Kendall Stephens Decides To End It Early--Commits To Big Ten School

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

February 14, 2011

7:15 P.M. CST

In the end, Purdue University and head coach Matt Painter simply had too much in their favor when it came to their recruitment of Kendall Stephens. Therefore, it hardly comes as a shock to anybody that the 6'4 class of 2013 shooting guard from St. Charles East High School in St. Charles, IL decided to close things out by verbally committing to the Boilermakers tonight.

Stephens chose Purdue over offers from Illinois, Wisconsin, Northwestern and DePaul.  His commitment has been confirmed by Mike Mullins, the head coach and CEO of the Illinois Wolves.  It is the Boilermakers' second commitment from 2013, as Stephens will join 6'1 point guard Bryson Scott from Northrop High School in Ft. Wayne, IN as part of that recruiting class.

Ironically enough, Stephens offered up his commitment after taking unofficial visits to two of the other schools in contention for his services--he treked to Madison, WI this past Saturday to witness Wisconsin's big win over Ohio State and was in Champaign to take in the Illinois vs. Purdue game yesterday.  However, Painter came in to St. Charles East to watch Stephens in action this past Friday night and the reality is that it was probably already a done deal then.

Stephens' stock has risen faster than any other player in Illinois from the 2013 class and with good reason, as he has enjoyed a spectacular season at St. Charles East thus far.  He is a tremendous perimeter shooter with a smooth, quick release and range that extends well beyond the 3-point arc.  In addition, he is athletic and covers considerable ground defensively due to his long wing span.  While he still needs to work on ball handling and getting stronger, there is no question that his up side is absolutely huge.  As a result, Stephens ranks among our top six prospects in Illinois from the 2013 class.

As we alluded to earlier, Painter had plenty of intangibles in his favor which enabled him to get this one done early.  None are bigger than the fact that Kendall's father is former Purdue basketball great Everette Stephens.  Needless to say, that gave Painter and his staff a tremendous recruiting advantage from the get-go.

To take things a step further, Kendall had his heart set on Purdue from the beginning.  He feels most comfortable with Painter as well as the campus environment at Purdue and everything that the university has to offer him both with respect to basketball and acedemically.  That is why Painter knew that he could take his time with respect to extending a scholarship offer.  However, once he did, Stephens' commitment was pretty much inevitable.

Stephens' St. Charles East squad will host a class 4A regional once the Illinois state tournament begins.  Once the season concludes, Stephens can be seen on the traveling team circuit playing for the Illinois Wolves 16-under squad this coming spring and summer.

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