Fifteen Minutes of Fame
July 02, 2005 12:24 PM | General
July 2, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Kevin Pittsnogle’s 15 minutes of fame has been extended by at least one year. The West Virginia University center captivated the nation with his play in the Big East tournament and then in NCAA tournament games against Creighton, Wake Forest, Texas Tech and Louisville.
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| Kevin Pittsnogle averaged nearly 17 points during his last 16 games of the season.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
The last two months of the 2004-05 season were bombs away for the 6-foot-11-inch shooter extraordinaire, particularly after he was inserted into West Virginia’s starting lineup replacing regular center D’or Fischer before the Pitt game in Morgantown.
Even when Pittsnogle was coming off the bench last year he never panicked. He embraced his role even though he knew he was probably better suited starting.
“I’m real laidback. Now my mom is not that laidback but my dad is so I think I get that from him. If it happens it happens; if it doesn’t it doesn’t,” he said.
But it did happen for Pittsnogle, who responded with a career-high 27 points against the Panthers and averaged nearly 17 points per game over his last 16 games, reaching 20 or more six times. West Virginia produced a pair of victories over Pitt, and also secured upsets of nationally ranked Boston College and Villanova in the Big East tournament before going on the school’s best NCAA tournament run in 46 years.
And it was Pittsnogle, a Martinsburg native, who was the catalyst. His ability to step out beyond the three-point arc gave opposing defenses fits. In a win at Pitt, Panther coach Jamie Dixon opted to take out all-Big East center Chris Taft at the end of the game because he wasn’t able to keep up with Pittsnogle on the perimeter. Other teams had similar problems prompting announcers to begin referring to teams being ‘Pittsnogled.’ Kevin says he is just now getting used to all of the attention.
“Everything has pretty much come together all at once,” he said.
It came together so well, in fact, that Pittsnogle considered leaving school a year early by making his name available for the NBA draft. His reputation allowed him an invitation to the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago in June and his up-in-the-air status left everyone in the Mountain State on pins and needles.
Eventually, he decided the timing wasn’t right and chose to come back to school for his senior season. “I’ve learned a lot of new things about the NBA and what I need to do to get better,” Pittsnogle said.
Despite a so-so performance in Chicago, Pittsnogle believes there is room in the NBA for his game. Dallas center Dirk Nowitzki proved that 7-foot shooters aren’t necessarily novelty items.
“I think it is becoming a part of the game and you’re seeing more and more of it every year. I’m just one of the guys that do it well,” Pittsnogle said.
The center says if the NBA doesn’t work out next year, he isn’t against playing in Europe for a couple of years to improve his game.
“It all depends on how I do with the NBA,” he said. “I was (in Europe) my senior year in high school and after my freshman year in college and then again last year. I’ve pretty much experienced things there.”
Now, Pittsnogle gets to experience being one of the Big East’s marquee players this winter. He is sure to get plenty of national media attention once school resumes in August.
“Everybody knows who I am now after the tournament with the way I played so it’s going to be a lot to live up to next year. It’s not going to be easy but it’s going to be a lot of fun trying,” he noted.
Because West Virginia returns Pittsnogle, Mike Gansey (the star of the Wake Forest game), and three-year starters Joe Herber and J.D. Collins, many have West Virginia pegged for a Top 15 ranking in the preseason polls.
That means opposing teams will play their best games against West Virginia and will also be geared to stop Pittsnogle.
“Everybody is going to be looking to try and shut me down and the team has got to step up and hopefully we’ll continue to play as a team,” he said.
Making things even tougher is the fact that the Mountaineers are embarking upon their most ambitious regular season schedule in school history, taking on non-conference heavies LSU, UCLA, Oklahoma and also being invited to play in the Guardians Classic, a two-week regular season tournament. West Virginia will serve as one of four host sites along with Texas, Iowa and Kentucky.
That doesn’t even include games against a Big East slate that is sure to have much tougher cross-over conference opponents made specifically for television. West Virginia basketball season tickets will be a valuable commodity when they go on sale in the fall and Pittsnogle is well aware of what the Mountaineers are facing this year.
“It doesn’t get much better and it should be a lot of fun this year,” he admitted. “This is probably one of the glory times, I guess you could say. We’re playing well, the conference and the schedule is real tough.”
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| Pittsnogle believes a tough schedule could make West Virginia a tough out in the post-season.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Some have gone as far as suggesting that West Virginia’s schedule may be too tough. Pittsnogle believes scheduling this way is the best way to get to post-season play.
“I don’t think it can be too tough because the way basketball does it with the rankings and the conferences it really helps out your RPI,” he said. “We can’t slip up against anyone and we’ve got to play every game like it’s our last one. We can’t take anybody for granted.”
The senior recalls West Virginia’s fast start last year and its inability to sustain it. He says lessons were learned, particularly after the team’s loss to MAC bottom feeder Marshall in Charleston.
“I think we’ll be more ready for it this year then we were at the start of last year,” Pittsnogle said. “We weren’t used to it when we got the 10-0 start so I think next year it will be a lot easier but we’ll still be the underdog in a lot of the games we play because our schedule is so tough.”
Because this year is going to be a terrific challenge, Pittsnogle admits he’s preparing harder than ever to get ready.
“I’m going to work out hard the rest of the summer,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve had two weeks off since I’ve been in college so I might as well just keep it going. I’ve been here every summer for camps and going overseas and USA team stuff … every summer I’ve had something to do so I’ll just keep it going.”
Thinking back on it, Pittsnogle believes his selection to the USA Junior World National Team three summers ago was probably the turning point in his career. He says that was the confidence builder he needed.
“It definitely reinforced my confidence and gave me a chance to realize that I can play with the best,” he said.
Pittsnogle believes there are good players in West Virginia and that the state often gets degraded because there aren’t an abundance of Division I basketball players being produced each year. He says sometimes it just takes West Virginia players a little longer to develop.
“You can’t really judge who you’re playing in West Virginia because there is not a great abundance of talent in West Virginia like there is in New York City or Chicago. You’ve got to look a lot deeper to find out how good we really are,” he said.
That means being able to project what a player can do two or three years from now provided they work hard to improve their game.
“Are they going to work hard and put in the time to be a good player? It doesn’t come overnight and it doesn’t come in one year,” he said.
Pittsnogle’s career has been a testament to that. Simply based on his play the past three seasons he has already secured his name in Mountaineer lore. Pittsnogle has reached the 1,000-point mark and has a good chance of reaching 1,500 for his career. He is aware of his standing at WVU, particularly because he’s a West Virginia native, but he says it is too soon to dwell on those things.
“Down the road I think it will be a little different feeling for me. Right now it kind of all feels the same,” he said.
Once his playing days are finished, Pittsnogle can see himself one day moving back to Martinsburg and living there for the rest of his life.
“It’s a great place to live.”
Thankfully, he has the same impression of Morgantown.
