Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1138762
M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L
Stevens 'excited to get back to work' with Lions
Lamar Stevens couldn't decide. Should
he close out his collegiate career with one
9nal season at Penn State or make the
jump into the NBA's unknown waters?
The choice wasn't as easy as it might
have appeared on the outside.
Stevens had long
dreamed of playing
basketball profession-
ally, making the latter
option seem more than
a little tempting, no
matter what the pro-
jections may have been.
He had worked out in-
dividually for six teams
and spent seven weeks
envisioning his place at the next level.
However, the feedback he had received
from NBA personnel throughout the
process made it clear that there were
facets of his game that still needed polish.
"It was pretty consistent feedback, which
was that I've just got to work on my shot,
get it a little bit more consistent," Stevens
said. "And then they think that I'll be
there, or close to there."
As a junior, Stevens had hit 42.2 percent
of his shots from the :oor, 9nishing sec-
ond in the Big Ten in scoring with an av-
erage of 19.9 points per game while also
averaging 7.7 rebounds. But he was in-
consistent from the perimeter. Despite
focusing on his long-range shooting
throughout the previous o;-season, he
hit only 22 percent of his 3-point at-
tempts (20 of 91) last season.
And yet, the allure of a professional ca-
reer was hard to resist. Stevens had heard
enough positives about his versatility on
both ends of the :oor to make an early
exit seem like a viable choice. Also, he
knew that there were no guarantees if he
decided to return to Penn State. As much
as Stevens believed in his teammates and
the coaches around him, the Nittany
Lions' recent history obviously lingered.
In the end, Stevens decided to 9nish
what he started at Penn State. He had
taken a chance on the Nittany Lions as a
heralded recruit coming out of Philadel-
phia's Roman Catholic High, and on May
29 he recommitted to PSU, announcing
that he would be returning for the 2019-
20 season.
Stevens is hoping to use his senior year
as a way to burnish his dra< credentials,
but he was also motivated by a strong de-
sire to end his college career on a positive
note. The Lions' 2018-19 campaign did
not go as he had hoped. "I feel like we
should have done much better," he said.
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B A S K E T B A L L N O T E B O O K
JONES COMMITS TO LIONS Penn State
received a commitment in June from
graduate transfer combo guard Curtis
Jones following his departure from
Oklahoma State. Jones announced his
decision via Twitter a