Late bloomer starting to get noticed

Stephen Lumpkins, a 6-foot-8 combo forward from Serra High School in San Mateo (Calif.) averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds a game in his first year on varsity for the Padres. The previous year, he was 6-foot-5 and played JV, but besides growing three inches in the span of a year, he has also improved his game.

Lumpkins was later named first team all-Western Catholic Athletic League. After a successful club season, in which he played part-time due to also playing high school and club baseball, he is starting to draw recruiting interest in basketball.

Some of the schools recruiting Lumpkins include Lafayette, Colgate, American, Princeton, Cornell, Yale, Columbia, Denver, Northeastern, Santa Clara, Portland, Santa Barbara, Wagner, UC Davis, Montana, Montana State and Eastern Kentucky.

Bob Bramlett, Lumpkins' club coach with West Valley Basketball Club, said the forward's play was solid throughout the summer.

"He was relentless on the court," said Bramlett. "He is kind of unorthodox as a player. But so was Phil Jackson and he had a solid 10 year pro career with the Knicks. Lumpkins is very strong going to the basket and he can shoot it out to 19 feet consistently. His delivery may be slow, but his shot did not get blocked."

One of Lumpkins' strongest attributes according to Bramlett is his length. "He is a very long 6-foot-8," continued Bramlett. "He has a very long reach. He goes after balls, and he does not quit on the court."

Lumpkins first got noticed at the Mid American Camp in Kansas. The long lefty knocked down jumpers and scored inside. He followed this up with a strong showing at the Reebok Summer Championship, as he helped WVBC to a 4-2 record overall.

"In my first game against the Arizona Rage, I had 25 points and like 15 rebounds in the 70-67 win in overtime," said Lumpkins. "I followed that up with a bunch of other solid games."

Lumpkins is an active lefty with a solid mid-range game. He is a good rebounder who is very active around the basket. Although he is slim and still growing, he is very good at using his arms to rebound the ball. A fundamentally sound player, he has a good skill set and a solid basketball IQ as he has a knack for making the right play. Part of his solid feel for the game comes from his basketball pedigree.

Larry Lumpkins, Stephen's father and an assistant basketball coach at Foothill Junior College, was a small forward at Northwestern University in the late 1970s. Based on his experience in the Big Ten, the elder Lumpkins said he is very open to his son going away to school.

"I want him to go to school to get a good education and a degree that means something when you are done," said Larry. "I also want a place where he can be happy spending the next 4 to 5 years of his life."

Stephen has also excelled on the baseball diamond. A left-handed pitcher, he is being recruited by Santa Clara, Fresno State, Cal and Gonzaga. But, he has indicated he will focus on basketball at the next level.

One thing that stands out about Lumpkins is his work ethic. During the summer, he would get up early in the morning and workout at PAYE's Place in San Carlos with Donovan Blythe, one of the top basketball trainers in Northern California. Blythe's training regimen started with ball handling, shooting off the dribble and perimeter footwork. He would later work on post moves and conditioning.

"The workouts were very good, they were competitive and I got to play with and against a lot of college guys and guys playing pro ball right now overseas," said Lumpkins, who regularl worked out with former Stanford guard Matt Lottich, former USF guards Jerome Gumbs, Ali Thomas and Johnny Dukes, former Seton Hall wing, Mani Messy and various other high school players from throughout the bay area.

"Stephen has a very good work ethic," said Blythe. "This along with his high basketball IQ and his length is what makes him standout as a player."

Larry said his son will narrow his list down to four or five schools. He wants to have an idea of where he is leaning before the basketball season starts.

"We will figure out which schools are really serious about Steven and then he will visit them," said Lumpkins. "As a parent, I do not have a preference. I just want him to be happy wherever he ends up going."

As for now, Lumpkins will continue his workouts in the morning and get ready for the upcoming high school season which is only three months away.

"We will be very good this year at Serra," said Stephen. "I was not around for much of the summer, but the team was winning a lot of the summer league games. We are going to have a really good team and we are going to surprise people."