Colorado alum Spencer Dinwiddie up for NBA Award

It wasn’t long ago Spencer Dinwiddie was helping Colorado men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle jumpstart the Buffaloes program.

Spencer Dinwiddie joined the Buffs in 2011, Tad Boyle’s second year at the helm of the basketball team.

The Buffaloes basketball program was one year removed from the Jeff Bzdelik-era which lasted three long years and a 36-58 record.

All Dinwiddie did is lead the Buffs turnaround during his three years on campus. Spencer was 68-36 during his time in Boulder and went to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the third round in 2011-12.

He averaged 13 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game during his tenure and was the leader on and off the court for the Buffaloes.

Dinwiddie fell to the second round of the NBA Draft in 2014 due to a torn ACL suffered during his junior year in Boulder.

After three years in the NBA, where he was sent up-and-down from the G-League, the Brooklyn Nets gave him an opportunity this season, and he did not disappoint.

Dinwiddie played in 80 games, starting 58, averaging a career-high 12.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists and one steal per night for a Nets team that overachieved at times this season. He was second in the NBA with a 4:1 assist to turnover ratio.

After his career year, Dinwiddie was honored last night as a finalist for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award.

Indiana’s Victor Oladipo is the prohibitive favorite and Houston’s Clint Capela is three wins away from an NBA Finals berth, but Spencer Dinwiddie wants you to know he’s a finalist too.

Whether or not he wins the award, all the hard work Dinwiddie has put in shows when he is on the basketball court.

Spencer came to Brooklyn without a guaranteed contract and worked his way into a career-year and is making Buffs nation proud.