This fall has been unlike anything we’ve ever seen before at the University of Colorado. Celebrities, Hall of Fame athletes and cameras are now everywhere as head football coach Deion Sanders has brought Boulder into the center of the sports world.
Understandably so, things have also been different for the other varsity teams on campus, including head coach JR Payne’s women’s basketball squad, which is looking to make its third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Although those aforementioned distractions are of the welcomed variety, the Buffs have remained focused with their season opener on the horizon.
“We’re a pretty focused group,” Payne told the media prior to CU’s first official preseason practice last week. “There’s been a lot of distractions in Boulder the last few weeks since we got here, and it’s incredible. We all love it. To have ‘GameDay’ here and Fox ‘Big Noon’ and all of that is so cool, our team has done a good job of keeping us focused. We have our own job to do outside of what everybody else is doing in Boulder.”
Payne, fortunately, has a veteran group this year with Jaylyn Sherrod, Quay Miller, Frida Formann and other upperclassmen aiming to run back last season’s trip to the Sweet 16.
Colorado opens things up against the defending national champion LSU Tigers on Nov. 6 in Las Vegas.
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