Former Head Coach Paine Joins Smith as New Assistant

by Adrian Spears, Communications Student Assistant

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State has hired Steven Paine as an assistant coach for the men's golf program.

The former head golf coach at Point University replaces Charlie Ewing, who transitioned to leading the Bulldogs' women's golf program in December.

Paine, who was a finalist to lead the United States team at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup, will join head coach Dusty Smith for the spring season after spending more than six years with the Skyhawks. He was also a finalist for the NAIA Dave Williams Award this spring.

"I couldn't be more excited to welcome Coach Paine and his family to the Mississippi State golf family," Smith said. "Coach Paine is a dedicated coach who has had a tremendous amount of success. The program he built at Point University showed me he cares deeply for his players and that he takes great pride in being a coach and building a program. I know myself as well as our guys will learn a lot from Coach Paine. He will bring a wealth of knowledge from both the recruiting side and the player development side. We look forward to getting to work and welcome Coach Paine and his family to Starkville."

Paine was hired at Point in 2014. Under his leadership, the Skyhawks won their first Appalachian Athletic Conference team championships in 2017 and followed with titles in each of the next two years. He was named the conference's Coach of the Year in all three seasons. Paine led Point to three NAIA National Championship tournaments and a No. 1 national ranking in 2020.

The Skyhawks totaled 23 team tournament victories and had won nine straight prior to Paine's departure. His student athletes have claimed 20 individual titles in that span.

"First off, I would like to thank Director of Athletics John Cohen and head coach Dusty Smith for this amazing opportunity," Paine said. "Coach Smith has built a phenomenal program here at Mississippi State University and I am really excited to be a part of it. I look forward to learning under Coach Smith's leadership as we continue to grow this championship caliber team of high character young men."

In the classroom, Paine has coached six NAIA Academic All-Americans and 21 Appalachian Athletic Conference All-Academic Scholars. His student-athletes have collected seven NAIA All-American honors and 13 all-conference honors.

Prior to his tenure at Point, Paine spent a year as a golf graduate assistant at Columbus State University, where he captained the program as a student-athlete from 2010-12. The Cougars' 2013 team went on to a top-10 ranking and made the NCAA DII National Championship Tournament.

Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Paine was a member of the South African Junior National Team before coming to the United States to play at CSU in 2008. In his first year stateside, he earned NCAA All-Freshman Team honors along with NCAA DII All-American Honorable Mention. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in finance in 2012. He and earned his master's degree in business administration in 2014.

Paine is joined in Starkville by his wife, Britney, and children, Liam and Adaline.

"My family and I feel extremely blessed to be a part of the Mississippi State Family and Starkville community," Paine said, "Hail State."

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU's men's golf team on Twitter and Instagram, and like them on Facebook by searching HailStateMG.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Former Head Coach Paine Joins Smith as New Assistant

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