Steve Stipanovich

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Stephen Samuel Stipanovich (born November 17, 1960 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American former professional basketball player of Croatian origin.

A talented 7-foot center from the University of Missouri, Stipanovich was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the second pick of the 1983 NBA Draft. While playing for the Pacers, Stipanovich was a remarkably consistent performer; he could provide a dozen points and eight rebounds on just about any given night. Knee problems limited his career to five seasons, and he retired in 1988 with career totals of 5,323 points and 3,131 rebounds. But, it was the period between November 1979 and March 1983 that he and Jon Sundvold helped their coach Norm Stewart, who himself was an athlete in college, put Missouri, Stewart's alma mater, on the college basketball map.

Prior to arriving at Mizzou, Stipo (pronounced stee-po) was the star center at DeSmet, a Catholic high school in St. Louis. During his three seasons on the DeSmet varsity squad (Stipanovich had begun high school at Chaminade College Prep, and transferred to DeSmet after his freshman year), he won two Missouri State Championships.

Stipanovich struggled early in his college career, both personally and on the court. He missed a portion of his sophomore season after accidentally shooting himself while playing with a gun at an off campus party, and he was involved in a fight at a St. Louis area White Castle restaurant after another customer made disparaging remarks about his play.

Before his senior year at Missouri, Stipanovich gave an interview to Sports Illustrated in which he declared his intention to, essentially, "grow up." He began training harder, studying harder, and partying less. The results showed on the court, as Stipanovich averaged over 18 points and almost 9 rebounds per game, and dominated the Big Eight Conference. In a nationally televised game, Stipanovich and teammate Greg Cavender combined to stop future NBA number one pick Ralph Sampson and upset top ranked Virginia.

After his retirement from the NBA, Stipanovich moved his family to Oregon, where he ran several small businesses. He has since returned to his home town of St. Louis, where he is said to run Missouri's only coal mine. He and his wife have several children.