Kellie Harper fired: 5 Tennessee WBB head coach candidates
JR Payne
Payne was born in Jackson, Tennessee and while she grew up in Canada, maybe she would be interested in returning to her birthplace. She is an experienced head coach with a 244-216 record and three NCAA Tournament appearances across 15 years of coaching at three different programs, Southern Utah, Santa Clara and most recently Colorado. Payne has led the Buffaloes to incredible success over the past three seasons including back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
She has a solid blend of head coach experience, roster building and NCAA Tournament success that could make her appealing to the Lady Vols administration. The fact she was born in the state doesn鈥檛 hurt either. However, she has never won a high-major regular season or tournament title which may give the administration pause. But with an impressive string of tournament appearances and consecutive Sweet 16 runs, Payne could elevate the Tennessee program given its vast resources and prestige.
