Colorado’s JR Payne named to Coach of the Year late-season watch list

The second straight season the Buffaloes leader was placed on the list

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

For the second straight year, Colorado’s JR Payne was one of 15 coaches named to the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year late-season watch list on Wednesday. She joins UCLA’s Cori Close, USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb, Oregon State’s Scott Rueck, and Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer as the five Pac-12 head coaches named to the list. 

Seems about right 👀@CoachJRPayne has been placed on the late season watch list for Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year 🦬#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/F1xGu7ck6n

— Colorado Women's Basketball 🦬 (@CUBuffsWBB) February 21, 2024

Under Payne’s leadership, Colorado has been one of the top teams in the nation all season long. She’s led the No. 11 Buffaloes to a 20-5 record, including a 10-4 mark in arguably the toughest conference in the country. Colorado has three wins this season against top-10 teams, including a dominating 92-78 victory over No. 1 LSU to open their 2023-’24 campaign. Following that win, Colorado jumped 15 spots to No. 5 in the Associated Press top 25 women’s basketball poll. The Buffaloes have spent all 16 weeks ranked in the top 25, 14 of which have been inside the top 10.

Following two straight losses to Oregon State and Utah, the Buffaloes have slid from a 1-seed to a 3-seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology. JR Payne and company will look to turn things around this weekend against a pair of ranked teams in Los Angeles. They’ll take on No. 7 USC (Pac-12 Network) on Friday and No. 12 UCLA (ESPN2) on Monday.  

The 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award candidates will be narrowed down to 10 semifinalists on Thursday, March 14. Four finalists will be announced on Monday, March 25 and the winner will be revealed on Wednesday, April 3.