despite his strong passion for the game, stevens realized that his basketball skills were modest and not likely to get him very far. he chose to attend academically oriented depauw university, where he played in all 101 depauw games, earning four varsity letters. he earned multiple all-conference and academic all-conference awards, and was a three-time academic all-america nominee. he was a team captain his senior year, and averaged more than 8 points per game three of his four years. his career highs were 24 points and 8 rebounds in a game. after his senior year, stevens received the coaches’ award. coach bill fenlon later described stevens as "one of the most selfless, team-oriented person i've ever been around."