F TENNESSEE TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL / 2009-10 F
Steve Payne Associate Head Coach Eighth Season Union College, 1990
Coaching Career Knox Central High School 1990-91 Assistant Coach
Union University 1991-94 Assistant Coach Northwestern State 1994-96 Assistant Coach Georgetown College 1996-2000 Associate Head Coach Frank Phillips Junior College 2000-02 Head Coach Tennessee Tech University 2002- Present Associate Head Coach
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Steve Payne enters his eighth season as the associate head coach for Mike Sutton and the Golden Eagles. Payne has helped Tech and the Golden Eagle basketball program win 114 games over the past seven seasons including an OVC championship team in 2004-05. Prior to the 2009-10 season, CollegeInsider.com ranked Payne No. 19 among the nations top 25 mid-major assistant coaches. Payne was the only coach in the OVC to be put on the list. Payne stepped forward to take on a major role in directing the day-to-day operation of the Golden Eagle program during Sutton’s recovery from Guillain-Barré Syndrome. At the end of the team’s 2006-2007, 19-12 campaign, Payne was recognized twice for the part he played in the team’s success. An award normally given to head coaches, he was named by CollegeInsider.com as the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year and was listed as one of 15 finalists for the 2006 Hugh Durham Award honoring the mid-major Coach of the Year. He was also named the OVC
Coach of the Year by CBSsportsline.com. It was unusual — but well-deserved — recognition for an assistant coach. After serving as the head coach at Frank Phillips Junior College in Borger, Texas, Payne came to the Golden Eagle program in 2002 with over a decade of coaching experience. Before he took over the reins at Frank Phillips Junior College, Payne was an associate head coach for four years under
TENNESSEE TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL MEDIA GUIDE / 2009-10