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36 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f be the best player I could be?" But that quickly faded when circumstances were con- sidered: Purdue needed him. It needed someone to spread the floor, to be a perimeter threat in an offense that was continuing to evolve with 7-footer A.J. Hammons as its fo- cal point. So Stephens made a mature decision, seemingly sacri- ficing his best for his good-enough in the moment. "I could play through it, so I didn't think it was that big of a deal," he said. Teammates didn't dismiss the gesture as easily. Junior teammate Rapheal Davis said Stephens was in the training room "all day," before practice and after prac- tice, working to get the injury handled at least enough to continue to compete with his teammates. It mattered to them, to see someone straining, even if Stephens didn't talk about it much. They saw it change him, how battling and beating the grind ultimately made him better, even into this offseason. "He showed us he was a tougher competitor from (what happened) last year," Davis said. "He wasn't just going to let injuries overwhelm him. He was going to fight through more things whereas maybe if he got a nick or a bump this summer that he would have got last summer, he may have sat out a bit, but he just kept playing and kept playing tough." Stephens is clear it was his decision to keep playing last season. He didn't want to sit, and he quickly learned how import- ant it was to practice, not just play in games. Crucial to the development of all young players, Stephens included, is an ability to grasp a scouting report, one's re- spective assignments and a game plan. That requires not skipping practices. And, as he continued to press on, Stephens found he was developing more than if he would have gotten rest. "Taking time off would have been nice, but playing through it was important as far as me learning how to be mentally stronger," he said. The difficulties — and moments of success despite them — only served to build a foundation. His individual high point came against Michigan State in February when he drilled 4-of-5 three-pointers and 7-of- 8 free throws to score a career-high 19 points. It was one of 11 double-digit scoring games and one of three times he made four threes in a game. On the season, he started 16 games, played nearly 21 minutes a game, averaged 8.0 points and shot 37 percent on his 173 three-pointers. "I think he actually played better than he thought he would," Kay Stephens said. "Going in, he wasn't one of those kids who was like, 'I'm going to do great, I'm so good.' He's not like that at all. He actually said one time to us, 'I didn't know how I'd fit in, if I'm ready for this, (the) Big Ten.' So he was proud of himself that he was able to contribute and push through some things." But as soon as Purdue's season was done with a loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament, Kendall Stephens had to take a break. He spent at least two full weeks without even touching a basketball, instead spending even more time with athletic trainer Chad Young, getting nothing but treatment, sitting in cold tubs to try to let his groin recover. Eventually, Ste- phens started basketball activities again, but he continued to meet with Young twice a day for two months to get the groin stronger. It worked. And that meant big things for Stephens' offseason. NEXT STEP For the first time since before his shoulder surgery, Ste- phens was able to fully go in conditioning, in weight-lift- ing, in developing his game. He increased his sprint speed, boosted his bench from 180 to 215 and bumped up his squat, he said. So he doesn't anticipate being so physically overmatched in 2014-15, a year after calling himself "weak" for missing an offseason. The strength will matter considerably. "It's easier to get rebounds, blocking out, I'm not just getting hit one time and I'm out of the play," he said. "I'm still able to absorb contact, give second efforts. It helps fighting over screens, battling for position, keeping a guy in front of you with contact. It helps in a lot of areas." He worked on his skill set, too, improving his ballhan- dling, a key element to be able to play off shot fakes. He worked on his mid-range game. He worked on getting to the rim, an easier proposition now that he's stronger. All of that was so he wouldn't be "one-dimensional," he said, a guy who simply is a spot-up shooter. And yet, none of those physical gains may be the biggest improvements to Stephens' game. His first season in the Big Ten taught him much more than that.