With 10 new players, it would seem to be a good idea for the Colorado women’s basketball team to invest in name tags.
The get-to-know-you stage, however, was so successful in the summer that the Buffaloes officially opened practice on Thursday at the CU Events Center feeling like a close group.
“We’ve had so much fun,” senior forward Jade Masogayo, the only returning starter, said. “The chemistry is really there. We’re always hanging out; like, we’re just always together.”
Nevertheless, there’s a lot to do for the Buffs to be ready when the season starts Nov. 6 against New Mexico.
“Obviously, with 10 new people, you’re still kind of drinking out of a fire hydrant in a lot of ways because every single thing we’re doing is new,” said head coach JR Payne, heading into her 10th season at CU. “Even for our players that have been in college for three or four years, it’s still new the way that we do it, and the language we use, and different things like that.”
Masogayo, guard Kennedy Sanders and center JoJo Nworie are the only returning players from last year. The list of newcomers includes five transfers, all of which are upperclassmen, and five true freshmen.
With so many newcomers, positions are up for grabs and Payne said everyone is capable of earning minutes. With that, they’ve all shown a willingness to learn together.
“Everyone’s just been a sponge, like listening, being coachable,” Payne said. “Of any group I’ve ever coached here at CU, this group is more coachable from each other. … This team is very willing to coach each other, and they’re willing to be coached by each other, which I think is just so incredible.
“I think the sky’s the limit for how quickly we can advance when we have that mindset.”
Getting to this point began in the recruiting process. In the relatively new world of recruiting, in which the transfer portal is utilized more often than ever before, coaches have to do more homework in learning about the players they are bringing into a program.
“This past spring, above any year, we were really intentional about don’t just talk to the player and their parents,” Payne said. “Talk to their coach, talk to their pastor, talk to their whoever back home; talk to their high school coach. Like, there was a lot of homework that was done in recruiting.”
That’s helped CU build a roster of players that fits the culture of the program, and Masogayo said she feels a difference from a year ago – when she was one of the newcomers.
“Coach has been harping on she has a really great feeling about this year, and I see why she says that,” Masogayo said. “I mean, we click, great personalities. It’s just a bunch of fun. We’ve had so much fun so far, especially this summer. It’s been the best summer in my college career so far.
“We just have such good personalities that are able to mesh and just click together. And so I feel like that can really translate on the court, as well. So it’s just been really good so far.”
As a group, the Buffs have been learning each other and building chemistry since the summer, but Thursday’s official opener gave the Buffs some new practice gear and a charge of energy.
“It does definitely officially kick off the season,” Payne said, “and we’re definitely all ready for that.”