Wayne Stevens

Who is Wayne Stevens?

Wayne Stevens is an American former professional basketball player.

Stevens grew up in Chillicothe, Ohio and attended Chillicothe High School, where he was a three-time All-Central Ohio League selection in basketball. As a junior in 1952-53, he was named Class A second-team all-state by the Associated Press. As a senior in 1953-54, he was again named second-team all-state, along with future basketball hall-of-famer Wayne Embry and baseball hall-of-famer Bill Mazeroski. In track, he was also the state high-jump champion.

Stevens played college basketball for coach George Smith at the University of Cincinnati. As a sophomore starting forward in 1955-56, Stevens scored 10.3 points per game and grabbed a team-leading 13.9 rebounds per game for the 17-7 Bearcats.

As a junior in 1956-57, Stevens averaged 13.0 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, both second on the team behind center Connie Dierking, for the 15-9 Bearcats.

As a senior in 1957-58, third-year starter Stevens and Dierking served as co-captains and Stevens averaged 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The Bearcats, who welcomed sophomore starters Oscar Robertson and Ralph Davis to the team, went 25-3 and won the Missouri Valley Conference and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where, in the Midwest Regional, they fell to Kansas State in overtime before defeating Arkansas.