After a breakout season, Danny Stephens has made his college commitment. The year started with him being named first team all-state for Illinois 1A with Southeastern High School. Then he was named second team on the NY2LA Association 17U with MidPro Academy and was a key piece of helping them win the association championship. The 6’7” small forward announced his commitment to Missouri. 

“Being able to have a good opportunity to go play against the top players in college basketball every day,” Stephens said about selecting the SEC school. Adding in, “A great coaching staff that I believe can help me improve my game and take me to the next level. And I want to study AG (agriculture) and they have a great AG school. 

Stephens commitment comes after a visit to Missouri. “My visit there was great. I got to meet the coaching staff and they were great people. I like their honesty and transparency the most. The campus is nice and it’s in a town that not huge but it’s a good college town and I like that.”

While he had multiple division one offers, including from Eastern Illinois, South Dakota, Southeast Missouri State, and Western Illinois, Stephens chose to be a preferred walk-on at Missouri. “It’s an opportunity to play at the highest level in college basketball. It’s always been a dream of mine to do that. Also, to bet on myself and see what I can do there,” he said about the decision.  

Now with his commitment taken care off, Stephens is looking forward to a stress-free senior season “I just felt that Mizzou was the place for me.”

Stephens marks the fifth division one commitment from his 2023 MidPro Academy team. He joins Brock Harding and Owen Freeman who are headed to Iowa, Ty Pence to Illinois State, and Ethan Kizer to South Alabama.