Philly native Lamar Stevens just led Penn State to its best season in years. The power forward is not a great shooter, but he could fill a role for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Penn State is known for its fine football teams. In men’s basketball … not so much.
That was until this past college season, as the Nittany Lions found themselves in the upper half of the rugged Big 10 Conference, due in large part to senior forward Lamar Stevens.
If not for the premature end to the season due to the coronavirus, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound Stevens probably would have ended his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Penn State was 21-10 and 11-9 in the conference when the season ended, as the Nittany Lions were looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.
Stevens averaged 17.6 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Nittany Lions. This was actually down from posting 19.9 and 7.7 as a junIor, when Stevens had to shoulder more of the burden.
But the people in college basketball recognized his contributions to Penn State’s success. Stevens was named a Top 20 finalist for the John Wooden Award.
After four years in the Big 10, Stevens is no unknown player. NBA teams are well-aware of his game.