Friday, June 19, 2015

Road to the Draft: Cameron Payne

By Peyton Wesner

One of the lesser known but most talented players in this year's NBA Draft has to be Murray State point guard Cameron Payne.

Payne, who measures at six feet, two inches, took over as the Racers' point guard his Freshman season, the year after current Philadelphia 76ers' guard Isaiah Cannan graduated from the university. From the get-go, fans in Murray, Kentucky, as well as around the Ohio Valley knew Payne was a special player as he had good ball handling skills, a sweet left-handed stroke, and the ability to make amazing assists. This past season, he further asserted himself as an amazing talent by averaging 20.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.9 steals per game as a Sophomore! In fact, the prospect from Memphis, Tennessee, greatly outdid his predecessor's Sophomore numbers and only averaged 1.6 points per game less this year than Cannan's Senior year while having higher totals in rebounds, assists, and steals.

After his second year of college basketball was over, Payne made "a dream come true" by humbly declaring for the NBA Draft and forgoing his final two seasons at Murray State.

Since his decision to enter his name in the NBA Draft, his performances in the NBA Draft Combine and pre-draft team workouts have been great as he has impressed many teams while raising his draft stock. Unfortunately this Monday during a pre-draft workout with Denver, Payne fractured his ring finger on his non-shooting hand (right). His agent confirmed the news of the future NBA guard's injury and said it is "a clean fracture which will not require surgery" and that the twenty-year old "will sit out the next three weeks as a precautionary measure." Since the severity is not serious, the consensus is Payne's draft stock will be affected very little if at all.

Author's Note
As soon as I watched Cameron Payne for the first time, I had a feeling he could be one of the best, if not the best, to ever don a Murray State Racers' uniform. But as much as I liked his game on the court, I loved his attitude off the court even more. Not too many athletes give God the credit for their success and talent, yet to see him thank the Lord multiple times during his final press conference at the CFSB Center for the blessings and guidance he had received brought a tear to my eye. Without a doubt Cameron Payne is grateful to the man above for all the opportunities that has come his way and with that being said, I KNOW the Lord will take care of him going forward. 
God Bless.


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