Payne says messages show only part of broader enrollment attempt
An assistant boys’ basketball coach at Daviess County High School who was suspended and later resigned after a Kentucky High School Athletic Association bylaw violation says he takes full responsibility for improper contact with a prospective student-athlete, but vehemently denies that he ever attempted to recruit the player.
Bradley Payne, the coach involved, told the Owensboro Times that while he acknowledges violating KHSAA’s no-contact rule, the screenshots of text messages that have surfaced paint a narrow picture of a much larger situation centered on trying to help an individual who was already trying to enroll at DCHS.
“A student-athlete was trying to enroll into Daviess County,” Payne said. “I’ve said this to everyone — I’m not playing victim here. I’m taking accountability. Yes, I did text with the student-athlete.”
Screenshots of text messages obtained by OT show Payne exchanging weeks of messages with a Brazilian-born player who had played at The Piney Woods School in Mississippi during at least part of the 2024-25 school year. The messages include discussions about visas, guardianship, housing, enrollment logistics, and references to outside “sponsorships.”
OT independently confirmed the player’s Brazilian background and Piney Woods attendance. Multiple confidential sources told OT the player is now living in the Owensboro area and attending another local school, without attempting to join that school’s basketball team.
District investigation and discipline
In an email response to several questions, Daviess County Public Schools confirmed it received allegations of improper recruiting involving the DCHS boys basketball program during the 2025-26 school year and opened an internal investigation. While the district’s response did not at any point identify Payne, OT independently confirmed he was the assistant coach being referred to by DCPS.
According to DCPS, the superintendent received allegations “with evidence” from an area administrator on the afternoon of Jan. 9, followed by additional documentation via email on the morning of Jan. 12. Payne was suspended by DCHS administration with consultation from the DCPS superintendent later that same day for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, including postseason play. However, Payne eventually resigned on Jan. 16.
In their response, which OT received prior to talking to Payne, the district stated it believed the communications violated KHSAA Bylaw 16 and could reasonably be interpreted as an attempt to recruit.
“The content of the communication with the prospective student-athlete violated KHSAA Bylaw 16, hence the consequences for the coach involved,” DCPS wrote.
The district also emphasized that it does not believe the incident affects the eligibility of any current DCHS players and that the violation involved a student-athlete who never enrolled at DCHS.
What the messages show
The screenshots reviewed by OT span early September through late October of 2025 and show Payne and the student-athlete discussing steps the teenager would need to take to move to Owensboro and enroll at DCHS.
In one exchange, Payne reacted positively to a video the player sent and asked whether the player’s parents were “on board” with him coming to Owensboro. The teenager said yes, but he and his family were waiting on a third party to make sure documents were ready.
In another message, Payne asked whether the teenager needed a visa. The teen responded yes, but followed that with a reply saying he was already in the U.S. and staying with an aunt in Florida.
Payne later said he was working with the third party to make sure the teen would be eligible to play. He then asked whether the teen’s aunt would sign an apartment lease and whether the player’s parents could support him financially from abroad. Payne also asked whether the player would prefer to live near another player in an apartment or with a family, adding, “Both are legal in Kentucky.”
In another message, Payne wrote: “We’re getting the commitment of partial sponsorship to help offset some costs u have, and I spoke w the AD and Head Coach today, all seems to be in line.”
Payne: ‘This was not recruiting’
Payne told OT that the text exchanges occurred while the player was already trying to enroll at DCHS and that Payne was part of a broader group trying to help navigate the process.
“There was a small part of a group of people who were helping the young man get to Owensboro and ultimately to Daviess County,” Payne said. “One of his ex-coaches and a family mentor was behind it a lot. He actually coached in Owensboro for six or seven years in the early 2000s, which is why he knew of Daviess County and the Owensboro area. A lot of text messages were back and forth with him.”
Payne continued, “The student-athlete also had a mentor and a guardian, and obviously his biological parents. I was in communication with all five of those people, as well as a family that coaches in Brazil that kind of gives sponsorships and resources any way they can to help see these kids come to America.”
Payne said his role was largely to relay information between those parties and the student.
“In all of this happening, the student-athlete and I were sharing information. He was trying to get enrolled at Daviess County at the time, and we had run into some roadblocks with his visa,” Payne said.
Payne said the enrollment process took months and involved following changes in federal rules and immigration issues.
“It was taking quite a while because of visas and different things, and I think the rules had changed on how much public schools could do [because of the current federal administration],” he said. “I think the rules changed, and we were making sure we were abiding by federal law with Homeland Security and things like that.”
Payne acknowledged that texting the player directly violated KHSAA bylaws.
“The text messages certainly occurred between the student-athlete and me, and I take full accountability for doing so,” Payne said. “I was more or less relaying some messages that I had received, as well as giving him opportunities for his guardian, his coach who knew the Owensboro area, and his ex-coach who knew the area pretty well. They had given him links to apartment complexes and places he could live that would put him in Daviess County High School’s district, because that’s what he wanted to do.”
Payne said the screenshots do not reflect the full scope of what was happening.
“One hundred percent not,” he said when asked whether the messages shown were a full representation. “That’s what’s so disheartening. It’s just one part of what was being done to help him get a place to live and get enrolled.”
But Payne added, “It doesn’t mean there wasn’t a violation. I’m not the victim here. But those messages are just a microcosm of what was truly happening.”
No-contact rule violation
Payne said multiple times he violated the no-contact portion of KHSAA recruiting rules.
“The bylaw clearly states that I’m not to have contact with a student-athlete until he is fully enrolled,” he said. “So even though he was attempting to be enrolled at Daviess County during the time of our conversations, that did not allow me access to texting him. And so that’s where the bylaw was violated. And again, I take full accountability.”
He said he continued communicating because he was trying to help with housing logistics.
“Just more or less, that was me trying to help him find the right place to live,” Payne said. “These were text messages that a lot of times I would be in conversation with his guardian and his parents while he was in Owensboro, kind of guiding him as to, ‘Hey, this is the next step.’”
Payne said the teen would text him asking for updates as delays dragged on.
“He was getting increasingly anxious because the whole enrollment process was taking quite some time,” Payne said.
Sponsorships and financial assistance
DCPS acknowledged awareness of the “partial sponsorship” message but said it did not permit or approve any such arrangement. Asked how the district interpreted the term, DCPS said “Although not permitted, condoned, or approved, it is understood as individuals, groups, non-profits, or organizations offering money or services to help cover housing costs.”
Payne said the sponsorship references were misunderstood.
“Sponsorship — to my knowledge, what that meant was that his guardian and his ex-coach and mentor had gotten some families to help him with his voyage to Daviess County,” Payne said. “I was more or less making sure he understood that, because he had questions like, ‘Hey, where are we at with this and that?’ He didn’t know everything that was going on, and he shouldn’t have. He’s a kid — a 19-year-old kid who just wanted to enroll into a school.”
Payne also said there are messages not included in the screenshots shared with OT and DCPS that show more context about the sponsorships.
“There are also some text messages that aren’t out there yet that clearly show that the sponsorships and his support families came from Brazil and Florida, where his guardian was,” he said. “Those weren’t screenshots that were sent to you, unfortunately.”
He denied any connection between DCHS and financial assistance.
“Absolutely not, no,” Payne said when asked whether DCHS offered financial help. “I have never once offered — nor has anyone at DCHS received — any type of benefits to that matter at all. I was [and am] willing to open up bank records, phone records — anything. I was [and am] willing to do that. But since it wasn’t a KHSAA inquiry, DCPS decided to handle it internally between all of us.”
Athletic director and head coach
The district said neither the DCHS athletic director nor the head coach was aware of discussions involving sponsorships or financial assistance.
Payne also said their knowledge was limited.
“The only thing they knew was that he was trying to be enrolled,” Payne said. “They absolutely knew nothing else about it.”
Payne said he did not tell the head coach or AD he was texting the player.
KHSAA involvement, or lack thereof
Payne said the situation came to light when screenshots were sent to the Board of Education and KHSAA. OT also has copies of the screenshots.
“They showed me screenshots and asked about them,” Payne said. “I said yes, those are mine, with the student-athlete who wasn’t even at Daviess County at the time. Those were from months prior while we were trying to get him enrolled.”
Payne said officials from the other school were contacted by KHSAA about the messages.
“[The other school] received a call from KHSAA about text messages,” he said. “[That school] said he had been trying to get enrolled at Daviess County. KHSAA said if [that school] wasn’t pursuing it, they weren’t either.”
DCPS said DCHS administrators attempted to notify KHSAA of the violation during the week of Jan. 12-16, but had not received a response at the time of the district’s written response.
Suspension and resignation
Payne said he disagreed with the length of the suspension.
“I disagreed with the length of the suspension — it was double-digit games,” he said. “Since it wasn’t a KHSAA case and there wasn’t even another school involved, I felt it was too much.”
He said he chose to resign to avoid becoming a distraction.
“Serving the suspension would have kept me as a distraction for a very good team heading into the postseason,” Payne said. “I resigned because it was best for the team.”
Payne said he met with the team on Jan. 18 to explain.
“I told them the same things I’m telling you. Accountability and truth can follow the same path,” he said.
Records requests ongoing
OT has submitted open records requests to DCPS, DCHS, and KHSAA seeking documents related to any complaints, investigations, findings, and correspondence tied to the incident.
Those requests remain pending.
