Lipscomb's Stephens has seen it all

Two coaches. Three home courts. Two different levels of competition.

Kyle Stephens has lived athletic history at Lipscomb University over the past four years and the upbeat senior forward admits it wasn't always an easy ride.

When Stephens signed with the Bisons out of Henry County High School in Paris, he had no idea that before he took his last collegiate shot the school would go from an NAIA national power to NCAA Division I fodder, the coach that signed him would leave in the wake of that decision and the gym where he made his first collegiate shot would be torn down and replaced by a sparkling new arena.

From venerable McQuiddy Gym, to Lipscomb High School's Gym to the state-of-the-art Allen Arena, Stephens is a man without a true basketball home.

It was a lot of change to absorb for a young man who had lived in the same town, in the same house, played with the same friends and attended the same church for all of his years.

"I didn't have a clue about the NCAA," Stephens said. "It was huge. About three-quarters of the way through my freshman year I heard about the move and it surprised the whatever out of me."

Stephens, a walking, talking testament to everything that is right about college athletics, gives one main reason why he was attracted to the school _ Coach Don Meyer. Stephens had spent his own money for five summers to be a student in Meyer's legendary basketball camps.

"I loved Coach Meyer and I loved the program and I wanted to be part of it," Stephens said. "Coach Meyer had the reputation of running a first-class program at a first-class university. He realized there was more than basketball. He worried about our grades. He knew basketball, and you can't do anything but respect him for the time he has put into the sport."

He admits that the period before Coach Meyer officially resigned and Scott Sanderson was hired were months filled with high level tension.

"We knew we were stepping up, but I had didn't know a thing about what it was going to be like to play Division I basketball," Stephens said. "I met Coach Sanderson while I was on the way to a chemistry lab during the summer he was hired. I talked with him a little bit and was really impressed with him."

That meeting stopped Stephens from thinking any more about transfering to Harding University in Searcy, Ark.

"Coming out of high school I told everybody that Lipscomb was the perfect fit for me," said Stephens, whose father Randy is the long-time minister at Sulphur Wells Church of Christ.

Stephens is a double major in biology and Bible. He graduates in May and plans to stay in school for a fifth year to earn his Masters in Bible. After that he is headed for medical school.

"I love the professors and I love the school," Stephens said. "I want to stay here and complete the Masters because I know I won't come back and do it after medical school."

Stephens is the lone senior on the Lipscomb team this season. He and Ryan Roller, who redshirted his freshman year, are the last two players in the program signed by Meyer.

He finds Sanderson, the son of former Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson, to be a younger version of Meyer in many ways.

"I'm the last person to have played for Coach Meyer," Stephens said. "I had heard of Coach Sanderson's father, but I had never heard of him.

"Coach Sanderson is a lot younger than Coach Meyer and he has related to us better. With a bunch of new guys he made it a point to tell us that he was going to do everything he could for us, but he also expected us to work hard. Just seeing him deal with his family he is a wonderful father and husband. He knows there is more for us than basketball too."

Stephens has stayed true to his personality as the lone senior. Not known as a vocal leader he has chosen to lead by example.

"There is an old church saying that you would rather see a sermon than hear one," Stephens said. "But this year has been about the most frustrating thing I have ever been a part of. In grade school my teams won. In high school my teams won. The first three years here we won and we won big. We were the team people wanted to knock off and we had so many great rivalries. This year the shoe is on the other foot.

"To be with a young team and to know what it is like to win a lot is frustrating. All of us are making mistakes. We get almost there, but we can't get over the hump. But I got a taste of both worlds and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I couldn't be with a better coach, a better program, better teammates or at a better university."

Sanderson has been impressed with all aspects of what Stephens brings to the program.

"Kyle is as solid a guy as you could find," Sanderson said. "He is very well-rounded academically, athletically and spiritually. He is always smiling and you only hear kind things coming from his mouth.

Kyle is quiet leader who leads by example. He is a consistent player and always knows where he needs to be on the floor."

Sanderson has no doubts Stephens will live the rest of his life in the same fashion.

"I have no doubt he will be successful in whatever he chooses to do," Sanderson said.

Lipscomb men vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Allen Arena