College Commitment – Gylan Payne (2025 Oregon City)
In this article:
When we caught up with
Gylan Payne
Gylan
Payne
6'5" | CG
Oregon City | 2025
State
OR
after the Northwest Shootout, he had whittled his college decision down to two and he was all set on making a campus visit to Seattle Pacific this weekend. The recruiting landscape can change fast though, so when some potential scholarship money fell through the athletic 6-foot-5 guard had to make a shift. He saw it as a sign he needed to make the commitment to Oregon Tech and when it comes down to it, it was the proper choice all along.
“It’s the right spot for me because the coaches are so welcoming and showed real love and interest in me from the start,” Payne said. “It’s going to be fun with the four other freshmen coming in. I love that it’s a basketball town, lots of fans, and obviously it’s really good on the academic side of things.”
Payne goes to Klamath Falls as part of a stellar in-state recruiting class which includes Liberty’s
James Kefgen
James
Kefgen
6'2" | SG
Westview | 2025
State
OR
and Roosevelt’s
Owen Nathan
Owen
Nathan
6'2" | CG
Roosevelt | 2025
State
OR
, both of whom he played with in Sunday’s Northwest Shootout. “They were joking all week that they need one more to commit,” Payne said. “It was fun to play with them because I’ve been playing against them for my whole life. I feel like we all fit with each other really good, all different sets that compliment each other.”
“Getting to know these guys last week, practicing like four times, it’s been fun,” Payne added about the Northwest Shootout, of which Team Oregon lost, 96-87. “We’re competitive at practice and obviously we didn’t get the dub, but we’re out there competing.”
The college commitment caps off a brilliant senior campaign for Payne, who won Three Rivers League Player of the Year and was named 6A Second Team All-State. Team-wise the Pioneers didn’t reach their goal of the state tournament, but overall the future Hustlin’ Owl has no regrets.
“Disappointing in the playoffs – I mean, obviously you want to perform how you’ve been performing all year in the playoffs, but it didn’t work out like that,” Payne said. “But it doesn’t take away from the rest of the year, I mean, it was super fun, but the guys I grew up with playing with them, and overall a good team.”
Our congratulations go out to Payne and his family on his commitment. He finished as the #7 player in the final Oregon Class of 2025 rankings.
