Post by elp525 on Mar 18, 2011 9:20:35 GMT -5
March 17, 2011
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
TAMPA, Fla. - Dalton Pepper is so shy and reserved that when he was swarmed relentlessly by the media following his signature 30-second performance as a college basketball player Thursday afternoon, the quiet sophomore wasn't sure how to handle it.
"It's been a couple of years since I had to talk to anybody,'' Pepper said in a pretty much business-as-usual West Virginia locker room - save for the attention lavished on Pepper - after Thursday's 84-76 win over Clemson in the NCAA tournament. "It's not hard to do, I guess. You've got to do what you've got to do.''
If you don't know much about Pepper after nearly two full years at West Virginia, there are a couple of reasons for that. The most significant of those is pretty simple - he's never really done much to warrant much attention.
After scoring more than 2,200 points and being named Pennsylvania's high school player of the year in 2009, Pepper averaged just 7.6 minutes and 3.1 points last year as a freshman at WVU. This year his numbers are up to 12 minutes and 3.8 points, but with only a few exceptions he's never risen to star status, not even for a single game. Three times this season he's scored in double figures, barely, with 10 points. His career high was pretty much an anomaly, a 15-point performance last year in a game against Syracuse that West Virginia lost.
This year? He had 10 points at Louisville and was even the guy who took the last shot. It didn't go in and WVU lost by a point.
Here's the thing, though. Even if there had been reason to write or talk about Pepper during his first two seasons, there was no guarantee he was ever going to say anything.
"They put us in the same dorm room and the first two weeks he didn't talk to me. Not at all. It was just like, 'Hi, man.' That was it,'' fellow sophomore Deniz Kilicli said. "After two weeks he started to talk and we stayed in the same dorm room for like a year.''
Pepper admits he didn't talk much, even to his new roommate Kilicli, for a while. But he says Kilicli exaggerates just a bit.
"Yeah, it was a couple of months before we actually started talking,'' Pepper said. "But a couple of times I had to tell him to shower because he was stinking up the room.''
Talkative or not, Pepper became the focal point after Thursday's win over Clemson for what he did in just a 30-second span of the game. With the Mountaineers struggling to hold onto a double-digit lead that a few moments earlier had dwindled to just 74-71, Pepper made three steals on consecutive possessions.
He turned one into a breakaway dunk, the second into a layup and the third into a free-throw opportunity for Truck Bryant. In those 30 seconds the game was over and Pepper was suddenly a star.
Of course, from a media perspective it would have been much easier had it been Bryant or Joe Mazzulla or even Kilicli.
"He's definitely a quiet kid,'' Cam Thoroughman said. "He's in his own little world. Take that for what it's worth, but he's definitely in his own little world. If you walk in a room and meet him for the first time you find out Pep's really shy.''
Eventually, though, he'll begin to open up.
"He's actually a really funny guy,'' Kilicli said. "When you sit and talk to him you have to make him comfortable, I guess.''
That both Pepper and Kilicli had solid performances against Clemson (Kilicli had 11 points) finally allowed the two roommates to talk about each other. They even combined on a score when Kilicli fed Pepper with a pass for a layup in the final minutes.
"Deniz is a real good passer,'' Pepper said. "Sometimes you can't tell because of all the turnovers. He tries to play European. He tries to play like a guard, but he's not.''
Rim shot, please.
This day, though, belonged not to Kilicli but to Pepper, who rose to the occasion when his play was needed most. And if that means that for a few minutes he had to put up with interviews and attention, well, so be it.
"Coach always says if you work hard good things will happen,'' Pepper said. "I guess right now it's happening to me.''
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
TAMPA, Fla. - Dalton Pepper is so shy and reserved that when he was swarmed relentlessly by the media following his signature 30-second performance as a college basketball player Thursday afternoon, the quiet sophomore wasn't sure how to handle it.
"It's been a couple of years since I had to talk to anybody,'' Pepper said in a pretty much business-as-usual West Virginia locker room - save for the attention lavished on Pepper - after Thursday's 84-76 win over Clemson in the NCAA tournament. "It's not hard to do, I guess. You've got to do what you've got to do.''
If you don't know much about Pepper after nearly two full years at West Virginia, there are a couple of reasons for that. The most significant of those is pretty simple - he's never really done much to warrant much attention.
After scoring more than 2,200 points and being named Pennsylvania's high school player of the year in 2009, Pepper averaged just 7.6 minutes and 3.1 points last year as a freshman at WVU. This year his numbers are up to 12 minutes and 3.8 points, but with only a few exceptions he's never risen to star status, not even for a single game. Three times this season he's scored in double figures, barely, with 10 points. His career high was pretty much an anomaly, a 15-point performance last year in a game against Syracuse that West Virginia lost.
This year? He had 10 points at Louisville and was even the guy who took the last shot. It didn't go in and WVU lost by a point.
Here's the thing, though. Even if there had been reason to write or talk about Pepper during his first two seasons, there was no guarantee he was ever going to say anything.
"They put us in the same dorm room and the first two weeks he didn't talk to me. Not at all. It was just like, 'Hi, man.' That was it,'' fellow sophomore Deniz Kilicli said. "After two weeks he started to talk and we stayed in the same dorm room for like a year.''
Pepper admits he didn't talk much, even to his new roommate Kilicli, for a while. But he says Kilicli exaggerates just a bit.
"Yeah, it was a couple of months before we actually started talking,'' Pepper said. "But a couple of times I had to tell him to shower because he was stinking up the room.''
Talkative or not, Pepper became the focal point after Thursday's win over Clemson for what he did in just a 30-second span of the game. With the Mountaineers struggling to hold onto a double-digit lead that a few moments earlier had dwindled to just 74-71, Pepper made three steals on consecutive possessions.
He turned one into a breakaway dunk, the second into a layup and the third into a free-throw opportunity for Truck Bryant. In those 30 seconds the game was over and Pepper was suddenly a star.
Of course, from a media perspective it would have been much easier had it been Bryant or Joe Mazzulla or even Kilicli.
"He's definitely a quiet kid,'' Cam Thoroughman said. "He's in his own little world. Take that for what it's worth, but he's definitely in his own little world. If you walk in a room and meet him for the first time you find out Pep's really shy.''
Eventually, though, he'll begin to open up.
"He's actually a really funny guy,'' Kilicli said. "When you sit and talk to him you have to make him comfortable, I guess.''
That both Pepper and Kilicli had solid performances against Clemson (Kilicli had 11 points) finally allowed the two roommates to talk about each other. They even combined on a score when Kilicli fed Pepper with a pass for a layup in the final minutes.
"Deniz is a real good passer,'' Pepper said. "Sometimes you can't tell because of all the turnovers. He tries to play European. He tries to play like a guard, but he's not.''
Rim shot, please.
This day, though, belonged not to Kilicli but to Pepper, who rose to the occasion when his play was needed most. And if that means that for a few minutes he had to put up with interviews and attention, well, so be it.
"Coach always says if you work hard good things will happen,'' Pepper said. "I guess right now it's happening to me.''
