Luke Payne

Luke Payne
Personal information
Born (1985-10-03) October 3, 1985
Charlotte, North Carolina
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school Greensboro Day School
(Greensboro, North Carolina)
Spartanburg
(Spartanburg, South Carolina)
College USC Upstate Spartans (2004–2008)
NBA draft 2008 / Undrafted
Playing career 2009–2012
Position Guard
Number 21
Career history
As player:
2009–2012 Lakeside Lightning (Australia)
As coach:
2012–2015 USC Upstate Spartans (asst.)
Career highlights and awards

Luke Payne (born October 3, 1985) is an American former basketball player and assistant coach. He played both guard positions during his playing days and was a standout college player for USC Upstate before moving to Australia where he had a successful four-year career with the Lakeside Lightning of the State Basketball League (SBL). In 2012, he returned to USC Upstate, joining the Spartans men's basketball team as an assistant coach under his father, Eddie, the head coach.

High school career

Payne began his high school career at Greensboro Day School in Greensboro, North Carolina where he was a member of the school's state championship team as a sophomore in 2001–02. In 2002, he transferred to Spartanburg High School in Spartanburg, South Carolina where he was named team captain of the basketball team. As a senior in 2003–04, he averaged 14 points, four assists and four rebounds per game while earning All-Region and All-State honors.[1]

College career

As a freshman at USC Upstate Spartans in 2004–05, Payne saw action in 31 games while receiving 16 starting assignments. He ranked fourth on the team in scoring with 8.6 points, and with 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, he helped the Spartans win the 2005 Peach Belt Conference regular season championship.[1]

As a sophomore in 2005–06, Payne played in all 30 games while starting 28 times and ranking third on the team and 20th in the Peach Belt Conference with 11.8 points per game. He also averaged 2.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, and led the league with a 2.04 assist-to-turnover ratio. His contributions helped lead the Spartans to the 2006 PBC Tournament title.[1]

As a junior in 2006–07, Payne played in all 28 games for the Spartans, started 27 times, and averaged 11.2 points per game, good for third on the team. He also averaged 3.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. On February 21, 2007, he scored a then career-high 24 points against Lander University.[1]

After participating in the NCAA Division II National Tournament in back-to-back seasons, the Spartans earned promotion into the NCAA Division I for the 2007–08 season. As a senior that year, Payne earned Atlantic Sun All-Academic honors and was named an Academic All-American. He picked up USC Upstate student-athlete of the year honors in 2007–08 after totalling 448 points, garnered A-Sun Player of the Week honors on December 24, 2007,[2] and was named to the All-Tournament teams at the BP Top of the World Classic and the State Farm Insurance Sun Bowl Tournament.[3] In 30 games (29 starts), he averaged 14.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 32.6 minutes per game.[4] On December 22, he scored a career-high 26 points in a loss to Buffalo.[2][5]

Payne finished his four-year career at USC Upstate with 1,381 points, ranking him 10th on the school's all-time scoring list. His 119 career games and 333 free throws ranks him seventh and fourth respectively in school history.[3]

Professional career

In 2009, Payne moved to Australia and joined the Lakeside Lightning of the State Basketball League.[6] In his rookie season, Payne was ranked in the top five for scoring with a 25.5-point per game average and helped lead his team to the Grand Final where they faced the Perry Lakes Hawks. With a stellar 29-point game, Payne earned Grand Final MVP honors as the Lightning won the championship with an 85–77 win.[7] Payne was also named to All-Star Five alongside teammate Jarrad Prue.

Payne continued his good form in 2010 as he averaged 23 points and three rebounds per game for the Lightning while just missing out on back-to-back All-Star Five honors. In 2011, Payne stepped up his game to average a career-high 27 points per game while scoring a career-high 50 points on 19-of-27 shooting in a win over Rockingham Flames on July 1.[8][9] After finishing the 2011 season as regular season champions for the third year in a row on a 16-game winning streak,[10] Payne and the Lightning extended the streak to 18 with two quarter-final wins over the East Perth Eagles. However, the minor premiers were knocked out in the semi-finals by the Perry Lakes Hawks after Payne was unable to play in Game 3 of the best-of-three game series due to a leg injury he suffered in Game 2.[11][12] His great overall season earned him All-Star Five honors for the second time in three years.

Payne's 2012 season was slightly disrupted by injuries[13] as he managed a career-low 24 games and a career-low 22 points per game. Despite this, Payne was once again named to the All-Star Five.

In 116 SBL games over four seasons for the Lightning, Payne averaged 24.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game.[14]

Coaching career

Following the 2012 SBL season, Payne returned to the United States and joined the USC Upstate Spartans men's basketball team coaching staff as an assistant coach for the 2012–13 season. Wanting to enter into coaching, he joined USC Upstate due to the connections with him having played his college career there and because his father, Eddie, was the team's head coach.[15] He continued on with the program alongside his father in 2013–14 and 2014–15.

In January 2015, Payne was inducted into the USC Upstate Hall of Fame, becoming the 14th person affiliated with the men's basketball program at USC Spartanburg/USC Upstate to go into the Hall of Fame, and the first who played at the Division I level.[16] Payne was not retained as an assistant coach of USC Upstate for the 2015–16 season.

Personal

Payne is the son of Eddie and Ann Payne, both of whom are basketball coaches. His father is the head coach of the USC Upstate Spartans men's basketball team, while his mother was the head coach of the women's teams at Alabama, Charlotte and Belmont Abbey. Eddie also played college basketball at Wake Forest and professionally in France.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "10 Luke Payne". upstatespartans.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Payne Named A-Sun Player of the Week". UpstateSpartans.com. December 24, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Luke Payne Bio". UpstateSpartans.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Luke Payne Stats". Sports-Referecnce.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Buffalo 80, S.C.-Upstate 66". ESPN.com. December 22, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ Shanesy, Todd (June 9, 2009). "Globetrotters: Luke Payne filling it up Down Under". GoUpstate.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Tigers break Magic's spell". FoxSportsPulse.com. August 25, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  8. ↑ Winch, Nathan (July 2, 2011). "Lightning survive scare to beat Rockingham". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Week 16 PowerPlayers of the Week". FoxSportsPulse.com. July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Former Spartan Luke Payne Leads Lakeside to SBL Regular Season Crown". UpstateSpartans.com. July 25, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  11. ↑ Kagi, Jacob (August 15, 2011). "Shock loss by Lakeside in SBL semis". Yahoo.com. The West Australian. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  12. ↑ McArdle, Jordan (August 20, 2011). "Injured Payne a massive concern for Lakeside". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  13. ↑ Coleman, Hannah (July 19, 2012). "Flurry at the top in men's SBL". Yahoo.com. The West Australian. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Player statistics for Luke Payne". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  15. ↑ Shanesy, Todd (January 5, 2013). "House Of Payne: Son Joins Father At USC Upstate". USCUpstate.edu. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  16. ↑ Shanesy, Todd (January 16, 2015). "Payne among USC Upstate Hall of Fame inductees". GoUpstate.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
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