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 Scott DochtermanI'm originally from Burlington, and I'm a 1997 Western Illinois University graduate. I've worked in Burlington, Muscatine, Fort Dodge and [...] |
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Cully Payne leaving Iowa
Iowa's Cully Payne stands at the edge of the huddle during a timeout in the second period of Iowa's 111-50 win over Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010, at Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)
Iowa sophomore point guard Cully Payne confirfmed through Twitter on Tuesday morning that he will leave the Iowa men’s basketball program.
“I will no longer play basketball at Iowa. Thank you to all the fans and people that have supported me over the past to years,” Payne tweeted around 8:30 a.m.
Hawkeye Report’s Tom Kakert first reported Payne had received his scholarship release from Iowa, per his AAU coach in the Chicago area. Attempts to reach Payne or members of the Iowa coaching staff were unsuccessful Monday night.
Around 10 p.m. Monday, Payne sent a Twitter post that read “It’s about that time that I close this chapter in my life and get ready to move on.. I got a great family and gf (girlfriend) and friends #thankful” It also appeared on his Facebook page.
Payne, a tri-captain, started all 32 games as a freshman during the 2009-2010 season. He started the first five games this year but opted for surgery to repair a sports hernia. Payne instead used this as a red-shirt season.
Payne averaged 8.7 points, 3.8 assists and 3.0 rebounds a game for Iowa as a freshman. He was named to the Sporting News’ all-freshman team following the season. He was seventh overall in assists.
Payne’s departure wasn’t unexpected, however. Bryce Cartwright emerged in Payne’s absence and led the Big Ten in assists in league play. Coach Fran McCaffery said Cartwright had earned the position outright, but in a late-season news conference he said the players could possibly play on the court at the same time next year.
“I think I saw enough of Cully to know that he can play,” McCaffery said. “I think they can play together. I think Bryce is better with the ball.”
Payne originally committed to play at DePaul, then signed a letter of intent to play at Alabama. When Mark Gottfried was fired, Payne was released from his scholarship and later signed with Iowa.
The Hawkeyes now have three open scholarships for the upcoming season.
Boy, I’m curious if he doesn’t see himself being able to play Fran’s style or is homesick-Fran really has pressure now to target a point guard. I liked Payne, just like I liked Freeman, but I guess sticking to committments and “gutting things out” are a thing of the past.
So basically Cully is being a cry baby and is leaving over playing time.
The stupid thing here is, if Payne transfers to another D-I program, he sits out ANOTHER year before he could even see the court. So the only real option he has is to transfer to a D-II or lower school.
It just strikes me that kids playing in college days are nothing more than spoiled brats who care only about themselves and not about the team they’re playing for. Who cares about making a commitment? Who cares about showing some loyalty to people who have supported you
You ask who, Todd. How about Jarryd Cole? Everybody’s case is different, and everybody has the freedom to do what they think is best. If Cully Payne thinks the grass is greener elsewhere, we wish him good luck. And it’s not like Cully hasn’t changed his mind a few times already…
Meanwhile, if Payne leaves, that gives Iowa and Coach Fran another scholarship to offer someone who may have a greater commitment to the Hawkeyes. Overall, I hope it’s a win-win.
Jarryd Cole has become the exception, not the rule in basketball, Sanji.
Payne’s leaving also hits Iowa hard with the NCAA as his departure will also count against the UI in terms of its academic progress of its athletes. If memory serves me correctly, if the UI’s academic progress rate declines much further, the athletic department will be in line for sanctions by the NCAA.
A student who transfers schools counts against a school’s academic progress rate. The rash of transfers that’s happened in the UI basketball program over the past 4-5 years has had a very negative impact on the academic progress numbers.
So these transfers DO have a significant impact on the UI. As far as opening up a scholarship..if memory serves me, they can NOT fill that scholarship until next year due to how the NCAA rules are on transfers.
As a result, we’re now down a scholarship until 2012 because of Payne’s departure.
Too bad about that. The kid’s a good player. Best of luck to him.