Stevenson was born in Fresno, California. His father, Darryl Stevenson, never married his mother Genice Popps, and eventually was forcibly placed in a facility after threatening family members and diagnosed as schizophrenic. Darryl signed a court order agreeing he had a duty to support his son, but eventually murdered his own mother Clara by strangling her; he died of cancer at the age of 36 in prison. DeShawn\'s name was tattooed on his chest. Due to the absence of his father, DeShawn lived with his godparents in Easton, California. He played high school ball at the same school where his father had played, and won a state championship his junior year.\n', '

Stevenson signed with the Kansas Jayhawks in the fall of his senior year. Jayhawks head coach Roy Williams called him his "most gifted recruit ever". As a senior, Stevenson averaged 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists a game. He was named to the McDonald\'s All-American team and scored 25 points to lead the West to a 146–120 win, and won the slam-dunk contest. Stevenson\'s mother advised him not to go straight to the NBA, but after there were irregularities with his SAT test, Stevenson did indeed enter the league straight out of high school.\n', '

Stevenson was picked by the Utah Jazz with the 23rd selection of the 2000 NBA draft.\n', '

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