Interview: Missouri 2017 DE Anthony Payne Breaks Down Commitment to Kansas State

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

The college football recruiting trail is a lot about timing and feel. When coaches feel right about a player, they will offer. When a player feels good about an offer from a given school and staff, he will verbally commit. On Monday night, offer plus feel came together for Kansas State and Anthony Payne when the Class of 2017 defensive end verbally committed to the Wildcats.

Payne has seen his recruiting stock rise over the last year pulling in 18 reported offers leading into his senior year. The Raymore-Peculiar High School (Peculiar) standout was a blur on the field in 2015 coming up with 61 tackles, 42 solo, 12 tackles for a loss, and four sacks. The colleges seeking his services at the next level included Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Illinois State, Austin Peay, Miami (Ohio), Missouri State, North Dakota State, Wyoming, Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, Northern Colorado, Tulane, and Army with Michigan being his most recent offer – until Monday.

The Missouri product had an ideal in mind for his college choice – playing time and location. When an offer finally came in from K-State on Monday, everything felt right all the way around leading to a verbal commitment to the staff Monday night.

“Red Lightening” made his announcement official Tuesday morning posting a statement via Twitter:

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview, I caught up with Payne after his commitment to the Wildcats to get the inside scoop on how he became KSU’s ninth commitment to the 2017 class.

Interview

Anthony, you were just at Kansas State this weekend, right?

“Yes. I was there Saturday for a camp.”

Did the staff offer you in person at the camp?

“No. They were going to but they waited for team meetings (based on the camp). They offered me yesterday (Monday).”

What was that moment like for you when you got the offer?

“It was a big relief. It was a fresh breathe of air. I was excited to get that call finally.”

During the camp on Saturday, did you go full tilt or did they have you on the side talking to you throughout the camp?

“I did most of the drills. I got the vibe about halfway through that I had done everything I needed to do to earn an offer.”

Did they get your height and weight at the camp?

“Yes. I came in at 6-2, 255.”

What were some of the things that you did well at camp that basically helped you cement that offer?

“We did a bunch of hand work stuff. I did well on the one-on-ones. I don’t think I was close to being beat on any of them.”

 

So let’s get to the commitment. What influenced you to commit to Kansas State?

“K-state has all the things I was looking for in a school – location and playing time. At K-State, they are not planning on redshirting me. I could play my freshman year and start by my sophomore year. My parents can make every game because we are only two hours away.”

When did the commitment take place?

“I called Coach (Blake) Seiler (defensive ends coach) last night and committed to him. I did it publicly this morning.”

What was Coach Seiler’s reaction when you committed?

“Coach Seiler, Coach (Taylor) Braet (director of recruiting), and Coach (Tom) Hayes were all there and they were all excited and fired up.”

How did you feel at that moment when you verbally committed?

“It was a big relief honestly. To find a fit and a family that wants me there. I was not nervous. I am comfortable around all of those guys, it was just a big relief.”

Were there any schools that made your commitment to K-State tough?

“There were a couple of schools, but once K-State pulled the trigger it was not hard for me to commit.”

Do you still plan to take your visits during your senior season?

“Probably not, not at the moment. I want to stay loyal.”

Do you plan on recruiting other players to join you?

“Yeah, I’ll try to help get some guys on board before it is all said and done.”

Do you have any players you would like to target already?

“Not right now. I’ll find some in the near future to help try to sway their opinions.”

Since you live so close to Manhattan, what is the plan this fall for visiting the campus? Will you be up there for every home game if possible?

“I’m going to try to go to most of the home games on unofficial visits. I’ll take my official in December.”

Anthony, congratulations on your commitment to Kansas State and thanks for your time today.

“Thank you.”

Photo credits: twitter.com; Anthony Payne at Kansas State.