Pitt freshmen hope to make big impact

The Olympics are over, but the four freshmen of the Pitt men’s basketball team experienced their… The Olympics are over, but the four freshmen of the Pitt men’s basketball team experienced their own sacred passing of the torch. During a routine late-night shootaround at the Petersen Events Center one evening, Travon Woodall noticed a recent Pitt legend creep up from around the corner. It was Ronald Ramon, the unofficial ‘Mr. Clutch’ and beyond-the-arc messiah, who anchored a championship-caliber Panthers’ team for the past four years. The only loud element in Ramon’s game was the enthusiastic chants echoing through the Pete by the thousands of fans occupying the Oakland Zoo after a plethora of memorable buzzer-beaters, as he was notoriously soft-spoken off the court. The mild-mannered nature notwithstanding, Ramon took the time to speak with the standout freshman point guard out of St. Anthony’s High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the advice bestowed upon him has not only impacted himself, but has also transcended to the other nucleus of young blood who welcome the challenge of playing successor to a previously dominated throne. ‘He said, ‘It’s easy to practice and work hard while people are looking. It’s what you do when they’re not that matters,” recalled Woodall. The message was taken to heart by the four young adults who’ve yet to be showcased on a nationally televised stage. The shapes and sizes of the Pitt rookies range from 5-feet-11-inches to 6-feet-8-inches in height and 190 to 230 pounds in weight. The positions are different as well. Yet, the commonalities are staggering. While for most students the biggest adjustment from high school to college is fitting in, for Woodall, Ashton Gibbs, Dwight Miller and Nasir Robinson, it’s getting fit. ‘We’re all beating each other up out there every day,’ said Scott Plains, N.J., native and combo guard Gibbs. ‘You have to make sure you’re physically right or the ice bags will come.’ Woodall has become more familiar with the gym and agrees with Gibbs. ‘You have to be at it all the time and can’t let up,’ said Woodall. Constant adjustments, however defined, are what cloud the experience of the aforementioned student athletes. In addition to the learning on and off the court, much of the education for the freshmen has been internal. ‘You’re not ‘The Big Deal’ out here [at Pitt] like you may have been in high school,’ said Bahamas native and forward Miller. ‘You’re just one of the many guys, and you have to learn that, or else.’ At Pitt, being one of the guys is not a bad thing. The camaraderie developed in the Panthers’ brief stint together has been a pleasant surprise for head coach Jamie Dixon. He’s been especially impressed with how the freshmen have consistently and incrementally been picking things up. Robinson, a Chester, Pa., native, has appreciated the team’s developing chemistry. ‘We’re all getting along good,’ he said. ‘It definitely makes things easier.’ The biggest thrill for him has been the experience of playing for the vociferous Oakland Zoo. ‘It’s a feeling like none other, really,’ said Robinson. ‘It makes you want to work hard out there and compete and deliver a win for the fans.’ All four freshmen have been able to enjoy life outside of the court and classroom and experience what Pitt offers, academics aside. ‘The scenery around here is really great,’ said Miller. ‘There are trees all around and hills, too. I have to get used to those hills, but I love the city.’ Miller, a self-proclaimed poet and singer, is most impressed with his impersonation skills. ‘I’ve just always been able to pick up on all kinds of people’s voices,’ he said with a grin. Miller is proud of the athletic-academic balance at Pitt, particularly with Pitt’s undergraduate College of Business Administration, where Miller’s learning his networking skills. On the other end of the spectrum is Gibbs, who devotes much of his free time to his religion, which has helped put basketball in its proper perspective for the high-impact guard. ‘It’s always been an important part of my life,’ said Gibbs. ‘It was passed on to me by mom, and I’ve always carried it with me.’ Gibbs is a great fan of gospel music, but he won’t compete with Miller in a karaoke contest anytime soon. He’s ‘too laid back and chill’ for that. Often, family support is taken for granted among students, but Woodall falls nowhere near that category. He keeps in constant contact with his mother, even though he lives states away from her while at Pitt. ‘We talk every night now ‘mdash; every night,’ said Woodall. ‘I never would’ve guessed that I’d become a mama’s boy.’ The sentimentality shared with Woodall and his mother is indicative of the relationship these freshmen have built with one another. On the court, the fun and games are off and the physicality perseveres, sometimes with bleeding results. But it’s the embracing of that very sacrifice that makes Travon Woodall, Nasir Robinson, Ashton Gibbs and Dwight Miller who they are. And while the results will be shown on the court for all to see, in the meantime, as per Ramon’s sage advice, it will be all about the work when no one’s around looking. Here’s looking at you, kids.