NEW YORK — At long last, the Lance Stephenson sweepstakes is over and the talented Lincoln High School player is going to the Big East.
“They’ve decided. He’s off to Cincinnati,” said a source close to the family with direct knowledge of the decision. “It’s a done deal. I am certain of this.”
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Stephenson and his family took an official visit to Cincinnati this past weekend, and by all accounts, it went well. He played pickup with the team and toured the campus.
USC.trojan / June 30, 2009
Congrats to Lance.
Best of luck in the court case.
Not sure why Jail is even mentioned….since, E has stated not guilty of the charge.
The only thing left is the X drama.
BS has his hands full with the Xs and the Jay fans.
Lets hope the damage control is effective.
Jays do not need such distractions.
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Terp4life / June 30, 2009
Thank goodness. I wish him the best. It SEEMS like he will need it.
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pastaboy / June 30, 2009
Interesting how a late comer like Cincinnati can pull this off . Lance will be closer to home ….playing against top competition ….. his Dad will be able to travel easily to most Big East venues . He’ll definitely be the star with this team …..do pretty much whatever he wants for a year …then go to the NBA ……so all in all probably not a bad move ….but what if the Bearcats struggle in the Big East ? Is the star of a 16 and 14 team a lottery pick?
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Gohard / June 30, 2009
Finally!
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word2bigbird / June 30, 2009
i’m so happy i could cry. not.
apparently UMD and Cinci play each other in Maui Invitational. This should be good. Hes gonna get rocked by Sean Mosley. BMORE.
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Terp4life / June 30, 2009
I think lance only need to worry about one thing about the lottery. Wins have nothing to do with it. He needs to worry about him. Take down the BR TV. Get to class. Stay low key of court. On the court be a beast but be coachable. Pass the rock to the point he leads the team in assists.
He has all of the tools. He just needs to convince the world he has self control and smarts.
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Terp4life / June 30, 2009
That would be nice to see. Moseley is good but I think BR will wear him out. He is taller, stronger and just as quick.
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DiamondbackRuss / June 30, 2009
Congrats to Stretch and Lance finally deciding where he’ll play college ball. Hopefully he’ll and the other kid will be fully cleared in the court case.
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PKelly / June 30, 2009
I didn’t realize that Memphis had a satellite campus…..well, at least between the two of them they have a couple of NC’s………..
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Big Ben / June 30, 2009
With the stuff coming out of Camp Henry, I’m wondering if Stephenson is even a bigger risk than Henry. It’s starting to seem like Henry’s desire to not attend class or be ‘just another part of a team’ is far more of a liability to a basketball team than anything Stephenson has been accused of.
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TerpFanatic1493 / June 30, 2009
This is not even official yet…
it’s just a source, just like all the other times AZ said that Maryland was the leader.
Rivals and Scout don’t have it official yet…..
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bball purist / June 30, 2009
Good luck to Lance if it is Cincy.
a) Play within the team concept
b) Listen to your coach and keep playing hard at ALL times
c) Show up to class/pay attention
d) Enjoy college life while still following c)
e) In April 2010, get a good agent + role model ===> Len Elmore
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pastaboy / June 30, 2009
Cincinnati has a concept?
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PKelly / June 30, 2009
Cincinnati = Memphis = 13th Grade. Concept? Please…….
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DrDick / June 30, 2009
Lance will be the freshman of the year. A lot of schools are going to wish they had not passed on him.
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pastaboy / June 30, 2009
John Wall will be freshman of the year ……. and will play for a top 3 team …… and a top coach at a storied program …in the SEC ….with an ESPN t.v contract ……. do you have a beach house too?
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wcburrs / June 30, 2009
He looked really cut in the shower.
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bball purist / June 30, 2009
Pasta: Cincinnati has a concept?
PKel: Cincinnati = Memphis = 13th Grade. Concept? Please
===> Sorry guys, I forgot Huggins isn’t the coach anymore – he he he. If you didn’t play hard nosed D and team ball, Huggins would eat you up.
It also means shady JUCO players and guys whose elgibility are in question no longer go to Cincy like they did with master borderline recruiter Huggins…or do they?
is Huggins still a master borderline recruiter? Of course, look at KSU. I’m not sure about WVU – his nose is clean for now…thought one cannot change the stripes on a zebra…
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InfinityDividedByZero / June 30, 2009
Look into the family’s Coney Island house, Zagoria.
Don’t let Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, or SI beat you to the East Coast version of the O.J Mayo story.
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Big Ben / June 30, 2009
Rivals.com is speculating that the Henrys will get an ultimatum tonight: Either be in school in Lawrence Monday (which is when the 2nd session of summer school begins) or scholarship is revoked. If he doesn’t get an agreement from them he’ll spend the week/weekend smooth talking Lance and give him until Monday to be in Lawrence. The Kansas guy at rivals is generally pretty plugged in.
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pastaboy / June 30, 2009
Got a link for that Ben?
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Big Ben / June 30, 2009
Not on me, but go to http://www.rivals.com The guy’s name is Shay or Shea. It’s speculation but like I said, the guy is generally considered to have good contacts within the coaching staff.
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Big Ben / June 30, 2009
FWIW, this is kind of Self’s recruiting MO from what I understand. If two kids are considering Kansas he basically says ‘first to commit gets a scholarship’. Big East and Kentucky fans might remember this strategy when Thomas Robinson took the scholarship and Orton had to go to his second choice. It also occured with Elijah Johnson (he of the sick 360 degree dunks) and Abdul Gaddy, who ended up at UW.
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USC.trojan / June 30, 2009
IF BS made promises;then, he needs to keep them.
Be a man of your word…..Carl is counting on it.
Talk about Fan DRAMA at KU.
KU fans do want your kids and they want them in Lawrence NOW. KU fans are getting tired of your constant contradictions. It SEEMS as if you and your boys are looking for an out. If this is true – then get out. You and your boys have been nothing but a hassle since day one. Get your son’s asses on campus and all will be good. Until then, you sure as hell better realize KU fans are a bit tired with your and your son’s songs and dances. Your words in The Shiver article posted today – “It’s almost like they don’t want us up there, and right now, my kids don’t want to go because of that article,” Right now your kids don’t want to come to KU or were you misquoted YET AGAIN? You met with European guys AFTER Xavier and CJ said they were coming to KU? WHY? Keep up more of your nonsense and you are damn right KU fans won’t want your boys “up there”. I would love for your boys to be on campus and have a fanatastic season but KU Basketball will succeed with or without your kids. It’s not all about them.
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anton / June 30, 2009
Rivals is clueless. They don’t know what they are talking about. KU is contractually bound to honor the scholarship for the 09-10 season no matter what as long as he shuw up when fall term begins. Its an NCAA rule. If they yank it, they open themselves up to civil liability and NCAA violations.
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anton / June 30, 2009
Rivals is clueless. They don’t know what they are talking about. KU is contractually bound to honor the scholarship for the 09-10 season no matter what as long as he shuw up when fall term begins. Its an NCAA rule. If they yank it, they open themselves up to civil liability and NCAA violations.
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Big Ben / June 30, 2009
Did Xavier sign a grant-in-aid?
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USC.trojan / June 30, 2009
Is it Official…..X is out of KU?
Looks like mama is OK with moving to UK, afterall.
How does this play out for Lance?
Another flight by BS to NYC, again.
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Big Ben / June 30, 2009
Nothing official and mom supposedly will still go nowhere near Kentucky, but if CJ might get PT (Bledsoe or Wall not qualifying?) that would be enough to send them to Lexington.
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bball purist / June 30, 2009
Chris Chase of Rivals does make a good point though that is tied in to the post Higgins era:
“Cincinnati hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since Bob Huggins was fired, so it was only a matter of time before they fled the moral high ground in an attempt to get back onto the college basketball radar.
Maybe this change of stance has to do with the fact that Nancy Zimpher, the school president who ran Huggins out of town, recently left the university to become the chancellor of the SUNY system in New York. Zimpher left on May 31. I can’t imagine the timing of her departure and the announcement that Cincinnati is in the hunt for Stephenson are a coincidence.”
It is not a coincidence – desperate times call for desperate measures.
Lance should feel at home since he’ll have King’s Island Amusement Park to take the place of his since lost Coney Island Astroland. My dad would ride in the front seat of the Cyclone with his hands raised. For those who haven’t rode it, the Cyclone would force you out of your seat as it went down its sharpest slope – nice diversion – any metaphors from you all – Lance’s recruitment & roller coaster ride? 😉
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TerpMasterX / June 30, 2009
Terps are gonna beat down Cincy in Maui. Can’t wait to see that.
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pastaboy / June 30, 2009
Has Huggins ever been sanctioned for anything ? ..or any of his teams ? …..just wondering
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Big Ben / June 30, 2009
No, but neither has Cal. The NCAA is spineless.
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pastaboy / June 30, 2009
Ben ….it’s probably not a coincidence that the guys who fill up the arenas and get the big advertisers on the air ….seem to skate by .
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Big Ben / June 30, 2009
Exactly. The NCAA only gets guys when the media forces them to. Huggins being at Cincinatti, KState, and West Virginia has done well to avoid the public eye. Calipari is flirting with disaster at Kentucky though. Indiana fans and Tennessee fans are far more powerful and well placed than anyone Cal or Huggins has had to deal with in the past.
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bball purist / June 30, 2009
Bobby Knight’s Army roots are coming out. He recommends a more hardball approach to be taken by the NBA and NCAA:
“For starters: If the sport must accept one-and-done players — young talents who spend a year in school and bolt as soon as they meet the NBA’s 19-and-a-year-out-of-high-school requirement for entering the draft — make sure they’re college students for the full year. Shore up their academic requirements.
And get Billy Hunter on the phone. Convince the head of the NBA Players Association that a two-year wait after high school would be better.
“That’s the worst situation there is in college sports right now,” says Knight, the retired Hall of Fame coach. “And the NCAA has done nothing with it.”
Yes, the draft rule is the NBA’s and NBAPA’s doing. But Knight, a longtime critic of the NCAA, argues that by merely requiring first-year players to pass six first-semester hours to be eligible the following semester — for the bulk of the basketball season and, more importantly, for the NCAA tournament — the colleges’ governing body is allowing non-students to suit up.
“What is the integrity of a kid who plays for an NCAA team that goes to Final Four, or wins the championship, who has passed six hours and then goes on to play the next semester without ever going to class?” Knight says. “What they should do is each team going into the NCAA tournament should have to submit a roster … listing the players and their grade-point averages and classes they’ve attended to that date the second semester. It would help tremendously in making sure it’s students playing for the national championship rather than hired players.”
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2009-06-23-knight-one-and-done_N.htm
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pastaboy / June 30, 2009
Bobby’s players went to class or he beat them up
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bball purist / June 30, 2009
Ironically, you are not joking pasta. He was not hitting with a wet pasta noodle either@!#$%^
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