By no means has JR Payne gone soft. She certainly has evolved, though.
Payne is heading into her 11th season as the head coach of the Colorado women’s basketball team, and she has adjusted to the times. Primarily, that means dealing with annual roster defections via the transfer portal, or the occasional player that leaves for a bigger piece of revenue sharing income elsewhere.
Still, Payne has gradually loosened a few program rules that might have grown a little antiquated. As was the case when the Buffaloes did the one-mile run portion of their preseason conditioning tests while donning headphones. Payne caught a little well-intentioned grief recently on the matter from former CU standout Jaylyn Sherrod.
“Our old players see the conditioning and stuff we’re doing and say we’ve gotten soft,” Payne said. “(Sherrod) was upset because the kids got to wear headphones when they ran the mile. So our old players kind of joke about those things. But the truth is we are who we are. The same way we operate in practice is the same way we operate in year one. There’s consistency in that.”
Consistency has been central to Payne’s program, which has reached the NCAA Tournament in four of the past five seasons. Payne met the local media Monday during CU’s winter sports media day amid what once again are high expectations, as a group of seven returning players bolstered by need-based additions in the transfer portal look to maintain the Buffs’ lofty standards.
Aside from lifting the headphone sanctions, Payne said the biggest difference in her personal approach as opposed to a decade ago revolves around dealing with the annual roster shuffle. Payne tries to make the most of each day, and each season, without looking too far into the future of her program.
“I think in recent years I’ve done a great job of just being very present in the moment,” Payne said. “We want players to choose to come to Colorado. We want them to be here for four and five years and see them develop, and see them develop and see them struggle and grow and strive. In recent years, itap been harder to do that because you can’t always keep everybody as long as you want to keep them.
“I’ve really made a decision the last couple years to be very present every day and take it for what it is. We get today. And thatap what we’ve got. If players will come and stay for a season and come back for another season, and come back for another season and do those things, awesome. Thatap the goal. But also, I’m not going to let any fear of losing a player or disappointment that a player chooses to go somewhere else, I’m not going to allow that to taint what we have today.”
As the Buffs continue their preseason workouts ahead of the 2026-27 opener Nov. 4 at home against Morgan State, shoring up their 3-point shooting is a priority. CU finished 14th in the Big 12 in 3-point shooting with a .273 mark last year, but the return of two shooters who missed most of last year due to injuries — Kennedy Sanders and Claire O’Connor — should help.
Payne also focused on adding shooters, including first-year guard Lauren Harris and transfers Mecailin Marshall (Tulane) and Aniya’ Foy (Kansas State).
“Definitely there’s more excitement, just being back on the court. I can’t wait,” O’Connor said. “(The toughest) was just not being out there for my team, trying to come back and just not being able to. Just trying to be more well-rounded and improve all the areas of my game. I think we’ve got a lot of other really talented players and we’re all going to step up.”
