Rising Star: Who is DeShawn Stephens and What's He Doing At San Diego State?

Coming From Nowhere.

Here's a nice surprise of a sports story, about Chatsworth High School graduate DeShawn Stephens.

from Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Ryan Rubino is a 6-foot-2 junior guard at San Diego Christian College. He had a nice career at , then played a couple seasons at before transferring.

In January, San Diego Christian played San Diego State at Viejas Arena. The starting lineups were introduced, and 6-8 Aztecs junior forward DeShawn Stephens walked on the floor for the opening tip.

And the thought must have crossed Rubino’s mind: What are you doing here?

Stephens also attended San Fernando Valley’s Chatsworth High at the same time. He, too, was a senior during the 2007-08 season. He, too, tried out for the basketball team.

He got cut.

“Every single time San Diego State comes on TV, I watch DeShawn and think, wow, who would have thought?” says , the man who cut him and is still Chatsworth’s head coach. “Honestly, if you would have seen him play in high school — 6-3, skinny, not really coordinated, not really athletic, not really committed — you would never have guessed it.

“I’ll never take credit for him in any way, shape or form. He did all that on his own. He took a very unique path to where he’s at.”

Read the full story here, Coming From Nowhere. (Union-Tribune Sports)