Report: Adreian Payne Has Had Mononucleosis Since Janurary

Adreian Payne, one of the most prolific players in Michigan State University history reportedly played the majority of his senior season with Mononucleosis and he had to miss the NBA Combine in Chicago as a result of it. If any of you remember having mono, it is just plain awful as it resembles the flu to begin with including symptoms of Severe fatigue, headache, sore throat, which sometimes can be very severe, chills, followed by a fever, and muscle aches. (Credit: WebMD.com)That is bad enough when you’re a regular college student trying to study for exams and write papers, now imagine playing a sport with so much consistent running and tactile contract as basketball. Another bad thing about Adreian Payne getting it at this point is that he is 23 years old and this viral illness gets progressively worse and lingers longer in your system as you get older.

It is also amazing that the team doctor didn’t suspect anything out of the norm when Adreian Payne was nursing a sprained foot at the same time.  “I was tired all the time,” Payne said. “I would come into the locker room at halftime and be struggling to catch my breath. I didn’t know what was wrong. I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning, but I just thought I had to. When I found out it was mono everything made sense.”

With missing the NBA Combine due to this should not hurt Adreian Payne’s draft stock as he’s regarded one of the premier big men coming out for the Draft on June 26th. Despite his “older” age, Payne still projects to be a first round pick with many teams liking his complete game and it won’t be much of a potential upside project at the next level that so many teams take chances on with 19 year old athletes coming into the league.