Gary Payton II

Wheat Hotchkiss

Marcus Paige can't escape that one night in April. You know the one.

He was supposed to be the hero. The senior point guard was the catalyst in North Carolina's furious rally in the closing minutes of the NCAA national championship game. He scored eight of Carolina's final 10 points, including a shot that seemed destined to end up side-by-side in Tar Heel lore with Michael Jordan's game-winner in the 1982 title game: an improbably majestic floating 3-pointer that tied the contest at 74 with 4.7 seconds remaining.

But the fates had other plans. Kris Jenkins' buzzer-beating three on the other end squashed the Tar Heels' title hopes and rendered Paige's heroics moot.

After a decorated college career, Paige is ready to move on to the next chapter of his career, which he hopes will take place in the NBA. But there is no moving on from that one night in April. Every time he logs on to social media, his mentions are littered with photos, videos, and GIFs of the closing seconds. At each and every pre-draft workout, the media peppers him with questions about the game. Even just two days ago, President Barack Obama brought up Paige's remarkable shot when honoring Villanova's national championship team at the White House.

"You can take a lot from it," Paige said following Thursday's pre-draft workout with the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. "Learning how to handle adversity, how do you channel what just happened that you can't change and use that to motivate yourself moving forward? I didn't get a championship that I wanted and I can't do anything about it. But at the same time, I can learn from that and I know that I responded at a big time level at the biggest stage in college."

"...But honestly right now, it's still in that time frame where it's just tough to talk about."

Paige is a mostly proven commodity to NBA scouts. He played nearly 30 minutes per game as a freshman at Carolina and stayed for all four years of college. Statistically, his best production came during his sophomore season, when he averaged 17.5 points and 4.2 assists per game, shooting 44 percent from the field and just under 39 percent from 3-point range.

His production dropped off slightly over his final two seasons in college as he dealt with a couple foot injuries as a junior and then a broken hand that kept him sidelined for the first month of his senior season.

Still, Paige was a dependable player for his entire career. He played both on and off the ball for Carolina and was a rock-steady presence in the backcourt. His senior season he committed just 42 turnovers in 1075 minutes, going more than 25 minutes on average between giveaways.

Paige's shooting percentages dropped significantly in his final college season. He battled through a season-long slump both beyond the arc and at the charity stripe, where his free throw percentage dipped from around 87 percent in his previous two seasons to 77.4 percent in his final year on campus.

But the lefty rediscovered his stroke at the right time. He had a .323 3-point percentage for the season entering the NCAA Tournament, but went 20-for-41 (48.8 percent) from beyond the arc in six tournament games. He followed that up by going 5-for-9 from long distance in a pair of scrimmages at last month's NBA Draft Combine in Chicago and displayed a smooth stroke once again during shooting drills at the end of Thursday's workout.

"I've been shooting the ball fantastic in workouts," Paige said. "And I have two years prior to my senior year worth of shooting the ball at a high clip. My overall body of work shows that I can shoot. I hit a rough stretch coming off a broken hand my senior year."

In fact, Paige maintains that his game is better suited for the NBA level. While the longer 3-point line is a challenge for many prospects, Paige said he feels comfortable with the longer line because he used to always shoot from the NBA distance in workouts at North Carolina, believing it would feel easier when he moved back to the college line in game settings.

And as a point guard, the added space the NBA presents allows for more room for Paige to operate in the pick-and-roll, something he wasn't asked to do a lot in college but thinks is one of his strengths.

"I think I just make good reads and make good quick decisions," Paige said. "When you set a pick-and-roll, you're automatically putting the defense in rotations and putting the offense at an advantage. So then you just have to make the right decision, make the right choice, and be able to make the defense pay. And I think that's where I excel, more so than in an isolation situation."

Paige is just 6-2 and won't blow anyone away with his athleticism at the next level (though he did show good agility at the Combine, where he had the second-fastest time in the shuttle run and third-fastest in the three-quarter court sprint). That, combined with his age makes him unlikely to go before the second round of the draft.

But Paige's poise, coupled with a high basketball IQ (he was a three-time Academic All-American in college), would seemingly give him a good chance of landing somewhere in the NBA as a backup point guard.

Could he be a fit in Indiana? Pacers President Larry Bird has said the team could be in the market for a point guard and they've brought in a lot of prospects at that position during the past few weeks, including Paige, Gary Payton II (who Pacers.com's Mark Montieth wrote about), and Julian Jacobs on Thursday.

"I think it's a great fit," Paige said about the possibility of playing for the Pacers. "It's a place that has a point guard position of need, which is good to hear for me, getting a chance to maybe have an opportunity to prove myself."

Big Robert Carter Proving He Can Keep Up on the Perimeter

Former Maryland forward Robert Carter, Jr. found himself in an unusual situation on Thursday. The 6-9, 250-pound big man was the only true post player among the six prospects working out for the Pacers (Dayton forward Dyshawn Pierre is listed at 6-8 but projects as a wing in the NBA).

"It was surprising," Carter said. "I didn't know who I was working out with, but I got here and I noticed it was all guards pretty much. So it was a little different. Usually they have somebody my size that I match up with."

Carter, however, wasn't phased by being the only big man at the workout, which Paige said consisted of lots of competitive three-on-three action.

"I used it as a challenge because I know one thing I have to get better at is defending smaller guys," Carter said. "It was a perfect opportunity to come in here and move my feet and show the Indiana Pacers that I am getting better at defending smaller guys."

Defense might be a question mark for Carter at the next level, but there's no questioning his offensive ability. He demonstrated an ability to score the ball in a variety of ways in college, whether it's posting up on the block or stretching defenses out to the 3-point line.

After transferring to Maryland following two seasons at Georgia Tech, Carter put up solid numbers as a junior on a Terrapins squad filled with NBA-caliber players. He averaged 12.9 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting an efficient 55.4 percent from the field before electing to enter the draft.

His 3-point percentage wasn't stellar at 33.3 percent, but he was enough of a threat from beyond the arc to keep defenses honest and has solid mechanics. For what it's worth, Carter looked good in shooting drills at the end of Thursday's workout, at one point hitting all five threes from the left corner and then going 4-for-5 from both the left wing and the top of the key.

Carter's well-rounded offensive game and his 7-3 wingspan makes him an intriguing prospect (he's currently ranked as the 44th-best prospect in this year's draft class by DraftExpress and 45th by ESPN.com's Chad Ford). But there are two main concerns with Carter's game: his defense and his conditioning.

The makeup of Thursday's workout gave him a chance to respond to the first criticism and he also believes he's done a lot to assuage concerns about the second. While still on the bulkier side, Carter has shed significant weight since his days at Georgia Tech. He claimed that his body fat has gone from 21 percent all the way down to 11 percent, which is what he said the Pacers measured him at on Thursday morning.

Carter's stock has seemingly been on the rise ever since a strong performance at the Combine. He scored 19 points in the first half of his first scrimmage in Chicago and finished the contest with 22 points, seven rebounds, and four steals while going 2-for-3 from 3-point range.

"I think the NBA game is becoming a positionless league and you've got to be able to do numerous things," Carter said. "I feel like I'm one of the few guys in this draft that is able to shoot the ball, able to post the ball, able to make plays off the dribble. I feel like my versatility is really going to impact this league."

Like Mentor Stephenson, Whitehead Searching for Consistency

Isaiah Whitehead knows that the comparisons to Lance Stephenson are inevitable. Whitehead starred at Brooklyn's Lincoln High School, where just a few years earlier, Stephenson set the New York state scoring record. Other Lincoln alums include Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair, so every star guard that walks its hall has big shoes to fill.

"They all were great players in their own way," Whitehead said on Thursday. "But I think we all just have that Brooklyn mentality, that's why people compare us."

Whitehead is no slouch himself. He was a unanimous first-team All-Big East selection as a sophomore at Seton Hall, where he averaged 18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game. He was even better in conference play, averaging 20 points and 5.5 assists while shooting 42.6-percent from 3-point range.

But just like Stephenson — whom Whitehead considers a mentor — he can follow flashes of brilliance with stretches of head-scratching play.

Look no further than his uneven play this past postseason. Whitehead was the MVP of the Big East Tournament, where he led Seton Hall to its first title in 23 seasons. He had 26 points in the title game against eventual national champion Villanova, making enough big plays to outweigh his eight turnovers.

But he struggled mightily a few days later in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Gonzaga. The 6-5 combo guard went 4-for-24 from the field and 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the Pirates' 16-point loss.

Whitehead has all the tools to be an NBA player. It's just a question of if he can put it all together for extended periods of time. He certainly will need to be more efficient at the next level after posting sub-.380 field goal percentages in both of his two years in college.

Though he could have likely helped his draft stock with another year in school, Whitehead decided he was ready to try to make it in the NBA.

"I just thought it was time for me to go," he said about his decision. "What else can I do on the college level? I brought Seton Hall back to being relevant again. (They) had a great recruiting class, so I knew I wasn't leaving them with nothing."

The Pacers took a gamble on Stephenson with the 40th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and got a few productive years out of him. He turned into a productive starter on the teams that went to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals, but has struggled to find a consistent role since bolting in free agency in the summer of 2014, bouncing between three teams over the last two seasons.

Whoever takes Whitehead on draft night will be making a similar gamble. Whether it pays off as well as it did for the Pacers with Stephenson, only time will tell.

The final two participants in Thursday's workout, USC point guard Julian Jacobs and Dayton forward Dyshawn Pierre, are unlikely to hear their names called on draft night. Still, these workouts present plenty of opportunity for players of their ilk to impress a team enough to earn an invitation to Summer League.

With so many talented guards in town, Thursday's workout was an especially good opportunity for Jacobs. It was the first workout for Jacobs, a first-team All-Pac-12 selection last season as junior.

"It was awesome to be on the same court as these guys and really just see where you stand," Jacobs said.

Jacobs has good size at 6-4 and put up respectable numbers in his final season for the Trojans. He averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 47 percent from the field. He's a good athlete and thrives when attacking the rim, but needs to improve his outside shot (he shot under 33 percent from 3-point range in all three years in college).

Still, Jacobs elected to enter the draft this year rather than return for his senior season. While he isn't ranked highly in most draft class rankings, he would seem to have the tools of a player that could excel in the D-League and maybe use that as a springboard to eventually earn a spot on an NBA roster.

"I think as long as I approach this thing 110 percent, somebody will fall in love with me," Jacobs said.

Pierre was a key cog for the Dayton Flyers teams that made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons, including a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight in 2014.

Pierre was a double-figure scorer in all three of those seasons and grabbed 8.5 rebounds per game as senior. He has solid size for an NBA wing, measuring out at just under 6-8 in shoes at the Portsmouth Invitational, though he could stand to put on a little more weight.

Perhaps the best attribute for Pierre, who said he sees himself as a small forward at the next level, is his shooting. He shot 46 percent from 3-point range as a freshman in college and 41 percent as a sophomore. His percentages dropped a little bit in his final two seasons on campus, but he was an 85-percent foul shooter as a senior.

Pierre put on a shooting clinic at the end of Thursday's workout, burying nine of his final 10 shots from the top of the 3-point arc. If he continues shooting like that, he'll draw more attention from NBA scouts. At the very least, he figures to get an invite to Summer League.

Check out one-on-one interviews with all six prospects at Thursday's pre-draft workout in the video player below.

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Paige Poised for Transition to the Pros

indmmontieth

You start with the talking. So much talking.

Gary Payton II gets asked about his father at every stop in his tour of NBA pre-draft workouts, the same questions over and over. Obvious questions, sort of necessary questions, but old questions that could wear on anyone after awhile.

Payton II faces them all with a smile, and talks. Talks about his Hall of Fame father, one of the greatest trash talkers in NBA history, who nearly trash-talked his son out of the game in high school but now stands as a primary motivator and mentor. Talks about living up to his father's expectations. Talks about the differences between his father's game and his own. Talks about carving out his own identity despite going to the same college. Talks about having to talk about his father all the time.

"I think I've proved to him I'm a good basketball player," Payton II said following Thursday's workout for the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

RELATED: Paige Poised for Transition to the Pros »

Payton II is indeed a good basketball player. Not as good as his dad, who was the second pick in the 1990 draft behind Derrick Coleman and went on to a Hall of Fame career that featured nine All-Star selections and a reputation as one of the game's greatest defenders, but certainly good enough to be considered a lock for the second round in the upcoming NBA draft.

The elder Payton played 12 1/2 of his 17 NBA seasons in Seattle, where Payton II was born and raised. He was the kid tagging along at practice and games, getting up shots whenever he could. That's how he met his dad's teammate and future coach, Nate McMillan, who now coaches the Pacers. McMillan – "he's like an uncle to me," Payton II said – did not attend Thursday's workout because of a conflict at home, but the ghost of Payton's father hovered over the session, as it does everywhere he works out.

Payton II played basketball, football, baseball and soccer in junior high, but concentrated on basketball in high school. His father was on him constantly, and told him he wasn't a good player because he wasn't aggressive enough. Those blunt criticisms nearly drove him from the game at one point, and reduced his emotional investment in the game for awhile, until he learned to separate his father's message from the delivery.

"As I got older, I kind of got away from (dedication to basketball), because of following in my dad's footsteps, trying to be as great as him, and all that," he said. "As I got older, more mature, I got back to it. It was the only sport I understood, so I ran with it.

"In high school, there was a turning point my junior year, where I said, 'I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I'm just going to be my own guy and play my own game.'"

After two years at Salt Lake Community College, he nearly signed with St. Mary's, then shifted to his father's alma mater, Oregon State, at the last minute – proof he was no longer intimidated by his dad's reputation.

With his father chirping from courtside, he was first-team All-Pac 12 and Defensive Player of the Year both seasons there, averaging 16 points, 7.9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2.5 steals as a senior, when he led the Beavers to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since his father played there. Don't gloss over that rebounding stat. He ranks as one of the greatest collegiate rebounding guards of all-time, especially one who stands 6-3. He grabbed 17 rebounds against Cal last season, and 15 against Colorado and USC.

"The ball just finds me," he said, smiling. "I guess I'm in the right spot at the right time. I guess I have a knack to go down there with the bigs and grab the ball."

He's also an outstanding defender, with the hardware to prove it, one who uses his exceptional athleticism and length to get in passing lanes and create havoc.

The primary obstacle between him and the first round is shooting. He hit 32 percent of his 3-pointers last season, and doesn't seem to have a quick release. That's been the focus of his individual work since his college career ended, and an area he believes he's improved. He claimed to have shot well on Thursday.

He also needs to prove he can quarterback a team, make plays in the halfcourt rather than merely attack the basket. And there's one more thing: he's old for a draft prospect, 23 – about five months younger than Pacers guard Joe Young, who has a five-year collegiate career because of a transfer and one NBA season behind him, and two years younger than forward Glenn Robinson III, who has played in two NBA seasons.

Payton II reminds of Robinson III in many ways. Robinson's father, an All-American at Purdue and the first pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, grew up on the streets of Gary and had a degree of toughness and bravado that his son lacks. Payton Sr. grew up on the streets of Oakland, where he honed the same edge. The sons grew up amid wealth, in suburban elegance, and are therefore friendlier and more sophisticated. But while athletic and promising, they so far appear to be somewhat lesser versions of their fathers as players.

Payton's father took him to Oakland when he was in junior high school and made him participate in the playground games where he had played, to try to instill some of what he had learned there.

"That got a little more dog in me," Payton II said.

Payton II said he's never played his father one-on-one. They did engage in a game of H-O-R-S-E last season at Oregon State, although they converted it to P-A-Y-T-O-N. The son won. Dad isn't likely to play again. It was an enjoyable bit of one-upsmanship for a son who always will have to live with comparisons to his father. And listen to his father's critiques, too.

"He's going to say what he's going to say, so you have to listen," he said.

Have a question for Mark? Want it to be on Pacers.com? Email him at askmontieth@gmail.com and you could be featured in his next mailbag.

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Indiana Pacers. All opinions expressed by Mark Montieth are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Indiana Pacers, their partners, or sponsors.

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Gary Payton II: Like Father, Not Like Son

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Height: 6-3
Weight: 184
Position: PG
College: Oregon State
Age: 23

PPG: 16.0
RPG: 7.9
APG: 5.0
BLK: 0.5
STL: 2.5

Player BioCourtesy of Oregon State Athletics

AS A SENIOR (2015-16): Started all 32 games … Averaged 16.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.5 blocked shots in 34.2 minutes per game … Became the first two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year … Named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and All-Defensive Team as selected by a vote of the conference coaches for the second straight year … Selected to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District-IX Team and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I All-District 20 First Team … Named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20, the Naismith Award Midseason List, the USBWA Midseason Watch List and one of 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award … Finished fourth in the nation in steals per game (2.50) … Finished first in the Pac-12 in steals (2.5), third in assists (5.0) and minutes played (34.2), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.2), eighth in scoring (16.0) and ninth in rebounding (7.8) … Became the second Oregon State player in history to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals (Lester Conner, 1981-82) … Set the Oregon State record with a steal in 38 consecutive games (Gary Payton, 37 from Feb. 1989 to March 1990) … His 80 steals are the seventh most in Oregon State single-season history and the third most by a  senior in school history … Had multiple steals in 12 consecutive games dating back to last season, equaling his own mark for the fourth longest streak in school history … Had 42 steals in conference games, the eighth most in Oregon State single-season history … Scored 20-plus points in eight games … Scored in double figures in 29 games and grabbed double-figure rebounds in eight games … Had eight double-doubles … His 161 assists are the eighth most in Oregon State single-season history and the fourth most by a senior in school history … Played 1,096 minutes, the fifth most by a senior in Oregon State history … Scored a career-high 26 points at Colorado (1/13) … Grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds against California (3/10) … Had a career-high seven steals against Colorado (2/6) … Tied a career high with three 3-pointers at UC Santa Barbara (11/21) … Made a career-high nine free throws at Colorado (1/13) … Had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals against VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

AS A JUNIOR (2014-15): Played in all 31 games and started 30 … Averaged 13.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 3.1 steals and 1.2 blocked shots in 36.3 minutes per game … Voted the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and All-Defensive Team as selected by a vote of the conference coaches … Joined his father, Gary Payton (1987), and Seth Tarver (2010) as Oregon State players to be named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year … Selected to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District-IX Team and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I All-District 20 Second Team … Finished second in the nation in steals at 3.06 per game (Corey Walden, Eastern Kentucky, 3.09) … Finished first in the Pac-12 in steals (3.1), fourth in rebounding (7.5), fifth in minutes played (36.3), eighth in blocked shots (1.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.7), 15th in field goal percentage (.485) and assists (3.2), and 16th in scoring (13.4) … Named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Jan. 26 after averaging 18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals in wins over UCLA (1/22) and USC (1/24) ... Recorded the second triple-double in Oregon State history with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against Grambling State; Gary Payton, had the first triple-double in school history with 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists against Portland on Nov. 26, 1988 ... Set an Oregon State single-game record with seven blocked shots against Colorado ... Became the second Oregon State player in history to lead the team in scoring, rebounding and steals (Lester Conner, 1981-82) … His 95 steals are tied for the third most in Pac-12 single-season history, the second most in Oregon State single-season history and the most by a junior in school history … Had a steal in all 31 games, the second longest streak in Oregon State history (Gary Payton, 37 from Feb. 1989 to March 1990) … Had multiple steals in 12 straight games, the fourth-longest streak in school history … Had 55 steals in conference games, the fifth most in Oregon State single-season history … Scored in double figures in 25 games and grabbed double-figure rebounds in eight games … Had seven double-doubles … Played 1,125 minutes, the ninth most in Oregon State single-season history and the fifth most by a junior … Scored a career-high 24 points against Mississippi Valley State (12/3), UCLA (2/11) and Colorado (2/21) … Grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds against Mississippi Valley State … Had a career-high six steals against Grambling State (12/15), USC (2/14) and Oregon (3/4) … Made a career-high three 3-pointers against Mississippi Valley State (12/13) and UCLA (2/11) … Had career highs with 11 field goals and 21 field goal attempts at Arizona State (1/28) ... Played a career-high 44 minutes and posted a double-double for the third consecutive game with 12 points and 12 rebounds at Portland (12/6) ... Posted first career double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds against Auburn (11/26) ... Made first career 3 pointer in the second half against Oklahoma State (11/24) ... Made Oregon State debut in the season opener against Rice and scored first career points on a two-handed dunk in the first half (11/14).

AT SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Played two seasons at Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City, Utah … Averaged 14.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game as a sophomore (2013-14) … Named Second Team NJCAA Division I All-American and voted Region 18 Co-Player of the Year and Region 18 Tournament Most Valuable Player in 2014… Led team to 27-7 overall record and second consecutive Region 18 Championship as a sophomore … Averaged 9.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.9 steals per game as a freshman (2012-13) … Led team to 29-5 overall record and 14-1 mark in Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) … Won Region 18 Championship and outright SWAC title in 2013 … Named First Team All-SWAC and made Region 18 All-Tournament Team as a freshman … Team advanced to NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships both seasons.

AT WESTWIND PREP SCHOOL: Attended Westwind Prep School in Phoenix, Ariz., in 2011-12.

AT SPRING VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nev., in 2011 … Lettered two years in basketball and one year in swimming.

PERSONAL: Born Dec. 1, 1992 in Seattle, Wash. … Son of Gary and Monique Payton … Has two brothers, Gary Jr. and Julian, and one sister, Raquel … His father, Gary, was a consensus All-American and Sports Illustrated National Player of the Year at Oregon State … Chose Oregon State because “I love the town of Corvallis and I want to help get the program back to where it was” … Favorite athlete is Ronda Rousey … Hobbies are “anything fun” … Majoring in Human Development and Family Science.

Gary Payton II

Paige Poised for Transition to the Pros

Gary Payton II: Like Father, Not Like Son

Gary Payton II: 2016 Draft Prospect

Fifth 2016 Pre-Draft Workout Participants