Basketball: Harvard-Westlake graduate Stepheson is hot topic of day
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Figured it was time to see if there was any truth to the rumors circulating across the Internet about former Harvard-Westlake standout Alex Stepheson considering a transfer from North Carolina after his sophomore season.
A couple of phone calls later, I had some answers.
Couldn’t get ahold of Stepheson’s mother, Diane, but did end up reaching his high school coach, Greg Hillard, who was still in the Wolverines’ basketball office at six o’clock on a Monday night. This guy is always working.
‘You know what’s interesting, I’ve been getting numerous calls recently and everyone has been asking me the same question about Alex,’’ Hillard said. ‘I’ve spoke to the family a couple of times over the past month or so, and from what I gather, Alex is not having any thoughts about leaving the Tar Heels.’’
My guess is the speculation was fueled because Stepheson’s father became ill. At least that might be one reason. Without having talked with the family, there’s no way to be sure and I would hate to go on the record about something if it could not be confirmed first. Hopefully, Diane will call me back soon.
‘Yes, Alex’s father was sick, but he’s doing much better,’’ Hillard said. ‘Like any young man, Alex was concerned about his dad. It was tough for him to be on the other side of the country. He was scared. Anyone would be. But, like I said, Alex’s dad is doing much better these days.’’
Perhaps the chatter began because Stepheson didn’t play as much as he would have liked with Tyler Hansbrough and former Torrance High star Deon Thompson getting a majority of the minutes in the frontcourt over the last two years. UCLA was a school mentioned as a possible destination.
‘Transferring to the Bruins wouldn’t make sense for Alex,’’ Hillard said. ‘First, he’d have to sit out for a year and that would be a huge setback in his development. Maybe the people out there know something I don’t, but based on my conversations with Alex, he’s happy at North Carolina. I’d be surprised if he left.’’
-- Sean Ceglinsky
-- Image from www.teamline.cc