A 6-foot-10 guy in the gym of a Division I basketball program usually is just another face in the crowd.
Transplant that 6-10 guy 20 or so years down the road, and the routine of everyday life usually is punctuated with one inevitable question: Did you play basketball?
When former Buffaloes player Charlie Melvin answers that yes, indeed, he played hoops for Colorado, he admits he often is met with polite but semi-blank stares. When he mentions he played with a guy named Chauncey Billups, however, those polite stares turn into gasps of awe.
Melvin and a number of his former teammates were on hand Saturday morning to attend the Buffaloes' practice as part of the program's annual alumni weekend, which this year is honoring players and coaches from the Ricardo Patton era.