In her 10th season at Colorado, JR Payne is already the second-longest tenured women’s basketball coach in program history.
She’s not going anywhere for a while, either.
On Wednesday, CU and athletic director Fernando Lovo announced a contract extension and raise for Payne, who will lead the Buffaloes into the Big 12 tournament Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri.
The new contract, which runs through the 2030-31 season, is for an annual salary of $800,000, a raise of $100,000 per year for Payne. The new deal, which was unanimously approved by CU regents Wednesday, replaces the five-year contract she signed three years ago.
“We love Colorado and our family has been raised in Colorado,” Payne said. “It’s an honor. It’s so appreciated.”
In addition to her salary, Payne will receive $30,000 during the first four years of the deal for conducting summer camps. There are also several incentives for competitive and academic success written into the deal.
Introduced as CU’s head coach on March 28, 2016, Payne, 48, has posted a 184-126 record in her 10 seasons with the Buffs while leading them to the NCAA Tournament three times — including back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2023 and 2024. She has also led them to the WNIT/WBIT three times.
Going into the Big 12 tournament this week, the Buffs (20-10) are projected to reach the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the past five years. After a first-round bye, CU will play Thursday in the second round against Kansas or UCF (7 p.m. MT, ESPN+).
Payne’s 184 wins rank second to Ceal Barry (427-242 in 22 seasons from 1983-2005). Of those 184 wins, 112 have come in the past five seasons, as CU has posted five consecutive 20-win marks, the second-longest streak in program history. Barry led the Buffs to six straight 20-win campaigns from 1991-92 to 1996-97.
In the past five years, Payne has led the Buffs to 16 wins against AP Top 25-ranked opponents, including three this year.
“Coach Payne has been the model of consistently sustained excellence here at Colorado, and I’m thrilled that she will be leading our program for years to come,” Lovo said in a news release. “Coach Payne’s teams embody her personality of grit, resilience, toughness, and integrity, but this extension is also emblematic of her role as a tremendous leader and mentor for our student-athletes.”
Payne took over a program that went just 7-23 the year before she was hired. Payne’s team was just 44-52 in her first three years combined, including a last-place finish in the Pac-12 in 2018-19.
Although the Pac-12 was viewed by many as the toughest conference in the country, she led a steady climb. Just two years after a last-place finish, the Buffs were sixth in 2021. They were top five the next three years, from 2022-24, reaching the NCAA Tournament in each of those years.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished,” she said. “It wasn’t easy, in the best conference in the country (Pac-12), to go from the cellar to the top. So, I’m really proud of what our staff and our players have been able to do in that regard.
“I’m also just really excited about what we can do moving forward.”
Academically, CU has posted 13 straight semesters with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, including a 3.427 mark in 2024, which was a program record.
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