KANSAS CITY, Mo. — During Colorado’s winter sports media day on Monday in Boulder, CU women’s basketball coach JR Payne was, predictably, asked about the shift from the Pac-12 to the Big 12.
Payne was raised on the West Coast, played collegiately on the West Coast, and has spent her entire coaching career in the west, with Boulder counting as the easternmost location of her journey. As part of her response to the conference move, Payne noted that the bulk of her best friends in the coaching profession are in the west. West Coast basketball essentially is all Payne has known.
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But the Buffs’ renewed Big 12 era is beginning, and Payne and the Buffaloes aren’t jumping into the fray looking to make friends. Payne, however, is more than ready to do her homework.
Accompanied by program veterans Frida Formann and Kindyll Wetta, along with newcomer Lior Garzon, Payne and the Buffs took part in the Big 12’s women’s basketball media day on Tuesday at T-Mobile Center. Once the league slate begins, the new conference home will bring new challenges to Payne and the Buffs. Yet CU’s veteran coach, entering her ninth season, is eager to tackle the new mental challenges.
“For me, I’m very excited about the intellectual challenge of a brand new conference,” Payne said. “The Pac-12 was full of great teams, but you pretty much knew who everybody was. And they knew who we were. So the intellectual challenge of so many new styles and teams, you just don’t really know anything about anyone. That is very exciting for me.
“We have film in our scouting reports that go back years. Like, late-game when UCLA had a baseline out of bounds play with one and a half seconds left, this is what they ran. We don’t have that kind of information on anybody. But also people don’t have that on us, either. That part is going to be very, very fun.”
Payne has said on several occasions, including earlier this week, she believes the shift back to the Big 12 is more in tune with the culture of her program and the dynamic of the tough, blue collar-type players Payne and her staff target on the recruiting circuit. The new mix of players, which includes a total of 10 newcomers, includes several players already familiar with the Big 12.
Garzon spent the past two years at Oklahoma State, finishing her career there ranked fifth in program history in made 3-pointers. Graduate transfer Nyamer Diew played 91 games at Iowa State over the past three seasons, averaging 6.1 points and 4.1 rebounds last year. And 6-foot-5 center JoJo Nworie spent the past two seasons at Texas Tech, although injuries prevented her from suiting up for the Red Raiders.
Formann and Wetta played key roles in the Buffs’ three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, and they are unlikely to be on their heels when it comes to new scouting reports and unfamiliar gyms. However, the new routine in the Big 12 will include such nuances as more flights, yet additional recovery time between games. Although the Buffs didn’t specifically target former Big 12 players in the transfer portal — Nworie and Garzon were originally recruited by CU — Payne believes that Big 12 experience will be an asset once the conference schedule begins.
“It is a blessing in that they can speak to environments or styles of play,” Payne said. “There’s maybe some things that maybe the film doesn’t tell you. The Xs and Os, you can get from film. But it’s the environment, just the space we’ll be going to and the history of those places, that I think we can lean into them more.”
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