Cully Payne Commits To SEC School 

June 17, 2008

7:00 P.M. CST

Cully Payne, the 6'1 guard from Schaumburg High School in Schaumburg, IL, verbally committed to the University Of Alabama while visiting their campus this past weekend.  The commitment has been confirmed by Mike Weinstein, the CEO of the Rising Stars (the AAU program that Payne plays for).

While we told everyone in a recent web story that Payne would be visiting Alabama, things did not exactly transpire the way we expected them to.  It was initially thought that Payne would visit the Crimson Tide along with Rising Stars teammate Nik Garcia, the 6'6 guard who recently transferred to Evanston Township High School in Evanston, IL.  However, with Garcia participating in the University Of Illinois Satellite Camp at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago as well as being scheduled to take the ACT this past Saturday morning, plans changed and Payne ended up visiting on his own.

Weinstein noted that Payne fell in love instantly with the Tuscaloosa campus and that combined with his desire to get away from home were instrumental factors in his decision.  With that being said, let's not fool ourselves.  The bottom line is that it was Crimson Tide head coach Mark Gottfried offering a scholarship to Payne immediately upon his visit that prompted him to commit on the spot.

Just two weeks ago Payne decommitted from DePaul University in a mutual decision reached with Blue Demon head coach Jerry Wainwright.  Payne said at that time that he would be "reopening his recruiting."  Obviously by committing to Alabama this will not be the case.

With Payne now in the fold, Gottfried and the rest of his coaching staff will turn their attention to Garcia, to whom they have already offered a scholarship and remains a top recruiting priority.  There is no question that they are hoping that Payne's close friendship with Garcia will enable them to secure a package deal. 

Continue to check in with Illinois Prep Bulls-eye for all of the latest as it pertains to recruiting and high school basketball in Illinois.

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