Prairie View senior guard Ryann Payne has always seemed to have to fit into whatever box others thought her game belonged in.
But after two previous college stops, the 5-foot-7 combo guard has enjoyment and fulfillment in finally having an opportunity to be a part of defining her role in her first season with the Panthers and her final collegiate campaign.
“I’m just grateful to have belief,” she said recently. “Sometimes collegiately, that’s hard to come by. You are put into a position and then you are having to learn and grow under upperclassmen or sometimes politics and things that you can’t control. I’m grateful that I’m in a place where I can grow mentally and physically.”
But it took some twists and turns for Payne to arrive at this place.
A different kind of journey
Payne, a four-star prospect out of Sierra Canyon High School in California, began her college basketball career at TCU before transferring to LSU, where she spent parts of three seasons before abruptly leaving the team four games into the 2022-23 season.
This isn’t quite how Payne saw her college journey playing out when she decided to venture into Big 12 country from out west. But Payne believes she is better as a result of the experiences she has had.
“It’s been a big learning lesson,” said Payne, who is spending her lone season at PV as a graduate student, studying Health Sciences. “It’s honestly shaped me into the person I am today. I wanted to go away from home to learn more about myself, become independent, and grow as a basketball player, playing at the highest level.
“It’s been a rollercoaster of a process and experience overall. But ultimately, I think it’s shaped me into the person I am today.”
That person is now a vocal leader, an all-around presence on the floor, and the Panthers’ top scorer, playmaker, creator, and defender. It’s a huge shift from her previous stops, where Payne was always a reliable reserve point guard who brought energy off the bench.
Payne was the only true freshman at TCU to appear in 32 games, and after signing with Nikki Fargas at LSU, she was one of a few holdovers who remained when Kim Mulkey took over the Tigers’ program. She was the first guard off the bench in Mulkey’s four-guard rotation before leaving the team in November of 2022.
Ryann Payne
Position: Guard
Class: Graduate student
Undergraduate degree: Graduated from LSU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies
Accolades: SWAC Impact Player of the Week after averaging 22 points and four assists against Alabama State and Alabama A&M in January.
Quotable: “I can honestly say in each and every moment God has blessed me with that in this collegiate process and each season I’ve learned and grew through the ups and the downs. It’s all shaped me into the person I am today.”
Admittedly, Payne wasn’t too sure when Prairie View head coach Sandy Pugh and her staff first started discussing their vision for her when she first arrived on the Hill last summer. Payne had distributing the basketball and creating for others down, but scoring the ball and becoming a more vocal leader required raising her game to another level.
“It was challenging initially,” Payne said. “I knew I could do it. I knew I had all of the gifts within me and the capabilities within me, but for such a long time I was just torn down. So, it took me some time to build up my confidence and believe that I can do all of the things I knew I could do and they knew I could do.”
Making a new home at Prairie View
This season has not quite been what Payne and the Panthers had hoped, sitting at seventh in the SWAC race with an 11-14 overall and 7-8 conference record. The Panthers were at the end of a five-game winning streak before Saturday’s 66-57 win at Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Monday’s 69-63 victory at Mississippi Valley State.
This is a time when teams should be peaking as the conference tournament season approaches, and Payne has confidence the team can turn it around. She is the only player averaging in double figures with 16.0 points a game, which ranks third in the SWAC.
“I want them to stay encouraged,” added Payne, came through Monday night 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Mississippi Valley State. “As much as we needed these last couple of wins to put us in a good position in conference … We have all of the pieces we need. I think each game that we lost, we’ve gotten better and better. It’s just a matter of my teammates being confident and knowing that they can do it.
“We have a lot of seniors on this team, too. So I want them to have the best year that they can, me included; because this is it. Once it’s over, it’s over.”
