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Wayne Stevens (basketball)

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Wayne Stevens
Personal information
Born(1936-06-19)June 19, 1936
Chillicothe, Ohio
DiedJanuary 23, 2021(2021-01-23) (aged 84)
Ocala, Florida
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolChillicothe (Chillicothe, Ohio)
CollegeCincinnati (1955–1958)
NBA draft1958: 7th round, 49th overall pick
Selected by the Cincinnati Royals
PositionSmall forward
Number20
Career history
1959Cincinnati Royals
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Wayne Leroy Stevens (June 19, 1936 – January 23, 2021) was an American professional basketball player.[1]

Biography

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Stevens was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, and attended Chillicothe High School, where he was a three-time All-Central Ohio League selection in basketball.[2] As a junior in 1952–53, he was named Class A (big-school) second-team all-state by the Associated Press (AP). As a senior in 1953–54, he was again named second-team all-state, along with future basketball hall-of-famer Wayne Embry and baseball hall-of-famer Bill Mazeroski.[3] In track, he was also the state high-jump champion.[4]

Stevens played college basketball for coach George Smith at the University of Cincinnati. As a sophomore starting forward in 1955–56, Stevens scored 10.3 points per game and grabbed a team-leading 13.9 rebounds[5] per game for the 17-7 Bearcats.[6]

As a junior in 1956–57, Stevens averaged 13.0 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, both second on the team behind center Connie Dierking, for the 15-9 Bearcats.[6]

As a senior in 1957–58, third-year starter Stevens and Dierking served as co-captains and Stevens averaged 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The Bearcats, who welcomed sophomore starters Oscar Robertson and Ralph Davis to the team, went 25-3 and won the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where, in the Midwest Regional, they fell to Kansas State in overtime before defeating Arkansas.[citation needed]

Stevens was selected in the seventh round (49th overall) of the 1958 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals.[1] He played in eight games for the Royals during the beginning of the 1959–60 NBA season, and averaging 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.[1]

Stevens died on January 23, 2021, in Ocala, Florida.[7]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

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Source[1]

Regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1959–60 Cincinnati 8 6.1 .158 .700 2.0 .5 1.6

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Wayne Stevens NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  2. ^ "Chillicothe High School - Arrow Yearbook - Class of 1952". e-yearbook.com. p. 44.
  3. ^ "Associated Press All-Ohio Teams".
  4. ^ "• View topic - Top 5 Chillicothe B-ball Players of all time". Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  5. ^ "Cincinnati Basketball: The Top 50 Players in School History". Bleacher Report.
  6. ^ a b "Cincinnati 2010-11 Men's Basketball Media Supplement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2018.
  7. ^ "Wayne Leroy Stevens". legacy.com. Retrieved February 4, 2021.