If the St. Charles East boys basketball team is going to deliver on its own big expectations for the season, it looks like several Saints who expected to be part of a deep supporting cast for Kendall Stephens might instead have to take center stage.

Just as the Saints hit a busy stretch – East has four games during the next eight days – uncertainty about their Purdue-bound senior’s availability for the rest of the season has again bubbled to the surface.

Tonight’s home game against Evanston – the alma mater of Stephens’ dad, East assistant coach Everette Stephens – will be the third straight game Stephens will miss after he aggravated a torn labrum during a Proviso West Holiday Tournament loss against Stevenson.