Pac 12 Preview: Colorado

12 Preview: Colorado

Last Season: Colorado went 7-23 last season and 2-16 in the conference which caused the dismissal of the coaching staff.


The Coaches: Head Coach JR Payne will be in her first year at Colorado after two seasons at Santa Clara. Last season Payne led Santa Clara to its first winning season in 8 seasons and finished 23-9. JR, no periods, and real name Ali-Marie, is a graduate of St Mary’s where she played for now Oregon coach Kelly Graves. Her first coaching job was at age 23 for Graves when he started at Gonzaga.
Shandrika Lee is in her first season as an assistant at Colorado after coaching for Payne at Santa Clara. Lee is a graduate of Pepperdine and has coached at Oregon.

Toriano Towns is also in his first year and also coached with Payne at Santa Clara. Towns coached at Gonzaga with Payne and later at Arizona where he was the Post coach for the great, late Polk.

Jeff Cammon is in his first year at Colorado. Jeff coached at Cal the past two seasons and before that Long Beach State.

Alex Earl is the new Director of Player Development, a new position. Alex was an assistant with Payne this past season at Santa Clara and played for years at ASU graduating in 2013. Alex was a HS teammate of JJ Hones on a team where all five starters player Division 1 basketball.



Losses: Jamie Swan graduated as the leading scorer and rebounding averaging 13 points and 7 rebounds, so a big loss. But that’s the only loss for the Buffs.


Additions: Quinessa Caylao-Do is a 5-8 Frosh Guard from Tacoma.
Monica Burich is a 6-2 Redshirt Frosh Forward from Roseville, MN. Monica was ranked just outside the top 100 out of HS.
Eleanor Jones is a 6-2 Frosh Post player from England, ranked as the # 9 foreign recruit for this class.


The Schedule: Non-conference games include only Kentucky and North Dakota State and others less formidable. Also all the pre-season games are at home except for three and one of those is within Colorado. Of course given a new coach and a team that won just 7 games last season, this is appropriate. The Buffs play USC and UCLA only in LA, and ASU and Arizona only at home.



The Team:
Kennedy Leonard is a 5-8 Soph Guard who averaged 12 points and almost 5 assists per game last season. Kennedy started all but one game for the Buffs and hit 43 threes although at 31%.

Alexis Robinson is a 5-10 Soph Guard who averaged 7 points and started most games.

Haley Smith is a 6-1 Sr Wing who started all but one game averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds, 2nd on the team in both stats. Haley shot 46% from the floor.

Lauren Huggins is a 6-2 Sr Forward who is one of four returnees like the others mentioned above who averaged at least 26 minutes per game. Huggins averaged 7 points and made 49 threes at 36%. However she only got to the free throw line 8 times.

Zoe Beard-Falls is a 6-1 Sr Forward who averaged 4 points in 12 minutes.
Zoe Correll is a 6-4 Jr Post form San Francisco who averaged 2 points and had 3 rebounds in 15 minutes per game.

Bri Watts is a 6-2 Sr Post who didn’t play much but could add depth at the Post position.

Becca Thomas is a 5-5 Jr Guard who averaged 3 points in 19 minutes.

Makenzie Ellis is a 6-2 Soph Forward who averaged 3 points in 16 minutes.

Ariana Freeman is 5-9 redshirt Soph who played as a Frosh at Louisville and then sat out last season after transferring. Freeman didn’t play much at Louisville but was a top 100-120 player out of HS.

Newcomers Monica Burich and Eleanor Jones listed under additions will be counted on to provide rebounding and height.


Predictions: Two excellent young Guards and two tall wings that can score however after that not much depth. Rebounding and Defense are weaknesses as they start play. Payne is an excellent coach however so Colorado will be a team that improves.


2017 Recruiting: Annika Jank is a 6-3 three star Post from MN