Women’s basketball: From Denmark to Boulder, Frida Formann has found joy in journey with CU Buffs

Last summer, Frida Formann met a woman who told her the story of how she became a fan of the Colorado women’s basketball team.

The woman’s husband took her to CU’s game against Stanford on Jan. 14, 2024, where Formann and the fifth-ranked Buffs defeated the No. 8 Cardinal, 71-59.

“He got her season tickets because she just found so much joy in watching us play because she thought we were amazing,” Formann said. “I didn’t know we were doing that for people.”

As Formann’s college basketball career comes to a close, it is those moments she cherishes.

CU’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, Formann will not suit up again for the Buffs because of a stress fracture in her foot, but she will be at the Events Center on Sunday when they take on Gonzaga in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.

After five years and 137 career games, Formann is ready to move on, but pleased in what she’s done at CU and what CU has done for her.

“I know it really means something to a lot of people, and people have a lot of pride about supporting us,” Formann said. “I know they’ve supported this team through worse times, so I know that they felt a great sense of pride seeing us actually succeed. That’s been a really good memory of mine, just kind of bringing that joy back into people’s lives.”

A 5-foot-11 guard, Formann didn’t realize the type of joy she would bring to other people, or the type of joy she would feel when she first arrived in Boulder.

Coming from Bagsvaerd, Denmark, Formann spent much of her first year at CU – the 2020-21 campaign when COVID testing, masks, social distancing and no fans in the stands were the standard – just trying to figure out America.

“I was trying to fit in,” she said. “I’m trying to pick up on the right slang. … You’re kind of just surviving and you’re trying to be likable.”

Through the process and the fatigue of using English all the time, Formann learned not only how to embrace and navigate cultural differences, but to accept who she was as a young woman in a new country.

“Honestly, the more I accepted it, the more I felt people could respect me because I was actually just myself,” she said. “I think that has really just made me much more confident in myself, because I know if I present myself as just who I am, that’s good enough.”

It’s been more than good enough for Formann, who has excelled in the classroom – earning a degree in environmental studies and now working on a masters in business analytics – as well as on the court.

“It’s just been very life changing,” she said of her five years at CU. “It changes, honestly, how you view yourself. … I think you just get to be so confident in who you are.”

Basketball, of course, made it easier, but she still had to grow into a role with the Buffs. She was a do-it-all player in Denmark, often playing point guard or posting up in the paint. She certainly didn’t have CU’s 3-point record on her mind back then.

“I’ve always been a good shooter,” she said. “It’s been a big part of my game, for sure, but (breaking a record) wasn’t something I was set up to do.”

Joining a veteran squad in 2020, though, Formann settled into a role as the team’s 3-point specialist. As her career went along, her role grew and she did more on the court, but 3-pointers have always been her trademark.

Formann broke CU’s career record for made 3-pointers in the final game of the 2023-24 season, a loss to Iowa in the Sweet 16. She has added 42 more 3s this season, draining her 300th early in the fourth quarter of a 67-66 win at BYU on Jan. 29.

As it turns out, that was her last 3 at CU. Playing through intense pain in her left foot in January, Formann decided to rest after that win against BYU. Inflammation in the bone hasn’t gone away, though, and she hasn’t played since.

For a while, there was hope she would return, but it’s been determined that her season and career are over.

“This injury has made me have to come to terms with (the end) a little quicker than I probably wanted to,” she said. “I’ve just had time to really think about my career here and even though it’s ending in this way, which is not what I probably would have imagined for myself and would have wanted for myself, it’s also like, injuries are injuries.

“There’s a reason why I have this. It’s because I’ve exerted myself for this school for so many years, which I have no regrets about. I’ve just come to really appreciate the time and the work, but also I feel it in my body. In that way, it feels like, OK, it is time.”

More basketball is ahead for Formann, which is part of why she doesn’t want to risk further injury by playing in the WBIT. She has dreams of playing in the WNBA or the EuroLeague, but knows she’ll play somewhere next year.

She will never forget the special time at CU, though.

When Formann arrived in Boulder, the Buffs had been one of the bottom teams in the Pac-12 for several years. She’s now been a part of five postseasons in five years – the best run for the program since the late 1990s.

A 118-game starter, Formann was an integral part of three consecutive NCAA Tournament teams, including back-to-back Sweet 16s in 2023 and 2024.

“I think it was a great time for me to come,” she said, “and it was really fun to kind of be on that ride and try to get us back up and try to improve in a lot of ways.”

Formann has always had a knack for stepping up in big moments, scoring 15 points as a freshman when the Buffs upset No. 1 Stanford, and pouring in a remarkable 27 points (including seven 3s) in a stunning upset of defending champion and No. 1 LSU in the 2023-24 season opener.

Formann will leave CU ranking 13th in career points (1,538), third in games played (137), third in career free throw percentage (.843) and fourth in career 3-point percentage (.385).

Of course, she also leaves with the 3-point record, surpassing both Bianca Smith (257) and Shelley Sheetz (252) last year. Sheetz and Smith are both assistant coaches for the Buffs.

“Having a record of anything for your school is always a great honor because you’ll always be that reference point, which is really cool,” Formann said. “Someone will beat it eventually, I’m sure, but even the relationship I have with Shelley and Bianca, I know the names on the list, and that’s really cool.

“I hope I can come back and visit the program and whenever someone breaks it, it’s someone that they know me and I can be proud of them and happy for them the way that Bianca and Shelley have been for me. That would be really cool.”

A healthy Formann – she has missed 17 of the Buffs’ 33 games this year – could have added plenty more 3s to the record, but she is content with her career as the end is nearing and the next chapter approaches.

“I think I’m ready to move on,” she said. “I’ve had so much fun. It’s been an amazing experience, but you can just feel when it’s time for another challenge.”