Payne powers Black Knights

The best athletes are the ones who make those around them better.
Well, Shawntae Payne can certainly be called one of the best athletes because she belongs in that special category — one that make those around her better.
Payne, The Daily Progress’ All-Central Virginia girls basketball player of the year, took the Charlottesville girls basketball team to a higher level in 2009.
The senior guard, who led the area in scoring with 20.9 points per game, helped guide the Black Knights back to the Group AA tournament. Charlottesville fell to eventual state champion Loudoun County in the semifinals.
Payne knew early on her senior leadership would be key to the team’s success and filled her role admirably.
“It was very important because Shalita [Brown] was gone [injury] and Tanyqua [Williams] wasn’t eligible. Everyone was looking up to me and I just had to be the leader — and everybody else followed,” said Payne. “It was a big job because I was used to looking up to the older players, but it was my chance for them to look up to me. It was difficult because I didn’t have anyone to help me out when I had a bad game — I always had to be on point. When I didn’t [have a good game] I felt bad.”
With such a young team, Payne, a three-year varsity player, put the team on her shoulders.
“I believe it made me stronger,” Payne said. “I had to carry that weight by myself and I wasn’t used to that at all.”
Case in point: In the Jefferson District tournament championship against William Monroe, Payne took over.
The 5-foot-7 guard finished with a game-high 15 points, including a nifty layup to put the finishing touches on the Greene Dragons, the regular-season champions, as time expired. In fact, she scored eight of her 15 points after halftime to help the Black Knights pull away.
“[Shawntae] did a great job running the offense. She was a true leader out there,” said Charlottesville veteran coach Harry Terrell after the tournament title win. “She kept her composure throughout the whole entire game and she wanted to work real hard on defense. When she does that, she’s really tough.”
Payne, who averaged 12.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists this past season, continued to take her game and the Black Knights to another level in each of Charlottesville’s postseason wins.
And when the postseason accolades were doled out, Payne got her just reward, earning first team all district, all region and all state honors.
More importantly, she caught the attention of several college coaches. Last month, Payne secured her college plans, signing with Coppin State, a Division I school in Baltimore. She also drew interest from Bethune Cookman, Georgia State, UMass, Liberty and UNC-Wilmington.
“I was afraid I wouldn’t go anywhere,” Payne said. “My AAU coach put a highlight tape up [on Youtube] and it just went from there. “[I’m looking forward to] the college life, and getting out of Charlottesville and proving everyone wrong. I want to make it all the way through and not drop out.”
Payne, who brought something every game for the Black Knights, said it was a reciprocal agreement with the school — meaning she received equal in return for everything she put into Charlottesville.
“It was very special because it was a good year,” she added. “It was important to get back to states because it was my senior year. It was more important this year than last because it was my last year, there was no coming back after this year.”
And she welcomed the role as team leader.
“I tried to stay positive and be focused because I knew l had people looking up to me,” Payne said. “[I wasn’t] used to playing with them, it was just different, but we worked through it.”
Work through it they did.
Along the way, Payne reached the 1,000-point plateau.
“My 1,000 points was big for me,” Payne explained. “I have only been playing since 10th grade on varsity, I only played for three years.”
The all-state guard will head to Coppin State to continue her basketball career. And the road to Baltimore will be frequently traveled by those who wish to watch her continue to build on her already impressive resume.