stevens planned to live in a friend's basement and took a job at applebee’s to pay the bills. before he started training at applebee's, he was offered a low-paying administrative position as coordinator of basketball operations under then-coach thad matta. the position had opened up when assistant coach jamal meeks resigned after being arrested on solicitation and drug charges, of which he was later acquitted. years later, matta recalled, "[stevens] was just a hungry young kid that was desperate to get into coaching. he had a great passion and was willing to take a risk to get into the coaching profession."