Feb. 7, 2008

Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate standout guard Luke Payne is not only a strong player on the basketball court, he is an outstanding student in the classroom. His efforts have been recognized by being named an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District selection.

Payne will now be placed in the pool for Academic All-America honors, competing against the other first team selections in eight districts. The ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America program was put in place by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) to honor those student-athletes who excel in athletics and in the classroom. Payne earned First Team All-District honors on the University Division in District III, which consists of all NCAA Division I institutions in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Virginia.

Payne carries a 3.81 grade point average as a business major. The senior from Spartanburg is joined on the District III First Team by Duke's Greg Paulus (3.30 GPA), Clemson's Cliff Hammonds (3.21 GPA), Gardner-Webb's Thomas Sanders (3.32 GPA) and Coastal Carolina's Jack Leasure (3.82 GPA).

While Payne has achieved tremendous success in the classroom, he has done just as outstanding a job on the court. He currently leads the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game and is the only Spartan to average in double figures in the University's first year on the Division I level. He earned Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week honors on Dec. 24. He reached 1,000 career points early in the season and currently ranks ninth all-time with 1,263 points. He also ranks among the program's all-time leaders in 14 other statistical categories.

"It is a great honor for Luke and is well deserved," said Upstate head coach and the player's father, Eddie Payne. "He has always been a conscientious young man both as a student and a developing athlete, and I think it is appropriate that he has been recognized as an Academic All-American."

USC Upstate takes on Stetson Friday night at 7:30 in DeLand, Fla. The game can be seen live on television on CSS. In the Spartanburg area, the game is on Charter Cable Channel 58. The game can also be heard live on the radio on ESPN 1400 AM.