Cook captain: Payne perseveres through difficult senior year

There were times when Cully Payne was growing up where he would have loved a day or two away from basketball.

But there were no breaks from the game Payne's dad Kent starred in at Schaumburg High School and coached in high school and college.

"There were no days off," Cully Payne said of holding court even if it was a birthday, holiday or Sunday. "He's probably the biggest influence on my basketball career.

"There were some days you'd want to chill out or hang out - but not with him."

It was all supposed to lead up to the days Payne looked forward to most on the basketball court in his senior season at Schaumburg.

The time when he planned to be taking the big shots in the biggest games as he hoped to lead the Saxons downstate.

Instead, he couldn't get on the court as a pair of stress fractures in his lower back forced him into nearly two months of off-days. He could only watch and wonder as Schaumburg's season came to an end Wednesday night with a Class 4A regional semifinal loss at Lake Zurich.

"It's been hard," Payne said. "Probably the toughest part are the games and sitting there, especially when we're struggling."

Schaumburg didn't struggle much this year when Payne was on the floor. He averaged 22 points and 5.5 assists in a 14-2 start before it became too painful to play through the increased back pain.

But what Payne accomplished in those 16 games - and his hope and determination to try and get back on the court - made him the choice as the Cook County honorary captain of the 2008-09 Daily Herald All-Area Boys Basketball Team.

"The defining characteristic about him - is he'll do whatever he can to make his team better," said Schaumburg coach Bob Williams. "In today's society that's an amazing characteristic. It's uncommon."

Especially since Payne was in the spotlight before he started a high school career that has been anything but common.

He was part of a basketball instructional video with his dad in grade school. He made headlines in eighth grade with his college commitment to DePaul.

The latter, if he had to do it over again, is something he'd do differently as he changed course for Alabama.

"I definitely wouldn't recommend young kids do that," Payne said. "I'd definitely wait. So much happens, from personnel to a coach and your talent."

Talent that was evident playing for his cousin Chris Payne at Burlington Central. After two years there, he transferred to the school where his dad and mom Sherry (Harris) were all-area players.

"I had a great high school experience in my two years at Burlington," Cully Payne said. "I was able to get a lot of experience and kind of be the man out there for awhile.

"I had great teammates and coach Payne is a great coach. But coming to Schaumbug was really a turning point with how hard coach Williams is on me."

It was nothing new for the eldest of three hoop-crazy siblings with sister Kaitlyn a junior star at Fenwick and brother Quentin, a long and lanky 6-foot-3 eighth grader who Cully said "has a little swagger to him."

Kent Payne, who coached high school at St. Edward and Addison Trail and community college at Harper and Elgin, put Cully through plenty of drills that weren't always enjoyable.

Now he views them and the preparation he received as invaluable.

"Coach Williams is always on me and most kids think, 'Why is he always on me?'" Payne said. "It's like my dad said when I was young, if a coach isn't yelling at you, you know you aren't important.

"Coach Williams is very intense and every detail, you have to have it perfect."

His first year at Schaumburg was an adjustment as Williams often said Payne was trying to a fault to be deferential and fit in with his teammates.

"A player at that level, it's uncommon he has a team-first attitude," Williams said. "That's him trying to do the right thing.

"It's a testament to his character and to him that he would come in with that kind of attitude."

Late last season, Payne became the centerpiece of the offense as the Saxons made a run to the Class 4A sectional finals. It carried over to this year as he picked up more nuances to become an even more potent offensive threat.

"He really blossomed this year because of his confidence and doing the right thing for the program," Williams said.

He tried as best he could to be part of another postseason run. He even sought a second opinion on his back in hopes of playing this week.

But there hadn't been enough time for the injuries to fully heal. And he does have a future to consider, which is now in a state of flux since he signed a letter of intent with Alabama, which parted ways with head coach Mark Gottfried last month.

Payne said as soon as a new coach is named he can get his release from his letter of intent and determine his college future. The lessons he's learned figure to have prepared him well.

"My dad is probably my hardest critic other than myself," Payne said. "At times I'd think, 'Just leave me alone.'

"Looking back on it now, the stuff he told me when he did was great."

Especially telling him it was time to go play basketball.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>All-Area basketball teams coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Cook County</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276980">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276982">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276929">Captain: Ashley Wilson</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276927">Captain: Cully Payne</a></li> </ul> <h2>Cook PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>DuPage County</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276984">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276985">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276917">Captain: Toni Kokenis </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276915">Captain: Danny Crawford</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276916">Past girls captains</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276914">Past boys captains</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276931">The best of the girls season</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276930">The best of the boys season</a></li> </ul> <h2>DuPage PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>Fox Valley</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276978">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276990">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276709">Captain: Kati Yohn </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276820">Captain: Marc Little</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276780">Captain: Conrad Krutwig</a></li> </ul> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/multimedia/?category=19&type=video&item=88">Fox Valley captains </a></li> </ul> <h2>Fox Valley PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley5.pdf">Page 5 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>Lake County</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276987">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276981">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276907">Captain: Lydia Bauer </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276908">Captain: Brandon Paul</a></li> </ul> <h2>Lake PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>Tri Cities</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276989">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276988">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276904">Captain: Taylor Whitley </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276905">Captain: Jeremy D'Amico</a></li> </ul> <h2>Tri Cities PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities5.pdf">Page 5 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> </div> </div> </div>