Kenny Payne

Kenny Payne, Assistant Coach at the University of Oregon, former U of L player from 1986-1989.

A member of the 1986 NCAA champion Louisville Cardinals, Kenny Payne joined the Oregon staff in the summer of 2004. He helped reshape the offense and defense that produced the remarkable 2006-07 season when Oregon went 29-8 in winning the Pac-10 tournament and advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight. His connections in the South have begun to pay off with LeKendric Longmire coming to Oregon out of Payne's native Mississippi. Payne also worked extensively with Mitch Platt during his red-shirt year as the Ducks' junior post is much-improved and much healthier player after recovering from two ankle surgeries.

Payne, 40, is a veteran of 10 professional basketball leagues worldwide, including a four-year stint with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. He came to Louisville from Northeast Jones High School in Laurel, Miss., where he was a Parade All-American and the state's player of the year. At Louisville, he scored 1,083 points and shot 40 percent from three-point range during his four-year career. His best year was his senior season when he averaged 14.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, and was named to the All-Metro Conference team. After Payne finished his eligibility at Louisville in 1989, he embarked on an 11-year professional career that would take him to nine countries on five different continents. He was a first round selection in the 1989 NBA draft, going 19th overall to the 76ers. Payne averaged 3.5 points per game during his four-year NBA career with Philadelphia. The next several seasons saw Payne play in the Continental Basketball Association (Tri-Cities, Wash.) and overseas in Italy, Japan, Brazil, the Philippines, Cypress, China and Argentina. He finished his professional career in 2000 following a season with Team Taipans of Cairns, Australia.

Payne then returned to Louisville to complete his education, and became one of the first success stories of Louisville's Cardinal Degree Completion Program, which was started in 2000 to help former student-athletes complete their degrees. More than 14 years after playing his final game in a Louisville uniform, Payne earned his bachelor's of science degree in sport administration in 2003. Payne, born November 25, 1966, and his wife Michelle have two children, a son Alexander (3-23-00) and a daughter Alexis (3-11-98).

Q&A with Kenny Payne
By Tony Beach, FA Sports

Q. What motivated you to enter the coaching profession?

A. I have been blessed throughout my career to have been around people who have mentored me and showed me the right way to do things. For example, during my days at UofL Derek Smith and myself developed a special relationship. I don't know if I could have made it through college without Derek, Wade Houston, Junior Bridgeman and other guys who guided me and showed me the right way to do things. Coaching is my way of giving back to the game of basketball, giving something back to the kids the way it was given to me, and it is something that I truly love to do.

Q. Does any of Coach Crum's philosophy have any influence on your own style of coaching?

A. No question. Sometimes as a player you don't understand why you do the things you do and the importance of a practice routine. As a coach, I now have a better understanding of why Coach Crum stressed the “little things” so much. Things like “be quick, but don't hurry”, angles, using the glass, stepping into every shot. These things take on a new meaning now. Players think just playing is enough, but developing the fundamentals can take your game to a different level.

Q. Fourteen years after playing your last game as a Cardinal, you returned to Louisville and earned a degree in Sports Administration. How important was this achievement to you?

A. It was probably one of the best things I have ever done in my life. In college I was very insecure as a student, I lacked confidence. I was confident as a basketball player, but as a student I never truly applied myself enough to establish academic confidence. When I had an opportunity to go back to school and be sort of a spokesperson for UofL's new degree completion program, I felt the pressure to succeed and prove to myself that I could do this. The teachers, administrators and program directors were so good to me; it made me want to succeed even more.

Q. You played four years in the NBA, then several more overseas in professional leagues. What are the major differences between the NBA and International Basketball?

A. When I played overseas it was the beginning of the transition to what we are seeing today in terms of the narrowing of the gap between the two. The level of play, as well as the skill level of international players is comparable to the NBA. When I played in the NBA, Michael Jordan was at his peak. You had guys like Magic Johnson and Karl Malone playing at a very high level. When I went overseas you had guys emerging like Yao Ming among others, and you could just see where International Basketball was heading. You could see the gap closing between the American style of play and the International style.

Q. Does Oregon recruit International players?

A. Yes, we do. We have had a couple of kids from Australia, as well as kids from Africa that are currently on our team. We definitely try and recruit the best players available, wherever the players are is where we are going to be.

Q. As an assistant coach, recruiting is an integral part of your job. What does it take to be a successful recruiter at the Division 1 level?

A. That's a tough question, because it's not one certain thing. I would say it's a combination of things with honesty being the most important element. Understanding your environment is extremely important. Today's recruiting is a little different then when I played. Twenty years ago when I played I was fortunate enough to have Wade Houston, who I consider to be one of the greatest recruiters in the history of college basketball recruit me. I came to Louisville because he was like a father figure to me and mentored me, even to this day giving me helpful advice. I think being honest to kids, being up front and letting them know that you love them, but you're still going to push them to be great. You have to let the parents know that their education is important and you are going to do everything you can to help them get their degree and treat them as they are your own. In my opinion, too many coaches get caught up in their own personal agendas and forget that we are really in this business to help these young men better themselves.

Q. You proved that you could have a successful playing career and still come back to school and finish your education. What advice would you give to an underclassman who is considering leaving school early to play professionally?

A. The first advice I would give is to understand the lay of the land. This decision will affect many people and that has to be understood. Here at Oregon, a scholarship is worth between $35-40,000 a year. This is a big investment that the University has made. It is up to each student-athlete to get an education and work as hard as you can both on the court and in the classroom to give themselves a chance to be successful in whatever life choices you make. If you just concentrate on one, you will be cheating yourself on the other.

Q. What is your fondest memory of your playing days at the University of Louisville?

A. Reaching our ultimate goal and winning the 1986 National Championship. When you have a group of coaches, players and administrators come together and everybody is on the same page working together to fulfill their commitments. It's really special to see that hard work pay off. The relationships that we developed during that championship run made it even more special. I wouldn't trade the relationships that I developed with Coach Crum, his staff, and all the great players that I was fortunate enough to play with. Pervis Ellison, Milt Wagner, and Billy Thompson are just a few of the great guys I had a chance to play with and develop some really good relationships with. I consider all of them my brothers.

Q. Do you stay in touch with any of your former coaches or fellow players from your days as a Louisville Cardinal?

A. I talk to Coach Sullivan (Everick), who's at Vincennes University on a regular basis. I still talk to David Robinson, who still lives in Louisville quite a bit. I talk to Labradford Smith occasionally, along with Wiley brown, and Scooter McCray. I still see most of these guys when I'm in town, and I try to keep in touch with them as much as I can.

Q. The last few years you have been an assistant coach at the University of Oregon, under Head Coach Ernie Kent. Do you foresee yourself becoming a Head Coach in the near future?

A. That's a tough question. I was given some advice by Coach Hall and Coach Crum not long ago. They advised me that as an assistant coach I need to look at the program as if it's my own. I try and follow that advice. I don't coach or do the things I do on a daily basis thinking I'm ready for a head coaching job. I believe in letting nature take its course. I think if I concentrate on doing the best job I can do and being the best assistant I can be, along with helping our head coach build a successful team, then God will bless me how he sees fit.

Q. With the parity that exists in college basketball today, how do you motivate your team to get up for each and every game playing in a brutal conference such as the Pac-10?

A. The first thing you mentioned was the parity in collage basketball. The one thing we try and do here at Oregon is to make our players aware that they are not better or worse than any other team in the country. You can beat anybody and you can be beat by anybody on any given night. Respect every opponent and go out and play as hard as you can, and don't ever underestimate your opponent no matter what the circumstance.