Alex Stepheson is headed to USC basketball team

I don't know whether to be happy, sad, discontent or just shrug. He will seek a waiver to play immediately.

3 months ago freesia39 Comment 17 comments 0 recs |

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Not a big deal

Alex Stepheson took a visit to UCLA and it didn’t take too long to figure out this was not a good fit for all parties involved. When I say “fit” I am not talking about character issues, but more about roster issue.

Stepheson is looking to play immediately. Howland already has a frontcourt that includes Keefe, Morgan, Gordon and Aboya. Stepheson would have to compete for playing time. Not the case at SuC with Lil Romeo.

The logjam is not getting any better at UCLA next year. Howland already has locked up two good forwards: Nelson and Lane. His staff right now is working to fill out the class with wing forwards and guards. I would bet when Alex came to UCLA, Howland gave him a little straight talk about available mins and what it would take to break into his regular rotation. It quickly sent him to ASU and SuC.

And Nestor and others have noted already that both his mom and his sister went to SuC. People who have been keeping an eye on this for a while were not surprised at this news.

UCLA had moved on a while ago.

Alex just went to a place without a lot of talent and lots of available minutes.

by bluestreet on Aug 19, 2008 2:25 PM PDT 0 recs

Just Shrug.

He’s a malcontent going to play for a “coach” who wondered aloud and dramatically why Angelo Johnson couldn’t be more like our Darren Collison, all while he probably engineered Angelo’s departure in the first place to open up a scholie slot for Alex Stephenson.

Just shrug and sigh. Garbage in, garbage out.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Aug 19, 2008 3:11 PM PDT 0 recs

I'm not so sure about the malcontent part

I haven’t read any reports to suggest this. I know its easy to label anybody that goes to South Central a thug and malcontent but that can become something of a slippery slope.

I do agree with Blue street that if he couldn’t crack the starting line up at UNC, he sure wasn’t going to crack it at UCLA. He went somewhere he knew he could play right away, and be close to his pops. Nothing wrong with that.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Aug 19, 2008 4:32 PM PDT up 0 recs

Alex is a good kid

I believe the main reason is moving back to West Coast is because he could be close to his Dad, who IIRC has health issues. As bluestreet mentioned above this was a case of roster issues. Alex wouldn’t have readily available mins at UCLA. He would have to fight for it. Pretty sure Howland laid it out for him exactly what the roster situation was and what he would have to do to get significant chunk of time. Southern Cal has lots of mins because they are desperate for any recruit. So they got one.

This was a done a deal a while ago when it was clear he wouldn’t fit in the current UCLA program.

by Nestor on Aug 19, 2008 6:33 PM PDT up 0 recs

Thanks, Guys...

…I have just (duh) realized that my comment directly implied that this kid is “garbage.” This is unacceptable, and not what I intended. For this, I humbly apologize to Alex Stepheson. I do believe that USC’s basketball program and coach are garbage.

I do believe that Alex was a malcontent at UNC, in the purest meaning—he was extremely discontented. Now I understand that his unhappiness could have been mostly related to his father’s ill health and being so far away, but I watch quite a few of their regular season games, and I think he got resentful about a lack of playing time.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Aug 24, 2008 11:28 AM PDT up 0 recs

(Another Duh,

I spelled his last name incorrectly in my initial post, also. My apologies for that, as well.)

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Aug 24, 2008 12:36 PM PDT up 0 recs

That makes sense

From what I have heard from some friends who follow UNC hoops he wasn’t crazy about not getting a lot of PT. Add to his father’s illness in the equation, he wanted move back West.

As for your impression re. Southern Cal’s"hoops program" we are in agreement.

by Nestor on Aug 24, 2008 12:52 PM PDT up 0 recs

With the health of his dad

you knew it was down to us or USC. As bluestreet and N mentioned, the roster issues made the Bruins a tough fit and once Angelo transferred last week to open up a scholarship spot, it just about sealed the deal. From all accounts he’s a very good kid and I’ve heard people describe him as a Howland type of player due to his character. It just wasn’t a good fit at this time. Hopefully he’ll be happier now that he’s back home and his father can regain his health.

by ryebreadraz on Aug 19, 2008 8:55 PM PDT 0 recs

will he be playing next year?

Or does he have to sit out because of the transfer? Just wondering.

I bet he would’ve learned more from CBH playing 5 minutes a game than he would starting for Timmeh and playing the entire 40 minutes. Anyway, if he was looking for minutes he made the right choice. We all know how Timmeh doesn’t substitute, even when his players are totally out of gas.

by UCLAbruin920 on Aug 20, 2008 5:29 PM PDT 0 recs

He's applied for a waiver

that would allow him to play this season, but no decision on it has been made by the NCAA yet.

by ryebreadraz on Aug 21, 2008 11:10 AM PDT up 0 recs

Alex S.

This kid would really help any program, has been schooled at a very good program in NC and the ACC. Might not have played right away at UCLA but would have been a very good insurance guy considering all the forward injuries the last couple of years.

Your only as good as your second serve and first volley

by Bruin in the mesa on Aug 21, 2008 3:11 PM PDT 0 recs

Your tag line

I like it…but it should say “You’re only as good…”

Come on man. If it comes up every time you post…spell it right!

by tasser10 on Aug 22, 2008 11:26 AM PDT up 0 recs

That's the way I like it

Thanks dude but that is the way I want it to appear, I am not worried how I am judged in life anymore. That’s why I am leaving the company I work for and opening up my own business, so have a great day and weekend.

Your only as good as your second serve and first volley

by Bruin in the mesa on Aug 22, 2008 12:14 PM PDT up 0 recs

I'm not judging you

I’m just telling you you spelled it wrong, and now you want to keep it that way out of spite. Not sure how that relates to your job epiphany. In any case, good luck with your business!

by tasser10 on Aug 25, 2008 10:21 AM PDT up 0 recs

Hey, that kid went to my school. Harvard Westlake doesnt pump out a bunch of punks— there are demanding academic criteria, so you are going to have to be a dedicated athlete with determination to graduate from there. Remember the Collison twins who went to Stanford, and who both played multiple years in the NBA? They would have gone to UCLA had Harick not just been fired. Likewise, UNC is as academically demanding as UCLA. So for a kid to make it in those programs, he has to have a lot of willpower and not be a quiter.

IIRC UCLA lost its starting PF, LRMM, to the draft. So a slot was open. Michael Roll is recovering from his foot injury and might be out of synch or he might step up to the call, but he is more of a SF (I would love to know how he is recovering). Aboya was physical player coming off the bench most of the season, and usually got into foul trouble pretty quickly. JK had a good game in the tourney when LRMM was injured (or was it early foul trouble, I cannot remember). But he was not a meaningful part of the rotation. Then we would have to consider the freshman Gordon Lee, who has some nice highschool highlights and is highly rated. Those were the guys that Alex would have had to compete with. My point is PF slot is pretty much open to whomever can best fill the rebounding and defensive role that LRMM left wide open. In a big sized lineup, where Ship played shooting guard, there would have been a SF position open as well.

Alex is obviously a hard body if you see his photos. So he could fill the role physically. His minutes at UNC were limited, but he did play off the bench. I do not remember seeing him play, but I believe he would have had an honest shot at the starting slot. In a bigger lineup, he would definitely have fit in. Our biggest weakness is pretty obviously going to be rebounding this year. He could have helped out.

by Deepcut on Aug 22, 2008 5:10 AM PDT 0 recs

Gordon Lee?

Who is Gordon Lee? Do you even know much about our incoming freshmen?

It is LOL funny for you to minimize the impact of AA2 and what he has meant to our team.

Alex S is a good kid and we have noted that above. But he would have to compete for the starting job at UCLA and he would be behind AA2, JK, and JMM (who arguably is a better talent than him) to break in. He could have “helped out,” but it is comedic to argue he would be a starter at UCLA.

You don’t sound like you know much about UCLA basketball. Evey comment you have made in recent days has been along the line of concern trolling.

by Nestor on Aug 22, 2008 6:02 AM PDT up 0 recs

Do you even watch UCLA basketball games?

I am asking that question because of comment like this:

JK had a good game in the tourney when LRMM was injured (or was it early foul trouble, I cannot remember).

Did you forget what happened against SuC when LRMAM went down? You already admitted you didn’t see any of Alex’s game at UNC and yet you come here and argue he would be a better bet than Keefe in Howland’s scheme.

You come across as totally uninformed (as you admitted in your post) and ignorant.

You should try insulting our players in another website, not here.

by bluestreet on Aug 22, 2008 8:21 AM PDT up 0 recs