BOULDER — After only a few months, Colorado freshman Cody Williams had seen enough to make a big proclamation about Steve Englehart.

“He’s the best strength coach in the country,” Williams said. “I haven’t seen anyone better than him.”

When a player of Williams’ caliber — the highest-rated basketball recruit signed by Colorado in the internet rankings era — says so, it means something. A five-star prospect, Williams had offers from just about every major program east of the Mississippi and visited some of the best and well-funded schools out West — Arizona, USC, UCLA, to name a few.

But he chose the Buffaloes in part because of Englehart, now in his seventh season as the head strength and conditioning coach for Tad Boyle’s program.

“Cody’s not the first guy that’s come here (because of Englehart),” Boyle said. “(It’s) not the only reason he came, but certainly a big part of it. Steve’s somebody that I sell in recruiting.”

The pitch is simple.

“The guy that you should really, really look at as you differentiate Colorado basketball from another program is our strength coach,” Boyle said he tells parents.

It wasn’t always this way, though. Following the end of the 2015-16 season, then-strength coach James Hardy left Boulder to take a job with the New England Patriots.

Englehart, who had been at CU for five years working with the football team and some of the Olympic sports, was assigned to the hoops team on an interim basis. But Boyle was set on taking his time in hiring a new strength coach. He was going to interview a couple outside candidates mainly because he didn’t know Englehart all that well.

As the weeks went by, Boyle heard more and more from his players how much they enjoyed working with Englehart. Then, in April 2016, Englehart was officially given the job.

“As the spring went on, it became more and more apparent that he was the guy for the job,” Boyle said. “It really taught me a lesson that sometimes your best candidates are internal. He’s been terrific. He’s one of the best in the business and he’s a big part of our success.”

A New Orleans native, Englehart’s passion for working in the weight room with athletes developed in high school. He and his twin brother, Chad, were always competitive in the weight room and loved lifting.

“I always knew I wanted to (do) something in sports and then when I found out you can get paid for teaching people how to lift, that’s when I was like, ‘Woah, that’s pretty crazy,’” Englehart said.

Steve and Chad, now the head strength coach for the Washington Commanders, have remained close as they’ve both found success in their field.

“I talk to him every day,” Englehart said. “He gets the newest technology there is. He always shares it with me, so I can be the first one in college basketball to get it. I know what’s new. I know what’s out there before some people do.”

That, along with a passion for sports science he developed in his 30s, has allowed Englehart to be effective in Boulder. For him, it’s not just about the numbers his players are putting up in the weight room, but it’s their ability to have that translate to success on the basketball court.

The first, and maybe most often overlooked, part of that is making sure players are able to stay healthy. Englehart and his staff work closely with each player and their specific body type to prevent the most common injury types for players of their height, weight, etc.

“With our top guys, I think our game availability has been 98 or 99 percent,” Englehart said. “It’s (about) showing them how we can make a better athlete and a more durable athlete to stay on the court for 40 minutes a game.”

The sports science aspect has been a hit in recruiting, too.

“That’s the biggest thing that we’ve been doing, and parents have been very receptive,” Englehart said. “When they see it on paper, it’s pretty remarkable for them to start opening up and start talking to you more.”

Englehart’s impact goes beyond recruiting and the weight room.

Senior forward Tristan da Silva has grown close to Englehart over four years in Boulder. The Buffaloes program isn’t where it is without Englehart.

“With Steve, it’s bigger than basketball,” da Silva said. “He’s like a big brother. As long as you trust him and let him invest in you and you don’t reject his coaching, you kind of figure out what kind of person he is and how much love he has for everybody. It’s more than a player-coach relationship. It’s a genuine bond.”

GAME RECAP

Colorado 90, Northern Colorado 68

What happened: With a handful of Thunder players in the house to cheer on Cody Williams, the younger brother of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jalen Williams, Colorado (8-2) continued its perfect start to the home schedule with a convincing, 90-68 win over Northern Colorado (4-6) on Friday night in Boulder. The Buffaloes had six players in double figures as they used 19 points off 10 turnovers to build the big first half lead. Big man Eddie Lampkin had his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The TCU transfer also had six assists as CU continued to share the ball offensively.

Star of the night: The Buffaloes couldn’t have asked for a better first 10 games of the season from KJ Simpson. The junior guard has not just taken his game to another level offensively with a much more efficient approach, but he’s also playing with a determination on the defensive end. The West Hills, Calif. native had 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting to go along with five rebounds, five steals and four assists in the win over the Bears. He’s now averaging just under 20 points per game while shooting 58% from the field and 46% from 3-point range.

Quotable: “He was sick and tired of hearing the name McKinley Wright coming out of my mouth his first two years here. It hasn’t come out this year — and I love McKinley. We’re starting to rely on KJ like we relied on McKinley. There’s no better compliment I can give the kid than that.” — CU coach Tad Boyle on Simpson’s play this season

Up next: The Buffs are back in action on Thursday for the final nonconference game of the year as Utah Tech comes to Boulder. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network and KOA 850 AM.