Unbeknownst to the casual fan and those that focus solely on high-major basketball, there is a player at the mid-major level making waves. Tidal waves. Waves possibly created from a massive hurricane, and nobody in the country has figured out a way to quiet the storm.
At Murray State, basketball rules all. The Racers have made their mark over the last decade or so, becoming one of the top mid-major programs in the country.
Three straight outright regular season titles from from the 2009-10 season to 2011-12 and another two-straight division titles (formed in the Ohio Valley Conference starting with the 2012-13 campaign) the past two seasons. Winning has not been hard to come by for this program.
The Racers have seen success come and successful players go. Most recently, the departure of Isaiah Canaan appeared to be where the success would stop.
The fifth all-time leading scorer in program history, a two-time OVC Player of the Year, a second team All-American in his junior year and winning 106 games made him one of the most prolific guards in the country during his four years. All that success and nobody to fill his shoes when he left.
Who would be able to carry the load without Canaan?
Cameron Payne was not highly recruited on the national landscape coming out of high school. A Mr. Basketball winner in the state of Tennessee, Payne’s only offers came from mid-major schools, including Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Jacksonville and Chatanooga (via ESPN recruiting).
He chose to sign with the Racers, who far and away had the best track record of producing talent and wins of the teams that recruited him.
From day one, Payne become the focal point of Murray State’s attack, scoring 21 points in his debut at Valparaiso last season. A month later, he would score 22 points against Southern Illinois, making him the first MSU freshman with two 20-point games in a season since 2008-09.
After being named OVC Freshman of the Week nine times throughout the 2013-14 season, Payne was awarded Freshman of the Year and All-OVC First Team honors.
With the freshman leading the way and a number of proven vets still around, Murray State had another successful year, claiming the OVC West division title and earned a 2-seed in the OVC tournament to determine who would go on to the NCAA tournament. The Racers would lose in an 86-83 nail-biter to eventual champion Eastern Kentucky, but Murray State’s season was not over.
The Racers would be tabbed for a bid in the College Invitational Tournament (CIT), which pits some of the better mid-majors against each other that weren’t already involved with the NCAA or NIT tournaments. Murray State went in ready for a fight, wanting to end their season with a win.
It accomplished just that, knocking off Missouri State, Nebraska-Omaha, Towson, Pacific and Yale on their way to the CIT championship, a title Old Dominion, Missouri State, Santa Clara, Mercer and East Carolina have all taken home since its inception in 2009.
Payne was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, averaging 20.6 points per game, including 24 in the championship game against Yale.
After that postseason success, much was expected out of both Murray State and Payne, who would be entering his sophomore year. The Racers were voted to win the West Division, yet again, and Payne was chosen as the OVC Preseason Player of the Year. Thus far, neither the team nor its top player has been a disappointment.
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Through 21 games, Murray State sits with a 17-4 overall record and a 7-0 record in OVC play, good enough for first in the West and tops in the conference as a whole, having already defeated East Division leader Belmont in their only contest this season.
This record comes on the heels of a 15-game winning streak, the second-longest such streak in the country, tied with Stephen F. Austin and just behind Kentucky and Virginia. The Racers are streaking, and the rest of the OVC will be gunning for them, but there’s a lot of ground to make up.
Payne, still without much publicity, has been one of the best scorers in the country, averaging 19.2 points through 21 games, good for 27th in the country.
During the Racers’ winning streak, Payne has scored 20-points or more in 10 games, including two 30-plus point outputs, most recently putting up a 33-point effort at Eastern Illinois, which broke his previous career record of 32 points in a game he set earlier in the season.
He’s supreme scorer, but that’s not all the 6’2″ point guard can do, as he’s also 17th in the country in assists per game at 5.9 and 2.05 steals, which puts in him the top 50 of that category.
Doing a little bit of everything on any given night, Payne has put himself on pace to join elite company at Murray State, paving his way to the record books.
Scoring 625 points in his freshman campaign and another 404 so far this season, Payne is on pace to crack the 1200-point total in his first two years, which would make him the 41st man in Racer basketball history to score 1,000 points in a career and be placed 27th on the list overall.
Should he keep up this pace, Payne would be on track to score around 2400 points for his career, which would make him the second-leading scorer in Murray State history, under 90 points behind the man in first place, Jeff Martin.
With 57 steals last year and another 43 this year so far, Payne is already 27th on Murray State’s all-time career steals leader. Should he keep up this pace (at least two steals per game on average for the rest of this year and the next two years), he would break the all-time steals record (232), currently held by Marcus Brown.
At his current two-year total of 308 career assists, Payne already sits 13th all-time in program history in that category. With another two years of that time of output in assists, he should shatter the current Murray State record of 531 career assists held by Don Mann.
Payne is on a tear this year and Murray State is reaping the benefits of his output. The rest of the country might not recognize what the Racers are doing this season, but those around the mid-major circuit certainly are.
In the Jan.19 Mid-Major Top 25 poll, Murray State earned a ranking of No.6, behind nationally ranked teams such as Gonzaga, Wichita State and Northern Iowa. The Racers are one of the top mid-majors in the country, and Payne is at the forefront of the attack.
Just in his sophomore season, Cameron Payne has become one of the most successful players in the country. His game translates to the NBA well, but there’s no telling when he’ll enter the draft, or if he even decides to leave early. He may have that option, but it remains to be seen.
For now, Payne will go about his business, continue to get buckets and make the most out of his opportunity at Murray State. Sticking around for four years may not be needed, but should he choose to do so, he’ll have a place in the Racer record books for eternity.
There’s still work to be done this season for both Payne and his teammates, but he’s well on his way to being one of the greatest players to ever suit up for the Murray State Racers.