Payne still likes the fast lane
Schaumburg guard Cully Payne sat patiently and waited for the microphone to make its way around the table so he could introduce himself to the gathered media, not that any scribe sitting before the 18-year-old with the closely cropped hair required the introduction.
The scene was Lou Malnati's Pizzeria in Schaumburg, where coaches and top players from six Chicagoland boys basketball teams were on hand Wednesday afternoon to promote Saturday's High School Hoops Showdown at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
This event is an intriguing triple-header of boys basketball. Payne's Schaumburg Saxons (14-2) - ranked No. 8 in this week's Class 4A poll - will play the middle game of the bill at 6:30 p.m. against streaking Jacobs (13-2) and senior Conrad Krutwig (22.5 ppg., 9.4 rpg.) The Golden Eagles have won 11 straight and are ranked No. 5 in the Daily Herald Top 20, one spot ahead of the Saxons.
Another interesting game follows at 8:30 p.m. North Lawndale (14-2), the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A and considered by some publications to be the best team in Illinois, tangles with St. Joseph (12-3) and legendary coach Gene Pingatore. "Ping" tied the state's all-time record for career coaching victories last Saturday with No. 826, a mark he can break Friday night in a home game against Carmel.
The opener at 4:30 p.m. features the local rivalry between nearby Conant (10-5) and Barrington (3-14) in a Mid-Suburban League West tilt that will count in the league standings.
Such high school hoops showcases are big shows on big stages, exactly the type of challenge Payne was seeking when he left Burlington Central after his first two years of high school and transferred to higher-profile Schaumburg, the alma mater of basketball-playing parents Kent and Sherry.
Payne's career has received as much attention as any athlete in Daily Herald history. His exploits were first detailed in these pages when he was still in eighth grade and hitting 3-pointers by the double digits at AAU national tournaments.
Far more ink was required in 2005, when the surprise announcement came that he had committed to play at DePaul before his freshman season at Burlington Central.
If that announcement put undo pressure on Payne, he never played like it. As a freshman he averaged 17.2 points per game playing for coach Chris Payne, his second cousin. He upped that total to 22.1 ppg. as a sophomore, when he led the Rockets to a division title in the Big Northern-East and was named the honorary co-captain of the Daily Herald's Fox Valley all-area team alongside Jacobs guard Johnny Moran.
Then came the dual shockers from the Payne family: Cully would transfer to Schaumburg and all-state sister Kaitlyn would transfer from St. Edward to Fenwick.
Transfers involving quality players always stir up opinion, particularly two within the same family. Critics groused that the Paynes would never be satisfied, that they'd always seek greener pastures, that the status quo wasn't sufficient for them.
Those critics were absolutely right. And that has turned out to be a good thing.
Yes, Cully Payne had already achieved the goal of securing a Division-I ride to a major conference school. However, he harbored larger goals, like entering college as the type of difference maker he has been at the high school level.
In the Payne family's opinion, playing in the bruising Mid-Suburban League was a better primer for the physicality of big-time college ball than romping through the comparatively weak Big Northern.
"I didn't leave Burlington because I thought coach Payne was a bad coach or because I don't like the kids because they were great," Cully said Wednesday. "And coach Payne was the best coach I ever had. It was just a personal thing for me.
"For me to go to college and be ready to play right away, I needed to play in a great conference like the MSL and do something special like (the High School Hoops Showdown). It was a personal decision. If I had stayed at Central I wouldn't have been playing at the Sears Centre this weekend. I would have been playing against Hampshire."
Yet, the criticism flowed freely. Our society exhibits a terrible habit of trying to bring down those who have risen to success. In this age of instant Internet feedback, each step of Payne's high school playing career has been picked apart with "constructive criticism" from anonymous fans and foes alike on message boards and comment sections as much as any player in recent memory.
When Payne decommitted to DePaul last June, the naysayers had a field day. Comments posted on the Daily Herald's Web site, among others, said he was overrated and didn't possess the physical skills to play big-time college hoops.
"You can go online to Chicago Hoops and all that stuff and see "Cully's too slow, Cully can't jump, Cully this, Cully that," Payne said. "I take all that in. It's all just motivation for me."
Those same critics had to eat their hats a few weeks later when Payne accepted a scholarship to Alabama. Apparently, Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried didn't think Cully was too slow.
"It's great proving people wrong. It's kind of my motivation," Payne said. "Take Steve Nash in the NBA. People are always wondering how he can do what he does. He's not 6-8. He's not Allen Iverson-quick. I think he's a good proving point.
"But more importantly for kids who are like me: don't ever let anyone bring you down. For every person that wants to bring you down there's always someone who has got your back like my family has had mine all this time."
Despite persistent back issues that have caused cramping all season (a bone scan of his back is schedule for Friday), Payne plans to take the floor at the Sears Centre Saturday night against Jacobs and Krutwig, his good friend and former AAU teammate.
Thus, Cully Payne will play in the spotlight he sought, on the stage his talent deserves, preparing for the future he intends to conquer, quietly confident that every move made to improve his career was the right one.
BEGIN_ATTRIBUTIONjfitzpatrick@dailyherald.comEND_ATTRIBUTION