Former St. James High School boys’ basketball head coach Jacky Payne last week agreed to return to his hometown of Urbana, Mo. to coach at his alma mater, Skyline High School.

Payne has retired from his teaching duties as well as resigned as boys’ basketball head coach at Stoutland High School at the end of the current school year. He had been at Stoutland the past three school years.

Payne was hired as Skyline High School boys’ basketball head coach. He will have no teaching duties at Skyline; just his head coaching position.

“I’m actually retiring from teaching,” Payne said. “The Skyline position is only a coaching position. It was a tough decision…I wasn’t looking to  leave Stoutland.

“I’m going back to where I played basketball and have a lot of family still there. My mom and dad, brother and sister are there. And our  oldest son lives down there. And my mom has been battling health issues. This has all worked out well for me.”

Payne replaces Brandon Shelby as Skyline boys’ basketball head coach. Shelby, a long-time football assistant at the school, takes over as Skyline’s football head coach in the 2008-09 school year.

Skyline’s boys’ basketball team finished 18-8 last season and returns All-Mid-Lakes Conference  standout Cameron Yates. Payne’s son, Seth, a 6-2 senior, also figures to play a key role for Skyline next season.

Jacky Payne was a two-time former all-state guard at Skyline High School before leaving  for college and later beginning his tour as a teacher/coach. Payne has 29 years of experience as a high school head coach.

St. James was his first coaching stop, as he coached the Tigers from the 1978-79 season through 1984-85. His St. James teams were Four Rivers Conference powers, and one season his St. James Tigers finished the regular-season as an unbeaten, No. 1-ranked team in the state poll.

Payne left St. James to become Marshfield head coach, where he served  for nine seasons. He later went to Lebanon, where he coached for 11  seasons and had a 156-135 record, including a state quarterfinal berth  in the 1996-97 campaign.

After his Lebanon stint, Payne has been the coach at Stoutland the past three seasons, posting a 48-29 mark during that time, including a 14-10 record this past season.