Elite College Combine to feel the Payne

Athlete Keith Payne out of Vienna (Va.) Oakton still holds one lone offer, but is preparing to accumulate more as he made a solid impression at the Virginia Tech Nike Camp and is headed to the Elite College Combine in East Rutherford, New Jersey this week.

"I'm working on my 40 to make sure I get the scores there," he said. "I'm glad I went to the Virginia Tech combine because I got an idea of what to do now."

Payne still has no favorites going into summer. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder is expecting to camp at Virginia, Penn State, Maryland, Clemson and Virginia Tech.

As for next year, the athlete certainly is preparing to impress.

"I'm working with a personal trainer on what to do to be a great running back. They talk to me about the mental parts of the game too and I'm focusing on myself this summer. I've also been in the weight room with the team and coach Thompson and Rowley are keeping us in there a lot," he said. "I want to work on my leadership next year and step it up more. We need to win the state championship because last year we almost had a chance."

Schools recruiting Payne include West Virginia, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Maryland.

Payne ran for 1,000 yards and 17 touchdowns, he also had 13 receptions for 240 yards and two touchdowns. The running back was named honorable mention all-metro, first team all-district and first team all-region as a junior.