Time makes the memory hazy, but over two decades later I can still see Barry Stevens knocking down those corner jumpers.
What a fine, fine basketball player he was for Iowa State. And based on what I've heard and read, he was a straight-up good guy, a genuine family man, the kind of person you'd love to be your neighbor and friend.
That he would die at age 43 of an apparent heart attack when he was a non-smoker, non-drinker, non-drug user ... that he would die while working out at a health center ... it makes no sense. But we're all hooked up differently.
Stevens didn't single-handedly pull Iowa State out of a long span of basketball mediocrity, but his hand was a big one. Of everything Johnny Orr did to make Cyclone basketball competitive and exciting, recruiting Stevens out of Flint, Mich., may have been the most important. After Stevens signed on, more good players followed.
Stevens could and did score points by the bushel. He did so with grace and without self-promotion. Such claims are very subjective, but I think he was one of the 10 best college basketball players in our state's history.
When Cedar Rapids got a team in the Continental Basketball Association toward the end of the 1980s, Stevens was a perfect fit for an enterprise billing itself as family entertainment. He was a good ambassador for the team in public, and made scoring 20 points a game seem easy.
"I felt that Barry, although a native Michigander, was an Iowan down deep,'' said Kevin Krause, who owned the Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets. "He really enjoyed his time at Iowa State and in Cedar Rapids playing basketball. I think our fans liked his accessibility. He was willing and eager to talk with fans and sign autographs. Our world is a little less cheery without Barry Stevens.''
For a good story with more details on Stevens' life after Iowa State and Cedar Rapids, check out the Gary Post-Tribune's piece at http://www.post-trib.com/sports/268338,stevens.article