COFFEYVILLE, Kan. — Coffeyville (Kan. ) Community College entered this season ranked No. 3 in the nation in the National Junior College Athletic Association basketball poll, and a big reason for the optimism is Daniel Payne.

Payne, 6-7, 210 pounds, is a small forward who is rated the nation’s No. 2 recruit in the junior colleges by JucoJunction. com. The Sporting News placed Payne on its first-team All-America list while the NJCAA has him on the second team.

The Red Ravens are off to a 4-1 start this season with their only loss coming at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami, Okla., on Nov. 6. On Tuesday night, Payne and his teammates got some revenge when they beat the Norsemen at Nellis Hall in Coffeyville, 89-83. Payne, who scored 25 points against NEO in the first meeting, had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocked shots in the victory.

The Red Ravens also hosted the Tool Supply Classic Nov. 9-10. On Saturday night, Coffeyville defeated Pratt (Kan. ) Community College 85-62 with Payne scoring 23 points and adding 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots. Payne wasn’t completely pleased with his performance despite the nice statistics.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I just wanted to come back hungry,” Payne said. “Last night, I didn’t play as well as I thought I should. One of our players, Antwone Snead, he got me really focused the way he was playing today.”

The game that Payne didn’t feel he played that well in was an 87-70 victory over Arkansas Tech’s junior varsity on Nov. 9. In that game, Payne had 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots in just more than 28 minutes. Payne feels the team will continue to improve.

“Not yet,” Payne said when asked if Coffeyville is where it should be at this point. “At this point, we’re all right and we’re a good team, but we’re going to get better.”

In addition to critiquing the play of his team, Payne also has some personal goals or expectations for himself.

“I can play better,” Payne said. “I can bring more to the table. This was just an average night for me. I still can bring more to the table. My goals is to get better and for the team to get better.”

Payne has Arkansas on his list of possible schools he will attend. Payne attended Arkansas’ Red-White game earlier this season on an unofficial visit.

“The coach down there seems real cool,” Payne said of Arkansas’ John Pelphrey. “It seems like a good environment.”

Payne said he’s also considering a couple of schools in Ohio, Kansas and Texas. Arkansas has signed four players during the early signing period, but Payne might wait until the spring to make his decision since he hasn’t been able to take any official visits.

“I don’t know yet,” Payne said of the possibility him signing early with the Razorbacks. “It’s really up to my grandmother. Whatever she tells me to do, I’m going to do it.”

Against Pratt, Payne and his teammates started slowly and trailed 39-35 at halftime. That is a trend that has happened more than once for Coffeyville this season.

“I don’t know what it is about the start of a game,” Payne said. “Sometimes we’ve got the energy and sometimes we don’t. Coach [Jay Herkelman ] just told us to pick up the intensity and energy. That’s what he did and we got it done.”

Herkelman has sent a large number of players to Division-I schools in his 12 years at Coffeyville and feels fortunate to have another one in Payne.