Penn Hills grad Stephens hoping JUCO route leads to more Division-I basketball opportunities
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During his senior season, Daivon Stephens led the Penn Hills boys basketball team to the 2018 WPIAL Class 6A title, the program’s first title since 2003. Stephens’ performance earned him an offer from Eastern Michigan, where he later committed to attend last season.
After getting minimal playing time at Eastern Michigan, Stephens decided to bet on himself again by transferring to Tallahassee Community College to land a better opportunity at the NCAA Division-I level.
Stephens, a 6-foot-6 forward, has started six of the Eagles’ 16 games and has averaged 4.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game this season.
“It has been a journey. It has been up and down,” he said. “You got to ride the wave. It’s God’s plan. Everything happens for a reason.”
Stephens’ best game of the season was a 15-point eight-rebounds effort off the bench in a 90-53 win over Southern Crescent Technical College on Nov. 22. Stephens went 3 for 4 from 3-point range for the Eagles (14-2).
“Going into the game, my coaches were telling me to have more confidence,” Stephens said. “I went into the game, and I had a whole lot of confidence. I made a lot of shots and played really well.”
During his one year at Eastern Michigan, Stephens played 15 games, averaging 1.3 points in 5.8 minutes per game. Stephens scored a season-high five points in mid-February at Kent State.
Stephens decided to head to Tallahassee with Tariq Silver, an Eastern Michigan teammate. Stephens believes he has a better opportunity to get recruited by NCAA Division I schools at a JUCO program like Tallahassee Community College.
“After a year at Eastern Michigan, they didn’t have a scholarship for me,” he said. “I wanted to find a school where I could get recruited. I decided to go to Tallahassee and take a JUCO year so I could go back D-I.
“I wanted to take a year away to just better myself to see where I could end up at.”
As he looks to improve his shooting and ball-handling, Stephens will look to get a better opportunity at the NCAA Division I level. He has an offer to play at North Carolina A&T but will continue to see if more opportunities come his way.
Stephens has been confident in his abilities since high school, but he always has felt like he had to prove himself to others with the recruitment process in high school, playing time at Eastern Michigan or his time at Tallahassee.
The latest obstacle will motivate him more as he tries to return to a Division-I program next year.
“It put a big chip on my shoulder. It showed me everything I needed to do,” Stephens said. “It has shown me a lot. It has shown me how to grow up, and I’m really on my own out here.”
At Penn Hills, Stephens averaged 18 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and was selected to the Trib 10 during his senior season. Stephens received offers from IUP and Southern Connecticut during his senior year.