Ten days after he announced his departure from the Iowa basketball program, point guard Cully Payne has found a new home at Loyola-Chicago.

The sophomore, who was granted his release from the Hawkeyes on April 5, told The Daily Iowan that first-year Rambler coach Porter Moser reached out to him on the first day he became available.

"He called me and said, ‘Cully, I have one scholarship — it’s yours until you don’t want it; you tell me,’" Payne said.

The Schaumburg, Ill., native announced his decision on April 15 and said he is flattered to be Moser’s first choice — even if he won’t be able to play for a year because of NCAA transfer restrictions.

"His toughness, basketball IQ, experience at the point-guard position, and his character as a student-athlete are what we are looking for in this program," Moser said in a statement.

Payne started 37 games for Iowa in his career before he was sidelined with a hernia five games into the 2010-11 season and took a redshirt year. He averaged eight points and 3.8 assists and considered North Carolina State and several Chicago-area schools before he decided to join a Rambler team that went 16-15 last year.

"To be in my hometown and really lift this program going in with Coach Moser and the new athletics director — I think it’s going to be a really successful program in the future."