Word of warning if you texted Chauncey Billups last fall to talk trash about his 1-11 CU Buffs: Mr. Big Shot keeps his receipts.
“It’s fun to be a Buff right now. And we’ve had some tough years there,” the CU great, Denver hoops icon and current Portland Trail Blazers coach told me before his annual Porter-Billups Leadership Academy Gala at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center.
“I mean, a year ago, every Saturday — every Saturday — I’m hiding, I’m ducking phone calls, because I know I don’t want to hear this (expletive)-talking from all my friends. So those times are over. It’s fun to be a Buff right now.”
In just eight months, CU’s gone from a 10th losing non-pandemic football season out of 11 to hiring the hottest name in the college game in Deion Sanders, to kicking it old-school again by rejoining the new-look Big 12.
“I think it’s going to be cool,” the 46-year-old Billups said with a grin when asked about the Buffs’ switch from the Pac-12 to the Big 12, a league he lived through as a sophomore at CU during the winter of ’96-97.
“I enjoyed my one year playing in the Big 12. Obviously, it’s even different now — with the other teams that are in this incredible league, it’s an incredible (basketball) league. So I’m excited. I think it’s going to be good for everybody.
“And I just think, location-wise, it makes the most sense anyway. But yeah, it should be a seamless (transition).”
Behind the scenes, Billups has been helping Coach Prime make a similar transition to the Front Range. Sanders, 55, who was Mr. Big Shot’s featured guest at the gala — the NBA great interviewed the NFL and MLB great on-stage for about 20-25 minutes, then opened things up to the audience for questions.
Coach Prime’s reply when asked about the Buffs’ move from the Pac-12 to Big 12: “I like it. I love it. I don’t give a darn who’s (on the schedule). … We’ve got to win.”
Sanders, when asked by a patron to declare that it “(stinks) to be a CSU Ram”: “I’m not gonna say that. … We’ve got a couple games before we get to that.” (CU hosts CSU on Sept. 16.)
Billups invited Sanders to speak at the fundraiser for the PBLA, which was co-founded by former Regis hoops coach Lonnie Porter and Staci Porter-Bentley, earlier this year.
After several recent surgeries, Coach Prime isn’t doing a lot of jumping lately. But on this occasion, he jumped at the chance to speak.
“I don’t have a long history with (Sanders),” Billups said. “We both did TV at one time and ran across each other a few times but never really got close. Since he’s been here, we’ve become pretty fast friends. We communicate quite often, and it’s not always about sports.”
Sanders, who grew up in Florida and spent much of his post-playing career in Texas, is a rookie when it comes to the Flatirons. Billups, who grew up here, offered some Prime tips on navigating both the Boulder and Denver metros. Restaurants. Neighborhoods. You name it.
“I try to just give him the answers to all the tests around here,” the former Buff chuckled. “And he knows, anyway — if he doesn’t, he knows somebody that does. But he’s at my alma mater, so he’s one of those type of guys when he’s leading, which is what he does the best, he likes to bring people along with him.
“He has an incredible leadership style. So I think him and I, (we) both learn from each other as well on this coaching thing. And obviously, (at community events) like this, we always have to be a part of in some way, shape or form. It’s been an awesome friendship.”
Will Coach Prime’s body of work on the field be as awesome as the hype he’s built up in advance?
“I would just say this: Winners win, man,” Billups replied. “Winners win.
“And sometimes not immediately. But definitely, he’s a winner. He’s been a winner his whole life, his whole career. Whatever he does, he succeeds. And obviously, whatever he does, there’s going to be a ton of expectation behind it — an immediate expectation.
“But you all have to — we have to — be realistic as well. Most fans aren’t. But when you got somebody like him, who you can get behind, and he can bring people with him and he can recruit and he can do these types of things, expectations happen. He loves it. I love it.”
With that, Billups smiled again. You know what they say about payback, kids. And like a lot of Buffs Nation, Mr. Big Shot’s ready to start collecting again.
