JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 19, 2016) – ETSU men’s basketball head coach Steve Forbes announced Tuesday that the Buccaneers have received a national letter of intent from John A. Logan College transfer Devontavius Payne (Carbondale, Ill.).

A 6-foot-2 guard, Payne was a second team All-American last season after ranking 11th in the country in scoring with 21.6 points per game. He was the Region 24 Player of the Year and was selected to participate in the 2016 NJCAA All-Star Game in Las Vegas after leading John A. Logan to a 24-8 record.

“Devontavius is a prolific scorer with tremendous ball skills,” Forbes said. “He can score at all three levels while getting to the free throw line at a very high rate. He is very good in the open court and will thrive in our up-tempo system. Devontavius is very unselfish and extremely competitive. He’s a winner. His growth as a player over the past two years is a credit to his coach Kyle Smithpeters and the staff at John Logan.”

This past season, Payne shot 51 percent from the field, 39 percent from 3-point range, and 80 percent from the free throw line. While averaging four rebounds a game, he also posted a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and collected a season high 36 points in a matchup with Lincoln Trail. He also hit a season high seven 3-pointers against Rend Lake, and finished the year with 71 makes from beyond the arc.

"I chose ETSU because of the relationship I developed with Coach (Brooks) Savage and the rest of the coaching staff during the recruitment process,” Payne said. “They made me feel like I was part of a family and that's important to me. I'm excited about my future with the Bucs. I would like to thank Coach Smithpeters for helping me develop as a player over the last two years and helping me reach my goal of playing Division I basketball."

Payne chose ETSU over Cincinnati, Memphis, Georgia Tech, Southern Illinois, UNI and Loyola. He joins signees Jason Williams (Detroit) and David Burrell (Milwaukee) as members of the 2016-17 recruiting class.

For more on ETSU men's basketball throughout the offseason, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's hoops link.