(WSPA) – USC Upstate confirms men’s basketball coach Eddie Payne has died. He would have been 70 on Saturday.
Payne suffered a stroke over the weekend and had surgery Sunday night, according to East Carolina University.
Payne coached at all five levels of college basketball. He was the head coach at Oregon State and East Carolina prior to taking over the Spartans program in 2004.
He oversaw the men’s basketball program in Spartanburg for 15 seasons including the transition from NCAA Division II competition to Division One.
Payne stepped down as head coach at USC Upstate prior to the start of the 2017-18 season for medical reasons. He says he decided to retire after the second of two ankle replacement surgeries.
Payne compiled a 484-474 career record, including a 227-241 mark at USC Upstate. Earlier in his career, he served as an assistant coach at Clemson and South Carolina.