"Payne and Sherrod Effect" has major impact on Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball
It's not just the "Prime Effect" that's bringing in loads of cast to the University of Colorado at Boulder. There is also the "Payne and Sherrod Effect."
JR Payne is the head coach for the Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team. In her eighth season on the job, she's guided the Buffs to a 22-9 record and the fifth seed in the NCAA Tournament. Payne, is one of the 15 head coaches from across the country listed as a candidate for the Werner Ladder Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year Award.
Leading the Buffs on the court is senior point guard Jaylyn Sherrod. The Birmingham, Alabama, native, averaged 13.0 points, 3.2 assists, and 4.8 assists this season and earned AP Honorable Mention All-American honors, becoming the first Buff to do so since 2013.
The interest in the team greatly picked up last season when Colorado made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. The winning ways continued this year, as the Buffs raced out to a 15-1 record and the third-ranking by the Associated Press. Also, their game against UCLA was the fifth sellout in program history and the first since March 17, 1995, when Colorado hosted the Southeastern Missouri State Hawks.
"I've loved it because I've been coming to CU hoops games since I was in the 8th grade when they were recruiting me," said Colorado Buffaloes guard Kindyll Wetta.
Average attendance also increased from 1,571 fans a game last year to 5,212 fans a game this season. The average attendance for conference games also grew from 2,346 fans last season to 7,078 fans this year. Five of Colorado's top 16 attended games in program history also happened this season. (#1 UCLA, 11,338, #10 Stanford, 9,111, #12 USC, 8,474, #15 Utah, 7,838, and #16 Washington State, 7,491.
"The fan support is what is truly remarkable," said Colorado Buffaloes head coach JR Payne. "To see where, maybe we had 1,200 people at games and now we're looking at 9,000. It's incredible for our players, the environment, and for basketball in Boulder in general."
Season tickets also increased from 634 last year to 1,136 this year. There was also a 367% increase in Group Tickets over last year and a 366% increase in new season tickets. Donations also went up 102%.
"You can't go to a movie these days for under $15 a pop but you can come watch CU women's basketball, a top-25 women's basketball program, and support them and expose kids and families to what college is like as well. To be at a college campus," said Alexis Williams, Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations at the University of Colorado.
The Buffs have also generated 30,670,259 impressions and added 24,187 followers across their social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X from March 12, 2023, to March 12, 2024.
"Just to see the fan section increase and the students start coming and just the Boulder community start getting more and more involved in women's sports and women's basketball, in general, has been incredible," Wetta said.
CU's women's basketball team isn't the only school in the Centennial State that has seen an increase in fan support. Colorado State Rams' attendance has grown from 1,701 fans last year to 2,775 fans this season. Also, the Rams had two games sold out and had an average of 3,711 fans in Mountain West Conference play.
Season tickets for the Rams also grew from 631 last season to 723 this year and their social media following has grown by about 3,500 new followers across the major three platforms on Facebook, Instagram, and X from this time last year.
