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UD makes offers to Thurgood Marshall, Jefferson players
Xavier, OSU among the schools interested in Staten and Payne, who are both high school sophomores.
Friday, August 10, 2007
DAYTON — University of Dayton basketball coach Brian Gregory is making another stab at keeping local talent at home, offering scholarships to two more players. But he might have to wait a while for this pair to make a decision.
Both will be just sophomores this coming school year.
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Juwan Staten, a 5-foot-11, 155-pound point guard from Thurgood Marshall (formerly Colonel White), and Adreian Payne, a 6-7 1/2, 195-pound post player from Jefferson, raised their profiles this summer while teaming with Ohio State recruit Jared Sullinger to win the AAU national 15-and-under tournament.
Staten also has an offer from Xavier, according to his high school coach, John Ralph. Jefferson coach Art Winston confirmed that Payne has offers from Xavier and Cincinnati.
OSU coach Thad Matta also visited Marshall and Jefferson this summer to watch each player work out and reportedly came away impressed.
Staten, who averaged 17.6 points as a freshman, attended two Flyers games last year and has joined the team for pick-up games this summer, as has Payne.
"I like the coaches," Staten said. "They make me feel welcome when I play there. And they've been to all my games, supporting me."
The player's father, Bill Staten, a Marshall assistant, is encouraging his son to wait until the recruiting process unfolds before making a decision.
"We felt at that age, they change their mind too much," he said. "I don't want him to commit and then go somewhere else. (But) I hope he stays close to home. We'll have a big say in that."
Payne, who averaged about five points and five rebounds for Jefferson, lives with his grandmother in Dayton and said he wants to attend a school where she can see him play. And while both players have a strong interest in the Flyers, OSU would be an appealing option since Sullinger has already committed there.
"We've been talking about that," Payne said. "It would be nice if we could all go to the same school since we've been playing together and already have that chemistry."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125
or at dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
