Former Iowa State basketball star Jeff Grayer hopes a July 21st game in Ames featuring a number of former Cyclones will draw better than 5,000 fans. The contest was former to honor former ISU standout Barry Stevens, who died of a heart attack in February.
Stevens was a key part of Johnny Orr’s turn-a-round of the Cyclone program in the early 1980s and as a fellow native of Flint, Michigan, is one of the three factors that helped lead Grayer to Ames. Coach Johnny Orr was another factor, as was the “Iowa State family,” according to Stevens. He says he came to come camps during his sophomore and junior years of high school and was embraced by the people at Iowa State.
Grayer says Stevens was a mentor for him, as well as a good friend and great guy. He says Stevens helped open a pipeline that saw several Flint natives play for the Cyclones, as he came and adjusted from the inner-city life. Grayer says Stevens was able to provide good solid feedback for him.
Grayer says the best thing he learned from Stevens was that you need to prepare for life after basketball. He says Stevens at a young age realized that eventually you can’t dribble the basketball like you used to and you have to be able to advance your career with the knowledge you have obtained.
Former Cyclones Jeff Hornacek and Jamaal Tinsley are expected to take part as well as some other Flint natives like Mateen Cleeves and Morris Peterson from Michigan State.