happened down there at Arizona,” Simpson said by phone Tuesday from Boulder, Colorado. “But I feel I made the correct choice. I feel like this place is home to me and it’s fit me almost…actually, it has fit me perfectly. I’m happy I’m here.”

It was something of an easy choice, too. As a star at Chaminade High School in California’s San Fernando Valley, Simpson had been recruited by schools throughout the West — especially Arizona and Colorado.

And even before Simpson announced his commitment to Arizona in August 2020 via Instagram, he knew the Buffaloes would still be an option. Simpson said he called every coach he turned down and wound up having a memorable phone call with Colorado coach Tad Boyle.

“It went really well,” Simpson said. “He just let me know if stuff didn’t work out, he would still be there. And surprisingly enough, with Coach (Miller) getting fired, it was crazy that it happened. Coach Boyle was the first person to contact me — and he was saying the same exact thing. That really stood out a lot.”

In between, Simpson spoke with Lloyd. While Simpson had a reserved scholarship at Arizona, both sides were unfamiliar with each other.

“We had a respectful conversation,” Simpson said. “It was kind of tough because he couldn’t really tell me what my role would be because he never recruited me. He recruited one of my teammates when he was at Gonzaga but he never got to see me play, never went out to recruit me so he didn’t know too much about me.

“So it was a respectful, cool conversation. We just decided that it wasn’t going to work out.”

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Not surprisingly, Simpson said Boyle was the first coach to call when he was cleared for recruiting contact, saying that showed Boyle “was honest in what he was saying.”

It helped CU that Simpson worked out regularly with Buff big man Evan Battey during the COVID-19-restricted summer of 2020. Simpson also became good friends with sophomore Jabari Walker when the two played club ball together.

“Me and Jabari are really, really close, so he was like, ‘When are you going to decide to come here?’” Simpson said. “He was making jokes, but he was actually egging me on a little bit.”

As it turned out, Boyle and the Buffs may have needed Simpson even more than they did back in 2020. Star point guard McKinley Wright opted to leave for professional basketball last spring, eventually signing a two-way deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Western Carolina transfer Mason Faulkner took off unexpectedly in August.

That left CU with sophomore Keeshawn Barthelemy, Simpson and freshman Julian Hammond, a Denver-area high school football and basketball star, to collectively replace Wright’s contributions.

“McKinley, what he did here was legendary,” Simpson said. “That’s big shoes to fill but I felt like I could almost fit that role.”

Barthelemy is averaging 28.7 minutes per game as the starter, with Simpson averaging 19.0 minutes off the bench. Hammond filled in capably on Sunday when Simpson sat out Colorado’s 78-64 win over Washington because of concussion protocol.

Cleared to play Thursday against Arizona, Simpson is averaging 5.9 points and 2.4 assists per game.

Boyle will probably not surprised to see even more in the future.

“The one thing about Sean (Miller) is he was a very, very good evaluator of talent,” Boyle said. “When (Simpson) reopened his commitment, we were fortunate enough to get him. He’s dynamic. He’s explosive. He’s a freshman, so there’s a learning curve like there is for all freshmen, but he’s gonna be a good Pac-12 guard.”