Recruiting Report: Trenton Payne (2018)
Jehovah Jireh forward Trenton Payne continues to fly under the radar, but remains optimistic that he’ll get noticed by college programs before too long.
The 6-foot-2 senior-to-be — Louisiana’s 72nd-ranked 2018 — still has his summer to showcase himself on the 17U circuit.
“I’m still pretty much under the radar. I’m just playing basketball and hopefully somebody will see what I can do,” said Payne.
Though he plays mostly post for his high school team, which is one of the smallest in the state, he says he’s been working to get his guard skills where they need to be.
Payne knows that at 6’2, those are necessary skills he’ll need if he’s going to play at the next level.
“I’ve been working on my ball-handling and my shooting, and we’ve been having early morning shootarounds, he said. “And then on my own I’ve been going to the gym and working on both ball-handling and shooting.”
This past season with the Warriors, Payne put up some very good numbers on both sides of the ball. He says he was pleased with how he played.
“It was my best season so far, and we made it to the championship, so it was decent,” said Payne. “My role was the same as it was since ninth-grade, and that’s to be the heart of the team and get a lot of rebounds.”
This summer he’ll play with New Orleans Basketball Club, which will be a great opportunity for some long overdue exposure.
“I’m striving to get better, because if I get better, my team gets better,” said Payne. “And we want to get back to the state championship and win it this time.”