10/1/2018 basketball Edit

Four-Star Forward Omar Payne Commits To Florida

Russ Wood • 1standTenFlorida

Basketball Recruiting

Russ has been covering Florida basketball recruiting on the Rivals Network since 2011. He is also a contributing national basketball recruiting reporter for Rivals and participates in player rankings.

The second top-50 prospect in what Florida men’s basketball coach Mike White is hoping to be a blockbuster 2019 recruiting class committed to the Gators on Monday.

Four-star prospect Omar Payne, a 6-foot-9, 215 pound power forward who recently moved from No. 49 to No. 42 in the Rivals150, announced his decision on Twitter.

Payne chose Florida over a final group that included Florida State, LSU, Ohio State, Louisville and UCF. He took official visits to UF, FSU and LSU before making his decision.

“They say I can be a good versatile big man and that I can play the four and the five,” Payne said about the Gators coaching staff last month. They’re showing a high interest in me and I can see that, from what they have, I could go in and play if I put in work. And they showed me that they can improve me.”

Payne joins five-star guard Tre Mann, ranked the No. 23 prospect in the Rivals150 and Alex Klatsky in the Gators 2019 recruiting class.

We spoke with Anthony Ricks the Director of the Team Parsons travel team program and head coach of the 17U team to get his thoughts on Payne and what the Gators are getting with this commitment.

IN THE WORDS OF HIS COACH

Well, first thing they’re getting is the number one defender in the country. He guards one through five. He’s probably, not probably, he is the best shot blocker in the country. He led the (adidas) Gauntlet in shot blocks, so immediately he steps in college ready to defend. He’s a very underrated offensive player. He shoots it well now, he’s put a lot of time and effort into his offense. He has great hands, the skies the limit for him. I think his better (basketball) days are ahead of him. They’re getting someone with a high ceiling with a lot of room to grow but also ready to play right now. So they’re getting the best of both worlds.

GATORS TERRITORY REACTION

Last month, after his official visit to UF, we reported that we did not expect Payne to take all of his visits and could decide after one, possibly two visits. We also have said for some time that location would play a factor in his decision. Well, all of that played out as we reported. Payne took one visit after his UF visit and committed to a school that is approximately a two-hour drive from his home.