Hoosiers Land Ohio Running Back Gi'Bran Payne Over Alabama and Florida
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Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
The Indiana Hoosiers hot recruiting summer rolls on as IU gained a commitment from four-star running back Gi’Bran Payne of Lasalle High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Payne held 18 total offers including Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame and several other major Power Five schools. He is ranked the 246th best player nationally and ninth best player in Ohio. Payne’s primary recruiter to Indiana was running backs coach Deland McCullough.
According to Allen Trieu of 247 Sports Payne is a “one cut and go back with good acceleration and has shown he can hit the home run against good competition. Would not classify as a big back, but is compact with a good muscle base as he heads into college. Prefers to hit the crease and go but when he needs to get creative, he shows some elusiveness and wiggle. Solid pass catcher. Can still get faster in the top end. Has dealt with some injuries and also has split carries at other times in his career so there is less to go on with him than with other highly ranked national running back prospects.”
The Hoosiers came on late in his recruitment and were not in Payne’s original top five, but Payne is scheduled to be in Bloomington this week according to Steve Wiltfong of 247 Sports. Payne is the 14th commitment in Indiana’s 2022 recruiting class that would stand at 19th nationally and 5th in the Big Ten.