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February 27, 2009

I mean, it would have been nice, but nothing has been accomplished yet.

A planned story was scrapped after Tuesday’s 81-73 upset loss at Providence. The magazine planned to do a lengthy story on the Panthers for early March and, according to Pitt media relations director Greg Hotchkiss, there was a “95 percent” chance it was going on the cover.

Pitt basketball has made regional covers of SI, but never the national release.

Not that there isn’t an excellent story on Sam Young to read. Sure there’s the usual stuff about his poetry, gymnastics and work ethic. Yet, this really fleshes things out a lot more including a quite a bit more insight into his generally loner stance.

Upon receiving his poetry assignment, Young doesn’t roll up his sleeves per se, but he locks in all the same. After spending nearly an hour staring at his computer screen, he has mustered just a few lines of verse, but they offer a window into how he views both the promise and perils of unfinished success:

Having yet to meet our potential, I love my team’s current credential
Not any team can do it; we fought in the fire to finally get to it
Pitt is on a mission and it’s no mystery, we only halfway done and already made history
We’re giving the university faith and gave hope to this town, it ain’t no way we can let them down

Yet, it is off the court where Young continues to make his biggest strides. These days he lets his playful side show more readily for his teammates, who still crack up when he does back-flips during practice or in his hotel room. He has even become something of a media darling. During a preseason photo shoot, Young picked up a sombrero and struck a goofy pose, and he hounded Greg Hotchkiss, Pittsburgh’s sports information director, for weeks until Hotchkiss got him a copy of the photo.

Even at a program that has long been defined by the hardscrabble ethos of the Steel City, Young has carved out a unique and lasting legacy. “We’re always going to use him as an example as a guy who improved and did it by working,” Dixon says. “Even today, I’ll ask the guys, who works the hardest in our drills? Who’s our best perimeter scorer? It’s always the same answer. It’s Sam.”

It’s well worth reading the whole thing.





Yes, Young is such a media darling. That’s why he virtually refuses to address the media anymore, even after wins like the DePaul game.

Comment by Watcher 02.27.09 @ 4:50 pm

how can you not root for this kid?

Comment by Omar 02.28.09 @ 12:20 am

additionally hugh green was talking about vegas odds are all that matters:

unc 3:1
pittsburgh 4:1
uconn 6:1
okla. 8:1

next closest lousiville 12:1.

Comment by Omar 02.28.09 @ 12:28 am

I would actually bet Louisville with the above odds.

This morning on ESPN, the panel of H Davis, D Phelps and J Bilas were give the following 4 bubble teams to make a case for thwich should be in or out:

Providence, Cincy, Maryland & Michigan

Davis & Phelps agreed on the 2 in and 2 out while Bilas disagreed with them — what 2 teams did Bilas think should be left out?

You’re right!!

Comment by w bill 02.28.09 @ 9:10 am

Omar: ditto

Comment by steve 02.28.09 @ 10:07 am

I root for Sam, but he makes it hard because you never see evidence of his emotion on the court. He shows it to his teammates in the way he plays, but there are no other outward signs of his leadership. It’s just not the guy he is, which creates an interesting situation for Pitt — their top scorer and most talented all-around player is not a demonstrative leader, so you can’t feed off him. He’s not going to fire up your huddle after hitting a three or slamming an alley oop.

Instead, he’s a quiet guy who lets his actions on the court speak for him. Not necessarily bad, but definitely unusual.

The odds are interesting right now. There’s been quite a swing since I looked last. Much less delta between UNC and the rest of the pack. It definitely brings up a question I’ve been discussing with my buddies for weeks…….why is Louisville not getting any national respect? They’re in the driver’s seat to win the BE regular season and they just don’t get anywhere near the appreciation that Pitt and Uconn do. Strange, to say the least. Sure, they lost to ND and laid an egg against UConn. We all know that. I still think they’re getting WAY less respect than they should and they’re clearly the most tempting bet on the board.

Comment by hugh green 02.28.09 @ 10:19 am

We have to remember that Sam et al are indeed youngsters. Anybody else on this blog have teenage – 21 year old sons? Remember what it was like to be 21?

That they’ve maintained their poise 25 times this year counts a lot, at least for me.

What concerns me more is the refs’ maturity….

Comment by steve 02.28.09 @ 12:15 pm

And I’ll see you all at Hobby’s later on.

Comment by steve 02.28.09 @ 12:16 pm

Yep, they are young. Easy to forget that, especially with Sam, who looks like he could have kids in high school.

Comment by hugh green 02.28.09 @ 12:41 pm

Gtown knocks off nova. Good for our BET seeding right?

Comment by steve 02.28.09 @ 2:13 pm

Just as long as Pitt wins at least 2 of the next 3

Comment by Chas 02.28.09 @ 4:25 pm

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