Southern Miss pitcher Landen Payne became the fourth Golden Eagle taken in the MLB Draft.
The Chicago White Sox drafted Payne with the 526th overall pick in the 18th round.
"I’ve never experienced anything like (the draft process), and it was kind of surprising at first," Payne told The Pine Belt News. "Going into it, I didn’t have an advisor or stuff like that, but I knew I had a chance.
"I had mixed emotions. I had wanted to come back to Southern Miss so badly because they had done nothing but treat me right there. It’s an amazing place, but since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to get drafted and play professional baseball, just like everyone does in this sport. I got that opportunity at the end of Day 2, and I took it."
Payne put together a breakout season after dealing with injuries during his career at Southern Miss and Pearl River Community College.
"My whole career I’ve been dealing with arm injuries starting in my freshman year at Pearl River Community College," Payne said. "I had a pretty major injury. I had torn my lat and some tendons that run throughout the shoulder. After that, it was a mental game to come back from that surgery. It was a long way.
"Then, in my sophomore year, it was just mental stuff. I came back on the mound and didn’t know where the ball was going. During my junior year at Southern Miss, I dealt with some nagging arm pain and was not mentally there yet. I give credit to Coach (Christian) Ostrander and Keller Bradford for getting me back to where I needed to be this past year. It got me ready for the season I had."
The right-handed reliever posted a 2.76 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP while striking out 47 batters and walking only six in 20 appearances.
"These past two years have been the past years of my life," Payne said. "I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I want to say thank you."
Prior to Southern Miss, Payne spent two years at PRCC, where he was part of the school’s first-ever national championship back in 2022.
"It definitely was probably the most important step of where I am not now," said Payne on his time at PRCC. "Going through the injury and coach (Michael) Avalon really helped me get out of the headspace I was in. He really helped me a lot along the way. There’s not too many places where you meet people like that, and it’s truly special."
Nick Monistere, JB Middleton and Jake Cook were also selected earlier in this year’s draft.
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