Brooks: Freeman Offering Payne’s Buffs Major Lift Coming Off Bench

BOULDER – Maybe the best observation and the best greeting an incoming coach can offer to a holdover player at his/her new school is this: "You're the kind of player we want to recruit."

There's no question that it falls on the player's ears like sweet music. Anytime there's a coaching change in any sport, players already on the roster have no idea whether they'll be "a good fit" with the new coach in any number of areas. And there's no guarantee for the new coach that those players inherited are going to buy in or work out.

Consider JR Payne and Ariana Freeman to be among the very lucky ones.

Payne took over last spring as the University of Colorado women's basketball coach, coming to Boulder from Santa Clara. When she arrived on campus she found Freeman, who had transferred to CU the previous fall from Louisville and spent a redshirt freshman season getting acclimated to school and former coach Linda Lappe's system.

At least Freeman got acquainted with the campus, the Coors Events Center, and her teammates . . . her basketball world could have turned end-over-end when Payne and her staff replaced those coaches who welcomed her to CU.

But instead of chaos for Freeman there has been order, and the reaffirmation of her being a good fit in what appears to be a system better suited to her abilities.

A 5-9 sophomore guard from Manassas, Va., Freeman is second on the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) but only fourth in minutes played (20.6 per game). She's reached double figures in four of the Buffs' seven games – they're 7-0 and ranked No. 21 nationally – and is averaging just under four rebounds, two assists and one steal a game. She scored a season-best 24 points in CU's Omni Classic-opening win against St. Francis (Brooklyn) and 19 in Wednesday afternoon's 58-point rout of Southeastern Louisiana.

Freeman's role as spelled out (literally, in writing) by Payne is playing aggressively, attacking the basket in the Buffs' half-court sets, rebounding just as hard, and defending like mad. What Freeman does well has allowed her to make a comfortable entry – most often off the bench – into a backcourt that is the strength and soul of Payne's first CU team.

"Absolutely," Freeman says, "my bread-and-butter is defense and driving to the basket."

Payne said Freeman's role through the remainder of non-conference play as CU points toward its Pac-12 opener (Dec. 30 at USC) "is still kind of evolving." The Buffs play three of their four final non-conference games at the CEC, beginning with Idaho State on Saturday (6 p.m., Colorado Live Stream).

FREEMAN AND PAYNE HAVE SPOKEN about Freeman continuing to come off the bench, with Payne liking the productivity a specific player can provide. "We love (that)," Payne said. "We've always done that – at (Santa Clara) we had one of our best offensive weapons coming off the bench. Ariana can do that, give us a spark on offense and a lift on the defensive end."

In her reserve role against SELA, Freeman scored 19 points in 19 minutes, hitting 8-of-15 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line). She also collected six rebounds, four assists, three steals and blocked one shot. She committed three of CU's 11 turnovers, but the days of her being yanked from the court after a mistake are behind her.

She left those in Louisville.

"I had a rough freshman year," she admitted (5 minutes a game in 19 games, totaling 23 rebounds and 16 points). "Instilling confidence here is so different from there. In high school I felt like I was in a bubble because I was so confident . . . when I stepped on the floor at Louisville I knew what I was able to do but they kind of took that away from me. It was shoot, miss a shot, make a mistake and come out. Here it's not like that at all."

That bubble of confidence Freeman described was all-encompassing and well-earned. She left Paul VI Catholic in Fairfax, Va., as the school's all-time leading scorer and the 2014 Washington Catholic Player of The Year. When things went south at Louisville she looked west to CU, where her father and mother went to school, met, married and began a life together.

Her father is a former Buffs tight end – then Desmond Dennis – who played for former coach Bill McCartney in the early 1990s. Her parents lived in Colorado "for a couple of years" then moved to the Washington, D.C. area, where Desmond's parents live. Yes, he still follows the Buffs and yes, both parents were instrumental in Ariana's choice of a new school.

When she arrived two falls ago Freeman was intent on a smooth landing. "One thing I didn't want to do was come in and step on people's toes," she said, adding that now she believes she's "definitely" meshed with her teammates.

"She's had a year to do that," Payne said. "She (got acclimated) last year before I got here. Right now she's an integral part of our team and has been since we've been here."

Payne recounted her initial meeting with Freeman, specifically telling her, "You're our kind of player. Sometimes when a new coach comes in, some of the players aren't your style – and that can be hard for players and really hard for coaches. But I told her that you're our kind of player – you're tough, physical, you're aggressive. And you've got a positive demeanor on the court."

THAT'S A LOT TO LIKE, BUT THERE'S something else too, noted Payne. In practice daily the Buffs do a drill called "20 layups" that encourages players to take contact and learn to finish at the basket with either hand. It puts Freeman in her world, where getting to the rim and finishing come first.

That, said Payne, is "clearly" Freeman's strong suit. "She finishes left handed, right handed, fading away. Tough shots too. It gives her a chance to get three points instead of just laying the ball up."

Freeman is the first to admit (Payne is the second) that polishing her perimeter shooting will continue to be an off-season priority.

"That's not something she likes to do, but she's working on it," Payne said. "I would expect people to try and take away her drives to the basket. But even with that, she comes to play, finds a way to get to the basket, finds a way to get the shot she wants. She always seems to be in control of her offensive production; she doesn't let people dictate what she wants or doesn't want to do. She's just been awesome for us so far."

And in Freeman's view she's become part of an awesome team. In her spectator/redshirt/practice player role last season she watched true freshmen Kennedy Leonard and Alexis Robinson grow into their backcourt roles and begin playing to their potential.

"This year they're stepping . . . I'm proud of them," Freeman said of Leonard, the team leader in scoring (17.9) and assists (6.3), and Robinson (11.9 ppg, 3.6 apg). "They were freshmen last year and I saw their potential in practice, scoring the ball, passing the ball. Kennedy is doing a good job knocking down shots and being the point guard/leader of this team. Lex is playing hard on defense . . . and Haley Smith is having a great season so far."

Smith, one of Payne's four seniors, is averaging 11.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 2 steals a game. Plus, her 13 3-pointers ties Leonard for the team lead and her 48.1 3-point percentage leads the team.

The Buffs currently are one of three undefeated Pac-12 women's teams (Utah and Cal are the other two) and among six Pac-12 squads ranked in at least one poll. CU's inclusion among both the unbeaten and the ranked is a surprise considering the Buffs were picked to finish 11th – ahead of only Arizona – in preseason polls conducted by the league coaches and media.

Freeman, though, holds no grudges but does make a promise: "We won seven games last year. I would pick us last . . . but we're definitely going to surprise some people this year."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU

Brooks: Freeman Offering Payne’s Buffs Major Lift Coming Off Bench

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Players Mentioned

Ariana Freeman

Kennedy Leonard

Alexis Robinson

Haley Smith