MONDAY, 3:48pm: Payne is indeed entering the draft, he announced at a press conference today, as KFVS-TV relays.
FRIDAY, 4:15pm: Murray State sophomore guard Cameron Payne plans to enter the 2015 NBA draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Payne is working toward hiring an agent and formalizing a decision with an expected announcement to come after the NCAA Final Four, Wojnarowski’s sources tell him. Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) lists Payne as the No. 23 overall prospect, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress pegs the guard at 32nd overall.
Some NBA executives from teams expected to pick in the draft lottery told Wojnarowski that they anticipate Payne to be a prospect they will consider selecting in those slots, though most draft projections have Payne listed as a mid-first-rounder. Several NBA executives are comparing his possible climb in the first round to that of Magic guard Elfrid Payton, another smaller school underclassman who rose all the way to the 10th selection in the 2014 draft, the Yahoo! scribe adds.
Payne appeared in 69 games in two seasons for Murray State. The 6’2″ guard’s career numbers are 18.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in 32.4 minutes per game. His career shooting numbers are .432/.359/.781.