Tad Boyle’s induction into the Northern Colorado Hall of Fame is “testament” to teammates and players.

For the second time in less than two years, Tad Boyle will become a member of a hometown hall of fame.

Boyle, a native of Greeley, will be inducted into the University of Northern Colorado Athletics Hall of Fame next month. He coached the Bears men’s basketball team from 2006-2010, leading the program through a striking turnaround in its first years in Division I.

Boyle, 63, has been the University of Colorado men’s basketball coach since leaving UNC.

Boyle will be one of seven hall of famers honored during a ceremony Friday, Sept. 13, at the University Center on the UNC campus. The ceremony is scheduled for 5:30-8 p.m., and tickets are available at uncalumni.org/hall-of-fame.

The grouping will be recognized the following day during the football team’s home opener at Nottingham Field. UNC hosts Abilene Christian at 2:00pm on Saturday, September 14th.

A star player at Greeley Central High, Boyle was inducted into the Greeley Central Athletics Hall of Fame with its first class in January 2023.

“Any time you go into a hall of fame, it’s a great honor and a testament to all the people you’ve worked with,” Boyle said.

Boyle is CU’s winningest coach in program history. He has a 298-178 record in 14 seasons with the Buffs, including 10 20-win seasons.

Boyle could win his 300th game at CU against UNC in early November. The teams are scheduled to play Nov. 8 in Boulder. CU opens the 2024-25 season Nov. 4 against Big Sky Conference member Eastern Washington with UNC.

Boyle coached just four seasons at UNC, but led the program from a four-win season in his first year in 2006-07 to 25 wins three years later. Boyle’s first year with the Bears was the top program in the Big Sky Conference and the team was one of the worst in the country.

UNC’s first year in Division I was the 2003–04 season.

UNC had a 25-8 record in Boyle’s final year in 2009-10, with an appearance in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament.

Boyle is most proud of the program’s improvement in his four seasons over his 18 years as coach. His record with the Bears was 56-66.

“It’s a tough transition,” he said of the move to Division I. “But again, it didn’t happen by itself. It happened with a lot of hard work from my staff, and they should understand that I’m a part of it, and certainly the student-athletes I coached when I was at UNC.”

Boyle and two other members inducted this year were originally elected in previous years. He was elected in 2022 and delayed his introduction. Football player Jed Roberts was elected in 2020, and former women’s basketball coach Jaime White was elected along with Boyle two years ago.

White, the women’s coach at Fresno State since leaving Greeley in 2014, was a contemporary and colleague of Boyle at UNC. White also arrived in 2006, and the men’s and women’s programs shared office space in Bishop-Lehr Hall while renovations were underway at the Butler-Hancock Athletic Center.

Both coaches were first-time Division I head coaches.

“Tad was so passionate,” White said. “We had to work with the men’s program because we shared gym space and practice facilities. He was so thoughtful and thoughtful. He was good to work with. It was fun to be involved with him.”

Newly elected members this year are Jordan Davis, men’s basketball, 2019 graduate; Mariel Gutierrez, women’s soccer, 2018 graduate; Tom Runnells, a 1977 graduate of Greeley and Greeley West High who was a Major League Baseball player and manager; 2019 All-Time Women’s Basketball Leading Scorer Savannah Smith of Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins; and Aaron Smith, football, who played 13 years in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Davis, UNC’s all-time leading scorer with 2,272 points, will defer his admission to 2026 because of professional basketball commitments, the university said. He currently plays with Rio Breogan in the ACB League in Lugo, Spain.

Boyle recalled watching Runnells play at UNC while growing up in Greeley. Runnells graduated from Greeley West in 1974. Boyle said he saw a variety of UNC sports when he lived in Greeley, including sneaking past security guards checking student IDs.

Boyle said his familiarity with UNC and its athletic programs gave him a feel and a sense of the athletes to play for the Bears. He brought 12 years of experience as a Division I assistant to UNC and said he understood the transition process for the program.

Boyle cited former players like Neal Kingman, Devon Beitzel and Will Figures, who were all in the program from 2006-11, as guys who were important to the growth and improvement of the program.

The coach said the tough times at UNC stayed with him while coaching at CU. Boyle said he learned about the resilience of young men at UNC.

“It shows that, yeah, just because a freshman might struggle doesn’t mean he can’t be a really, really good player two or three years down the line if he keeps working like those kids did.” Boyle said.

He referred to Kingman, Beitzel and Figures again, praising his career and results at UNC while showing administrators and observers that the move to Division I was the right decision.

“To have that group of kids turn into young men, to show the progress they’ve shown and to have the success, it’s been very gratifying for me,” Boyle said. “I think they showed the naysayers who said we should stay at the Division II level, that ‘Hey, you can have a very competitive Division I men’s basketball program in Greeley in the Big Sky Conference.’ “

Boyle’s former Kansas teammate Danny Manning joins the CU coaching staff

A few weeks ago, Boyle and the CU program announced that Danny Manning would join the Buffs’ coaching staff for 2024-25.

Manning was a member of an NCAA national championship team at Kansas in 1988. He and Boyle were teammates at KU during Boyle’s senior year in 1984-85.

Manning was the No. 1 in the 1988 NBA draft and played 15 years in the league. He coached at Kansas under current coach Bill Self in the early 2000s. Manning was the head coach at Tulsa and Wake Forest and the interim head coach at Maryland before moving to Louisville in 2022.

Manning was out of a job after Louisville coach Kenny Payne was fired in March. Boyle said the timing was right for Manning to come to Colorado.

“We’re very lucky to have him,” Boyle said. “He wasn’t just a great player, but he’s a great coach and he’s an even better person.”

Originally published: August 16, 2024 at 11:00 a.m