Pitt beats UConn again

Sam Young played his last game at the Petersen Events Center today. He went out in style. Against #1 ranked Connecticut, Young poured in a season high 31 points on 13 of 23 shooting from the field and chipped in 11 rebounds.

Young could be drawing an NBA paycheck right now but he decided to stick around for his senior season, perhaps out of loyalty to coach Jamie Dixon. Dixon, you see, has a habit of finding players who are deemed too small or too slow or too unrefined for the rigors of the Big East, but he manages to mold them into a cohesive, winning unit, greater than the sum of its parts.

For 2 years, Young had to be patient. As a Freshman and again as a sophomore Young scored under 8 points per game. Last year, as a Junior, Young broke out leading the team at 18.1 ppg.
The NBA took notice and many feel Young could have been a first round draft pick, guaranteed money according to the Association's bylaws.

One has to believe Young is happy with his decision to stay. He's been a part of several firsts this season. This year was the first time Pitt ever beat the #1 team in the country(which they've now done twice after today's victory). Pitt was also the #1 team in the country for the first time in their history this season(which they also did twice and might do a 3rd time).

Young has been an integral part of their success. Again, he leads the team in scoring, this time at 18.4 ppg. His unorthodox pump fake has drawn national attention. Any advance scouting report on the Panthers has to note Young's uncanny knack for getting opposing defenders to leave their feet yet players still fall for the fake, game after game, as Young drives around them for dunks, lay-ins or soft pull up jumpers.

One reason the fake works so well is that Young can shoot. Last year, he led Pitt from beyond the arc at 38.3. This year, his percentage is slightly lower at 34.8 but the NCAA moved the line back a bit from last season. One gets a sense of Young's work ethic by looking at his 3 point percentage as a Freshman(19%) and a sophomore(31%). This guy has worked on his game and it's paid off.

Teaming up with sophomore DeJuan Blair and classmate Levance Fields, Young and Pitt just might have locked up a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament today with their 70-60 win over UConn. With only 3 losses, all on the road, the selection committee will have to consider Pitt a #1 seed even if they suffer an upset in the Big East Tournament in New York next week.

I'm sure Young and his teammates still have their sights set on bigger goals but Young's unselfish decision to stay in school has made that all possible. In this era of one-and-done, take the money and run college hoops, Jamie Dixon, the winningest coach percentage-wise in Big East HISTORY has inspired loyalty in his charges and shown the rest of the nation you don't have to have a roster full of McDonald's all-americans(or any McDonald's all-americans for that matter) to compete and succeed at the highest level of college basketball.