Payne moving back to St. Charles

A St. Charles North boys basketball team already stocked with returning talent will add one of the best sophomores in the country.

Quinten Payne, the younger brother of current Iowa guard and former Burlington Central and Schaumburg guard Cully Payne, will move from Florida and attend St. Charles North next year, according to his father Kent, the athletic director at Elgin Community College.

The 6-foot-4 Quinten Payne, who made third team All-State as a freshman at Fort Myers Bishop Verot, Fl., will join returning St. Charles North starters Josh Mikes, Kyle Nelson and Chris Conrad.

Payne lived in St. Charles from 2001 to 2005. His dad played college basketball at Southern Indiana and his mom at DePaul.

"Absolutely we're excited because Cully and Katelyn (Quinten's older sister who will attend Gulf Coast College in Florida) and Quinten grew up in St. Charles," Kent Payne said.

"We lived here for 4 1/2 years, we know a lot of people and have a lot of friends. Quinten has a lot of buddies here. We are glad to be able to come back and make it work."

Two of Quinten's best friends growing up were Nelson and Tony Neari, the point guard on St. Charles North's sophomore team this past year. The Paynes lived in Fox Mill subdivision and Quinten attended Bell Graham Elementary School.

Quinten will finish his freshman year in Florida in late May. He's going to play an AAU tournament with Nike Team Florida that same weekend and then move back to St. Charles in early June.

Cully Payne committed to DePaul before his freshman year of high school at Burlington Central. He eventually changed to Alabama before settling on Iowa, where he earned All-Big Ten freshman honors this year.

Kent Payne said there's going to be no such early college commitments for Quinten.

"It's going to be a process," Kent said. "We learned with Cully a valuable lesson. He's going to take advantage of the process."

The website Fast track Scouting rated Payne the No. 1 player in Florida in the Class of 2013. They wrote: "He's skilled, athletic, and fearless. His jumper is respectable, he gets to the basket quickly, and will throw it down in traffic if given the chance."

Payne averaged 12.3 points and 5 rebounds this past year at his high school, which had an enrollment of about 800. Payne had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists in a close elite eight loss.

Whereas Cully is a true point guard, Quinten is more of a combo guard.

"I think (St. Charles North) coach (Tom) Poulin is a terrific coach, I think it will be great connections, an excellent high school," Kent Payne said.