What's the key to the Colorado men's basketball season?

Cory Higgins' all-around game, Dwight Thorne's jump shot, the development of Austin Dufault and Nate Tomlinson, and the immediate impact of Marcus Relphorde and Alec Burks are all on the list.

But don't forget about Trent Beckley. The former walk-on from Vail is back with a vengeance.

Beckley, a 6-10 redshirt junior, should be able to at least help the Buffs become a more physical team and a better rebounding team.

"We have people who can score, we have people who can pass, now it comes down to getting rebounds, especially in the Big 12," Beckley said. "We're going to face teams in non-league play that we can match up height-wise with, but when it comes to the Big 12 everyone is just so much bigger. We have more size, now we have to get down to the fundamentals and get things done."

Jeff Bzdelik agrees. The third-year CU head coach is no longer concerned with talent and depth on the roster and says the Buffs will be fine ... if they can at least hold their own on the glass.

"Rebounding was definitely an issue last season and it was hard to be on the bench watching your teammates getting out-rebounded and out-hustled, knowing that's

what I bring to this team is the enthusiasm," Beckley said. "I`m not saying they didn`t go about it the right way, but that`s kind of what I bring is the intensity and energy. Sometimes we lacked that."

Beckley watched CU`s 9-22 season in agony. He missed the entire 2008-09 campaign with a scary back injury (stress fracture in his lumbar spine) that required surgery.

"It was pretty serious. I was out for nine months in a full body brace, which went pretty much from my neck to my knee," Beckley said. "It was mentally harder than physically, just dealing with not being able to play. Especially because I really felt I could have helped and it was a frustrating year for me to watch."

Beckley was finally cleared to hit the hardwood at full speed again in April. He has added some extra muscle -- mostly upper body because he`s not allowed to do squats and cleans -- to his already thick frame and has made a difference in practice.

"Trent brings a different type of attitude to the big-man core, a will and a want-to," Thorne said. "He`s very big and he plays very fierce. He just needs to calm himself down and go out and do it on the floor."

Beckley played sparingly during his first two healthy seasons at CU, but it sounds like he will be counted on in the rotation until Casey Crawford plays up to his talent level and Trey Eckloff and Shane Harris-Tunks develop into Big 12-caliber big men.

"Trent has great passion, a huge body, he`s someone people forget about when they talk about our basketball team," Bzdelik said. "He`s a five-foul guy with a wide body who plays with passion and can hold and contain position in the post. And he can rebound.

"It`s just a matter of playing under control. That`s his area of need, so to speak."

Beckley, who worked out with former CU standout Stephane Pelle over the summer, said it`s hard not to get worked up about playing basketball after sitting out a year.

"I`m blessed to be back. I`m excited, I feel great, and I`m ready to help and contribute to the team," he said. "Sitting there on the bench I really built up a lot of energy and in the summer I let it go and worked out every day and really worked on my game a lot."

Beckley, now in his third season playing or studying Bzdelik`s system, plans on helping the Buffs on the offensive end of the court, too.

"My teammates are displaying confidence in me now. They`re giving me the ball down on the block and they know I can score if I have deep position," he said. "In the three previous years, if I was the last option they`d give it to me. But now they`ve seen what I can do down there and they will give it to me. And defensively, they know they need to box me out."