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A handful of times last season, Todd Phillips recalls turning to his assistants and saying, "I didn't think a guy could do that."
Thursday night, the Runnin' Utes will be charged with stopping the guy who could.
Other Salt Lake Community College products have had higher verticals than Gary Payton II, Phillips said, but Payton's dunks during SLCC's back-to-back region championship runs were "freakish."
Now, Pac-12 coaches are having these same revelations about human potential.
Blessed with not only the name made legendary by his father but also large hands, long arms and cat-like acceleration, Payton leads the conference in steals per game (3), is second in minutes per game (36.3), and at 6-foot-3 is fourth in rebounds per game (7.9).
He's also shooting .496 from the field and averaging three assists and a block for Oregon State, which is 16-9 overall and 14-0 at home despite losing every starter from 2013-14.
He knew Payton would be good, Phillips said. But this good, this soon?
He admits: "I didn't think he'd have the kind of year he's having."
That puts SLCC's head coach in decent company. Only two Pac-12 schools offered Payton, whose shooting remains a work in progress. Arizona State is the other, but the Sun Devils secured a commitment from another guard before Payton could make a scheduled visit.
Utah coaches paid close attention while, as a sophomore, Payton averaged 14.1 points and 7.9 rebounds in leading the Bruins to a 27-7 record, but they didn't offer.
By the time they got involved it was too late, Larry Krystkowiak said, and they had saved their scholarships for the likes of Brekkott Chapman, Chris Reyes and Isaiah Wright — no slouches this season for the nation's No. 9 team.
Still, he conceded, "If you could go back in time, I would have recruited him the minute he showed up at SLCC and made sure we had a spot."
Payton was also unofficially scouted by Utah forward Jordan Loveridge, who played AAU under Phillips and remembers admiring Payton's athleticism at an SLCC game.
The two eventually formed a friendship playing pickup ball, and Payton returned the compliment by watching Loveridge at the Huntsman Center.
But Payton selected OSU — and all the hype that comes with being his father's son at his alma mater — over not Utah, but Saint Mary's.
When Craig Robinson was fired, he briefly considered reopening his recruitment before a meeting with Wayne Tinkle changed his mind.
"I just asked him what his plan was for this season ... and he told me he's not looking for this year to be a rebuilding year," Payton said.
Tinkle also told Payton that OSU was going to make defense its top priority, and that Payton would be allowed to roam free. He's held true to that. The Beavers' stifling zone pressure has limited opponents to 57.5 points per game, 14th in the nation, and Payton has been its engine.
Phillips said he's been most impressed with the improvement Payton has made at the offensive endUtah point guard Delon Wright said after Tuesday's practice that Payton's game reminds him a lot of his own — an all-around point guard whose lone shortcoming is long-range shooting.
Yet another similarity, Krystkowiak said, is Wright and Payton's family members exposed them to a high level of play in open-court settings, making the transition to Division I easier than it is for most JUCO players.
It's fun to imagine an alternate universe in which Payton is Wright's understudy, but it's probably for the best that they are opponents.
Said Phillips: "As good as he is, I don't think he'd be having the year he's having at Utah."
And then fans would be deprived of watching a guy do things that guys shouldn't be able to do.
Twitter: @matthew_piper —
Utah at Oregon St. at Corvallis, Ore.
O Thursday, 9 p.m. TV • Pac-12 Network
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