Hal Payne played on USF’s 1956 NCAA Championship basketball team as a sophomore. He was a Navy veteran who served on the USS Hornet. A native of Oakland, CA he attended Castlemont High School. He is now a retired railroad conductor, in Rio Rancho, NM.
So we foresee a potent scoring Don five this year, although the Green and Gold figure to suffer defensively. Monotonous as it sounds to boost the scoring punch of this trio, you can't play it down. All three are best known for their shooting ability, and Coach Woolpert will no doubt take full advantage of this talent. Buffalo Bill Mallen is also expected back, although he is not on a scholarship this year. A hard driver and a top rebounder, Mallen will probably occupy one of the starting forward slots, although even Phil Woolpert doesn't know as yet how his starting five will look. Among last year's reserves and the junior college transfers, our spies report that Hal Payne and Al Dunbar have been showing a lot. If Woolpert decides to keep Boldt at forward, either Payne or Dunbar could break into the starting lineup.
Texan Hal Payne Arouses Interest With Sparkling Escapades On Ball Diamond: Just as General Sam Houston caused quite a fury some years back while fighting for Texan independence, another Texan who goes by the handle of Hal Payne has also aroused some excitement. Although nature of the excitement is of a different type, Payne wields his bat with about the same effectiveness with which Houston toted his six-shooter. Born in the small town of Silver Springs, Texas, in 1932, Hal has one of the more interesting careers on the Hilltop nine. Thinking that it might be a good idea to see what the rest of the country had to offer, Hal decided to pack his baggage, leave his native Texas, and journey to the "Promised Land," California. No Time For Sports Once settled in California, Payne decided to set up housekeeping in the Bay City of Oakland. Hal enrolled in Castlemont High School. Because of financial difficulties at home, Payne had to spend his spare time working. This fact kept Hal from competing on the high school athletic fields. However, he is at USF because "I thought that USF would offer me the best opportunity to get a good education. Also that basketball scholarship looked very good to fellow in my financial statement (TheFoghorn).
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