Transfer Portal Deep Dive: Longwood Jaylin Payne
Giving my personal thoughts on Longwood JUCO transfer Jaylin Payne.
PREFACE: Due to lack of good/any film for any of the other transfer, I will cover JUCO addition Jaylin Payne for Longwood, I can already warn that this same instance will come up for USC Upstate and likely UNC Asheville. Along with this, we do not have detailed analytics/shot charts for JUCO/HS. Hence the shorter preview.
As the Transfer Portal, SearchSZN, and all of the other offseason festivities comes to an end. It’s time to start looking forward, WHILE also looking back as we dive into some of the new players for ALL 9 Big South teams.
For analysis: I will pick 3 games, 1 game that stood out as a GOOD game, 1 game that stood out as a BAD game, and 1 games that was average.
(If I can’t find 3 games, I will then go to portal film/shot charts and analytics)
Jaylin Payne Background:
Payne began his career at Blinn University playing in 17 games as a freshman, averaged 3.3 PPG and 2.4 RPG off the bench.
After that season at Blinn, Payne transferred to Daytona State where he averaged 9.3 PPG and 5.9 RPG across 32 games earning him a Top 60 spot in the JUCO Recruiting Top 100 list.
Jaylin Payne Game Notes/Review:
Jaylin Payne “Good” Game: 12/16/24 vs #25 Monroe University
Stats: 22 points (9-13 from the field) 9 rebounds, 2 assists
Notes:
Very handsy as a defender, when he can get hands on the ball, he tries and usually succeeds.
Really athletic for being 6’9” just jumps with to no little effort, skying up for rebounds, also makes a very useful lob threat.
Can make extra passes if need, but can be careless/doesn’t look around before doing them.
Really crafty around the rim, knows when to pump fake, and when to go up to the rim.
Can struggle at using two hands to rebound and leads to a lot of missed rebounding chances.
Jaylin Payne “Average” Game: 1/8/25 vs Santa Fe College
Stats: 9 points (4-6 from the field) 9 rebounds, 1 assist
Very STRONG passer, can make cross court passes with little or no tells.
Physically imposing size and skill, very hard to move. If you run into him as a guard or smaller forward, it’s like running into a wall.
Very good 3PT defender for a forward/center and being 6’9”.
His very good offensive ability sometimes causes him to be double, Payne has the foresight to make a pass to back cut if open in that situation.
Jaylin Payne “Bad” Game: 1/29/25 vs St Petersburg College
Stats: 6 points (3-4 from the field) 4 rebounds, 2 blocks
Really good paint defender, even when behind on a play, that moment is over until the ball is scored.
Does hesitate/struggle to do putbacks at a high level, doesn’t really try to slam it home, tries to tip it back in and doesn’t excel at that.
Tends to pass up shots against small defenders in the paint.
Pretty limited offensive skillset, only really a good paint player, can’t really stretch the floor much at all.
Really good on P&R defense, mostly due to his mobility, REALLY MOBILE player.
Jaylin Payne Final Thoughts:
I can’t say I see Payne beating out Tucker and Nziemi to start on this roster, those two players withdrew their name from the portal for a reason and it’s not to be the 2nd PF or 2nd C.
With that being said, I also think Payne chose Longwood for a reason. I think he sees a path to decent playing time either this season or next but I do think we will see a good amount of Jaylin Payne this year.
For predictions sake, I believe Payne will be that 6th/7th man off the bench this season and will progress to a potential starter if he choses to stay at Longwood for the 2026-27 season.