By John Torenli Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The courtroom drama, the reality TV controversy, the pressure of the world’s largest media market, the ominous NBA shadow of the players who came before him, the eligibility issues: All these are in Lance Stephenson’s rear-view mirror as he prepares for his first collegiate season at the University of Cincinnati.
At least that’s what he hopes, even if he can’t exactly talk about it just yet.
“It’s nice for him to get out of the fishbowl,” Bearcats coach Mick Cronin told SNY.com.
“People aren’t watching his every move. He’s definitely enjoying the fact that he can just wake up, worry about class, the weight room, the gym and going back home. And nobody’s bothering him.”
The most prolific scorer in the history of New York City basketball and the first player ever to lead a team to four straight P.S.A.L. championships, Stephenson is currently fine-tuning his game in the “Queen City” for the upcoming college basketball season.
However, due to an ongoing NCAA investigation into his amateur status, the 6-foot-5 swingman has been forced to remain mum on his adjustment to his new environs and the challenge of helping Cincinnati rise to the top of the Big East.
But silence may serve Stephenson best, following the media maelstrom which surrounded his recruitment, and lack thereof, during and after his brilliant senior campaign.
After completing his four-peat with the Railsplitters, showing off his stuff at the McDonald’s All-America Game in Miami and pleading guilty to a disorderly conduct charge in the groping of a 17-year-old Lincoln student in Brooklyn Criminal Court this summer, Stephenson was then confronted with potential eligibility issues.
The source of the allegations, a reality TV series that began on the internet and wound up on MTV, is preventing Stephenson from speaking directly to the media until the middle of next month.
But it didn’t stop Cronin from taking a chance on the best high school player to come out of New York since Sebastian Telfair, Stephenson’s predecessor at Lincoln, leaped from Coney Island to the NBA.
“We are very excited about Lance’s decision to become a Bearcat,” Cronin said in late June upon securing Stephenson’s services, following an unexpectedly long and well-publicized recruiting process.
“Lance has terrific talent as a basketball player, and is also a fierce competitor on the court. His desire to win will help us compete for a Big East championship.”
It will doubtlessly help the Bearcats do more than that.
Regardless of their chances for success on the court, which figure to increase significantly with the former Railsplitter in their lineup, Cronin’s program just received a Carmelo Anthony-type boost.
Anthony, who spent his lone year at Syracuse delivering the school’s first championship back in 2003, was one and done with the Orange before declaring for the NBA Draft.
But the national TV attention, jersey sales and overall visibility he provided for the program are still filling the upstate school’s coffers.
Stephenson, if deemed eligible to play, could do the same for Cincinnati, which has fallen off the national map since former coach Bob Huggins built the Bearcats into a perennial winner during the 1990s.
“As a big guard, Lance brings playmaking ability and versatility to our team, along with his talent for scoring,” said Cronin.
Stephenson is reportedly keeping a low profile at Cincinnati, attending classes while working on his already formidable game and getting to know his new teammates, including roommate Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains.
By next June, however, he will likely be back in the national spotlight as a potential lottery pick in the NBA Draft – something Cronin isn’t deceiving himself about.
“For him, let’s just be honest; his goals are a little bit higher than the average guy coming into college basketball,” Cronin said.
Stephenson and the Bearcats open their season at home against Prairie View on Nov. 16 and will be in Hawaii five days later to kick off the prestigious Maui Invitational Tournament.
Stay tuned.
In other local sports news, the St. Francis women’s basketball team helped actress and singer Bette Midler open Brooklyn’s redesigned Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Garden to the public on Sept. 17.
The Terriers participated in the project for the past two years, clearing out the park and planting flowers, according to the Franciscan College.
“It’s amazing to see such a beautiful public space transform into something that the whole community can enjoy,” said Terriers head coach Brenda Milano.
“It’s very important for our student-athletes to give back to the Brooklyn community and Bette Midler is a great role model for them.”
Midler founded the nonprofit New York Restoration Project (NYRP) in 1995 in the belief that clean, green neighborhoods are fundamental to the quality of life, and that every community in New York City deserves an oasis of natural beauty.
Seeing many parks and open spaces in dire need of cleanup and restoration, Ms. Midler created NYRP to be the “conservancy of forgotten places,” particularly in New York City’s underserved communities.
The Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Garden, open since 1981, has a long history of community involvement.
For the third consecutive year, the Long Island University softball team found itself on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Academic list.
Based on team grade-point averages, the Blackbirds ranked 55th out of all Division 1 schools with a cumulative GPA of 3.22.
Improving on last season’s 3.16 GPA, LIU climbed six spots in the rankings with its efforts during the 2008-09 academic year.
The Blackbirds were one of three Northeast Conference teams to crack the list, including Robert Morris (No. 1) and Sacred Heart (No. 69).
LIU is coming off a 33-17 season, including a regular season NEC title. The Blackbirds return two former All-Americans in senior hurler Blaire Porter and junior Bianca Mejia in their quest to return to the NCAA Tournament.
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