JR Payne, who led Santa Clara University to its first winning record since 2008, has been named the eighth head women’s basketball coach in University of Colorado history, athletic director Rick George announced Monday.

She has signed a five-year contract and the hire will become official pending approval of CU’s Board of Regents, as is the case with all high-profile campus positions.

“There was a lot of interest in the position, which confirmed this is viewed as one of the top coaching jobs in women’s basketball,” George said. “After interviewing JR and hearing from several coaches that have worked with her, she rose to the top and we’re excited to name her as our head coach.”

Payne, 38, replaces CU’s coach for the past six seasons, Linda Lappe, who stepped down from the post on March 7.

“I am thrilled and honored to be the next women’s basketball coach at the University of Colorado,” Payne said. “There is such a rich tradition within the women’s basketball program that I cannot wait to immerse myself in. CU is unique in the landscape of college basketball in that it combines a world class education with world class athletics. I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to be here in Boulder and cannot wait to get started”.

Santa Clara was 23-9 this past winter, tying for third in the West Coast Conference with a 13-5 league mark. The Broncos’ season ended with a 59-53 loss at Fresno State in the first round of the Women’s NIT, the school’s first postseason appearance in 10 seasons. SCU was down by 11 at one point but rallied to tie the game at 52-all with just under four minutes to go before falling to the Bulldogs.

One of the wins included a 61-58 victory at No. 13 Stanford, Santa Clara’s first win at its Bay Area rival in 32 years; it was the second win on what would become a 12-game winning streak. It was just one of seven regular season setbacks for the Cardinal, who advanced to the Elite Eight. The Broncos defeated Gonzaga, 59-58, in the quarterfinal round of the WCC tourney before falling in the semifinals to BYU, an eventual No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Broncos were one of the nation’s top defensive teams, allowing opponents just 37 percent shooting (40th in the NCAA) and 58.4 points per game (54th), while forcing 21.7 turnovers (sixth) and averaging 12.6 steals (third); Santa Clara was also 29th in rebound margin (+7.2).

In two seasons at Santa Clara, she compiled a 34-27 overall record. Her first team upset Louisiana State, 69-67, the school’s first win over a Southeastern Conference school in 18 years, and advanced to the second round of the WCC tournament.

Her first head coaching position was at Southern Utah University (Cedar City), where in five seasons, the Thunderbirds posted a 67-86 record, including a 23-10 mark in 2013-14 that set a school record for wins. That team was also 15-5 in league play, earning a share of the Big Sky Conference’s regular season title, and earned SUU’s first-ever invitation to postseason play, the women’s NIT.

Southern Utah won its first round game at Colorado State, 71-56, before succumbing in the second round – 79-68 at Colorado; the Buffs also defeated Payne’s T-Birds during the regular season in Boulder, 75-59, the first and only time she coached a game in CU’s Coors Events Center.

That SUU team set four major school records, including points scored (2,454), field goals made (830) and free throws made (629) and attempted (839); the 74.1 scoring average was the second-best by a Southern Utah team. Her top performer, Hailey Mandelko earned first-team All-Big Sky honors as a junior and senior and was also on the postseason All-Tournament team her final year there.

She helped Southern Utah transition from the Summit League into the Big Sky Conference for the 2012-13 season, piloting the Thunderbirds to a 15-16 overall record and a 9-11 mark in league play.

Her second SUU team in 2010-11 finished with a 16-14 record, the school’s first winning season in seven years, and more than doubling the win count in her first season when the Thunderbirds were 7-23 (SUU had just 24 wins in the three seasons before her arrival). The senior-led Thunderbirds were 10-8 in Summit League play, with forward Challis Pascucci earning first-team All-League honors. Her third SUU team was 6-23, but reflected her most youthful squad in her coaching career, with no seniors and just two juniors, but formed the nucleus for the T-Birds success two years later.

Payne determined that coaching was going to be her career path after graduating from St. Mary’s (Calif.) in 1999 with a degree in French. Her first position was as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Gonzaga under one of her college head coaches, Kelly Graves, where she would spend five seasons (2000-01 through 2004-05). Gonzaga went from 5-23 in her first season there to a 28-4 mark in her last, which included a 14-0 mark in the WCC. During her time there, she helped recruit Gonzaga’s first All-American, guard Shannon Mathews as well as help the Bulldogs to their first postseason appearance in 10 years with back-to-back invites to the NIT.

She then moved on to Boise State under new head coach Gordy Presnell for the three seasons (2005-06 through 2007-08); Presnell had replaced a former CU letterwinner, Jen Warden. Together they turned around the fortunes of the Broncos, leading them to a pair of postseason berths, one being the school’s first NCAA tournament appearance in 13 seasons in 2007. BSU was 15-15 in her first season, but then posted 24-9 and 24-8 records in winning two Western Athletic Conference titles.

Payne would then go on to serve as the top assistant coach at Santa Clara for the 2008-09 season under Jennifer Mountain. That team had its struggles in going 4-27, and she would eventually replace Mountain as the Broncos’ head coach six years later.

Overall in 16 years as an assistant and head coach, she has been a part of four conference championships and six postseason appearances. She has helped coach two All-Americans, three conference players of the year, 34 All-Conference players and 31 All-Academic team members.

She was born in Jackson, Tenn., but her family moved to North Vancouver, B.C., when she was a toddler. She graduated from North Vancouver’s Windsor Secondary School where she started in basketball, earning a scholarship to St. Mary’s (Calif.).

Payne earned four letters at St. Mary’s, helping the Gaels to a 26-7 record and their first-ever trip in school history to the NCAA tournament as a senior in 1998-99. The former point guard led the team in assists that season with 131, and still ranks on the school’s all-time top 10 lists for both assists (291, seventh) and steals (137, ninth). She was an All-West Coast Conference first-team performer as a senior and was selected to the WCC All-Tournament Team as a junior and senior, when St. Mary’s won both postseason tournaments. She played under two coaches in her time there, Terri Rubenstein for two seasons and Kelly Graves, now the head coach at Oregon for her last two, with the Gaels posting a 79-38 record with her as a player.

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