Zach Payne - Men's Basketball Assistant Coach - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Zach Payne

Title:
Men's Basketball Assistant Coach

Zach Payne enters his second season as an assistant coach for the Montana State men's basketball program in 2024-25.

Payne's memorable first year on the bench with Matt Logie saw the Bobcats secure their third straight Big Sky Tournament championship and make their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

The Bay Area native arrived in Bozeman with five prior seasons of experience in the Big Sky Conference, including four winning campaigns during his time at Montana from 2019-2023 and a winning regular season at Portland State in 2018-19.

During Payne's first season in Bozeman in 2023-24, the Cats took down the University of California on November 16, 2023, the program's first road victory over a Power Five opponent since 2011. Montana State would finish fifth in the Big Sky, tallying wins over each of the top four teams in the conference while going 9-9 in Big Sky play. Montana State's 70-60 home win over Eastern Washington on February 1, 2023, snapped the Eagles' seven-game unbeaten streak to start Big Sky Conference play. The Cats' finished the regular season with a 76-64 win over Weber State on ESPN2.

At the Big Sky Tournament in Boise, Montana State defeated No. 4 Weber State in the Big Sky quarterfinals and No. 10 Sacramento State in the semifinals to set up a showdown with No. 3 Montana in the Big Sky Championship game--the first time the rivals had met in the title contest since 1986.

The Cats' 85-70 win over Payne's former team sent Montana State dancing, with the Cats being the lowest seeded team to win the Big Sky Tournament since 1994. A week later, Montana State came within a few minutes of the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win, ultimately falling to Grambling State in overtime, 88-81, at the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

Working primarily with the posts, Payne helped develop the talents of sophomore Brandon Walker, who was named Honorable Mention All-Big Sky after averaging 13.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Under Payne's eye, Walker went from shooting 36.9% from the field in 2022-23 to shooting 56.3% in 2023-24, third-best in the Big Sky and 39th in all of NCAA Division I.

Payne also spearheaded the development of John Olmsted, a former four-year walk-on who had scored 11 career points prior to arriving in Bozeman as a graduate transfer. Over an unforgettable final eight games of the 2023-24 season, Olmsted averaged 24 minutes per contest and scored in double-figures in four of those games, including 15 points against league-leading Eastern Washington, 15 points against Weber State on ESPN2, a career-high 16 points against Montana in the Big Sky Championship game and ten points against Grambling State in the NCAA Tournament.

Payne helped coach 2024 Big Sky Tournament MVP Robert Ford III, who was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-Big Sky, NABC Second Team All-District, and Big Sky All-Defensive Team after finishing second in the country in steals with a program-record 100 thefts. One year after averaging 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 2022-23, Ford averaged 16.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.9 steals per game in 2023-24, shooting a career-best 48.9% from the field and 44.0% from beyond the three-point line. The 6-foot guard's 7.6 rebounds per game were the second-most in the country by any player shorter than 6-foot-4.

Payne graduated from Whitworth in 2014 after playing the final two years of his collegiate career under Matt Logie, winning a pair of conference championships. He then began his coaching career at his alma mater in 2013-14 as a volunteer assistant under Logie before becoming a Pirates graduate assistant the next two seasons.

Payne moved to Western Oregon in 2016-17, when the Wolves advanced to the GNAC Championship Game. The next year WOU finished with a 31-2 record, winning the GNAC regular season and tournament titles and rising to a No. 3 NCAA Division II ranking. Payne coached at Portland State in 2018-19 before moving to UM.

During his four seasons in Missoula, Montana posted winning records all four years, including a Big Sky Conference tournament semifinal appearance in 2021. He 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 17 games in 2022-23, finishing fourth in the Big Sky with a 10-7 conference mark and non-conference victories over South Dakota State and North Dakota State. Payne coached Josh Bannan (first team) and Aanen Moody (second team) to All-Big Sky honors while Bannan also received his second consecutive Academic All-American nod, one of just 15 players nationally to earn that recognition.

Playing a large role in Montana’s academic efforts, Payne helped the Grizzlies earned the NABC Team Academic Award all four seasons he was there after not doing so the three years before his arrival. The Grizzlies posted at least a 3.15 team grade-point average each season with Payne's guidance. 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 the Diversity Education Library on campus – an idea from Payne – which features minority-themed literature that the community could freely take or add to.

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 and Southern Miss. Payne helped develop the talents of 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 Pac-12 foe Washington.

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.

Payne helped bring in Montana’s talented freshman class that 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).

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 graduated from Whitworth in 2014 with a degree in business administration. He and his girlfriend, Emily, have three daughters: Avery (2019), Cameron (2021), and Maya (2023).