For those who follow prep sports along the Peninsula, there are few local athletes/coaches who have made more of a mark on the statewide stage than John Paye. A three-sport star at Menlo School in the early 1980s, he led his boys' basketball team to a CIF Division II championship not long after he quarterbacked the school's football team to a North Coast Section title (Menlo didn't join CCS in football for several years). Later at Stanford, he played three sports; he was drafted as a QB by the 49ers but an injury ruined his pro career. With one of his sisters, Kate Paye, running the Menlo show, John coached her girls' basketball teams to three consecutive CIF small-school crowns in 1989, 1990 and 1991. He notched a fifth CIF ring today vs. Rolling Hills, this time in Division II. Menlo is a member of the West Bay Athletic League, a private/parochial circuit that faces its toughest competition year-in, year-out from the WCAL and its much larger schools. The dominant WBAL basketball entity, tiny Pinewood, has been Menlo's nemesis for many years. PW will play for the CIF Open Division championship at 6 p.m. today.
John Paye
- Thread starter colhenrylives
- Start date
Yeah what a great Athlete, Coach, Mentor, etc. I remember watching him play growing up. It was nice seeing them get a win yesterday.
Incidentally, Kate Paye, who played at Stanford and in the WNBA, is currently an assistant coach there. By all accounts, she is the heir apparent to Tara V. when the time comes for the legendary head coach to call it quits.
