By Zach Smart
Lance Stephenson can rule the world with his eyes closed. Bible truth.
The dynamic 6-foot-5, 200-lb. wing has evolved into somewhat of a New York City icon over the past few years. He’s been featured big time sports TV stations like MSG, been on the cover of basketball magazines all around the country, and has a trio of personal highlight reels that pop up whenever you Youtube his name. Stephenson’s high school highlight clips have generated approximately 88,911 hits since they were posted a year ago.
Stephenson has also carried the torch proudly as the face of New York City basketball since 2006. He’s emerged into a highly sought-after guard whose game has drawn interest from a number of top-flight Division-I schools, including Kansas, USC, North Carolina, and St. John’s. Keeping him in the city is a big key for St. John's in increasing their
NCAA Basketball Odds and moving up in the ranks.
Oh, and Big East schools such as Seton Hall and Pitt have also shown heavy interest in the deft scoring machine.
Oh, and he’s still not old enough to purchase lottery tickets or tobacco products. The 17-year-old’s celebrity-like status has the potential of hurting him in some ways, as it has other New York guards who have been hyped up to the brim before their emergence as stars.
With Stephenson’s recent trouble with the law, however, we don’t know what to think. The news about Stephenson’s alleged groping of a 17-year-girl earlier this month has been all over the web. It was printed on page 58 of today’s New York Daily News sports section—alongside a bunch of professional sports stories—under the headline, “Lance Could Face School Discipline.”
Browsing the title of Mark Lelinwalla’s story, I wasn’t sure what to think. He’s ascended to such celebrity status that they are calling him by his first name. He may be the second most-celebrated athlete named Lance on the planet right now, second only to that Tour De France bicycle guy.
Though it’s a small story, I figured an in-house story of this ilk wouldn’t be blown up into huge, potsy-like proportions. Now it’s headline news that’s polluting the internet worse than underage porn.
According to the Lelinwalla story, Stephenson is anticipating disciplinary action from Lincoln High after “allegedly groping a 17-year-old girl earlier this month. The kid that has created more basketball buzz than the latest pair of Air Jordans, who the growing NYC hoops fan base knows simply as “Born Ready” has denied the charge. The charge is listed as a Class B misdemeanor.
“Disciplinary action from the school is pending, depending on the findings of the investigation,” explained Margie Feinberg, the Lincoln High Department of Education spokeswoman.
“The school is working with police on this case. The (alleged) victim is receiving counseling.”
Reports have proved that the situation has not had any affect on the recruiting process, chiefly due to the fact that nothing has happened yet. The college coaches that are drooling over the kid from perennial power Lincoln will not let this little incident stop them.
Knowing Lance Stephenson only makes this whole situation much harder to believe. He’s a well-mannered, respectful kid who always has a crowd of friends cheering for him and needs surgery to get his face out of the permanent smile position its stuck on.
Only time will tell.
The legend of Lance, who's recent controversy has been blown up during pre-election mayhem, will likely not be stained by this one incident, regardless of what happens.
Stephenson’s lawyer, Alberto Ebanks (any relation to former Bishop Loughlin stud and current West Virginia freshman forward Devin Ebanks?) has pegged the charges as “preposterous,” according to the Daily News.
“Where’s the proof?” Asked Ebanks.
Labels: St. John's Recruiting
