BOULDER, Colo. — The Buffs are back -- sort of. Only three players who saw minutes last season are returning to the roster, with Frida Formann as the lone returner who cracked the starting lineup nearly every night.
So the Buffs are indeed back and refreshed, and they brought in six transfers.
"It's just new," Head Coach JR Payne said. "For us, there's going to be so much new for us this year. New conference, new players, new leaders, new all of that. It's just a great opportunity."
The new conference was a perfect way to find new talent. Payne said she found new forward Nyamer Diew (Ny) the old fashioned way: scouting film of her upcoming opponent.
"When we were preparing for Kansas State, we watched the Iowa State film -- all of them, every time they played -- and Ny always stood out to us on that film mostly because of all of the things that we love: long, versatile and athletic," she said. "So there were things that she was doing on the floor offensively against Kansas State that we were thinking, 'oh, we need to try to do that!' And then the opportunity to recruit came along as soon as she went into the portal, and I said, 'that's the kid we were talking about!'"
For Diew, it was a no-brainer to choose Payne's staff for her final year of eligibility after spending time at Butler and Iowa State.
"I specifically chose Colorado because of JR, I'm not going to lie," she said. "I was excited to be coached by somebody who cared about me more as a person than just as a basketball player."
Payne cares alright -- cares enough to go after another player a second time. When Jojo Nworie was the top JUCO player in the nation, she chose Texas Tech over Colorado, but never played a minute for the Red Raiders over two years due to injury and illness.
"My first year, I was out because I had blood clots," Nworie said. "Coming out of JUCO as the number one player of the country, blah, blah, blah and stuff like that, and sitting on the bench, was so hard."
She missed her next year with a torn ACL, which she and Payne said is fully healed and will be ready for the beginning of offseason training.
"[Jojo] may end up being one of the most versatile players we've had in that she's unbelievably athletic, can score inside, can shoot the three, can defend," Payne said. "Right now, we're just trying to get her healthy."
Nworie has no regrets about passing up Boulder the first time around, but she now knows she's in the right place at the right time.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm happy--so happy! I've never been in peace. You know when you have peace of mind? It tells me that I actually made the right decision coming here because I had every school offered me but I didn't take any visits," Nworie said. "I know if I come here, I'll try my best to come in healthy and show the world what I got."
The Buffs will be joined by four other transfers: sophomore Ayianna Johnson from Minnesota, grad transfer Lior Garzon from Oklahoma State, junior Jade Masogayo from Missouri State, and grad transfer Johanna Teder from Washington State.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Colorado Buffaloes
