Road that Brought Brad Stevens '99 to Division I Head Coaching Job Explored in Two Stories
April 22, 2007
April 22, 2007, Greencastle, Ind. - "New Butler basketball coach Brad Stevens was a star in high school and a role player in college," begins one of two Indianapolis Star stories today on the 1999 DePauw University graduate. "Through it all, he wasn't just playing the game. He was thinking the game."
The articles, written by David Woods, detail how Stevens' relationship with the game of basketball began at a young age, and how he starred on his high school team. However, "Stevens was never a full-time starter at DePauw University. He averaged fewer minutes (15.2) and points (5.4) as a senior than he did as a freshman. In Stevens' senior year, he mentored freshmen Mike Howland and Joe Nixon, according to coach Bill Fenlon. Three years later, Howland and Nixon led DePauw to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight. Stevens left DePauw with a leadership award, the only basketball honor the school gives."
"He was always more concerned with how the group was doing than how he was doing," coach Fenlon tells the newspaper.
Although Stevens became a Division I head basketball coach recently at age 30, "this was not his original career path. He became a marketing associate at Eli Lilly and Co. after graduating with a degree in economics from DePauw University," writes Woods. The text describes how Stevens left his job at Lilly to become a volunteer for Butler's athletic program. He and his wife Tracy Wilhelmy Stevens '99 -- who is now an attorney -- began dating when they were both DePauw sophomores. She tells the Star, "He couldn't be in a profession he wasn't passionate about. It just wouldn't work."
The stories both quote Matt Broughton, a 1997 DePauw graduate and Tiger teammate of Brad Stevens. "Going through ups and downs throughout his career is really going to be helpful for him so he can empathize with everybody on the team," says 
Broughton.
Read the article headlined, "His life's passion," here. "Stevens has been both star, role player," can be found here. Another recent article on the coach can be found here, and the announcement of his hiring to head Butler's men's basketball program is detailed here.
The Star also published Brad Stevens' career statistics at DePauw, which you'll see below.
- Games played-started: 101-22
- Scoring average: 7.8
- Field goal percentage: .426
- 3-point percentage: .315
- Free throw percentage: .693