Out of John Ehret High School in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Elfrid Payton had not quite gotten the attention he desired. He was not even ranked coming out of high school.
However, he remained inconspicuous and led the Patriots to a 30-4 record advancing to the top 28 in the state. To do so he averaged 12.8 points, 5.2 assists and 4.1 steals a game. He was an absolute ball hawk on defense.
He earned district MVP honors along with first team all-state. These accolades opened the door to his college career. He received two offers to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Xavier University.
One could only imagine which option he would pick. He would select the Ragin’ Cajuns.
In his freshman season in 2011, Payton would secure a bench spot but would play a meaningful 22.7 minutes a game. He would go on to average 7.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and three assists per game.
His game was still very raw but you could see some glaring issues. He was an extremely shy shooter, not making a three all season while only attempting 0.3 a game. A non-shooting guard as his size simply was not going to cut it.
On top of that, he struggled with taking care of the basketball. He averaged three turnovers a game generating a neutral assist to turnover ratio.
However, he continued to show signs of his pesky defense carving out a role as a point-of-attack defender.
The following year, he embraced more responsibility, starting all 33 games and improved in all areas. He averaged 15.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.
He was not as frightened to shoot the three-ball but shot a poor 32%. What really stood out was the activity and high motor he brought to the court.
Payton’s rebounding for his size was sometimes inspirational and his energy on defense was always present. He doubled his steals production from a year ago (2.4).
Although Payton continued to improve, the team did not and they finished 13-20 on the season. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt tournament to Middle Tennessee.
All was not lost for Payton, however, as he would be recognized on the first team All-Sun Belt establishing him as one of the best guards in the conference.
In addition, he got called up for the Team USA U19 World Championship Trials Roster. His quick improvement landed him a spot next to America’s top young talents.
The team featured many NBA prospects like Aaron Gordon, Jahlil Okafor and Marcus Smart. Among them, Payton would start all nine games contributing to a gold medal.
Their final test would be against Serbia, where America would comfortably stand atop the rest on the podium. Payton notched nine points and six assists en route to gold.
This would foreshadow the success Payton would have for the rest of his college career. He would take another statistical jump in scoring in his junior year.
He averaged 19.2 points, six rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game. The entire team stepped up in a big way as well. Forward Shawn Long contributed 18.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks a game.
They would finish the season 23- 11, vastly improving from previous seasons. They would win the Sun Belt championship, punching a ticket into March Madness.
Unfortunately, they would lose 76-66 in the first round to Creighton, led by future NBA sniper Doug McDermott. Payton did all he could, leading the team in points (24), rebounds (8), assists (3), steals (3) and blocks (2) in the game.
At this point, Payton had already proved himself to be one of the most complete guards in the country. His ability to score, rebound, pass and defend at such a high level was a rarity.
Payton would be named first team All-Sun Belt for the second straight season and won the SBC defensive player of the year. In addition, he would take home the Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award.
For a guy that came into college with little to no recognition, not even in the top 300 of his recruiting class, Payton had come a long way in three years. His bulldog mentality and tenacious drive earned him a good fortune in his trophy case.
In April 2014, Payton would declare for the NBA Draft. Up to this point, he was widely projected as a first round pick, some mock drafts even putting him as high as a lottery.
His two-way ability, athleticism and playmaking upside caught the attention of a lot of NBA franchises. One of his only drawbacks was his lack of consistent shooting. He showed shades of future hall-of-famers Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo.
The Philadelphia 76ers did in fact select him in the lottery with the 10 overall pick but would trade him on the same night to the Orlando Magic for Dario Šarić and two picks.
He had a really solid rookie season averaging 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. Most importantly, he played in all 82 games, starting in 63 of them.
Just like NBA scouts thought, the one thing that would translate instantly was his defense, averaging what would be his career best 1.7 steals a game. Similar to his freshman year in college, he was woeful from three but affected the game in other areas.
Payton made the NBA All-Rookie first team and also collected 12 double-doubles. He would continue to have a pretty solid career and honestly a very underrated one. He would end up being a very serviceable starting point guard for seven more seasons.
In 2023 and currently, Payton is taking the opportunity to play for the Indiana Mad Ants in the NBA G-league, having a career resurgence. Will we ever see him back on an NBA roster?