Earlier today, the BIG EAST named Seton Hall men’s basketball senior forward Stephon Payne its Player of the Week.
Payne becomes the second Pirate to earn the honor this season after graduate guard AJ Staton-McCray did so following his performance in the Maui Invitational. While averaging 19.6 points per game and shooting an efficient 58.3% from the field, Staton-McCray helped SHU to a third place finish in the tournament, with them going 2-1 and earning a signature win over the then-No. 23 North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Just a few hours before the Pirates’ conference opener win over the Providence College Friars last Friday at Amica Mutual Pavillion, it was announced that freshman phenom Najai Hines did not travel with the team due to an illness. Without the support of Hines, whose play off the bench has helped SHU to their 10-1 start, Payne was poised to play a bigger role in the game—and play a bigger role he did.
To say Payne was dominant against the Friars would be an understatement: he set a season-high with 18 points in the game, 14 of which came in the second half alone. He also grabbed a season- and career-high 16 rebounds, with nine of them coming in the first half. Payne was clutch in the game as well, hitting two free throws down the stretch to help the Pirates secure the win over the Friars.
Payne was not only dominant, but also efficient: he shot 8-for-10 (80%) from the field in 30 minutes of play—the most minutes he’s played all season. Efficiency has been Payne’s calling card all season, though, as he holds the best field goal percentage (63.5%) on the team through the Pirates’ first 12 games.
This marks Payne’s second double-double of the season, the first coming in the Pirates’ win over the University of New Haven on Nov. 19. Against the Chargers, Payne scored 13 points on 6-for-8 (75%) shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds in just 19 minutes of play.
Payne was just three points from recording a double-double two weeks prior against the Wagner College Seahawks, during which, in 26 minutes, he scored seven points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked five shots—the third most of any Pirate this season.
After that game, SHU head coach Shaheen Holloway said that “the more [Payne] gets a chance to play, the more he’ll be good for us.” Fast forward to the game with Payne’s most minutes played, and he was more than good—he was dominant. With his 18 point and 16 rebound double-double against the Friars, he became the first Pirate with at least 15 points and rebounds in a game since Jared Rhoden in 2022.
But Payne is no stranger to double-digit scoring and rebonding efforts. In high school, he averaged 17.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. As a freshman at the University of Incarnate Word, he had nine games of double-digit scoring and two games of double-digit rebounding. During his sophomore and junior years at Jacksonville University, he was a double-double machine, recording a total of eight double-doubles in his two seasons with the Dolphins.
With Hines’ status still unknown, and sophomore forward Godswill Erheriene just making his return from injury, Payne will likely play a big role once again in the Pirates’ next game on Tuesday, when they host former SHU coach Kevin Willard and the Villanova University Wildcats (9-2) for one of the most highly anticipated games of the season.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
