Back to the Colorado Buffaloes Newsfeed

Colorado names JR Payne to take helm of women's basketball program

As a visiting head coach, JR Payne is 0-3 at Coors Events Center.

Payne and Colorado are hoping for much better results from the home side of the court.

On Monday, CU officially announced Payne as its new head coach for women's basketball, signing her to a five-year contract.

Payne, who spent the last two seasons as the head coach at Santa Clara, will replace Linda Lappe, who was fired on March 7 after six seasons at the helm. Payne will become the eighth head coach in CU's program history.

"There was a lot of interest in the position, which confirmed this is viewed as one of the top coaching jobs in women's basketball," CU athletic director Rick George said in a press release.