CU Buffs’ Pac-12 champion joins Nuggets coaching staff

One of the best moments in Colorado’s history as a basketball-playing state came in 2012, when the Buffaloes shocked the nation and rattled off four wins at Staples Center to take the Pac-12 Championship.

The third-best scorer on that Tad Boyle team to remember was Austin Dufault, who comes back to the Centennial State to join the Denver Nuggets staff. The experienced overseas pro player, turned NBA coach has left the Chicago Bulls for the Mile High City, according to Michael Scotto.

Scotto, of HoopsHype, reported Monday that Dufault will serve as assistant coach and vice president of player development under head coach David Adelman. He spent the last three seasons as the Bulls’ director of player development under Billy Donovan and was retained by new head coach Tiago Splitter before Denver came calling.

Dufault was a four-year starter at CU from 2008 to 2012, finishing as the 19th player in program history to crack 1,000 points and 500 rebounds — 1,076 and 529, respectively — while setting the school record for career games played at 136. His senior year was his best: 11.1 points and 4.4 rebounds a night, capped by that Pac-12 title run that pushed CU into the dance where they won another postseason game.

Before jumping into coaching, the Killdeer, North Dakota, native played six professional seasons across the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, France, Finland, Hungary and Japan. He broke into the NBA in 2018 as a video intern with the Lakers, then spent four seasons climbing the ranks in Detroit before landing with Chicago.

Dufault joins lead assistant Dave Joerger on a revamped Adelman bench where the former forward’s old college assistant coach Rodney Billups already has a seat.

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