Wayne Stevens (basketball)

Wayne Stevens (born June 19, 1936) is an American former professional basketball player.^[1]

Stevens grew up in Chillicothe, Ohio and attended Chillicothe High School, where he was a three-time All-Central Ohio League selection in basketball.^[2] As a junior in 1952–53, he was named Class A (big-school) second-team all-state by the Associated Press (AP). 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.^[3] In track, he was also the state high-jump champion.^[4]

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^[5] per game for the 17-7 Bearcats.^[6]

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.^[7]

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 (MVC) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where, in the Midwest Regional, they fell to Kansas State in overtime before defeating Arkansas.^[8]

Stevens was selected in the seventh round (49th overall) of the 1958 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals.^[9] He played in eight games for the Royals during the beginning of the 1959–60 NBA season, and averaging 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.^[10]

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