New Women's Basketball Coach JR Payne

[buffgal]

Email JR & ask her. She'd be tickled to hear from you!

You think? Wish I still lived in Boulder or Colorado so I could meet you, your daughter and your son-in-law.

 

[aik]

Jamie Carey hired at Texas.

 

[buffgal]

Jamie Carey hired at Texas.

Very happy for Jamie. Her alma mater.

 

[JackVcr]

The news release from Southeastern was very specific. Here's a quote and the link:
"Hays has been named to the women's basketball coaching staff at the University of Colorado under new head coach JR Payne"
http://fire.seu.edu/news/2016/3/30/hays-resigns-as-seu-womens-basketball-coach.aspx

Nope. Can't believe everything you read.

 

[JackVcr]

I believe Payne offered Hays the assistant job at Colorado. No way he would have resigned from SEU (which is a great job) without being offered the assistant job at CU (that would make no sense from a coaching or career perspective).
Not sure why he is not already signed. Great coach, solid guy, good recruiter. I think he could really contribute to the team and coaching staff. Need to get him signed right away and complete this coaching staff.

Never happened.

 

[Flatiron]

Offer was given to Hays by coach JR and Torino. Article from SEU may have been premature in regards to him actually being named to the staff as no contract had been signed, etc with CU.

Not sure at this point why there has not been any further announcements, etc on coach Hays or this open asst coach position, etc. I think CU would be missing out on a great coach if they dont get him signed but I'm sure they will make a decision either way shortly. They need to get this position filled and move forward.

 

[JackVcr]

You think? Wish I still lived in Boulder or Colorado so I could meet you, your daughter and your son-in-law.

Well that's awfully nice of you. Thank you. Yes, I think. Tell her you're allbuffs pals with her Dad & I promised you an answer You never know where they're going to be playing a season or so from now. You may meet them yet. In the meantime come down to Lima and you would be welcome in our home!

 

[buffgal]

Well that's awfully nice of you. Thank you. Yes, I think. Tell her you're allbuffs pals with her Dad & I promised you an answer You never know where they're going to be playing a season or so from now. You may meet them yet. In the meantime come down to Lima and you would be welcome in our home!

I still have my season tickets and try to get to Boulder over Thanksgiving for the Coors, make that Omni Classic. I'm an old timer. I go back to the first year of CU women's basketball.

I live in Iowa now and have been to games here in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas in the past few seasons. Also followed volleyball team to Illinois and Minnesota, so I will follow if they come near me.

Love my team and want to see them succeed.

 

[JackVcr]

I still have my season tickets and try to get to Boulder over Thanksgiving for the Coors, make that Omni Classic. I'm an old timer. I go back to the first year of CU women's basketball.

I live in Iowa now and have been to games here in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas in the past few seasons. Also followed volleyball team to Illinois and Minnesota, so I will follow if they come near me.

Love my team and want to see them succeed.

I promise you'll enjoy watching them improve & succeed. As others have said on here, her players love playing for her and consequently have fun working their buns off for her. Your team is going to start doing well. They are a year behind in recruiting because they have been recruiting for Santa Clara till a month ago but it's going to come!

 

[JackVcr]

Offer was given to Hays by coach JR and Torino. Article from SEU may have been premature in regards to him actually being named to the staff as no contract had been signed, etc with CU.

Not sure at this point why there has not been any further announcements, etc on coach Hays or this open asst coach position, etc. I think CU would be missing out on a great coach if they dont get him signed but I'm sure they will make a decision either way shortly. They need to get this position filled and move forward.

It's coming soon.

 

[BeBe]

I promise you'll enjoy watching them improve & succeed. As others have said on here, her players love playing for her and consequently have fun working their buns off for her. Your team is going to start doing well. They are a year behind in recruiting because they have been recruiting for Santa Clara till a month ago but it's going to come!

Thanks for joining us here on Allbuffs, JackVcr. It's nice to get a first hand perspective from someone with "experience" with our new coaching staff. We long-term fans have lots of hope and are impatient to see an improved team back on the court. #IsitNovemberyet?

 

[JackVcr]

Thanks for joining us here on Allbuffs, JackVcr. It's nice to get a first hand perspective from someone with "experience" with our new coaching staff. We long-term fans have lots of hope and are impatient to see an improved team back on the court. #IsitNovemberyet?

Ah, thank you BeBe. You're very kind. About that "experience" - you'll really notice it when you see the shiny spot on the top of my head I'm enjoying being a little bit of a part of the Allbuffs group. You will indeed see an improved team, I promise you. They are a year behind in the recruiting as they've been recruiting for Santa Clara up till when they joined Colorado. Kids able to play at the PAC-12 level have already been being recruited for a year by other big schools and that's very tough to break into, as you might imagine. But JR & T are not daunted. JR just got to Santa Clara to see her daughters Thursday evening after being away recruiting for the past three weeks, as an example. Movers are coming soon and the entire family will be in Boulder in a matter of less than a week. Re Buffs, you'll see aggressive defense, lots of steals, hard rebounding and an uptempo offense. Her teams are fun to watch. You have a real good PG. Get ready to watch her get even better. It'll be fun. We're coming up from our home in Peru early November. Hopefully we can meet at one of the first couple games??
PS Final assistant coming very soon.

 

[BeBe]

Ah, thank you BeBe. You're very kind. About that "experience" - you'll really notice it when you see the shiny spot on the top of my head I'm enjoying being a little bit of a part of the Allbuffs group. You will indeed see an improved team, I promise you. They are a year behind in the recruiting as they've been recruiting for Santa Clara up till when they joined Colorado. Kids able to play at the PAC-12 level have already been being recruited for a year by other big schools and that's very tough to break into, as you might imagine. But JR & T are not daunted. JR just got to Santa Clara to see her daughters Thursday evening after being away recruiting for the past three weeks, as an example. Movers are coming soon and the entire family will be in Boulder in a matter of less than a week. Re Buffs, you'll see aggressive defense, lots of steals, hard rebounding and an uptempo offense. Her teams are fun to watch. You have a real good PG. Get ready to watch her get even better. It'll be fun. We're coming up from our home in Peru early November. Hopefully we can meet at one of the first couple games??
PS Final assistant coming very soon.

Great info, JackVcr. Thanks. Would love to meet up with you at a game.

 

[buffgal]

It is fun to have you here, Jack. Once I see the schedule and how it works with volleyball, I might be there for an early game also.

 

[JackVcr]

It is fun to have you here, Jack. Once I see the schedule and how it works with volleyball, I might be there for an early game also.

Well thank you. I'm having fun being a little part of you all. I sure hope so, vis a vis your coming to an early game. I'm pretty sure it will be the first couple exhibition games for us, as I have business to attend to in CA, OR, WA & BC that is time sensitive, but soon as I know when we'll be there I will post to you and BeBe the dates. Because it's just a "bit of a commute" from Lima and other business considerations we need to pick and choose our personal travel times. Don't know if you're a mum or not, but if so, I hope you had a lovely Mother's Day!

 

[JackVcr]

Offer was given to Hays by coach JR and Torino. Article from SEU may have been premature in regards to him actually being named to the staff as no contract had been signed, etc with CU.

Not sure at this point why there has not been any further announcements, etc on coach Hays or this open asst coach position, etc. I think CU would be missing out on a great coach if they dont get him signed but I'm sure they will make a decision either way shortly. They need to get this position filled and move forward.

They have a good one coming, Flatiron, who is a very good recruiter and a very good fit. Should be announced soon.

 

[buffgal]

Well thank you. I'm having fun being a little part of you all. I sure hope so, vis a vis your coming to an early game. I'm pretty sure it will be the first couple exhibition games for us, as I have business to attend to in CA, OR, WA & BC that is time sensitive, but soon as I know when we'll be there I will post to you and BeBe the dates. Because it's just a "bit of a commute" from Lima and other business considerations we need to pick and choose our personal travel times. Don't know if you're a mum or not, but if so, I hope you had a lovely Mother's Day!

So you live full time in Lima?

I am a mum to a cat. I've had cat children since 1978. So just the four legged kind for me. At one time, my secretary would send me a Mother's Day card from the cats.

 

[JackVcr]

Anyone know if JR is considering Shandrika Lee as one of the assistant (she's been assistant with her at Santa Clara)? If She is, seems like Payne, Towns, Hays, Lee would be the crew (maybe Carey... not sure).....

Ah, you should have asked me, Flatiron

 

[JackVcr]

So you live full time in Lima?

I am a mum to a cat. I've had cat children since 1978. So just the four legged kind for me. At one time, my secretary would send me a Mother's Day card from the cats.

So you live full time in Lima?

We do live in Miraflores District of Lima full time. We love it here. Warm and gentle people. A country that has had a good economy for the past several years and is putting their income into infrastructure such as education, healthcare, social programs .......The Incan culture is so interesting, the cuisine here is considered the gastronomic capital for South America and their national drink, the 'pisco sour' is superb. Our cat, a tortoiseshell, is 12 years is and has settled right in. Our plan is to live the first two years in Lima whilst traveling Peru and environs and then to live 6 months in every country in South America with the exception of Venezuela. This retirement gig is a good one! We moved here this past December!.

 

[JackVcr]

Anyone that doesn't recognize that KL's style of playing isn't going to mesh with JR's vision of a disciplined team didn't watch the Buffs play this last season. This team was defined by poor offensive efficiency, poor shot selection, and the inability of the offensive players to distribute the ball effectively to one another. The things that actually make KL great, much like Shonni Schimmel, are the very things that do not mesh with JR Payne's style of playing basketball. KL, like Shonni can do incredible things, but you have to take the good with the bad.

Read this piece on Shonni, and you can effectively project Schimmel onto KL's style of play:

http://www.swishappeal.com/wnba/2014/9/18/6111025/wnba-2014-shoni-schimmel-atlanta-dream

KL is a great player, and Shonni was an incredible player. However, they are not compatible with all styles of coaching. Shonni Schimmel couldn't have played for JR Payne either, she just is not a disciplined player. She is an aggressive player, just like KL. Jeff Walz showed incredible trust to take the good with the bad with Shonni, many many coaches in Div-I power 6 conference women's basketball wouldn't have allowed a player that latitude. It took a special relationship and an incredible amount of trust for Louisville to make the NFL Finals that season. For the record, the year Shonni/Louisville beat Griner/Baylor to play UCONN in the 2013 NCAA Championship Final game. For the record, CU actually beat that Louisville team that season, and the best player on the floor wasn't Shonni, it was Chucky.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=323490038

I don't think Shonni could play for JR Payne and be effective, not every coach is going to be compatible with a loose cannon player like that. In the WNBA Shonni is like the secret weapon and her own kryptonite all in one. She was the WNBA All-Star MVP and played more minutes in the All-Star game than she had in the three previous WNBA games prior, for a reason. KL has spectacular and incredible moments, her aggressive style is a function of the very elite club basketball scene that produced her. However, there is a difference between tournament girls basketball and NCAA women's team basketball. JR Payne is going to focus on team basketball, and disciplined play. Her teams are not defined by hyper aggressive PGs having a green light to take bad shots, nor have JR's teams been run by PGs that turn the ball over as often as they create an assist. I think KL is a talent to behold. Like Shonni something is always going to happen every time she plays, it could be spectacular and it could shoot or turnover her team right out the game, however it will be FUN to watch. JR Payne is going to be a great coach for Colorado. KL is going to be a great player for CU or another school, especially if she's at a mid-major or outside the SEC, ACC, Big-12, Pac-12, or Big-10.

I'm just not sure that KL and Payne are going to be great together. Then again the sign of a great coach is adapting to the talent they have. For all the things KL's game is, it represents about 25% of the talent on the entire team, right now. Payne will either take the good with the bad, or she'll focus on creating the culture of disciplined basketball she wants to instill. Five years from now, the legacy of CU Women's basketball will absolutely be JR Payne basketball, not KL's aggressive style of play. In the interim can they work together, well? We'll see.

The tone/tenor of KL's published comments seem to indicate that she was thinking of transferring, and is now at least giving JR a chance. Stay tuned. Buffballer could clarify or add the human element to this conversation, but has chosen not to. That's his prerogative. Quite frankly, Linda wasn't ready to ever coach at this level. Getting fired really wasn't her fault. This whole mess has been completely unfair to KL, and everyone needs to recognize that.

The good news is that CU women's basketball is on a 2-year plan to be competitive again. Make no mistake, no single player Sophomore or otherwise is more important than the program. Shonni Schimmel has a lot in common with KL, but that star burned just a wee bit brighter, and it had its flameouts as well.

- h

Hmm, what to say about this 'epistle' as a newcomer on your site & having a wee bit of insight on young Payne as a former player & a coach - her, not me as player & coach. Your KL will get along with Payne and will grow rapidly as an "in control of her talents" player. That I promise. JR has never lost a player she wanted to keep. The discipline discussion re Payne should revolve around players having the discipline to buy into Payne's scheme and believe in that scheme, not in hesitating to put up shots that may not have been in the game plan or take chances on steals, etc. Payne was highly integral in turning around 4 really, really crappy teams as the first hire and immediate recruiting coordinator for Kelly Graves when Graves left St Mary's for the Gonzaga job. Zags had finished in the basement numerous times in a row before Graves/Payne got there and Payne immediately recruited Zags first ever women's team All-American. Zags didn't do too badly. Next Boise State which wasn't really a crappy team, just highly medicore. Again, as at Gonzaga, she was chief assistant & rctng coordinator, brought in great height & in a year BSU won their first conference title and first conference tournament. Then first head job at Southern Utah, a team that won 2 games the year before Payne. They ended up winning first conference title ever, first conference tourney ever, went to a nat'l tournament first time ever and beat your rival CSU in the first round. Every player in five years at SUU graduated on time and 70% of them were Dean's List students. Payne also recruited the first black woman to play for SUU women's basketball, plus then, numerous other black women. Then to Santa Clara which had sadly become an awful program. Picked last in the conference her first year there and finished, I believe 5th or 6th with first winning record in years. Last year even better with over 20 wins after being picked 7th, victories over Texas Tech, LSU, Gonzaga and Stanford at Stanford and did it w/o her starting 6'3" center (cancerous tumor on her spine) and her best recruit (6' PG who was POY for British Columbia who was offered by many, many "big" schools including PAC-12 schools) who had a preseason severe back sprain and when starting mostly sophs & regularly two frosh. The girl can coach and her players love her.

 

[JackVcr]

What was that...8 days on the job? That doesn't feel like a guy I would trust.

I'd like to find out the story on the hiring process. Did Coach Payne specifically single this guy out for the asst coaching position? Or did he interview for the job after he was hired at Southeastern?

Neither.

 

[JackVcr]

Well, I gave RWAG another chance to see if it had anything interesting to say about Coach Payne. And it did BUT it also took a vicious swipe at Coach T, the new associate head coach. So now I've blocked it forever.

"A vicious swipe at Coach T" - I don't even know who or what RWAG is and I can tell you it is asinine. Toriano Towns is principled, honest as the day is long and one heckuva a coach & recruiter.

 

[JackVcr]

JR Payne beat Stanford (Elite Eight, NCAA tourney team 2016) this year, and I think she'll do it no later than the 2018-2019 season. Something Linda never once managed to do while at CU.

JR Payne will have CU in the top-25 no later than the 2018-19 season. Unlike Linda, she'll have to get their with her own players. The current roster is almost entirely devoid of Pac-12 talent. Which is not to say they aren't good women's basketball players, just that this is the #1 conference for Women's basketball in the country right now.

Good call, dude. You're right. She also beat LSU & Texas Tech the past two years and did it with a team picked dead last two years ago and 8th last year.

 

[JackVcr]

There are many things to be worried about surrounding this program and optimism this decade has only been lower a month ago when we hadn't yet made a coaching change. Though I have many reservations about where things are going from here, Coach Payne, those who will be working for her, and the players need our full support while they turn the page and work toward a product they can be proud of. Please stop the cheap shots about the relationship of the coaches or implying that certain players on the roster should be pushed out. Work for the new season has already begun. Let us be Colorado Buffalo fans who build up rather than continue the divisions that were characteristic of a failing program.

Good call, 'aik'. As is typical of those who may make cheap shot comments about the coaches relationship, we had a saying in VietNam that is apropos here: "those folks don't know their ass from last year's tea leaves!"

 

[JackVcr]

I'm not sure anyone noticed, but JR Payne has a degree in French. I never understood why Linda went down without using every opportunity at her disposal to improve the team with scholarships. CU still has at least two remaining, right now. Her husband was communicated to be traveling overseas right now. I think its WAY too late to get any good recruit for next fall, but there is always a ton of talent overseas in Europe that never gets effectively recruited. If Payne speaks French, no reason not to go look overseas in France. To that point, everyone on this board that didn't join just recently should remember Isabelle Fijalkowski, she was our 6-5 true five back during the heyday with Ceal her "senior" season. Played with Sheetz, Raegan, Tinker. So CU already has some recruiting currency in France. Fijalkowski led France to the 2001 Eurobasket European championship. Towns should drop her name on recruiting visits…if he happens to visit France.

CU can get some very very talented players still for next season overseas. Two scholarships remaining. Going and getting the type of players Ryun Williams has built CSU up with, could help bridge the gap until JR can recruit her own types of disciplined, mentally tough, emotionally even keeled players. Expect two players to join incoming recruits.

Bria Rice PG, will be the highest ESPN/HoopGurlz rated PG on the roster 90/3-star.
Quinessa Caylao-Do, SG is another 3-star recruit, 89 rating.

The best news of the JR Payne hire is her incredible reputation as a recruiter. CU is a Pac-12 program with a rich history, and the days of CU running out 3-star players in roles they aren't ready for are probably over within two years.

Let's get a guessing game going:

How many seasons until JR Payne beats Stanford again, this time with CU?
How many seasons until CU returns to their natural place in the top-25?

Great post, Ralphie. I'm enjoying all this. JR has been fluently bilingual in French since she was a kid. She also studied French Literature. No dumb jock, this Payne kid. Whilst at Gonzaga when Rony Seikaly was an All-American for the men Zags, Seikaly told Payne about a 6'4" girl in Paris that apparently all the big schools were after. Payne called the girl, spoke French with her, was the only recruiter that attempted to speak French with her and the girl immediately, while on the phone, agreed to come to Gonzaga. You're right - Payne can recruit!

 

[BeBe]

More good info. Thanks JackVcr.
There are probably some things in this thread that are rather head-scratchers at this point. That's because we had a poster whose name we shortened to RWAG (full name "RalphieWasAGirl") who had many nasty things to say about the players, the previous coaching staff, etc. Also extolled the virtues of another coach (not anyone who was hired at CU) and other players. Once JR was hired this poster had nasty things to say there as well. Said poster has since been banned and all its posts removed. But some of our posts referencing its posts are still here. Thus some disconnects in this thread.

 

[AeroBuff99]

More good info. Thanks JackVcr.
There are probably some things in this thread that are rather head-scratchers at this point. That's because we had a poster whose name we shortened to RWAG (full name "RalphieWasAGirl") who had many nasty things to say about the players, the previous coaching staff, etc. Also extolled the virtues of another coach (not anyone who was hired at CU) and other players. Once JR was hired this poster had nasty things to say there as well. Said poster has since been banned and all its posts removed. But some of our posts referencing its posts are still here. Thus some disconnects in this thread.

RWAG isn't banned as far as I can tell and her posts are still visible. If you have her on ignore you won't see her posts though.

 

[JackVcr]

More good info. Thanks JackVcr.
There are probably some things in this thread that are rather head-scratchers at this point. That's because we had a poster whose name we shortened to RWAG (full name "RalphieWasAGirl") who had many nasty things to say about the players, the previous coaching staff, etc. Also extolled the virtues of another coach (not anyone who was hired at CU) and other players. Once JR was hired this poster had nasty things to say there as well. Said poster has since been banned and all its posts removed. But some of our posts referencing its posts are still here. Thus some disconnects in this thread.

Thank you, BeBe. Now I understand.

 

[JackVcr]

Looking at the places where he coached prior to Santa Clara, it looks like he and JR probably fell for each other while they were assistants together.

Toriano Towns enters his fifth season as associate head coach for the Thunderbirds. Towns serves as SUU’s recruiting and defensive coordinator, assists with the planning of practice sessions, conditioning, scouting, and also works with the Thunderbird post players.

During his first four seasons with the Thunderbirds, Towns helped forward Challis Pascucci develop into one of the premiere low post players in the Summit League. After the 2009-10 season Pascucci earned All-Summit League second team honors after leading the conference in rebounding and tied for the lead in blocked shots. She also set the SUU single-season record for total rebounds with 291 and her 46 blocks were the fifth most in SUU single-season history. Pascucci earned a spot on the All-Summit League first team after finishing third in the conference in scoring (17.7 PPG), second in rebounding (9.7 RPG) and sixth in blocks (23). Pascucci finished the 2011 season as the Thunderbirds all-time leader in career rebounds (929) and fourth in scoring (1,328).

Towns joined Southern Utah after spending four years at Boise State University as the Broncos defensive coordinator. During his time at BSU, the Broncos won back-to-back Western Athletic Conference championships, earned a trip to the NCAA tournament, advanced to the second round of the WNIT tournament, had a pair of First Team All-WAC guards and set numerous offensive and defensive school records.

Prior to Boise State, Towns spent one season as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona, helping the Wildcats record a 20-win season and a post a first round NCAA Tournament victory against the University of Oklahoma. Towns played a major role in recruiting and scouting at Arizona. He worked with the Wildcat post players, assisting with the development of Shawntinice Polk who became one of the country’s most decorated post players being named to the Kodak/WBCA All-American team, first-team All-Pac-10 team, and Kodak/WBCA all-Region 8 team.

Towns’ coaching career began at Gonzaga University where he served as an assistant for three seasons. At Gonzaga, Towns was responsible for post player development, where he coached five All-West Coast Conference performers along with holding responsibility for scouting and game preparation. He also served as the co-recruiting coordinator for the Bulldogs. During his time at Gonzaga, he helped orchestrate the second-best turnaround in WCC history as the Bulldogs went from eighth in 2002-03 to second place in 2003-04, posting an 18-12 overall record. That team advanced to its second-ever Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).

Towns earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from Saint Mary’s College in 1998 and his Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.

“Toriano has been a great addition to Southern Utah women’s basketball,” head coach JR Payne said. “He’s a proven recruiter on a national scale and will continue to elevate our recruiting to a new level. Toriano is a fierce competitor on the court and is extremely passionate about the growth and development of our student-athletes, not only as players but also as people. He is great resource that will continue to contribute in the building SUU women’s basketball.”

http://www.suutbirds.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=20100&ATCLID=3748796

Close, but no cigar, Buffnik. They were college sweethearts.

 

[JackVcr]

She addressed this in the press conference. Said that they have players and recruits and former colleagues that were initially unaware that they were married. Basically said they aren't a married couple when it comes to being on the court. Obviously she has to say this but I am confident the dynamic will work out.

It works like a hot darn. Together they turned around two terrible programs together in Southern Utah and Santa Clara.