The Newer Next Kid
Saturday night. No big plans. Earlier in the week I caught wind of a show that was going down out in Westchester that sounded interesting. I had just remembered about it that afternoon. The show featured a bunch of side acts leading up to the main one. The show was called, “The Lance Stephenson Show”.
So I decided to go out there, and I can now tell you this. If I had to write a review of this show it would probably go along the lines of something like the following: 5 stars. An exciting, high-flying, theatrical act featuring a one-of-a-kind performance. Awe-inspiring. A must see.
The Lance Stephenson Show will be appearing on your nearby television soon enough, don’t worry. Stephenson is a 6’4″, 210-pound three-guard playing for the Lincoln (Brooklyn, NY) Railsplitters. Like Lebron and Greg Oden, he is a boy trapped in a man’s body. He is currently playing high school and AAU ball under the notorious Dwayne “Tiny” Morton and yes, Stephenson is a freshman.
Saturday night, the No. 1 and No. 2 freshmen in the country were set to face-off. Demetrious Walker of California and the manchild himself from Coney Island, Lance. At some point before tip Walker mysteriously came up with a hamstring problem and could not play.
Gotta love the politics of high school hoops (especially in NYC)!
But Stephenson did not disappoint. The other highly-anticipated match up of Darrell Arthur (South Oak Cliff, TX) and Curtis Kelly (Rice, NY), was, well, it was good but it was nowhere close to what Stephenson had to offer.
It will be the pick of the litter for Stephenson, who has superstar potential, when he chooses a college. His shooting game is exceptional, he is strong, superbly quick, a natural righty but can easily handle with his left, long arms, and for a guard can jump out of the gym. He plays calm and has an incredible sense of the court for such a young kid.
Morton, a Lincoln graduate himself who coached the likes of Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair, has in past years been criticized for a wide variety of things, the latest being Stephenson.
Originally Stephenson made a commitment to Bishop Loughlin, which has ties to Reebok, a shoe company in which Morton, as recently as two years ago, had a little bit of a falling out with. When Lance had a sudden change of heart, Morton, who runs the Juice All-Stars AAU squad and had coached Lance with them, was accused of being a part of Lance’s decision to leave Loughlin for Lincoln.
If Lance picking a high school can create this much controversy, imagine when colleges come calling! So where will Lance go to college?
It is way too early to speculate but its fun to so why not. His father is heavily involved and there have already been some problems with him getting into some trouble at summer tournaments. And you better believe Morton will be in the mix. Coaches do not want to scare him away by bugging him from freshman year until senior prom.
How about Louisville? This would be an interesting school because it was just two years ago when Morton offered up Telfair, only to soon find out Telfair would never even play on the college hardwood. This might be Morton’s way of making amends with Pitino.
In 2009, when it comes to Lance Stephenson making a decision one thing is for certain: he is the real deal. He is a high-wire act in the making waiting to explode onto the scene. Remember this name. Lance Stephenson. You’ll be hearing from him a lot.
