Notre Dame lands 2022 running back Gi’Bran Payne, a former Indiana signee

Notre Dame has added a late piece to its 2022 recruiting class with the addition of Cincinnati La Salle running back Gi’Bran Payne, who announced his commitment Friday.

He joins Denison (Texas) High’s Jadarian Price as Notre Dame’s running backs in the 2022 cycle and gives the Irish five scholarship players at the position for the upcoming season.

According to the On3 Consensus, Payne is the nation’s No. 334 overall player and No. 27 running back for the 2022 class. He’s also the No. 12 player from his home state of Ohio.

PROMOTION: Sign up for just $1 for your first year at Blue & Gold

How did Payne to Notre Dame come together?

In February 2021 prior to his senior season, Payne announced a top five of Alabama, Florida, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Penn State. The Irish offered him fairly early in the process but were never thought of as a serious contender in the recruitment.

Payne dealt with injuries during his junior and senior seasons, and his options started to change. Indiana made a push for him and he committed to the Hoosiers a few weeks before the start of his senior season. Payne signed with Indiana in December 2021.

On March 8, Payne announced on Twitter that he had been released from his National Letter of Intent with Indiana.

“I just want to explore options more,” Payne told The Cincinnati Enquirer after releasing the news. “Relationships weren’t the same and kind of faded. There wasn’t much communication there, and it didn’t feel as good anymore.”

The relationships weren’t the same because IU running backs coach Deland McCullough left his post for Notre Dame, a move that was made official Feb. 11. McCullough was the lead recruiter in the Hoosiers’ pursuit of Payne.

“It was tough,” Payne said of McCullough’s departure from Indiana. “I got through it, but then there was no communication with me and the other coaches when he left. So I had to do what was best for me.”

McCullough is considered a rising star in coaching and came back to college because he felt it would put him on the best path to being a head coach. The chances of him staying at Notre Dame for Payne’s expected four years at Notre Dame aren’t great, and Payne is aware of that reality. The more Notre Dame recruited him, the easier it became to look past it.

“It just feels right,” Payne said of choosing Notre Dame. “Even if Coach McCullough does find another job again, this is the right fit for me.”

Indiana wasn’t considered the team to beat initially for Payne, but his relationship with McCullough was a big reason — maybe the main one — the Hoosiers won out for him at first.

“It’s a strong relationship,” Payne said. “He cares about his players. When I committed to Indiana, they weren’t in my top five, so it was a surprise. The relationship between me and him had an impact on me.”

After receiving his release from Indiana, he and McCullough reconnected, and Payne officially visited Notre Dame April 8-10.

“Going on campus was great,” Payne said. “I met a lot of people and enjoyed watching practice. I already had relationships with a lot of the coaches — Coach Freeman and Coach Chad [Bowden] from Cincinnati. Of course, Coach McCullough, I’ve known him for a while now.

“When I got there, they were really excited to see me. I watched practice, and it was the first day that they were doing real contact and a scrimmage before the spring game. I was hanging out at the facility, made videos and took pictures. I hung out around the players.”

Payne officially visited Kentucky a couple days before his trip to South Bend, but once he was granted his release from Indiana it was all but a foregone conclusion that he’d end up picking the Irish because of McCullough’s presence on staff.

Another connection Payne has to Notre Dame, though, is former Northwestern running back Jeremy Larkin, who was a defensive graduate assistant with the Wildcats and recently took a position this offseason as an analyst for Notre Dame to help coach the secondary. Larkin went to high school at Cincinnati La Salle, same as Payne, and was previously recruiting the four-star back to Northwestern.

Furthermore, when Bowden and Freeman worked at Cincinnati before arriving at Notre Dame early in 2021, they were in hot pursuit of Payne.

“Coach Freeman and Coach Chad offered me during my sophomore year,” Payne explained. “Coach Freeman was always pushing for me hard, but I wasn’t feeling Cincinnati. When he got to Notre Dame, he hit me up again. He was pretty excited when I got my release and immediately got in contact with me.”

Notre Dame has a strong running backs corps despite the loss of Kyren Williams to the NFL Draft, but don’t rule out a Year 1 contribution from Payne. He can also help out as a slot receiver or on special teams.

“They told me to be ready to play,” Payne said of the staff. “They’re not promising me anything; I have to come to work for it. Special teams will be big. I think I can be moving around a bunch. I can play some wide receiver also.”

The Gi’Bran Payne file

During his junior and senior seasons in which he battled injuries, Payne totaled just 509 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns (eight rushing and three receiving).

His sophomore year was his best, as he helped lead La Salle to a 2019 Ohio Division II state championship. Per The Enquirer, he rushed for 790 yards and nine touchdowns. He also added eight receptions for 141 yards and three touchdowns and was a key linebacker for his team, posting 41 tackles, four sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions — one of which he returned for a touchdown.

“I like to compete and I don’t like to lose,” Payne said. “I want to do what’s best for me and those around me. And I want to win.”

During his recruiting process, Payne held offers from Alabama, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, Kentucky, Florida, Iowa, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Louisville, Minnesota and others.

He was a part of the La Salle 4×100 relay team that won a state championship last year and is running track again this spring.

Because Payne did not enroll early at Indiana, his release does not affect his eligibility.

Payne currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $15.4k. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.