SIU Commit Chris Payton quits basketball team at Bloomington HS

[tornado]

Bloomington's Chris Payton was once a Bradley recruit...
then he was an ISU commit - then reneged and later committed to and signed with SIU

Now, in the middle of his senior season at Bloomington HS, there appear to be some serious issues.

Some behavior about a month ago triggered a "disciplinary" suspension - and he missed 3 games, and has not started since, but now
he has left the team and is no longer on the roster. The only reason given is that he has left due to "personal reasons".
No word on whether this affects his decision regarding SIU. LINK

Chris Payton's older brother Charles was also a Bradley recruit - and he also quit the team at Bloomington HS (as a junior)
and transferred to Olympia HS, where he played and continued to be recruited - but verbaled to juco.
He never did play for the juco to which he signed and has not played anywhere else since.

[bradleyfan124]

This is a problem I am starting to see more and more of and it may be part of the problem with Bradley. I call it the Millennial generation and it is becoming a big problem. Generally, not all,this new generation has been coddled growing up. Everything given to them. They never had to work at it like earlier generations. I talked to a Bradley professor and he sees it in his classes. Economists are calling it " Affluence extends adolescence" Instead of 18, 19 and 20 yr olds in his classes he is getting 10.11.and 12 year olds maturity wise. That may be the reason the Payton boys are quitters because the coach wont give it all to them

[bradleyfan124]

To explain more.... Kids these have not had to struggle to get ahead. Everything has been given to them to make it easier for them. They have not worked at things like past generations. Consequently they have not grown as a person. It used it used o be when you were one of the younger players on a team you earned your time by working hard so you were ready when the older players left. Now the kids want to play right away. If they don't they quit or transfer. I know of one senior member of a basketball team who was also the co-captain of the team quit because he was not getting the ball enough. He abandoned his team!!!! Now that represents the type of person who will be leading our country in 20 or 30 years

[egib52]

Matt Painter discussed a similar issue earlier this season.

[tornado]

Just a few of my thoughts...

Every high school star truly believes he could be the next LeBron - or at least believes he has a shot at an NBA career or a lifetime playing ball professionally.

And nobody would understand the IMPORTANCE of staying in school more than Chris Payton - since he saw what happened to his own brother - who transferred, then after committing and signing to go to juco - dropped out and never played ball again.
Even many Bradley fans remember that we also had a similar guy, Michael Tucker - who shopped around to different high schools- apparently looking for a bigger limelight...
then just when he signed to come to Bradley - he transfers one more time, scored 30 points in his debut then was ruled ineligible because of his transfer in!
Bradley's coaches flew to Georgia (Geno & Chin Coleman) to meet with Tucker and then the media told us all that we had nothing to worry about, the talented kid was still a lock to play & be a star at Bradley.
Well - of course the rest of the fans who actually had brains - saw that possibility as being slim - and sure enough, after a couple more transfers & different schools - he disappeared and has never played ball since. A potential million-dollar pro career down the drain.

So I think what's going on here - is 10% on Chris but 90% on someone else who is pulling strings or advising him...
(so many of the Chicago AAU kids from Mac Irvin, MeanStreets, etc. do this kind of thing - committing then de-committing then changing schools)

I have to think Payton still wants to play college ball - so he must have further move on his mind - maybe prep school to get out of his LOI to SIU (kinda what Juston Dentmon did to ISU) - or maybe he knows his academics are NOT GOING TO QUALIFY him (plenty of talk that is the case), so he's setting up an alternate route via juco or prep school.

[Bradleyfan1]

Some of you have fallen off your rockers and need to reel the hate in like a 10 lb large mouth bass on the future of our country. How bout that housing market? The great depression? Im 35 I have 4 kids and can assure you brighter days are ahead for everyone.

Tornado made solid points.

[bradleyfan124]

Some of you have fallen off your rockers and need to reel the hate in like a 10 lb large mouth bass on the future of our country. How bout that housing market? The great depression? Im 35 I have 4 kids and can assure you brighter days are ahead for everyone.

Tornado made solid points.

Hate!! It is a fact. People didn't make this stuff up. Look at your transfer list now compared to 7 or 8 years ago. Now there are several reasons a kid transfers but one main one is because he is not getting playing time. It wasn't too long ago when a kid started at a school he worked hard to get playing time, putting in extra hours. Now they just quit, transfer. They want instant gratification. That's not to say all kids fit into that category. They don't but it does seem to be more predominate. I believe Wardle said it himself a few weeks ago on the radio program. The culture of these kids has changed. It's the Me generation