Timberline product Erik Stevenson will leave Wichita State, enter transfer portal
Former Timberline High School standout Erik Stevenson is back on the college basketball market with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Stevenson confirmed reports Friday that he would enter the transfer portal following his sophomore season at Wichita State. He will most likely redshirt next season at whichever program he lands at.
“If you know, you know,” he wrote in a Twitter post Friday afternoon. “Wichita you will be missed.”
During his two seasons with the Shockers, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Lacey appeared in all 68 games the program played, starting 32, and averaged more than 23 minutes per game.
As a sophomore this season, Stevenson put up 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game — he was among the top four players at Wichita State in each category, and led the team in takeaways — on 37.7 percent shooting, including 30.4 percent from 3-point range.
He improved in every category from his true freshman season, when he averaged 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals per game on 32.5 percent shooting, including 27.8 percent from distance.
A season after helping the Shockers advance to the NIT semifinals, Stevenson was one of the reasons Wichita State was on bubble watch for the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled Thursday amid coronavirus concerns.
Witchita State went 24-8 in games Stevenson started across the two seasons, and 21-15 in games he came off the bench.
He poured in a career-high 29 points against Ole Miss in January, and was a double-digit scorer in 24 of the games he played for the Shockers, but is best known for filling up the stat sheet with rebounds, assists and steals, and playing gritty, hard-nosed basketball at both ends of the floor. He was perhaps the program’s most explosive player as it rocketed to a 15-1 record out of the gate this season.
Stevenson is reportedly one of four Wichita State players entering the transfer portal.
Prior to his two seasons with the Shockers, Stevenson was an all-state selection as a high school senior by The News Tribune, the Associated Press and The Seattle Times, and was named The Olympian’s All-Area player of the year.
He broke Michael Porter Jr.’s state tournament scoring record with 118 points in four games in the Class 3A state tournament in 2018 — Kelso’s Shaw Anderson subsequently broke Stevenson’s record the following season — in pacing Timberline to a fourth-place finish, and took home tournament MVP honors, also setting records for 3-pointers (13) and steals (15).
He still owns Timberline’s school records for points in a game (45), season (717) and career (1,861). His career mark is also a Thurston County record.
Stevenson was considered a three-star recruit out of high school, and held Division I offers from 10 schools, and had interest from more before committing the Shockers ahead of his senior season.
