Fayetteville native becomes a Patriot
October 14, 2003 - NBA G League (G League)
Fayetteville Patriots News Release
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., October 14, 2003 â Home cooking. Seeing familiar faces. Seeing familiar street names. Spending holidays with family. Seeing Mom and Dad in the audience. Those are some of the reasons that brought Fayetteville native Greg Stevenson home.
Stevenson, a 6-foot-5 guard, has signed with the NBDL and has been named the second player allocated to the Patriots. Patrick Pope, a 6-foot guard who played college basketball at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh is the Patriots other allocated player.
Both players will be invited to camp in November. At least one allocated player and two rookies must make each NBDL team's 10-player roster.
Stevenson played high school basketball at Fayetteville Seventy-First, where he led the Falcons in scoring (19.3) and the Mid South conference in rebounding (9.8) as a senior. He was also first-team All-Mid South and made the state's East-West All-Star boys basketball game his senior season.
"Where I have been playing played a big part in my decision to come to the NBDL,'' said Stevenson, who was playing in France. "Only two Americans are allowed per team. And if the other American has a wife or spends most of his free time with his family, you're basically by yourself.
"All I did all day long was stay on the Internet, watch TV and listen to music. That gets lonely. It will be good to be close to people I know. It's been a long time since I've been home for the Holidays."
Stevenson spent two years at Penn State before transferring to the University of Richmond. He led the Spiders to a 21-6 record and an NIT bid as a senior. He finished the season by leading the Spiders in scoring (19.7), rebounding (7.7), 3-point field goal percentage (50.0) and minutes (35.9).
He chose to go overseas after not being drafted in 2001. He returned to the U.S., this summer to play for the USBL's Westchester Wildfire. "It gave me a chance to see what it was like playing professionally in the states,'' Stevenson said. "It was much better. Playing in Fayetteville will make it 10 times better."
Stevenson is familiar with fellow Cape Fear native and Fayetteville Patriots coach Jeff Capel. Stevenson played on the same AAU team with Capel's son Jason. Stevenson's father, Thomas coached the team.
Stevenson's older brother Jarod, played against Capel's other son Jeff when both were high school basketball stars in the Cape Fear region. Stevenson and Capel continued their relationship after both left the Cape Fear area when Stevenson's Spiders battled Capel's Old Dominion teams in Colonial Athletic Association contest.
"I've been watching him play for some time now,'' Capel said. "He's always been a guard who plays big. He gets in there and bangs on the boards and he's good at posting smaller guards."
If Stevenson makes the team, he would become the third Cape Fear native to suit up for the Patriots. Fayetteville's Jason Capel played for the Patriots in year two, and Raeford's Terrell McIntyre played near home in year one and two.
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