Topic: Steve Blake

Steven Hanson Blake (born February 26, 1980 in Hollywood, Florida) is an American professional basketball point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. Previously, he played for the Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Blake spent his freshman and sophomore year at Miami Killian High School and then transferred to Miami High School, where he played with another future NBA player, Udonis Haslem. Miami won consecutive state championships, but after the Miami New Times exposed the fact that Blake and other players, under current Kansas State head coach Frank Martin, were using fake addresses to enroll in the school, one of the titles was expunged. After being banned from playing again anywhere in the FHSAA, he then attended Oak Hill Academy before coming to Maryland.

After high school, he attended the University of Maryland. Blake was the team's starter the first day of his freshman year and was the first ACC player to compile 1,000 points, 800 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals. He finished his career 5th in NCAA all-time career assists with 972. Widely known for his superb passing ability, Blake helped lead the Terrapins to a Final Four appearance (2001) and the 2002 NCAA championship; less well-known for his scoring, Blake did average eleven points per game in his senior year. He averaged over six assists per game in each of his four years, including averages of 7.9 and 7.1 in 2002 and 2003, respectively. For his efforts, he was named to a variety of all-ACC teams during his career, including the rookie and defensive squads, capped by a first-team All-ACC spot his senior year. At the start of the 2003–04 basketball season, Blake's uniform number (25) became only the 15th to be retired to the rafters of Maryland's Comcast Center.