Stevens planned to live in a friend 's basement and took a job at Applebee ’ s to pay the bills . Before he started training at Applebee 's , he was offered a low @-@ paying administrative position as coordinator of basketball operations under then @-@ coach Thad Matta . The position had opened up when assistant coach Jamal Meeks resigned after being arrested on solicitation and drug charges , of which he was later acquitted . Years later , Matta recalled , " [ Stevens ] was just a hungry young kid that was desperate to get into coaching . He had a great passion and was willing to take a risk to get into the coaching profession . "