American International College

Henry Payne, who played basketball for the Yellow Jackets from 1965-68, owns every assist record in the AIC record book. A Springfield native who played at Commerce High School, Payne finished his career with 748 assists and also holds the school marks for assists in a season (280 in 1965-66) and for a game (24 vs. WPI in 1965-66). Payne helped lead the Yellow Jackets to their first three NCAA tournament berths in school history and the Yellow Jackets posted a combined 58-19 (.753) record during his three seasons. Payne also wrapped up his career with 958 points.

A member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, Payne taught and coached at Commerce following graduation and led the basketball team to Western Massachusetts championships. After serving as an aide to Springfield Mayor William Sullivan, Payne worked as a human resources specialist at Milton Bradley. After stints as the director of human resources at Cox Communications and Harvard Vanguard Medical in Boston, Payne returned to the Springfield area to direct human resources for Hasbro. The 1964 Lahovich Award winner as the top high school player in Western Massachusetts still resides in Springfield and went on to earn his MBA at AIC in 1975.