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Eddie Payne Position: Head Coach Experience: 6th Year Alma Mater: Wake Forest/1973

Head Coach Eddie Payne is in his 6th season at Upstate

Eddie Payne is a veteran of the coaching sideline, having spent 22 years as a head coach, including six at the helm of the USC Upstate men's basketball team.

After 22 years, three NCAA Tournament appearances, two Coach of the Year honors and two Peach Belt Conference championships, Payne takes the next step in his coaching career, leading Upstate into NCAA Division I competition for the first time in 2007-08.

Payne has coached at all levels and Divisions of college basketball, beginning his head coaching career on the junior college level and moving through the ranks in the NAIA and NCAA Division I, II and III. He has compiled a 353-287 record in 22 years of coaching.

Payne returned the USC Upstate men's basketball program to national prominence on the NCAA Division II level, leading the Spartans to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA D-II Tournament in 2004-05 and 2005-06. His Spartan teams won two straight league championships in the Peach Belt Conference, claiming a share of the regular season championship with Kennesaw State in 2004-05 and winning the conference tournament title for the first time in school history in 2005-06, securing Upstate's second straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearance.

Payne's 2006-07 team finished with a 17-11 record, the fourth winning record and fifth non-losing mark in five seasons with the Spartans. In 2005-06, he led Upstate to a 20-10 record and the program's first-ever Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship. The Spartans advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year and maintained a Top 25 national ranking early in the season.

Payne had a monumental year in 2004-05, returning Upstate to the top of the Peach Belt Conference by winning the North Division title and claiming a share of the Peach Belt Championship with South Division foe Kennesaw State. The Spartans jumped into the NABC/NCAA Division II Top 25 at No. 15 on Jan. 25, 2005 and moved as high as No. 8 in the poll during the season. Upstate settled for a final No. 25 national ranking. He also led the Spartans into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1997-98 season, advancing to the second round before losing to eventual national champion Virginia Union. On a personal note, Payne reached 300 career wins in his 20th year of coaching, earned Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year honors, and was named South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.

In his first year as head coach of the Spartans in 2002-03, Payne restored USC Upstate to the level of success it has been accustomed to since the early 1980's. The 2002-03 Spartans recorded an 18-11 record, finished second in the North Division of the Peach Belt Conference, and advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament. In 2003-04, Payne led the Spartans to a third place finish in the North Division and claimed 14 wins on the season.

Payne came to USC Upstate after serving as the head men's basketball coach and assistant athletic director at Greensboro College for two years.

Prior to that his stint at Greensboro College, Payne served at the helm of the Oregon State program from 1995-2000. Among his victories were wins over Stanford (No. 15 in 1996-97 and No. 6 in 1998-99), UCLA (No. 8 in 1998-99) and Arizona (No. 9 in 1998-99 and No. 3 in 1999-2000). Payne also coached four Pac-10 All-Freshman team members, including Corey Benjamin. He also coached three Pac-10 All-Newcomer and three Pac-10 All-Academic honorees. He recruited and coached Deaundra Tucker, who went on to finish as the eighth leading scorer in the history of the program.

Before his stint at Oregon State, Payne was the head coach at East Carolina from 1991-95. He led the Pirates to 56 wins in his four years at the school and won the program's only Colonial Athletic Association tournament championship in 1993. His 1994-95 squad went 18-11 and his teams won 33 games in the final two seasons he was the head coach of the Pirates. ECU defeated James Madison in the conference championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament in 1995. ECU was pitted against North Carolina in the first round of the tournament, but were eliminated by the eventual national champions. He coached five CAA All-Rookie and two All-Conference selections at the school.

Payne began his head coaching career at Truett-McConnell College in Georgia, leading the junior college program to a 25-5 record in his only season at the helm of the program in 1978-79.

Payne became the head coach at Belmont Abbey in 1981 and remained at the helm of the program for five years, leaving the position after the 1986 season. He tallied a 103-51 record in five years at the helm of the program.

In addition to his stints as a head coach, Payne has also served as an assistant coach at three NCAA Division I programs. He was on the sidelines at Clemson from 1975-78 as an assistant during the Tree Rollins era. From 1979-81, he was an assistant at East Carolina where he made such an impression on the athletic administration that he was hired as the head coach of the program 10 years after his departure as an assistant.

Payne also served on the coaching staff of George felton at South Carolina from 1986-91. The Gamecocks tallied an 87-62 record during Payne's stint at the school. South Carolina advanced to the NCAA East Regional in 1988-89 and the postseason NIT in 1990-91. Payne coached six All-Metro Conference selections during his tenure, including standouts Jo Jo English and John Hudson.

Payne graduated from Wake Forest with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications in 1973. He was a member of the Demon Deacon basketball team, earning team Most Valuable Player honors as a senior. Upon graduation, he continued his playing career professionally in France from 1973-74. He earned a Master of Education degree from Clemson in 1978 while serving as an assistant coach. He graduated from East Mecklenburg High School and was an All-State selection in basketball.

Payne and his wife, Ann, have an 21-year-old son, Luke, who is a senior on the Spartans basketball squad. Mrs. Payne is a former women's head coach at Alabama, Charlotte, Belmont Abbey and Berry College.