Lance Stephenson

Lance Stephenson Jr. (born September 5, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League.

In the summer of 2005, Stephenson enrolled at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, but he only attended the school for three days.

The school lost in the championship game.

The following week, Stephenson did not return to classes at Bishop Loughlin, and was attending Abraham Lincoln High School near his home in Coney Island.

National Basketball Association players Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair, and future Seton Hall University star Isaiah Whitehead had also attended and played basketball at Lincoln High.

Head coach Dwayne Morton said, "[Stephenson] always talked about outdoing Sebastian, outdoing Stephon," and called him "The best I've ever had at Lincoln."

Stephenson went on to lead the Railsplitters to the city title that year.

Lincoln High repeated as champions his sophomore and junior years, while Stephenson won back-to-back Player of the Year honors from the New York Daily News.

As a sophomore, he was the youngest player featured in the movie Gunnin' for That No. 1 Spot, which followed eight high school basketball prospects.

In 2007 as a high school junior he was named to the annual USA Today's All-USA boys basketball team, the only non-senior to be given that honor.

In July 2008, Stephenson tried out for the United States national team's under-18 team, but was cut because of chemistry reasons.

He attended Lincoln High School in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, where he was named Mr. New York Basketball after his senior year and appeared in the 2009 McDonald's All-American Game.

On February 15, 2009, Stephenson passed fellow Lincoln High School alumnus Telfair's previous record of 2,785 points in the Brooklyn borough title game to become the all-time leading scorer for high school basketball in New York State.

In March 2009, Stephenson led Lincoln High to an unprecedented fourth consecutive Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) class AA championship.

Stephenson scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the 78–56 final win against John F. Kennedy, and helped Lincoln become the first school in city history to win four straight titles.

Stephenson's high school career ended in the New York State semifinal, where Rice High School beat Lincoln 77–50, and Stephenson was held to 12 points by Rice's Durand Scott, who also beat out Stephenson for the Daily News' New York City player of the year honor.

He ended his career with 2,946 points.

In April 2009, Stephenson played in the McDonald's All-American Game, finishing with 12 points, six assists and three steals.

In early 2009, Stephenson chose Kansas, St. John's and Maryland as his finalists, but he canceled two announcements, and his father said that he had narrowed his choice to Maryland and Arizona.

His official visit to Maryland in February came under scrutiny after he was given a tour of the Under Armour headquarters during his visit.

This may have constituted a recruiting violation, as Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank is a Maryland graduate and on the university's board of trustees, and by NCAA rules, "representative of the institution's athletics interests" or a booster.

Stephenson initially told reporters he would announce which college he would be attending following the PSAL title game in March, but delayed the announcement until the McDonald's All-American Game on April 1, saying, "I already know where I'm going. This is not the right place [to make an announcement]."

On March 31, Stephenson, who had been expected to commit to Kansas during the All-American game's media event, instead announced that he would delay the announcement again.

In April 2009, another top recruit Xavier Henry, who had been released from his commitment to Memphis after coach John Calipari left to take the Kentucky job, announced he would play for Kansas.

Because Henry's commitment put Kansas at the 13-scholarship limit under NCAA rules, it ruled out a scholarship offer for Stephenson.

On May 20, the last day of the late signing period, Stephenson had not signed a letter of intent, but his father Lance Sr. told USA Today that he would not make a decision until his sexual assault case from October was resolved.

The day before, a judge had adjourned his case until June 29.

On June 30, Andy Katz of ESPN.com reported that Stephenson signed a financial aid agreement with the University of Cincinnati, and he joined the Bearcats for the 2009–10 season.

Questions remained over Stephenson's eligibility because of his involvement in his documentation, but on November 6, 2009, the NCAA cleared him to play in Cincinnati's season opener against Prairie View A&M University on November 15 without missing any games.

In his only season at Cincinnati, Stephenson started 32 of 34 games and averaged 12.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

He later played college basketball for the Cincinnati Bearcats and was selected in the second round of the 2010 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers.

He is widely known for his wily and unique playstyle, which includes flashy passing, quick drives to the rim, and humorous celebrations.

Stephenson first caught the attention of scouts at age 12, when Clark Francis, a talent evaluator, saw him play at Rumble in the Bronx AAU tournament.

Before his first year of high school, he attended the Adidas ABCD Camp, where he challenged O. J. Mayo to a one-on-one game.

He scored a season-best 23 points and made a season-high 11 field goals in 17 attempts against Georgetown on March 6, 2010.

He was the leading scorer among Big East freshmen and was named Big East Rookie of the Year.

On April 7, 2010, Stephenson announced that he would forgo his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2010 NBA draft.

Stephenson was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 40th pick in the 2010 NBA draft.

He did not make his NBA debut until February 27, 2011, in a 110–108 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

In four minutes, he recorded two points, two assists and one rebound.