Luke Payne is in his third year as an assistant coach with the USCUpstate men’s basketball program in 2014-15. He assists inall phases of the program.
The son of head coach Eddie Payne, Luke returned to the programafter playing four years for the Spartans and etching his name inthe Upstate record books.
Payne wasted no time in putting his stamp on the program,assisting in a season that saw Upstate post upset victories atVirginia Tech and South Carolina for the school’s first-evenwins over the ACC and SEC. The Spartans went on to finish thirdoverall in the Atlantic Sun standings and reach the semifinals ofthe conference tournament for the second straight year. Upstatecapped its year by earning a berth in the College InsiderPostseason Tournament for the second time in the last threeseasons.
In his first year on staff, Payne helped Upstate win itsfirst-ever Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament game when theSpartans upended Jacksonville in the opening round. Payne alsoplayed a role in the continued development of All-A-Sun performerTorrey Craig, helping the senior become just the second player inthe conference history to lead the league in scoring in consecutiveseasons. Craig would go on to finish second in the league inscoring in 2014 and ended his career as one of the all-time greatsin conference history.
A standout from 2005-08, Payne isfifth in the history of the program with 100 games started andranks 10th all-time with 1,381 points scored. He played 119 games,which ranks seventh in school history and knocked down 333 freethrows, placing him fourth in the Upstate record books.
Following his stellar collegiate campaign, Payne went overseas andwas equally impressive, playing three years professionally inWestern Australia’s State Basketball League for the LakesideLightning. He paced the Lakeside Lightning to the Grand FinalChampionship in 2009 and led the league in scoring with over 25points per game, including a 29-point performance in thechampionship game.
He was a member of the 2005 Peach Belt Conference regular seasonchampionship team and led the Spartans to the 2006 PBC Tournamenttitle. He participated in the NCAA Division II National Tournamentin back-to-back seasons before leading the Spartans into theDivision I transition, starting in the 2007-08 season.
He was named to the Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Rollhis first three seasons in the league and earned Atlantic SunAll-Academic honors during his senior season. Graduating with a3.80 grade point average, he was named First-Team ESPN TheMagazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District as a senior.
He picked up USC Upstate student-athlete of the year honors in2007-08 when he scored 448 points, garnered A-Sun Player of theWeek honors and was named to the All-Tournament teams at the BP Topof the World Classic and the State Farm Insurance Sun BowlTournament.
He was also the outstanding School of Business Management studentin 2004 during his freshman campaign.
Payne played his prep career at nearby Spartanburg High Schoolwhere he averaged 14 points and four assists per game. He was an 83percent free throw shooter and was an All-Region and All-Stateselection.
