Published: January 04, 2009 04:26 pm      

Stevenson’s rededication to basketball pays off

senior balances hoops with

This past spring and summer, Duncan senior basketball player Dymond Stevenson rededicated herself to the sport of basketball. It was the type of commitment that she had not made to basketball since she was an eighth grader.

Of course, Stevenson’s life had changed a lot since she was in eighth grade. For most girls her age, time away from the basketball court is spent being young. For Stevenson, time away from the court has belonged to her 3-year-old daughter, Maliyah.

By every measure, Stevenson was a standout basketball player when she was in eighth grade and appeared poised for big things at the high school level. But after basketball, she became one of thousands of girls across the nation in the fact she became pregnant. At the age of 14. What followed would define who she is today, and it is remarkable.

“I’m so proud of myself and my family is proud of me too,” Stevenson said. “I’m still in basketball and I’m happy for that. It wouldn’t be possible without my family, without my team and without my coaches.

“A lot of girls my age would have dropped out of school if they would have got pregnant. I don’t know what I would feel and be like without her. It changed my life and I’m more mature. I had to grow up fast.”

Dropping out of school was the last thing on Stevenson’s mind when she began to deal with the reality that she would be a teenage mother in her first year of high school.

Stevenson was in the homebound program her freshman year until the week leading up to the birth of her daughter, which happened Nov. 19, 2005.

“I was shocked,” Stevenson said of her initial reaction. “I don’t regret what I did, because I would not have a little girl. She has been a joy.”

After giving birth to her daughter, Stevenson stayed at home through the rest of the semester and returned following the Christmas break. It was then that she rejoined the basketball team and her friends at school.

“It kind of felt awkward when I went back to school but I still had friends, they didn’t change,” Stevenson said. “I worked out at the end of my freshman year to try and get back into shape. That summer, I went to basketball camps, but I really didn’t commit.”

One area that Stevenson did commit to was her academics. She hit the books and made A’s and B’s while raising her daughter and playing sports. During her sophomore year, Stevenson began to play volleyball but gave it up the next year, choosing to work on basketball in the preseason as she made a push for more playing time.

“Volleyball wasn’t really for me,” Stevenson said. “In the offseason, I was able to get faster and stronger. If I wouldn’t have been in the offseason, I wouldn’t be where I am now.

“I’m really proud of myself. I really committed to the team from last year to this year and I am getting more playing time. I kept pushing myself to get back to where I was and it paid off.”

And where is Stevenson? A valuable player coming off the bench for an improved team that is 4-4 on the season. And she comes complete with her own personal cheering section of one.

“I hear her on-and-off calling my name,” Stevenson said. “Sometimes she catches me off-guard and it is hard to concentrate. I can tell by the way that she loves to cheer and dance.”

There was plenty of cheering and dancing this Christmas as Maliyah, who celebrated her third Christmas in a big way.

“Christmas was funny,” Stevenson said. “She woke up and said happy birthday when we went in the living room to open presents.

“She’s just spoiled, she got everything. She got an Ipod shuffle and I don’t even have an Ipod. It just made me happy to see her happy. This was the first year she was really able to get involved.”

After a trip to Biloxi, Miss., Stevenson was ready to get back in the gym and get back to work.

“I’m just glad to be back,” Stevenson said. “I didn’t want to be too bad out of shape. I was missing it and missing being with the team.”

While basketball has been a big part of her life, Stevenson is also looking forward to life after college where she plans on applying her 3.75 g.p.a. toward an education at the University of Central Oklahoma.

“It would be a good thing for me to go there,” Stevenson said. “My aunt and uncle live there and own a daycare.”

Until then, there is a basketball season to consider. And a blessing in the form of a 3-year-old bundle of joy. It wasn’t the life she expected, but it is the one that she can be proud of.