DAYTON, Ohio - Adreian Payne is going green. He has verbally committed to Michigan State, a source with knowledge of the situation told Spartan Tailgate. Payne will publicly announce his college decision on ESPNU’s “Recruiting Insider”, which begins at 5:30 p.m EST.
As we reported earlier, Spartan Tailgate had an exclusive 90-minute sit-down interview with Payne on Wednesday at his high school in Dayton, Ohio. After that meeting, our vibe was Payne was East Lansing-bound.
Payne chose Michigan State over three other finalists: Arizona, West Virginia and Kentucky. In his interview with Spartan Tailgate yesterday, Payne talked about what was crucially important to him in making the decision: an opportunity to play against the best competition nightly, a coach with a disciplined approach that deals well one-on-one with his players, and a school close enough for his grandmother, Mary Lewis, to attend games. He also said it was possible his grandmother would move to wherever he matriculated.
Payne is a big pickup for the Spartans, who have had great success recruiting in Ohio. The Spartans roster currently features three Ohioans: senior Raymar Morgan (Canton McKinley), sophomore Delvon Roe (Lakewood St. Edward’s) and freshman Garrick Sherman (Kenton).
The 6-foot-9, 215-pound Payne is still a developing prospect. He was not a full-time varsity player until midway through his sophomore season and his high school, Jefferson Township, does not play in one of the state’s more difficult classifications. But Payne gained national attention after playing AAU the last two summers for All-Ohio Red, one of the nation’s top summer circuit outfits. The team also included Jared Sullinger (verbally committed to Ohio State), J.D. Weatherspoon (Ohio State), Jordan Sibert (Ohio State), Aaron Craft (Ohio State) and Juwan Staten (Dayton).
Payne is ranked No. 23 in the ESPN 100 - No. 7 among power forwards - and joins a Spartans recruiting class with previous verbal commitments from Keith Appling (No. 8 point guard), Russell Byrd (No. 17 shooting guard) and Alex Gauna (No. 17 center).
Payne also indicated during our interview he plans to sign a National Letter of Intent on the first day of the week-long early signing period, which begins Nov. 11.
