Katlyn Payne will stay in Florida

Katlyn Payne already likes Florida so much she's going to stay there to play college basketball.

Payne, who helped St. Edward to the 2007 Class A state tournament and played for Fenwick the past two seasons, made a verbal commitment last week to play for Division I Florida Gulf Coast University in her new hometown of Fort Myers, Fla. The Payne family moved there from Schaumburg this summer.

A connection between the former head coach at Payne's new high school, Bishop Verot, and a Florida Gulf Coast assistant got everything started.

Payne said head coach Karl Smesko was initially skeptical until he saw her play at an observation tournament in Cincinnati.

"He said, 'All right, this is a girl we want and we need,'" said Payne, who started school at Bishop Verot on Monday. "I visited the campus, and it was beautiful with palm trees and my dorm will be on the beach.

"This was the place for me. The way he talked they really wanted me."

Payne will be joining an up-and-coming program that has made the Women's NIT in its first two years in Division I and has already beaten Florida. Smesko started the program in 2002-03 and is 180-34 in his career.

Payne, who also had scholarship offers from Ball State, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois and Valparaiso, will play in a five-guard offense at Florida Gulf Coast.

"All of the points are off 3s and layups," Payne said. "It's a real cool game to watch and fast-paced."

Payne, who has a 3.7 grade-point average and scored 25 on the ACT, plans to study business and eventually wants to go to law school to become a lawyer. She is also helping her freshman brother Quinten adjust to his first days of high school.

"I like it a lot," Katlyn Payne said. "It's really fun and a really cool environment. It's such a different environment but I love Florida."

Cully Payne is also enjoying it for a few more weeks before starting his college career at Iowa. Last season's Daily Herald All-Area boys basketball captain for Cook County said he's fully recovered from the stress fractures in his back that forced him to miss the last two months of his season at Schaumburg.

Payne has spent most of his summer at Iowa playing point guard. He figures to play a significant part immediately since Iowa had four guards leave the program after last season.

"The opportunity is there," Payne said. "I'm excited and I think it's going to be a good season for us.

"I think we look good and we're going to surprise a lot of people. We have a bunch of kids who play hard, there are really no egos and we all get along well."

There could also be another Payne in Iowa's future. Quinten attended its Elite Camp last week and received his first scholarship offer from head coach Todd Lickliter.

"It was exciting for him," Cully said. "It's a great place and they're great people up there."