Colin Payne’s basketball ‘comeback’ nets amazing rewards

There was a time last spring and summer that Colin Payne walked away from basketball. He was so frustrated after Exeter went 3-14 his junior season that he didn’t want to think about the game. He didn’t touch a basketball for months.

By the time his senior season rolled around, he was re-invigorated, in part because of the Eagles’ championship football run — which he engineered from his spot at quarterback — in part because he thought the basketball team had a chance to do something special.

He wasn’t thinking about personal honors, like leading the league in scoring or earning All-State honors.

“I don’t care about my numbers,” he said. “All I care about is winning. It’s all I cared about for every sport I’ve played.”

Payne was able to put up big numbers, lead his team through a big playoff run — and more.

The ‘more’ was being named to the Pennsylvania Sportswriters Class 5A All-State third team. That part wasn’t on the radar.

“The individual achievements don’t really (concern) me that much,” he said. “I was just worried about playoffs.”

The Eagles, faced with the toughest schedule in District 3, and playing without one of their top players down the stretch, finished just 13-15.

Still, they did some special things in the postseason. They knocked off Wilson in the Berks quarterfinals, won a couple of games in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament and qualified for the PIAA Tournament for the first time in 23 years.

Payne, who can score at all three levels, was right in the middle of all of it. He averaged a team-leading 18.4 points — third-highest in Berks – made 54 3-pointers — sixth in Berks — and shot 87.8 percent from foul line. He also averaged 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists.

He took a beating but administered his punishment, taking the ball aggressively to the basket. That’s how he got to the foul line 172 times.

“Colin was the consummate team guy, while shouldering the vast majority of the scoring load,” said Exeter coach Matt Ashcroft. “People talk about his scoring, but he did (so many) other things.

“He is a tremendous rebounder. And when (6-6) Joey (Schlaffer) went down, we played a lot of four guards, so Colin covered a lot of 6-4, 6-5 guys. Not only did he match their intensity, he beat a lot of those guys on the glass.”

Payne earned All-Berks honors and became the first Exeter boys basketball player to earn All-State honors since 1973, when Charlie Booker was named to the Class B second team. In 1972, Pete Yousaitis was named to the Class B second team.

“I was pretty happy with (my season),” Payne said. “My scoring went up, and I was extremely happy with my free throw shooting. That’s something I work on every day. That’s how I got (a lot of) my points.

“I felt good about (our season). We weren’t that good last year, so we had some goals in mind, and I think we met all of them. We wish our (playoff) run would’ve gone a little bit farther. Going to states for the first time in a bunch of years was pretty nice.”

Payne missed a good chunk of his sophomore season with a high ankle sprain, and later with tendinitis in his heel. This season he was slowed by a calf injury late in the season. He has often come into basketball season with dings from football. The fact that he never takes a season off takes its toll on his body. (He also plays outfield on the baseball team.)

Despite the wear and tear, he wouldn’t have it any other way. He loves playing multiple sports; he plans to play both football and basketball at Alvernia University.

He had a tremendous football season, throwing for a program-record 2,381 yards and 23 TDs. His 174.0 passing efficiency rating was the second-best in program history. Best of all, he led the Eagles to their first District 3 championship, a 31-28 win over unbeaten Gov. Mifflin in which he threw three touchdown passes.

He’s heading to the district playoffs for the third time as a senior, with the baseball team.

“There’s not too much of an off season,” he says of playing three sports. “Football (training) in the summer is pretty demanding. But, you know, you’ve just gotta find time. That’s all I’ve been doing. My dad (Charlie) has been amazing, with helping me get better at every sport. He is the person I look up to the most. He’s helped me through my whole life.”

Payne often thought about giving up one or even two of his sports, in order to train and concentrate soley on one. He never could bring himself to do it. He’s happy he didn’t. Had he not played basketball this season, look what he would have missed.

“Those two sports, I love so much,” he said of football and basketball. “If I didn’t love ’em as much as I did, I probably wouldn’t play ’em (both in college). Football and basketball are two totally different sports, and I love them for two totally different reasons. I’ve been playing them since I was really young. I don’t want to give up on ’em too early.”