UCLA receiver Jordan Payton has a body for football and a head for business

Jordan Payton is a partner in two fledgling enterprises.

He is the leading receiver on UCLA’s undefeated and No. 7-ranked football team, for whom he is a mentor of sorts to the Bruins’ freshman quarterback, Josh Rosen.

He is also an entrepreneur businessman, a partner in the Long Awaited Clothing (LAC) line.

“I have always thought that Jordan used football as a vehicle to accomplish the personal things that he wanted to do,” said Sterling Root, one of Payton’s business partners. “He thinks outside the box.”

Payton, Root and Charles DuPont met when they attended Westlake Village Oaks Christian High, where they all were team captains in their sport: Payton in football, Root in lacrosse and DuPont in tennis.

“In high school he’d say things like, ‘What island can I buy?’ or ‘There’s 400,000 acres available in Montana, is it worth it?’ ” Root said of Payton. “You give him space and let him do his thing.”

The LAC line grew from Payton’s love of clothes. “He was tired of wearing everyone else’s stuff,” Root recalled.

Discussions about launching the business began when the three athletes were sophomores, and as seniors they went to work.

Payton “is a very detailed person. He has thoughts, and then sits down and plans those thoughts out,” said his mother, Kathy Payton.

“Jordan came home and told me everything he was doing. When he talks about these things, we know not to take him lightly.”

Root’s father, an attorney, instructed the group on legal aspects. DuPont’s mother, a businesswoman, helped secure funding.

Payton helped open doors by using his contacts and personal skills.

“Jordan has a personality people gravitate toward,” Root said. “When I was playing JV football, we’d carpool. It would take us 20 minutes to leave practice because every father in the entire county needed to ask how he was doing.”

The company launched in January 2013. By then, Payton was firmly established as a receiver at UCLA, which meant he had to put his role on hold.

NCAA rules require he not discuss the business or profit from it in order to maintain his athletic eligibility.

Root and DuPont were also getting deeper into college, and in different regions of the country. Root is a public policy and law major at Trinity College in Harford, Conn. DuPont is an international relations major at Southern Methodist in Dallas.

So, for the time being, Long Await Clothing has been put on hold, though the partners maintain the licenses and trademarks.

“The company, while in operation, made enough money to stay in business,” Root said. “In January, we’ll come back to the table and see if this is something we’re still passionate about pursuing.”

At the moment, Payton is busy with another venture: helping UCLA’s football team, and its talented but still-developing first-year-in-college quarterback.

When Rosen left Bellflower St. John Bosco High in January to enroll at UCLA early so he could participate in spring practice, Payton came to him and said, “I’m here for you on and off the field. Whatever you need, we’ll get it done.”

Then, at the team’s summer training camp at Cal State San Bernardino, the pair were roommates.

“Luck of the draw,” Payton said.

No luck involved, according to Jim Mora.

“Everything here is done by design,” UCLA’s coach said.

Root understands why Mora wanted Payton close to Rosen.

“My parents say that becoming friends with Jordan was one of the best things that ever happened to me,” Root said. “Jordan has a sixth sense for trouble. Because I was friends with him, I was never tempted by things like drugs or became obsessive about parties. He could not stray from his mission to be a football player.”

Rosen now gets that benefit.

“In meetings, we sit together,” Payton said. “On Thursdays, we grab a little spot in Westwood for dinner and just hang out.”

Payton’s effect on Rosen is that he “calms him down and gives him a sense of confidence,” Mora said.

“Jordan is someone who can be trusted,” the coach added. “He is not a guy who yaps all the time, so what he says is usually pretty significant.”

The relationship between receiver and quarterback shows up during games.

It was an easy call for Rosen to toss a five-yard touchdown pass to Payton against Arizona on Saturday. That was by design. But twice, when Rosen improvised, he looked for Payton.

The first resulted in a 59-yard completion. The second, a pass placed just out of reach of a defender, went for 39 yards. Both led to touchdowns.

Rosen said that the second deep pass “wasn’t a good play when I threw it. I just trusted Jordan.”

Payton has earned the trust, both off the field and on it. He has 19 catches for 310 yards and three touchdowns while enjoying the responsibility that comes with being a go-to target.

“When there is tight coverage,” Payton said, “and he trusts you to make that throw, you are thinking, ‘I’ve got to make this play.’ ”

chris.foster@latimes.com

Twitter: @cfosterlatimes