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32 Steve Clevenger

Name
Steve Clevenger
Position
Guard
Class
SR
Hometown (Last School)
Anderson, IN (High)
Ht
6'0"
Wt
185
Seasons
1965-66, 1966-67, 1967-68
Birthday
July 29, 1946

Steve Clevenger was born John Stephen Clevenger on July 29, 1946, in Anderson, Indiana to Eugene and Norma Clevenger.

Clevenger, 6-0 guard from Anderson, Indiana, was All-State in Indiana for three straight seasons.  He poured in 1,298 points for his Anderson team in three seasons, setting a school record,  although he only averaged 23 minutes per game.  He scored 437 as a sophomore, 377 as a junior, and 484 as a senior.  He hit over 50% of his field goal attempts in each of his three years in high school.  As a senior co-captain, he led his team in assists with 154 while averaging 18.6 points per game.  Clevenger also played third base in baseball, was on the track team, and was a swimming enthusiast, especially water skiing.  He worked on his family’s farm raising Hereford and Angus cattle.

Clevenger was another “hot shot” lured out of Hoosierland to the Bluegrass by Adolph Rupp.  Rupp, while recruiting Clevenger, visited the family farm.  Rupp saw an Angus and a Hereford bull.  Rupp said, “Whose are they?”  Clevenger, realizing that Rupp was a Hereford specialist, quickly replied, “Oh, the Hereford is mine.  The Angus belongs to my brother!”

Clevenger then “came to visit UK and liked the people here and the great winning tradition of Coach Rupp. Playing on the winningest team in college basketball helps too,” he added.  On June 4, 1964, Clevenger signed a grant-in-aid to play basketball at Kentucky.  He joined Thad Jaracz, Cliff Berger, Jim LeMaster, and Bob Tallent in that year’s recruiting class.

When Clevenger was in grade school and junior high school, he and his father attended numerous basketball games involving varsity players.  Just about every player Clevenger saw that was
the high scorer for that evening wore the number “32”.  He asked for that number in high school and wore it until he graduated.  He asked for it at Kentucky and received it.

Clevenger’s freshman and sophomore seasons at Kentucky were hampered by minor injuries and serious academic troubles.  Clevenger ran into academic difficulties in his freshman year and wound up ineligible in the second semester—causing him to miss three-fourths of the games.  At the time he was sidelined, Steve was running as an alternate guard starter and was connecting at a healthy clip of 11.8 points a game.  As a sophomore, he performed creditably in 11 games before breaking a small bone in his foot just prior to tournament time.

As a junior, Clevenger was the No. 6 scorer on the team with 81 points in 24 games.  He played a total of 316 minutes.  He started five games.  He was credited with 39 assists—third to departed All-
Americas Pat Riley (68) and Louie Dampier (57).  Clevenger shot a respectable 48.3 percent from the field.

As a senior, Clevenger saw action in 26 games with a total playing time of 495 minutes.  He scored 156 points on the season for a per game average of 6 points.  He assumed a starting guard role towards the end of the season when Phil Argento was injured.

According to his career statistics, Clevenger played in 61 games, averaging 4.3 points per game, 1.2 rebounds per game, and 1.3 assists per game. His field goal percentage was 47.6%, and his free throw percentage was 69.3%.

College Statistics:

Per Game

Season G GS MP FG FGA FG% FT FTA FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
1965-66 11 4.1 0.7 1.5 .500 0.7 1.1 .667 0.5 0.5 0.6 2.2
1966-67 24 13.2 1.2 2.5 .483 1.0 1.5 .639 1.4 1.6 1.5 3.4
1967-68 26 19.0 2.4 5.2 .470 1.2 1.5 .750 1.4 1.3 2.0 6.0
Career 61 14.0 1.6 3.4 .476 1.0 1.4 .693 1.2 1.3 1.6 4.3

 

Totals

Season G GS MP FG FGA FG% FT FTA FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
1965-66 11 45 8 16 .500 8 12 .667 5 6 7 24
1966-67 24 316 29 60 .483 23 36 .639 33 39 36 81
1967-68 26 495 63 134 .470 30 40 .750 37 35 52 156
Career 61 856 100 210 .476 61 88 .693 75 80 95 261

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 27, 1951, UK wins its third NCAA title, defeating Kansas State, 68-58, in the finals in Minneapolis.

 

On March 27, 1978, Jack “Goose” Givens scores 41 points as UK wins its fifth NCAA Championship, 94-88, over Duke in St. Louis.  Givens scored the last 16 points of the first half for Kentucky, bringing his first-half total up to 23 points. Givens poured in another 18 points in the second half.  Givens' helped lead the Wildcats to their first title in over 20 years.  More than 10,000 fans greet the team at Blue Grass Airport and 15,000 more celebrate at Memorial Coliseum

 

On March 27, 1993, Kentucky beat Florida State to advance to the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. The victory completed a string of four games in which the Wildcats blitzed their Southeast Region opponents by an average of 31.0 points - the largest margin of victory by a team through four games en route to the Final Four.

 

On March 27, 2009, Billy Gillispie is fired as the Kentucky head basketball coach.

 

On March 27, 2011, freshman Brandon Knight scored 22 points and fourth-seeded Kentucky advanced to the Final Four for the first time since the 1998 title with a 76-69 win over second-seeded North Carolina in the East Regional final of the NCAA Tournament.  The last minute of the game became the DeAndre Liggins show, as he blocked a shot on defense, hit a game-winning three-pointer on offense, then blocked another shot on defense to seal the victory. He finished with 12 points..

 

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