Zach Payne - Men's Basketball Coach - University of Montana Athletics

Zach Payne

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
zach.payne@mso.umt.edu
Phone:
243-5334

Twitter: @ZachRPayne

Zach Payne enters his fourth season with the Montana men's basketball program in 2022-23. In addition to a wide range of roles on the court, Payne also handles a bulk of the team’s operations and academic responsibilities.

During his three seasons in Missoula, Montana has posted winning records all three years, including a Big Sky Conference tournament semifinal appearance in 2021. He has helped develop two of the best freshman classes in school history, including a trio in 2020-21 that set school records for scoring, minutes and starts.

Montana won 18 games in 2021-22, including a 7-4 mark in non-conference play which saw the Grizzlies earn victories over Air Force (Mountain West) and Southern Miss (Conference USA), in addition to winning the Zootown Classic tournament title. The Grizzlies were paced by second-team All-Big Sky selection Josh Bannan, who was the only player in the league to average at least 17.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. The sophomore also shot .520 from the floor while recording the Grizzlies' third-highest rebounding average over the past two decades.

Montana set a school record from the free-throw line for the second year in a row, ranking 10th in the NCAA at 78.5 percent. The Grizzlies were also among the nation's leaders for turnovers per game (10.2, 20th), turnover margin (+2.9, 35th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.28, 46th).

Playing with a lineup almost exclusively of underclassmen, Montana steadily improved throughout the 2020-21 season and peaked at the right time, winning its final four regular-season games heading into the conference tournament. There, the Grizzlies beat Idaho in the first round before upsetting No. 3-seed Weber State in the quarterfinals. The 2020-21 season was also highlighted by a non-conference win at Washington of the Pac-12.

The Grizzlies set a then-school record from the charity stripe in 2020-21, making 78.2 percent of their free-throw attempts, a figure that ranked 15^th nationally. The Grizzlies shot well from all over the floor, also ranking 61^st for 3-point shooting (.362) and 66^th for overall shooting (.460). Montana was one of 11 schools nationally to rank in the top 70 for each shooting category. The Grizzlies also ranked in the top 25 percent nationally for scoring defense, allowing just 67.0 points per game.

Montana’s talented freshman class featured three players who each scored at least 200 points in 2020-21. The trio combined to make 60 starts – a school record and the fifth-most in the country in 2020-21 – and play more than 2,000 total minutes. The Grizzlies were the only school nationally to have three true freshmen average at least 25.0 minutes per game, and were one of two schools in the country to have its freshman class total 2,000 minutes played.

During Payne’s first season at Montana, the Grizzlies went 18-13 and earned a top-three finish in the Big Sky regular-season standings, before the conference and all postseason tournaments were postponed due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Payne worked with a trio of All-Big Sky honorees in 2019-20, including Sayeed Pridgett (first team) and Kendal Manuel (second team). Derrick Carter-Hollinger was additionally named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year.

Montana had a balanced approach, ranking in the top three in Big Sky play for both field-goal shooting and field-goal defense. The Grizzlies led the Big Sky for field-goal percentage (.498), 3-point field-goal percentage (.394) and turnover margin (+3.5), and ranked in the top three for scoring (74.1), scoring margin (+6.4), free-throw percentage (.745), field-goal defense (.436) assists (13.3), steals (6.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2). On a national scale, Montana ranked 21st in the NCAA for shooting and 55th for 3-point accuracy.

The Grizzlies had plenty of success despite returning just four letterwinners from the previous season. They had a trio of freshmen who started 40 combined games – a school record at the time.

Playing a large role in Montana’s academic efforts, the Grizzlies have earned the NABC Team Academic Award all three seasons with Payne on staff, after not doing so the three years before his arrival. The Grizzlies have posted at least a 3.15 team grade-point average each season with Payne's guidance. In 2021-22, Josh Bannan was one of 15 players nationally, and the only sophomore, to earn Academic All-America recognition. The previous season, Montana had 10 individuals obtain a 3.0 GPA compared to zero below 2.0, with nine earning Academic All-Big Sky status, a huge jump from the previous seasons, including just seven in 2019 and 2020 combined.

Also off the court, multiple team conversations about social and racial injustices led to action, including 100-percent voter registration in 2020. What’s more, in January 2021, Montana funded and launched a Free Little Library on campus – an idea from Payne – which features minority-themed literature that the community can freely take or add to.

Payne’s coaching career began in 2013-14, as a volunteer assistant coach at Whitworth, his alma mater. Payne stayed in Spokane as a graduate assistant coach from 2014-16, with the Pirates going a combined 74-12 (.860), winning three conference titles and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament.

Payne’s first full-time coaching gig came at Western Oregon, where he continued to have success on the court and move up the coaching ladder. During his first season with the Wolves (2016-17), WOU played in the championship game of the GNAC tournament. One year later, the team was one of the best in the nation, going 31-2, winning GNAC regular-season and tournament titles, and being ranked as high as No. 3 in the Division III poll. After serving as an assistant coach his first year, Payne was bumped up to associate head coach during Year 2.

Western Oregon’s success under Payne landed him his first Division-I opportunity, being hired as an assistant coach at Portland State for the 2018-19 season. At Portland State, Payne worked with Holland Woods, a second-team All-Big Sky selection who ranked among the league’s best for scoring, assists and steals. The Vikings had their best Big Sky finish in seven years (fourth place) and led the league for rebounding, rebounding margin and steals, and led the nation with 15.6 offensive rebounds per game.

In high school, Payne was an East County All-Star while helping notable De La Salle High School to a USA Today top-25 ranking. He then played at Diablo Valley College where, as a team captain as a sophomore, he led the Vikings to a California Community College Athletic Association quarterfinals appearance. Payne spent the final two seasons of his playing career at Whitworth (Division III), winning a pair of conference championships.

Payne comes from a basketball family, with his father, Harry Payne, playing for Northern Arizona from 1984-87 and ranking in the top 12 in Big Sky history for career assists. Payne, a Danville, California, native, graduated from Whitworth in 2014 with a degree in business administration. He and his girlfriend, Emily, have two daughters, Avery (2019) and Cameron (2021).

ZACH PAYNE AT A GLANCE
PERSONAL
Hometown	Danville, California
Education	Whitworth, 2014
Family	Girlfriend: Emily Children: Avery, Cameron

COACHING HISTORY
Year	School	Position	Record	Conference Finish	Postseason
2013-14	Whitworth	Volunteer Assistant	23-6	1st	NCAA DII 2nd Round
2014-15	Whitworth	Graduate Assistant	25-4	1st	NCAA DII 2nd Round
2015-16	Whitworth	Graduate Assistant	26-2	1st	NCAA DII 2nd Round
2016-17	Western Oregon	Assistant	18-13	3rd	GNAC Finals
2017-18	Western Oregon	Associate	31-2	1st	NCAA DIII Elite Eight
2018-19	Portland State	Assistant	16-16	4th	Big Sky Quarterfinals
2019-20	Montana	Assistant	18-13	3rd	N/A (COVID-19)
2020-21	Montana	Assistant	15-13	6th	Big Sky Semifinals
2021-22	Montana	Assistant	18-14	5th	Big Sky Quarterfinals
2022-23	Montana	Assistant	17-14	4th	Big Sky Semifinals
10 Seasons