Now in her 10th season at the helm, JR Payne leads the Colorado Buffaloes with eyes set on the NCAA Tournament.
After three straight trips to March Madness, including back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances
in 2023 and 2024, the Buffs failed to reach the Big Dance last year. They did well to win 21 games, but the transfer-heavy team never quite came together and veterans Frida Formann and Kindyll Wetta missed time with injuries.
Payne went back to the portal and built a roster that better resembles the squad that routinely defeated the likes Stanford, UCLA and USC. This will be a defense-first team that will pressure the ball, cause turnovers and force bad shots, and run like hell in transition. It’s the style Payne used to rebuild a proud CU women’s program that struggled for 20 years after Ceal Barry’s retirement.
It’s unfair to compare anyone to Jaylyn Sherrod, but North Texas transfer Desiree Wooten plays a lot like her. She’s small, scrappy, can’t really shoot, is fast as hell and plays very aggressive on-ball defense. She’s going to start and is a near-lock for Big 12 All-Defense.
Payne also landed K-State guard Zyanna Walker and Providence forward Anaëlle Dutat, both of whom were All-Defense in the Big 12 and Big East, respectively. Walker has quick feet, active hands and has enough off-the-bounce game to start at the 2-guard. Dutat, meanwhile, is a Roberson-esque athlete who’s going to block shots, play the passing lanes and rebound everything as a 6’0 combo forward.
While those three hound opponents on defense, the CU offense will be built around Jade Masogayo’s versatility. Payne will draw up plays to get her the ball in the mid-range and high post, where she can face up or attack the basket. Most pick-and-rolls will run through her as well, as she’s an excellent rim runner and inside finisher. We’ll soon find out how much offensive responsibility she can take on.
This team will need shooters and they landed a couple of those too. Gonzaga transfer Claire O’Connor will likely start, while former DePaul guard Maeve McErlane will come off the bench. They don’t need to be Formann to be valuable; they just need space the floor, keep the offense flowing and hit some shots.
We’ll see how the rest of the roster shakes out. Kennedy Sanders and JoJo Nworie return as bench contributors, while true freshmen Logyn Greer (6’4 PF), Jade Crook (6’4 C) and Erianna Gooden (6’0 SG) are highly touted recruits who could carve out respective roles.
While Payne was more intentional in what kind of players she recruited, it’s still a huge question of how quickly this team of 10 new faces will come together.
The Buffs have a manageable non-conference schedule — @ Louisville on November 12 is the toughest game by far — but there’s pressure to rack up as many wins as possible for the ole tournament resume. This isn’t the Pac-12 where a .500 record gets them in. The Buffs have to win 22 or more games to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Colorado’s first test will be tonight against the New Mexico Lobos, a team that returns four starters from last year’s team that went 11-7 in the Mountain West. The game tips off at 8:00 and as usual tickets are cheap and readily available.
