Report: Western Michigan hiring longtime Michigan State assistant Dwayne Stephens as head coach

Western Michigan is hiring longtime Michigan State assistant Dwayne Stephens as their next head basketball coach. On Monday, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweeted out the news that Stephens is moving on from the Spartans.

“Sources: Western Michigan is hiring Michigan State’s Dwayne Stephens as its next head basketball coach,” tweeted Rothstein.

Originally, Stephens was a star for Michigan State as a player. After a phenomenal collegiate career and some time spent in Europe playing professionally, Stephens returned to America as an assistant coach. After a stint as an assistant under Tom Crean at Marquette, he returned to East Lansing, where he’s spent the last 19 seasons.

On his landing page for Michigan State, Stephens’ ability as a recruiter and his potential as a coach is greatly discussed.

“Stephens is recognized as one of the top recruiters in the nation, playing a major role in many highly-ranked recruiting classes,” wrote Michigan State. “In May 2002, The Stadium listed Stephens as the top assistant coach in the Big Ten Conference.  The 2016-17 Sporting News College Basketball Yearbook listed him as the best recruiter in the Big Ten.

“A May 2014 article by Jeff Goodman and Jay Bilas at ESPN.com named Stephens as one of the Top 15 head coaching candidates among assistant coaches. In 2013, he was mentioned in an ESPN.com article as one of the Top 15 Recruiting Assistants according to a vote of his peers. In 2012, Bleacher Report listed him among the Top 10 Best Assistant Coaches and the Top 10 Recruiters. He was among the top five coaches on a list of the ‘Top 25 High-Major Assistants,’ according to FoxSports.com in 2010. In 2008, he was listed among the top 20 High-Major Assistants in the nation by Goodman at FoxSports.com. He was named a Rivals.com Class of 2006 Top 25 Recruiters.”

Over his time with Michigan State, Stephens has been invaluable to the process. However, the time has come for him to accept his first head coaching job. It’s a monumental day for the former Spartans star.

It won’t be easy for Western Michigan, as the Broncos are just 13-39 over the last two seasons. Additionally, there last winning season came in 2017-18, when they won 17 games on the season.The culture is now being changed with a huge hire.