The DeShawn Stevenson saga is not over. He’s headed to Kansas, after all.
Stevenson, a 6-foot-5 Kansas University basketball signee from Washington High in Fresno, Calif., last Tuesday announced he would bypass a KU scholarship and apply for the NBA Draft.
Stevenson canceled a press conference last Wednesday, but did release a statement to the Fresno Bee indicating he was NBA-bound.
On Thursday Stevenson told recruiting analyst Mike Sullivan he’d mailed a letter to commissioner David Stern, asking his name be placed in the draft.
However …
On Sunday night, Stevenson said he was headed to KU.
For good.
“I passed the SAT test and I now know I’m coming to KU,” Stevenson told the Journal-World Sunday night.
“I didn’t really want to go to the NBA after all. I’ve passed the test and told coach Williams I’m going to KU now. He’s excited for me.”
There is one possible holdup. The family must call the SAT testing group today in New Jersey to make sure all is OK with the test.
“I’ve heard DeShawn improved 400 points. The preliminary review said he’s passed the test,” Stevenson’s mother, Genice Popps, said Sunday.
“We’ll know for sure today, but he’ll be going to Kansas and it’s a big relief to us all.”
Earlier, Williams on Saturday at a banquet in Georgia said nothing was finalized and Stevenson was not headed to the NBA.
“I’m not so sure that (NBA) is the best decision for him,” Williams said.
“We are going to sit down and visit on Thursday this week and talk it over. But as of Friday, he is not going pro,” Williams said while speaking at the Augusta (Ga.) State awards banquet.
At the time he did not know Stevenson would pass the test and be headed to KU.
May 14 is the last day a high school senior or college underclassman can declare for the draft. The NBA will release its list of draft eligibles on May 21.
Williams he played golf over the weekend at famed Augusta National Golf Course told the Augusta Chronicle he was not in favor of paying athletes as a way of getting the players to put their NBA dreams on hold.
“I don’t think that you should pay athletes because they are getting a free education, but I do think that we could make the athletic scholarship a better scholarship than it is,” Williams said. “Many of the top academic scholarships are better than the scholarships that I give my players.”
Williams told the Georgians he was happy at KU.
“I have been offered a few jobs in the NBA, but I have never had any interest in it,” the coach said. “For the last 12 years I have been at Kansas and have loved it. I have never had the dream of coaching at North Carolina (his alma mater). I love Kansas first and North Carolina second.
“Statistics are important but not as important as relationships. We haven’t won a national championship, but if I can have another 12 years and still have the same types of relationships, I’ll be happy, national championship or not.”
The Denver Nuggets are hoping to sign a big man this offseason to take some heat off forwards Raef LaFrentz and Antonio McDyess.
The squad’s wish list includes free agents Scot Pollard of the Sacramento Kings, Corie Blount of the Phoenix Suns and Brad Miller of the Charlotte Hornets.
Pollard is a former teammate of LaFrentz at Kansas.
“Just to get a big body to relieve some of the minutes of Antonio and myself is in order,” LaFrentz told the Denver Post. “I think we were the lightest team in the league last year. Just to get some pounds will help.”
Former University of Minnesota center Joel Przybilla, who left school after his sophomore season, may be drafted by the Nuggets.
“It has to be someone we could trade for or someone with experience. We’re a young team as it is,” LaFrentz told the Post.
