Former Colorado Buffaloes guard Daylen Kountz has been lighting it up in the Big Sky Conference for Northern Colorado, pushing the Bears to a 9-4 record in conference play.
No doubt @DaylenKountz2 earned the Big Sky Player of the Week after averaging 28.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists! #GetUpGreeley🐻🏀 pic.twitter.com/6Y6DMYUVnZ
— UNC Bears MBB (@UNC_BearsMBB) February 15, 2022
Kountz committed to the University of Colorado back in Sept. 8, 2017, and was apart of the 2018 class that also brought in shooting guard Eli Parquet. Unfortunately for Parquet, his 2021-22 season was cut short due to a foot injury.
During his freshman year under head coach Tad Boyle, Kountz appeared in all 36 games for the Buffs. He served primarily as the backup point guard behind McKinley Wright while transfer guard Shane Gatling absorbed most of the two-guard minutes.
Kountz logged 17.1 minutes (eighth most on the team) while adding 5.6 points per game, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.
He looked to be a promising contributor for the following year.
Fast forward to 2019-2020, Kountz saw his role diminish as transfer guard Maddox Daniels (13.2 minutes per game) and Parquet (12.3 minutes per game) earned minutes. The Denver product logged just 12.4 minutes per game and saw his shooting numbers falter to just 3.0 points per game on 33% shooting and just 15.4% from three.
With that being said, Kountz put his name in the transfer portal and ended up at the University of Northern Colorado.
It was probably the best decision he could have made.
Daylen saw immediate improvement during his first year in Greeley. The 6’4″ guard started all 22 games for the Bears, scoring 14.1 points on 42.9% from the field while knocking down 32.6% of his threes which he doubled from the season prior.
Now, as a senior, Kountz has continued the momentum from his junior season. He is currently in the running for Big Sky Player of the Year while averaging 21.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on 52.9% from the field.
Kountz is one of the latest stories regarding a player that started in a power five conference that transferred to a mid-major and is having plenty of success. Daylen is currently first in the Big Sky in points (514), points per game (21.4), effective field goal percentage (58.2%), offensive win shares (3.3), and player efficiency rating (25.6).
Northern Colorado is currently 14-11, 9-4 in Big Sky play. The team is on a four-game winning streak and have three games remaining so they still have a chance to move up in the standings before their conference tournament.
Hard to believe where this team would be without Kountz.