JR Payne's Buffs are making waves reminiscent of glory days

Colorado women's basketball will try to hit new heights this season

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

It’s one of the beautiful things about athletic competition. Sometimes a team can lose a game but win the hearts of admirers. It happened mid-January when the highly-ranked Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team lost a hard-fought battle against equally-exalted UCLA before a sellout crowd of more than 11,000 at the building long known as the Coors Events Center on the Boulder campus.

“Can you believe it,” beamed an emotional but extremely proud head coach JR Payne after the eight-point setback.“11,338 showed up to watch these women play.” 

Payne was gesturing to the players surrounding her on the post-game podium. It was the first top five matchup in CU women's basketball history, fifth sellout and the first in almost 30 years with the last coming in March of 1995.

It’s impossible to watch this year’s edition of the Buffaloes and not think back to the 1994-95 season and CU’s deep run in the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately that magical season ended in heartbreaking fashion with an equally tough setback to a talented Georgie Bulldog team, preventing Ceal Barry’s squad from its first-ever Final Four appearance. Three decades later, it’s still the closest Colorado has come to being one of the last four teams standing. This year’s Final Four is in Cleveland, Ohio in early March.

As host of Barry’s coach’s show on KCNC-TV in Denver, your scribe had a front-row seat to an entertaining and talented team that also drew throngs of admirers to home games at the foot of the Flatirons. Buffs point guard Shelley Sheetz was the catalyst in similar fashion to current spark plug Jaylyn Sherrod. Aaronette Vonleh and Quay Miller are the present inside forces like Erin Scholz and Raegan Scott were three decades ago. International players also played a huge role in the team’s success. France’s Isabelle Fijalkowski then and Denmark’s Frida Formann now.

Good balance, chemistry and coaching are accurate summaries of each team. The current squad has even more interesting story lines considering the head coach is married to the assistant head coach, Toriano Towns. Payne was born in Tennessee but grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, starred at St. Mary’s (California), has a birth name of Ali-Marie and earned the nickname “JR” from her dad a big fan of the character played by actor Larry Hageman on the long ago hit TV show, “Dallas.” Why? Payne was tough and would fight with her older brothers.

The 46-year-old’s fighting spirit is alive and well and on full display through the current band of Buffs. Payne’s in her eighth season in Boulder. The mother of three was not an overnight success after athletic director Rick George hired the former Santa Clara head coach to take over for former Buff standout player Linda Lappe who struggled in seven seasons at Colorado’s head coach. Payne's first three seasons were tough, 44-50, but the Buffs have been on a success trajectory ever since. 

It reminds your scribe of the fortunes of the Colorado Buffaloes football team under Bill McCartney. The former Michigan assistant’s first three seasons were equally challenging. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times from Coach Mac, “I’m lucky they didn’t fire me after my first three years.” The greatest coach in CU football history had a dismal record the first three campaigns after being hired before the 1982 season, including 1-10 in 1984. The Buffs never had a losing season again before the Hall of Fame mentor retired after the 1994 season.

Payne has the Buff faithful in a frenzy about the fabulous ladies donning the Buffs black and gold and playing their hearts out each and every time they hit the hardwood. It’s real entertaining to watch and primed for continued success as the Buffs prepare to transition to the Big 12 Conference next season.

Tough, charismatic and talented. Those three words describe the Buffs head coach and their players. Pac 12 or Big 12, it don’t matter. CU Women’s hoops are hot. The Buffaloes are coming and there’s a whole lot of them, including frenzied fans.