JR Payne

JR Payne is the head coach for the Santa Clara Broncos women's basketball program. She has also served previously as the head coach for the Southern Utah T-Birds.

Early Life

Payne was born and raised in North Vancouver, British Columbia. She would attend Windsor Secondary School and received recognition for her basketball prowess.^[1]

Payne would attend four years at Saint Mary's College where she would play point guard for the Gaels. During her senior season, Payne would help lead the Gaels to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. She would also be named to the WCC First Team twice during her time with the Gaels. Payne would graduate from Saint Mary's in 1999 with a degree in French.^[1]

Coaching

After graduating from Saint Mary's and spending one season away from the game, Payne quickly became involved in coaching. Payne began her career at Gonzaga University, serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under head coach Kelly Graves. Payne was an integral part of the Bulldogs turnaround as the team posted a five-win season during the staff’s first year then went to a 28-win season during the 2004-05 season, including an undefeated run in the West Coast Conference. Payne was a part of the process that brought Gonzaga’s first All-American to campus in guard Shannon Mathews.^[2]

During her time in Boise, the Broncos enjoyed a wealth of success, winning conference titles two of the three years and advancing to the NCAA postseason. BSU posted back-to-back 24-8 seasons, including a perfect 14-0 mark at home during the 2007-08 season.^[2]

Overall Payne would spend five years as an assistant at Gonzaga (2000-2005), three years at Boise State (2005-2008), and one year at Santa Clara (2008-2009).^[3]

In 2009 Payne would be hired as the head coach for Southern Utah. Payne would coach the T-Birds for a span of 5 years (2009-2014). While at Southern Utah, Payne would help the T-Birds achieve a record 23 wins and advance to the Post-season for the first time in school history (2014 WNIT). In their second season in the Big Sky Conference, the T-Birds would win a share of the regular season conference title.^[4]

The T-Birds would also set several records while Payne was head coach. Among the records were points (2,454), field goals made (830), free throws made (629), and free throws attempted (839). The T-Birds would also rank second in points per game (74.1) and total field goals attempted (1,925). During her five years at Southern Utah, the T-Birds would post an overall record of 67-85.^[4]

On April 6, 2014 Payne would be introduced as the eighth head coach in Santa Clara history.^[5]

Head coaching record

References