Girls Basketball: Carondelet's Payne Commits to Stanford

In the end, it's Stanford.

It's one of the finest universities in the country in both academics and athletics.

The women's basketball team finished No. 2 in the country after a 36-2 season with both losses to University of Connecticut, the latter in the National Championship game.

And that's the place where Danville's Erica Payne, who attends Concord's Carondelet High, will continue her basketball and educational career. The junior has given a verbal commitment to play for the Cardinal in two years.

"Throughout the process, I wrote down criteria and Stanford met most of those," Payne said from Oregon Thursday. "It has high-end academics and a high-end basketball program with player development."

UCLA, Arizona State, Boston College, Cal, Notre Dame and Texas were among the schools recruiting the 6-foot-2 forward.

"I started to realize that I wanted to stay closer to home," said Payne, who averaged double figures in both scoring and rebounding last season. "My family and friends can come visit me. I can have a nice fan base."

Payne, who is currently playing for her AAU team, the Xplosion, in a tournament in Oregon, can't officially sign until Nov. 10.

She said the decision is final and is happy to be done with the recruiting process, which can take a toll on any high school student.

"I'd say it's a tough process, a long process," Payne said. "It stars when you're a sophomore when you get questionnaires, to your junior year when you can get calls (from coaches). It can get overwhelming. When coaches talk about their schools, they all sound great. It's hard to start to narrow your list down. It's something that's on your mind all the time. But I was willing to take all the time I needed."

Payne is the second Carondelet player to play at Stanford. The other is Jayne Appel, who graduated from Stanford this year. Appel was named to the State Farm Coaches' All-America Team, the All-Pac-10 Team and Pac-10 All-Tournament Team.

Now Payne can focus on her senior year with no worries about the future.

"She's a very good leader," Carondelet coach Margaret Gartner said. "She's such a hard worker and so focused. She encourages her teammates and sets an example on the court. It's such a privilege to coach her."

Carondelet is looking to do one better than last year's 58-43 loss to Mater Dei in the Division II State Championship game.

"I'm really excited," Payne said about the upcoming season. "I'll be a senior and I get the full opportunity to lead my team. We got a great group of girls around us. We got the same goals and know where we're headed. I see us getting better. I'm a competitive person and the girls around me are competitive."

Carondelet finished last season with a 27-6 overall record that included a perfect 14-0 East Bay Athletic League mark.