Payne Installing 'Back To Basics' Culture With Buffs (With Media Day Updates)

BOULDER — There's been nothing complicated about JR Payne's first preseason with the Colorado Buffaloes.

The new CU women's basketball coach has actually made the Buffs' opening three weeks of practice quite simple.

"All we're trying to focus on is the fundamentals of what we're doing and what we want to accomplishing," Payne said earlier this week. "The type of effort and tenacity and aggressiveness that we want to play with has been a lot more our focus. Toughness and paying attention to details, that's who we are and what we're trying to instill."

It doesn't mean the Buffs aren't working on installing offensive and defensive schemes. But Payne, who came to Colorado last spring after a successful stint at Santa Clara, wants her top priority to be installing a culture at CU that will result in her Buffs outworking every opponent they face.

If they can do that, Payne believes, the Buffs will be ready to improve on last year's 7-23 finish, a mark that included a 2-16 Pac-12 record.

"We talk a lot about what this team needs to do to be successful," Payne said. "It has nothing to do with being 6-5 and being able to run down the floor and dunk. This group's success is going to lie in our ability to outwork our opponent, our ability to outwork our opponent and be tougher than our opponent, to be really disciplined in the way we play the game.

"That's where this team's success lies. It's very black and white in those things. If we can be those things and do those things, we'll be successful."

Payne does have a foundation of returnees from which to build. While last season's leading scorer and rebounder, Jamee Swan, has graduated, the Buffs do have a host of returning veterans. The list includes last year's second-leading scorer, guard Kennedy Leonard (12.1 ppg), along with last year's second-leading rebounder, Haley Smith (5.7 rpg).

The list of returnees also includes guard Alexis Robinson (20 starts last season), forward Lauren Huggins (17 starts) and center Zoe Correal (15 starts). Throw in Louisville transfer Ariana Freeman and promising freshmen Quinessa Caylao-Do, Eleanor Jones and Monica Burich (a redshirt freshman who missed last season with a knee injury), and the cupboard is by no means bare.

But, as Payne pointed out, a new coaching staff, new system and new culture means everyone is virtually starting from scratch. It's a long process that takes time.

"It's slow moving, but that's normal," Payne said. "It's like having 13 freshmen on the floor. When you have a new coaching staff, every single drill you do, every single concept is brand new. We're all figuring it out.

"But so far, they're doing great. They're definitely trying to do what we're asking them to do. We're working hard, playing hard and figuring out what it is we're asking of them."

The Buffs will have a pair of closed preseason scrimmages, then open the season Nov. 11 at Northern Colorado (7 p.m.). Their home opener will come Nov. 13 in a 2 p.m. game against Air Force at the Coors Events Center.

But what starting lineup will see the floor in those games is a long — emphasize long — way from being decided.

"We'll play with different lineups in our closed scrimmages," Payne said. "Right now, we don't have a lot of numbers because we've had some injuries. But we'll look at some different combinations and see what we think will work best."

With Leonard, Robinson and Smith all returning, Payne does know the Buffs' perimeter game should be their strength. She also thinks her players in the post will be capable rebounders and be able to move the ball in transition.

"We're going to be good in transition offensively and we're going to be aggressive in transition," Payne said. "We're going to shoot the ball well from the 3-point line and we're execute really well."

And after that, Payne will only vow that her Buffs won't be outworked by anyone. She and her staff have emphasized a return to the basics since they arrived, and that focus on the fundamentals hasn't changed.

"What I want our players to realize is that every single one of them is capable of maximizing their effort in the areas we talk about — discipline, details and fundamentals," she said. "It has nothing to do with your shooting ability or ball-handling skills. It has everything to do with playing tough, playing disciplined, working hard and doing your job. It's very, very fundamental — and if we do those things, we can be successful."

1-ON-1 SET SUNDAY: The women's team will hold its sixth annual 1-on-1 with CU Women's Basketball event on Sunday. The event will be held in the Coors Events Center practice facility upper gym at 1 p.m. with the doors opening at 12:30 p.m. Campus leaders will introduce the 2016-17 Colorado women's basketball team followed by a season preview from Payne.

A favorite among many fans, the premise of the 1-on-1 event pairs each student-athlete with a prominent female member of the university's faculty/staff and they get to know each other outside the classroom or office setting. The pairs then introduce each other to fans in attendance for the main program.

Registration for 1-on-1 with CU Women's Basketball is available at CUBuffs.com/events. For more information, call 303-492-5497.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu