March Madness: Colorado’s resurgence relies on grit, no fear

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Senior Jaylyn Sherrod’s emotion-filled post-game interview after Colorado upset Duke reminded Buffaloes coach JR Payne of the time her level guard was interviewed after a 104-46 blowout at Oregon in Sherrod’s freshman yr.

Undaunted, Sherrod narrowed her eyes into the digicam and delivered a message to the Geese.

“They’ve to return to Boulder.”

The Buffs had been in no place to settle any scores again then; the Geese rolled to a 101-53 win within the rematch at Colorado a month later.

Nonetheless, that bravado hit house with Payne, who stated, “that’s the mindset, you understand? And I believe that type of permeates all through our program of being respectful of everybody however not fearing anybody.”

That mentality is driving the gritty Buffaloes’ return to prominence for the primary time since coach Ceal Barry made them a perennial energy from 1983 to 2005.

The 61-53 extra time win over third-seeded Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium this week vaulted Colorado to the Candy 16 for the primary time in 20 years, giving the Buffaloes a matchup in opposition to second-seeded Iowa and Hawkeyes famous person Caitlin Clark on Friday in Seattle.

“We’re so prepared,” sophomore guard Kindyll Wetta stated. “That is most likely essentially the most excited we’ve been going into any recreation this season.”

Sherrod tearfully informed the published crew on Monday night time that Colorado was the one Energy 5 program that provided her a scholarship popping out of highschool, so by no means as soon as has she considered leaping into the switch portal.

“This isn’t a spot the place we’ve a roster stuffed with McDonald’s All-Individuals,” Payne stated. “We don’t must play fairly, we don’t should be dainty on the ground. We’re powerful. We’re blue-collar. We work laborious.

“It’s not straightforward, you understand, however you’ll be liked and supported and challenged and all of our gamers got here right here understanding that. So I believe we’ve created an identification the place we do play actually laborious, we’re actually gritty. We love who we’re, we love the gamers which might be right here and it simply works for us.”

One tangible connection the Buffs should their glory days is Shelley Sheetz, the very best participant in this system’s historical past and the colour analyst on Colorado’s radio broadcasts.

Sheetz performed level guard at CU from 1991-95 and is this system’s solely first-team All-American. She informed the crew within the offseason that she noticed comparable traits to the one she guided to a 106-21 file with two Elite Eight appearances.

“Shelley, she informed us this was going to occur,” Buffs senior middle Quay Miller stated. “After we went to Spain (within the offseason) she was like, ‘This crew is wanting just like the Elite Eight crew that I performed for.’ And I believe for most individuals, it went in a single ear and out the opposite.

“However I believe simply listening to anyone who’s been by way of that and having her see that we’ve the potential, it actually ignited the fireplace underneath us and was like OK, we’ve potential to do what they did, and we are able to do that.”

The Buffs have gone from a non-tournament crew three years in the past to at least one that’s received 47 video games over the past two seasons.

“There are such a lot of firsts that we’ve finished, successful at Oregon, successful at Oregon State, successful within the NCAA match, going to the Candy 16,” Payne stated. “All of these items are issues that each participant on our crew got here right here to assist us do. And it’s an emotional factor as a result of it takes a lot work.

“It’s completely different to go someplace the place the prepare is already, you understand, full steam forward and there’s tons of success and momentum. It takes much more work and type of emotional work to get there.”

That’s why Sherrod was so emotional after the thriller at Duke.

“My entire life I’ve been dreaming of moments like this,” Sherrod stated, “as a result of, like plenty of my teammates, we weren’t five-stars, we weren’t McDonald’s All-Individuals. We weren’t assured the NCAA match. We weren’t assured an NIT bid.

“We believed it when no one else did. That’s simply the mentality of this crew … we consider we are able to beat anyone within the nation.”

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AP girls’s school basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll