DC's assistant boys coach resigns after KHSAA bylaw violation

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Daviess County High School assistant boys basketball coach Bradley Payne resigned from his position with the team last Friday. Payne was a paraprofessional assistant coach on the staff of head coach Neil Hayden.

Payne’s resignation came after screenshots of text messages connected to him surfaced in the last two weeks concerning contact with a Brazil student-basketball player who was not enrolled at DCHS. Several 9th District-3rd Region schools had received the screen shots of the texts, which also had been circulated outside of the Owensboro-Daviess County area.

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association also was sent the text screenshots. The text communications were a violation of KHSAA Bylaw 16, which deals with recruitment-undue influence, according to the KHSAA Handbook.

“What I did was a violation of the KHSAA Bylaw 16,” Payne said on his podcast Beyond the Bench. “There was a violation there. You’re not allowed to text an unenrolled kid. No text, no contact.”

Payne confirmed he violated Bylaw 16 in an interview with the Messenger-Inquirer.

“I’m 100% guilty,” Payne said. “I may not contact a student athlete prior to his enrollment. I wanted DCPS to look at my phone, put all the text messages together and understand what was sent.”

DCPS declined to look at Payne’s phone, and Payne said that was their prerogative.

Payne said he met with Daviess County High School Principal Jeff Wethington, and DCPS offered a multi-game suspension as punishment for the violation.

Payne said he thought the number of games he’d be suspended was excessive.

“DCPS handled it internally,” Payne said. “The suspension DC offered was absolutely unacceptable to me. I went to the meeting with the premise of I don’t need to meet on a double digit game suspension. DCPS wouldn’t budge. I resigned Thursday and I think it was official on Friday (last week).”

He discussed the decision to resign with his wife Natalie, who is girls coach at DCHS, and his son Kaden, who is on the Panthers basketball team.

“After talking with Natalie, and Kaden my son on team, they were both very supportive,” Bradley said. “They thought resigning was the best method. I can resign, the team can move on, they can stay focused on this special season going on.”

Daviess County is considered a top five to top 10 team in Kentucky and has been ranked as such since the preseason. DC is the defending 3rd Region champion and one of the favorites to win the region again. Its record going into a Tuesday night game with Meade County was 16-3.

DC had several transfers join the team this season, including Lemontae Radcliff from Madisonville-North Hopkins, Devyn Randolph, a transfer from Owensboro Catholic, and Michael Acton from Owensboro High School.

All transfers have to go through a vetting and eligibility process with the KHSAA.

“We’ve got transfers, so there is a perception,” Payne said. “I know perception is an individual’s reality.”

The texts messages started with a contact from a former coach who’d worked in the Owensboro area some years ago, and had moved back to Brazil. The mentor contacted Payne, saying he had a student player who was interested in coming to the area and enrolling at a high school where he could play.

“I’m in contact with the ex-coach mentor, a sponsor family, a guardian and the biological parents, there were people checking on him,” Payne said. “Some of text messages appear damning; it looks like the student athlete and me are talking.”

Daviess County Public Schools contacted the KHSAA about the text messages and Payne’s involvement with them, according to DCPS Superintendent Charles Broughton. DCHS self-reported the violation.

“Yes, DCHS athletic director (David Sandifer) contacted the KHSAA,” Broughton said in an email. “The KHSAA acknowledged the action taken by DCHS administration regarding the paraprofessional coach.”

Broughton didn’t know of a KHSAA investigation in the works at this time.

“There has been no communication from KHSAA indicating they are launching an investigation,” Broughton said in the email. “The logical reasons for no investigation at this time…. The prospective student-athlete is not on the roster and never enrolled at DCHS. The paraprofessional coach is no longer connected to the program.”

Payne told Neil Hayden about the text messages before the situation happened.

“In 27 years, I’ve never had an allegation, never been under any type of investigation,” Payne said. “Neil’s hands were tied. Everybody who knew me knew this would be my last year (coaching). It’s not the fairy tale ending I wanted, but this doesn’t keep me from going to the games, but I’m not going to be on the front lines. I can sit in the stands behind the bench and be a parent.”

He told the Daviess County team last Sunday.

“Kids are kids, with social media and everything, word had gotten out, some tears were shed,” Payne said. “I took full accountability in it. The team could move forward with this; they didn’t need to be bogged down.”

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