Stevens to test NBA waters while retaining NCAA eligibility

Following Penn State head coach Patrick Chambers’ year-end press conference at the Bryce Jordan Center Tuesday afternoon, junior forward Lamar Stevens followed with his own, unannounced media exchange.

There, he announced his decision to declare for the NBA Draft while retaining his collegiate eligibility, a perk provided athletes thanks to recent changes in NCAA rules.

“After discussing it with my family, my coaches, and my teammates, I decided that I'm going to declare for the draft but I'm going to retain my eligibility by staying in school, doing all the right things,” said Stevens. “Through the new rules, I'm able to hire an agent, and I have hired an agent, with full intent to stay. But like I said, I'm going to retain my eligibility, keep going to class.

“It's been a great process so far. Me and Coach have been talking about this for a while in the offseason, and he's had his full support of me and so have all the coaches. Me and Coach actually worked out last week together. He's been working me out and so have all of the other assistants. So I'm just excited for this opportunity and just to see what happens.”

The decision comes on the heels of Stevens’ outstanding junior season with the Nittany Lions, one in which he posted 19.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, starting all 32 while averaging 36.9 minutes per outing. For the effort, Stevens finished tied for second in the conference in scoring behind Purdue’s Carsen Edwards and was named First-Team All-Big Ten.

A point of pride for Chambers, Stevens’ accomplishments do not preclude him from improvements necessary in his game moving forward, be it as a senior at Penn State or at the next level.

“For Lamar to go first-team All-Big Ten, that's fantastic. If he comes back, you're looking at a preseason Player of the Year candidate, which is fantastic,” said Chambers. “What he needs to work on for the next level is his shooting. And he knows that, because he can cover one through five, I think he proved that. He can handle the basketball. So he knows his strengths, he knows his weaknesses.”

That shooting mark, one that saw Stevens connect on 42.2 percent of his shots from the floor but only 22.0 percent from 3-point range (20 of 91 for the season), is something he acknowledged as a point of emphasis in recent weeks.

“It's definitely something I'm going to have to improve at,” said Stevens. “And I've been working on that ever since the season ended, just getting up shots every day. I'm feeling a lot more confident and I'm excited to be able to show my progress in front of NBA people.”

While Stevens would not commit to a timeline for a decision or baselines for choosing to stay or go regarding the feedback he receives in the coming months, he did discuss at length the unfinished business remaining in his Penn State career.

Committing with former Philadelphia Roman Catholic teammate Tone Carr with the intention of making a huge impact on the Penn State men’s basketball program, Stevens acknowledged his desire to still leave a legacy.

“That was the original reason why I wanted to come here was to start a legacy and just leaving my mark on this team,” said Stevens. “Of course it's important to me because Penn State has just been so great to me and everybody has been so welcoming and supportive. That does mean a lot to me. But I also have to feel like I have to do some time to just figure out what's best for myself as well. So it's a mixture of both.”

Now within striking distance of the career scoring mark currently held by Talor Battle, currently at 1,660 points to Battle’s career record of 2,213 points, Stevens indicated he is going through the process with an open mind toward both options.

“I think really, honestly, for me, it's a win-win. One way I go to play professionally, two, I come back to a great school and really get to end my legacy how I really envisioned,” he said. “And I really believe if I do come back, we'll take this team to places it's never been, and I think that's exciting either way. I don't feel any pressure, either way, to stay or leave because both options are great for me.”