Payne to miss minimum of four weeks

In the best-case scenario, Cully Payne will return in time to help Schaumburg in the boys basketball postseason.

In the worst-case scenario, Payne won't return in time to play again for Schaumburg.

The toughest part for Payne is there is nothing more he can do but wait and hope the next four weeks for the best with his back troubles.

After a CT scan Monday showed two stress fractures in Payne's L3 vertebrae, he will have to miss at least the next month before undergoing an MRI to determine if he is healed and can play or if he still needs to rest longer.

"It wasn't awful news, but it wasn't the kind of news I liked to hear, either" Payne said Monday night after watching his sister Katlyn score a buzzer-beating layup to give Fenwick a 55-53 win over Montini in the McDonald's Shootout at Willowbrook. "It's one of those things where you have to kind of hope for the best."

The Alabama-bound guard hopes that is a return late in the regular season for the 15-3 Saxons, who have a big Mid-Suburban West game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at two-time defending MSL champion Conant.

Payne called having to sit around "the worst part" of his injury. He missed Thursday's win at Hoffman Estates and Saturday's loss to Jacobs in the High School Hoops Showdown at the Sears Centre.

Payne said as long as it doesn't put pressure on his back he can do some weightlifting, swimming and basketball-related activities such as dribbling and shooting without jumping.

The biggest thing Payne wants is a chance to help Schaumburg advance beyond last year's trip to the Class 4A sectional championship.

"Tons of people have been coming up to me saying, 'Why not sit the rest of the season, rest and don't worry about high school when you've got Alabama,'" Payne said. "For me, basketball is basketball, whether it's high school or playing on national TV.

"I want to try to get back as fast as I can for my team's sake."