By Paul Suellentrop
In 1954, the college choice of North High School basketball star Joe Stevens highlighted the sports conversation in Wichita.
When he completed pre-enrollment papers at the University of Wichita, a photographer documented the moment for the Wichita Beacon, with coach Ralph Miller alongside. When Stevens called Miller – long distance from summer camp in Minnesota in June – to finalize his plan to play for the Shockers, the Beacon detailed the conversation with the headline "Stevens Reveals Plan To Enroll at Wichita U."
"Thereby ending one of the important athletic 'hold outs' in the state," the Beacon reporter wrote.