Video of Celtics Coach Brad Stevens '99 Dunking Goes Viral
February 29, 2016
"The Boston Celtics got an impressive dunk on Sunday -- from their coach," begins a nationally distributed Associated Press story.
"Brad Stevens was shagging rebounds for his 10-year-old son Brady following a workout at the team facility when he noticed some trampolines set up on the side of the court," writes Kyle Hightower. "In a video posted on the mascot's Instagram account, Stevens can be seen running from one end of the court, hopping on the trampoline set up just in front of the free-throw line, and executing a one-handed dunk. After he landed, he turned and reached to high-five his approaching son, who instead embraced his father with a big hug around his waist."
The trampoline had been put in place by the Celtics' mascot, who uses it to entertain crowds during games and, as it happens, took the video which he then posted on Instagram.
Hightower points out, "Dunking was not a regular thing for Stevens during his playing career, which culminated at Division III DePauw University. 'Did I ever dunk for real? Not with -- no,' the third-year NBA coach said. 'Everybody's that's played says they've dunked, and they have at some point. But it's with a flat ball, and a 9-foot-5 rim. I've done that.' " (at left: the cover of the Fall 2014 alumni magazine)
Like the video of Stevens, a 1999 graduate of DePauw, the story is viral. It's appearing on hundreds of websites, including that of Kentucky's Lexington Herald-Leader. See the video at ESPN.com.
An economics major and Management Fellow, Brad Stevens played four years on the Tiger basketball team earning all-conference and academic all-conference honors. 
"My experience at DePauw was about as beneficial as any experience I've had," he told ESPN.com in November 2013.
After graduation, he took a job as a marketing associate at Eli Lilly and Company and, in his spare time, served as a volunteer basketball coach at Carmel High School. In 2000, Stevens realized his real love was coaching and left his executive-track job for a volunteer position at Butler University. Soon after, he was named the Bulldogs' coordinator of basketball operations, and a year later was tapped as an assistant basketball coach. On April 5, 2007, he was named -- at age 30 -- to lead the Division I men's basketball program.
Stevens guided Butler to a 166-49 record, including a 12-5 record in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship and two consecutive trips to the national championship game (in 2010 and 2011). His 166 wins are the most for any NCAA Division I basketball coach over the first six years to start a career. He was named the head coach of the Boston Celtics in July 2013, becoming the youngest head coach in the NBA.
Last August, Brad Stevens received the University's Young Alumni Award at a luncheon in downtown Indianapolis. At a fundraiser that evening, Stevens related how his college coach, Bill Fenlon, has impacted his life and career. (photo, l-r: Tracy Wilhelmly Stevens '99, Bill Fenlon and Brad Stevens)
On April 13, 2010, Brad Stevens returned to his alma mater to deliver the Robert C. McDermond Lecture.
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