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Jarin Stevenson made the worst of his final three choices.
You have to wonder how the 4½ – star forward picked Alabama over his next-town school and Virginia, both of whom would have given the 6-10, 200-pounder a brighter future in the long run.
Alabama has little basketball brand and a head coach who has already demonstrated his lack of judgment with his players. Nate Oats was roundly criticized for allowing his star forward Brandon Miller to keep playing through an investigation that he was complicit in a teammate’s murder charge.
Stevenson’s parents are both teachers and coaches at 2A Seaforth High School in Pittsboro. His mother is a Carolina grad, having played basketball for Sylvia Hatchell in the early 2000s. The family knew of the Tar Heel heritage in men’s basketball.
Alabama may well have used money to lure Stevenson with an unscrupulous NIL promise that is tantamount to an illegal inducement. Still, playing for UNC or Virginia was a much safer choice for his career. Alabama will have a crowded front court if heralded North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson signs as expected. That will automatically relegate Stevenson to a back-up role and the unpredictable coaching of Oats hundreds of miles from home.
If Stevenson wanted to skip his senior year of high school and reclassify, he could have done that at Carolina or UVa, two programs that make long-term commitments to their players. If Hubert Davis or Tony Bennett thought Stevenson needed a red-shirt year practicing against college teammates, they would have discussed it with the family and made a decision together.
Oats doesn’t have close to that reputation. And playing in the SEC is far different from the more erudite ACC, whose schools do a much better job forming lifelong relationships with all of their athletes.
There is now no guarantee of that for Stevenson, whose development as a junior for an 18-9 team improved his rating from a solid 4-star prospect and spurred his decision to reclassify. Players who make that choice, like Elliot Cadeau, have a far better prognosis for playing time as true freshman.
UNC was a mind-boggling better choice for the Pittsboro product. The Smith Center is 30 minutes away from his home, and an NIL program like Armando Bacot put together would have given Stevenson the option of staying for another year if that was needed.
Instead, he is enrolling a year early at a school nine hours away and millions of miles from security and familiarity.
Featured image via Inside Carolina/Jim Hawkins
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