Ready For Anything
December 22, 2004 10:14 PM | General
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| Pittsnogle |
The eve of the season opener, junior Kevin Pittsnogle stood in the tunnel after practice. He looked nothing like the lanky-armed, spruced-haired freshman he was two years ago when he debuted with the Mountaineers as a 6-foot-10, 225-pound center.
There’s a lot more to the new Kevin Pittsnogle.
He plays forward now. He weighs 255 pounds. He’s made more trips to the weight room and tattoo parlor and less to the barbershop. He even got married this year.
Surely, this redefined 20-year-old aspires to be nothing like his former self.
“I’m pretty much back where I was my freshman year,” Pittsnogle says self-sufficiently looking out at the court the day before the Saint Peter’s game.
How’s that a good thing?
Well, after posting the fifth-best scoring average for a freshman in WVU history with 11.6 points per game, Pittsnogle was referring to the confidence in his shot.
The team’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer two years ago averaged 10.2 points and 3.7 boards last year. More notably, he shot 49.8 percent from the field and 47.6 from three-point range before seeing the numbers drop to 40 and 36.8 percent last year.
“It’s gotten a lot better since last year,” Pittsnogle says. “I’m feeling it. I’m starting to get in the grove again. My confidence is back up. I lost some confidence from a couple games missing some shots but right now I think I’m doing pretty well.”
Pittsnogle is right. Though not starting, he’s come off the bench and averaged nearly 11 points per game helping lead the Mountaineers to a 6-0 start. His shooting touch seems to be back as well. Pittsnogle has shot 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc in those games.
The Martinsburg, W.Va., native whose .413 career three-point percentage entering the season is second all-time in school history has all the respect and acclaim from his teammates.
“Kevin Pittsnogle is a very special player who can shoot the three,” says senior center D’or Fischer. “That’s key for our team down the stretch when we need someone to go to for the three. Kevin’s a person you want with the ball in his hands.”
Fischer also knows his partner in the Mountaineer frontcourt is a lot stronger. Adding a new dynamic to his game, Pittsnogle worked hard with weight training to improve his inside presence.
“That was a concern for me,” Pittsnogle says. “I was trying to gain weight so I could bang around a little more and try to get more rebounds this year. The biggest thing I worked on this offseason is doing a lot of agility drills and I was in the weight room all summer.”
His teammates and head coach John Beilein have taken notice.
“Everything has developed: his speed, his quickness,” Beilein says. “So many things that he has worked on are coming to fruition.”
“He’s gotten stronger over the few years and a lot more aggressive than I’ve ever seen him,” Fischer added.
But Fischer, who led the team in scoring, rebounds and blocked shots last year, will be the starting center while Pittsnogle will play forward or reserve center for the Mountaineers depending on the opponent, according to Beilien.
“The problem is, he’s a good forward and he’s a great center,” Beilien explained. “[But] it’s difficult for a kid who is such a great player to change positions. Ever since the three-point line came in the smaller forward can cover Kevin more than Kevin can guard a 6-4 or 6-5 guy on the perimeter.”
That’s why Pittsnogle really needed to improve his agility and strength to compensate for any mismatches he may encounter while playing a new position. According to Pittsnogle, there are other challenges as well.
“It’s really hard,” Pittsnogle says. “They are totally opposite of each other. One is coming off screens and one is setting screens. It’s pretty different but you just gotta get used to it.”
The new forward also became a new husband prior to the season marrying Heather Ellison on Oct. 9, 2004. Married life was also an adjustment but one Pittsnogle took more delight in making.
“I love it,” Pittsnogle says. “There’s not much different being a student-athlete compared to being a student-athlete with a wife. I see her as much as I would any other day.”
Sure, but what do his teammates think about it?
“They were surprised at first but they all say if you find the right girl that’s good,” he adds. “They are real supportive about it.”
“That shocked people because we are all 19 through 22 years old,” Fischer says. “Marriage is not on our minds but he’s focused. For a young player to find love at that age is great.”
Whether it’s a new position, confidence in his shot or even marriage, Kevin Pittsnogle is finding that during his basketball career at West Virginia there’s not much on his mind he can’t handle.
Justin Zackal is a graduate assistant in the West Virginia University sports communications office.
