PITTSBURGH — Most major college basketball players are recruited by multiple schools. Chase Adams landed at Pitt after recruiting the Panthers.
When Centenary dropped from NCAA Division I to Division III, Adams went looking for a program that fit his skills.
Last season’s Summit League defensive player of the year wanted to play on a team that valued defense. He also sought to move up to a higher level, but not have to sit the bench. He also wanted a team that needed an experienced guard – now.
Whenever he went down his checklist, Pitt landed on top.
“I did my research, I contacted Pittsburgh and sent stuff out to a couple of schools and I was able to make this transition,” said Adams, who doesn’t have to sit out a season because of his former school’s downgrade. “This is the best situation I could ever want.”
Some players might be intimidated at moving up from what was the nation’s smallest Division I program to a school that was ranked No. 1 twice last season. Adams is certain he can make the transition, and in a hurry.
He must, since he is a senior and this will be his only Big East season.
Curiously, what he is trying to achieve at Pitt, which has about 33,000 students, is similar to what he was trying to get done at Centenary, which had fewer than 900 students.
There, he sought to get noticed on a team that gets little national attention. At Pitt, he’s trying to help a team that was gutted by graduation not get overwhelmed in one of college basketball’s toughest conferences.
Pitt lost its top three players
– NBA second-round picks DeJuan Blair and Sam Young and point guard Levance Fields – plus starting forward Tyrell Biggs. The Panthers also will be without their lone returning starter, injured guard Jermaine Dixon, plus forward Gilbert Brown, who is academically ineligible until late next month, when the season starts Friday against Wofford.
Pitt is starting over, much like Adams is doing in his career.
“It’s a major step,” said Adams, who is from Baltimore.
“We were the smallest D-I school in the nation, and there you’re fighting for respect. We’re going to be fighting for respect this year because people are going to be counting us out. This is the big-time and the big level.”
Adams isn’t big – he’s 5-foot-10 – but he’s shown coach Jamie Dixon during practice he can be a lockdown defender much like Jermaine Dixon, one of the Big East’s top defensive players last season.
Adams also has surprised Pitt with his outside shooting. He shot 40 percent from 3-point range last season, and could help Pitt fill what seems to be a yearly need for a reliable long-range shooter.
“I’m going to bring a lot of intensity, a lot of patience on the offensive end – and I shoot pretty well,” Adams said. “Competitiveness, that’s the main thing.”
Jamie Dixon welcomes that.
Dixon’s first few Pitt teams were built on defense, and his 2003-04 Panthers trailed only Air Force in scoring defense among the 326 NCAA Division I teams. Pitt’s defensive average of 56.4 points per game climbed to 64.4 by last season, when Pitt was ranked 87th.
That’s why Dixon is putting a greater emphasis on defense during preseason practice, and Adams potentially could be a player who brings about immediate and measurable improvement.
Once Jermaine Dixon’s broken right foot heals, Adams will join Dixon, Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker and redshirt freshman Travon Woodall in a crowded backcourt. Adams doesn’t plan on sitting, not with so much to do in so little time.
“This is it for me,” Adams said. “This is my shot.”
College
Guard recruited Pitt, not other way around
- College
-
-
MAC honors Roberts
Forest Hills graduate and former Delweld MVP George Roberts was named Mid-American Conference (MAC) Player of the Year in baseball on Tuesday.
-
Sentence given, but Rutgers webcam saga not over
The legal saga is far from over for a former Rutgers University student sentenced to 30 days jail for using a webcam to spy on his roommate kissing another man. The cultural fallout could continue, too.
Dharun Ravi, 20, was sentenced Monday, two months after a jury convicted him of 15 criminal counts, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation and seven counts dealing with covering up a crime.
-
Paterno's family to get $13.4 million pension
Joe Paterno earned a state pension of $13.4 million for his 61-year coaching career at Penn State.
Paterno's family said Tuesday through a spokesman that Paterno's widow, Sue, would receive an initial payment of $10.1 million by the end of May, with the rest to be paid out over the next two years.
-
O’Brien keeps message fresh in selling Penn State
After three weeks of crisscrossing the Northeast to rally and re-assure the Nittany Lions faithful that all will be well in Happy Valley, Bill O’Brien still had fresh material when the Penn State coaching caravan reached its 18th and final stop.
-
[VIDEO] Panthers eager to renew PSU rivalry
It didn’t take Steve Pederson long to realize how important a renewal of the Pitt-Penn State football rivalry is to local fans.
Even the invocation at the Johnstown Panther Club’s fifth annual spring event at Sunnehanna Country Club on Thursday night included a request for the teams to meet on the field again. -
Penn State coach stops in Altoona
Bill O’Brien has quickly put to rest any notion that he plans to stick around as long as the last Penn State football coach.
Don’t expect his tenure in Happy Valley to last 46 years. -
Shepherd takes WVIAC championship
Shepherd recorded a 10-5 victory over Alderson-Broaddus in the WVIAC baseball championship Sunday afternoon at Point Stadium, earning a spot in the NCAA tournament with the league’s automatic bid.
-
Mount falls in title game
Mount Aloysius’ Cinderella run through the AMCC playoffs came to an end Saturday, as the No. 6 seed Mounties fell to top-seeded La Roche 14-4 in the AMCC Championship game.
-
Shepherd advances to title game
Shepherd advanced to the WVIAC Championship by defeating West Virginia State on Saturday at Point Stadium.
The conference title game will be played at 1 p.m. today at the Point. -
Two UPJ players earn WVIAC first-team honors
Pitt-Johnstown sophomore catcher Kyle Morrow and sophomore second baseman Jake Warner were named first-team All-WVIAC baseball, while senior outfielder Drew Westover and sopohomore right-hander Derek Younker each earned a spot on the second-team.
- More College Headlines
-
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Raw Video: Cop Shoots Man Eating Another's Face
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Raw Video: Earthquake Shakes Evacuees in Italy
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
