Memphis Basketball Recruiting – Should Josh Pastner Pursue Lance Stephenson?

Lance Stephenson

Memphis Basketball Coach Josh Pastner still has a few scholarship spots available for next season for the “Right [level] player.” Lance Stephenson is one of the highest ranked 2009 prospects that remains unsigned for the 2009 NCAA recruiting class. At 6’6″ and 195lbs, Stephenson already has NBA size and would be one of the last pieces that Pastner needs to compliment his already stellar 2009 Memphis Tigers Basketball Recruiting class that has been put together in the past 8 weeks. What’s the problem with Stephenson? Well, he and a teammate are going back to court on June 29th on sexual assualt charges for groping a female student. Arizona and Memphis have been mentioned as two of the front-runners in Stephenson’s recruitment. Kansas had previously been thought to have the lead until Xavier Henry reneged on his committment to Memphis after Coach John Calipari left for Kentucky this past spring.Memphis Basketball Recruiting – Lance Stephenson’s Pedigree

If you don’t know who Lance Stephenson is, then the best place to check out first is the online documentary made of his junior season at Lincoln High School in Coney Island, New York. He’s best known in New York for leading his team for four City Basketball championships while living in a poorer area of the city. Stephenson has been one of the most productive scorers in his high school class for several years. He’s considered to have solid ball handling skills and scores close to the rim similar to Tyreke Evans and Derek Rose at the same point in their careers. On the downside, Lance is not considered to have outstanding quickness and relies on his size to overpower the smaller guards he has competed against in high school. He’s also considered to be a bit greedy with the ball at times compared to other high-profile players in his class.

Should Coach Pastner Pursue Lance Stephenson?

That’s the main question. With the turmoil that the Tigers basketball program has gone through over the past two months, should recruiting a star prospect who is pending sexual assualt charges be added to the mix? Many major college coaches don’t consider Stephenson to be worth the trouble despite his talent. Even if he beats the charges later in June or pleads to a lesser charge, would Stephenson be worth the risk to bring to Memphis? Someone will definitely sign the kid (or whatever we call the variant of obligating to a school since the May signing period is over). Stepheson would bring one of the last pieces of the puzzle to the Memphis Tigers for the 2009-10 season in a high profile, scoring guard. Do you give the young man a second chance and get him out of New York? I think if Coach P does pursue him, that he can’t give the young man any leeway. First sign of trouble if he does come to town and he needs to be sent home…that is, if he’s worth the trouble to bring in the first place.