New UK commitment Taures Payne has changed the course of his life

Kentucky picked up a commitment from Northwest Mississippi C.C. defensive lineman Taures Payne on Friday. You might not know much about him yet, but he figures to be a major part of Kentucky's defensive line during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

The under the radar recruit was under the radar for good reasons, as Adrian Abrams - one of his high school coaches - told Cats Illustrated after Payne's commitment.

Abrams was the associate head coach at Hoover High School in Alabama, a top program in the state, when Payne played for the school as a senior, and has since taken over as head coach of the Minor High School football program in Birmingham, Alabama.

If you want know about Payne, the person or the football player, Abrams is your go-to guy.

Abrams calls Payne "like a son to me," and Payne refers to Abrams as "the dad I never had."

If you think one year of coaching Payne makes for a small sample size, you'd be right. But that was the only year of high school football that Payne played.

"Early on in high school, his freshman and sophomore year, he was just a little immature," Abrams said. "Just a little immature, that's all. He wasn't all in with grades or with anything. So as a result of that, his grades suffered and he wasn't able to play."

As a junior, the transformation began.

"He wanted to play (football) so he started to repair his grades, and I mean he repaired all his grades his junior year," Abrams said. "He came out as a senior in January and he was eligible. He started working out with us in the weight room. He just made a total transformation."

Payne would ultimately land on the honor roll. His guidance counselors and teachers all noticed a "dramatic turnaround" in his behavior and grades. He was, as Abrams says, "all in." And there was not so much as a hint of looking back, much less drifting back.

In terms of Payne's football development, the lack of experience has made for a learning curve but he's had two things helping to offset that: A unique combination of size and athleticism, but also an uncommon work ethic and desire to be great, perhaps born from a realization that he's had to make up for lost time.

"He was athletic," Abrams said, remembering Payne when he joined the team as a senior. "He's always been athletic. He was strong. But he was raw. He hadn't played for three years, but he came out and he started for us as a senior at Hoover High School."

Even with size and athleticism, that's no small task. Hoover, in Alabama football, is a big deal. It's big-time football on a big stage. He helped Hoover reach the semifinals of the state playoffs.

"There's no doubt he was the hardest worker that I had," Abrams said. "He started every game for me. He is a very, very physical player. He has some great natural instincts and an unyielding tenacity to get better."

Every time Payne returns home from Northwest Mississippi, he touches base with Abrams and asks for help in perfecting his craft. There's no time off. After semesters or over Christmas break, Payne works.

"He is forever sending videos for me to critique. He's got an old school work ethic and you just don't see that from kids nowadays," Abrams said. "It's something special. He's going to work himself to be great."

Kentucky has its work cut out recruiting against the SEC's top programs, and filling a defensive line rotation with top talent is one of the Wildcats' most difficult annual tasks.

So sometimes UK has to get a little creative, or think outside the box, when it comes to its talent search.

They did that two recruiting classes ago with Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald, the Nigeria native who had only played a small amount of football before heading off to Lexington.

Payne's circumstances are different, but the similarities are undeniable as well. Projects are welcome, so long as the work ethic, desire and raw tools are to be found.

"With where they are in the SEC," Abrams said of Kentucky, "they have to get players that might need a little development. Guys that might have gone out of high school without a lot of notoriety. I know they've got a good relationship with the coaches (at NW Mississippi), and you have to be able to trust somebody when you're talking about that guy who went under the radar."

John Schlarman, Kentucky's offensive line coach, recruited Payne for the Wildcats.

"He did his research," Abrams said of Schlarman. "He was talking to Coach Parker and he's come several times. He's sat down with me, as his high school coach, not just once but several times. I've since left Hoover and got a head coaching job and he's come to that school. They've done their due diligence in every aspect of who Taures is on and off the field. This wasn't a spur of the moment thing."

Before Payne even left Hoover, Abrams told him what the plan was.

"I said, 'Taures, you're going to go to junior college.' We talked about that before the year," Abrams said. "And because of his build and the type of defense they play, I think he's a perfect 3 or 4 technique. I said he needed to look at places like Kentucky because of what they do on defense and how I think it fits him and his physical ability.

"I'm just telling you, man, they hit a home run with this one. He's someone you have to have done your research on and you have to know what you're looking at. His senior year he played at Hoover High School, so against elite competition, but his best ball is ahead of him. He's not somebody that you say 'topped out.' He's continuing to get better every year because he started so late in the game and he's still working.

"With how hard he works, he will be great," Abrams said, confidently. "There are no guarantees in life. But he's going to be a great husband, a great father, a great player. He made the decision to turn it around. You just don't see transformations like that. You don't see somebody that immature in 9th and 10th grades flip a switch in 11th and in 12th become a model player who works his butt off. But it's great to see everything falling into place for him."