Kevin Pittsnogle: From NCAA Tourney Hero to Middle School Teacher Living in a Trailer
College Basketball, NBA, Video January 16th. 2009, 9:00am
And Friday opens with a slightly depressing story: Remember Kevin Pittsnogle? The 6-foot-11 sharpshooter from West Virginia who led the Mountaineers to a stirring upset of Wake Forest in the NCAA tourney a few years back? The tatted-up kid who wore a white tux and a top hat to his wedding? You may recall when he was immortalized in SI a few years back - outstanding bowler, rich tattoo history - and everyone learned that his WVU jersey outsold that of the Logo, Jerry West.
Three years after getting drafted by the Celtics, and then cut, and drifting in and out of lesser leagues throughout the country (and France and Puerto Rico) …
Now, at 24, he is a middle school teacher in his hometown. He is also an unpaid assistant coach for a high school basketball team. He bowls in leagues three nights a week and occasionally plays bingo at Big Bucks Bingo. His wife, Heather, is a bank teller. They have two children and live in a double-wide trailer, and together they wonder how much appetite they have for uprooting their lives again so Pittsnogle can have one more chance at a basketball career.
Even if you’re not a college hoops junkie, it’s a great read. For instance: “In December, while shopping with his mother, he saw Reebok shoes on sale. He bought a pair for each of his students.” You mean to tell me this guy can’t make anyone’s roster? There has to be a team that mixes in a zone every now and then. Matt Bullard had an 11-year career. If there’s a spot in the league for a 35-year-old guy like Donyell Marshall, there has to be room on a roster somewhere for Kevin Pittsnogle.
Lure of Pro Ball Still Tugs at Pittsnogle (NY Times)
72 Responses to “Kevin Pittsnogle: From NCAA Tourney Hero to Middle School Teacher Living in a Trailer”
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January 16th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Wow. That’s a fun story. Well done John Branch.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Good God, that’s depressing. I mean, nothing against being 24, having two kids and living in a double wide. But he sounds like he’s one school budget cut away from making meth in his kitchen. He got Pittsnogle-d!
January 16th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Mike Gansey was the best on that squad.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:08 am
He can’t hack it in the pros and he would what most people call ‘white trash’ — how is this surprising?
January 16th, 2009 at 9:10 am
I thought the dream of every person in WV was to get a double wide, he’s livin that dream man.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:10 am
I think he was married in college, no? But yeah, he got an early start on domestication.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I played against Gansey in high school. He went to Olmstead Falls
January 16th, 2009 at 9:18 am
How is this depressing?
He has a good job and a family.
It sucks he’s not making $1 million on the end of some team’s bench, but neither are we.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:19 am
I saw Pittsnogle in an NBDL game last year. Austin Toros, baby!
January 16th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Sounds like he has a good job and is living comfortably if he’s buying shoes for all his students. I don’t see how this is depressing. You know, most college athletes go pro in something besides sports.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:22 am
is it possible to live comfortably in a trailer?
Gansey was a great shooter … in five years, someone will write a book about ‘what might have been’ for those two as NBA players
January 16th, 2009 at 9:22 am
NickP beat me to it. This isn’t depressing at all. The guy got a free education, he couldn’t make it as a pro athlete, so now he’s putting his education to good use. Sounds like a great story to me.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:23 am
I have to go with Nick P and KC on this one. Yeah it is depressing for him that he isn’t making the millions that other college BB stars do, but on the other hand, he has a degree, a home, and a family that obviously supports him. In most circles, he would be considered successful.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Is a double-wide really that much smaller than any quasi-affordable NY apartment?
January 16th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Yeah, I saw that in a commercial.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Obviously you’ve never seen Loaded Weapon 1.
I think it’s depressing because the guy was so close to realizing something he’s probably been working/hoping his whole life for. Now he’s back in his hometown, bowling, playing bingo and living in a trailer. Are there worse things in life? Certainly. He has a wife, two kids, what I assume is steady employment. He has it better than a lot of people.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I cant believe no one on that squad is in the NBA. That was one of my favorite college basketball teams.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:25 am
is it possible to live comfortably in a trailer?
He probably has more space than most people living in an apartment in NYC.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:27 am
is it possible to live comfortably in a trailer?
Yes. Not everyone was raised in the suburbs. A double-wide probably has 1200 sq. ft. It sounds as if he could afford a home if he wants, but is still undecided on whether or not to chase his pro dreams. Dumping a double wide is pretty easy if he had to move on.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:28 am
I work in the granite business and we’ve put granite in trailers before. Some of the trailers out there are a lot nicer than some of the houses we’ve done.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Well, if he’s a second-year public school teacher in WV and his wife is a bank teller, they probably aren’t pulling in much more than $60,000 combined. Looks like he’s still got some money from the short pro career, but even in West Virginia that’s not a lot of money.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Its not about the trailer, a double wide can be nice. Its more about whether you have your own land that houses the trailer or whether you’re stuck in some shitty trailer park surrounded by trailer trash (actual term, I’m from the country).
January 16th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Loaded Weapon 1.
You mean Lethal Weapon? Where Mel Gibson lived in a trailer by the Pacific?
Pittsnogle has a family and a job. Meanwhile CNN had news yesterday of people desperately applying for a job at Kohl’s who were used to having six figure sallaries.
In short, he might be doing better than many — even without the NBA dream.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:33 am
If he is a smart guy and sticks with coaching, I’ll bet he is coaching in the college ranks making descent money in 5 years. Being an unpaid assistant is a start for some guys. Nothing wrong with that.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:33 am
How anyone finds this depressing is beyond me. Wife, kids, meaningful job - all sounds pretty good to me. I bet a lot of NBA players’ lives are a hell of a lot more depressing than this, no matter how much money they have.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:34 am
This is a very important distinction. Living in a trailer? Not so bad. Living in a trailer park? Not a place you want to raise your kids.
/”Cuz ya’ live at home in a trailer’d”
January 16th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Nope. I meant exactly what I wrote. You should rent it, it’s funny in a dumbass way.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Talk about an underrated classic. I’ve seen it at least 100 times.
“Gratuitous beaver shot”
January 16th, 2009 at 9:39 am
You just got Pittsnogle’d!
January 16th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Leathal Weapon is one of the only movie franchises where all the sequals were pretty good. Hell, they even had a young Chris Rock in one. And that Australian blond chick, can’t remember her name, used to be married to a Gallagher brother, anyhow, she was hot.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Fantastic movie, Emilio’s best work. God I loved Kathy Ireland.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Her accent was super hot, too bad they killed her (”Diplomatic Immunity!”). Lethal Weapon 4 also introduced the world to Jet Li, and without it we would have never gotten Romeo Must Die…or that one movie he did with DMX. Hero was the shit, though. As was that other movie he did with Zhang Zi or Zhang Yi or Zhang something, something.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Leathal Weapon is one of the only movie franchises where all the sequals were pretty good.
Diplomatic immunity!
…..it’s just been revoked.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:48 am
To echo what everyone else has said…there’s nothing depressing at all about this story.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:53 am
The doouble wide I was raised in had 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. Yes in a trailer. Quit watching “my name is earl” in order to make your bullshit remarks.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:53 am
False. It was The Outsiders.
/cthomashowell
January 16th, 2009 at 9:54 am
@Coop: Emilio’s best work? I believe ou are forgetting about D2. The quack was back!
January 16th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Not depressing? I dont know … NCAA hero, jersey sells like hot cakes, SI article about him, drafted by the Celtics …
all was right in his world!
3 years later he still wants to play hoops, but he ballooned up to 300 lbs, he cant really uproot his family, and so he settles for teaching middle school and living in a trailer. you didnt get the feeling that he really wants to try and play ball again?
I tend to be a dreamer and the guy can’t realize his because of the situation he’s in. and that, to me, is depressing.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:55 am
@BFFredo: I’m getting too old for this shit.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:57 am
well aware of the trailer in Lethal Weapon 2.
i’ll take the one with patsy kensit, thanks.
and that was no slight on trailers … the guy is 6-11 and has 2 babies.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Gordon Bombay even got a liquor named after him. I prefer the movie Stephen King directed where all the machines turn against people and the Pepsi machine repeatedly pummels the baseball coach’s testicles with pop cans. High comedy. Emilio even had an earring in that one. A dangly earring.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:00 am
The combined salaries of a special education teacher and a bank teller are probably $50,000 give or take. In West fuckin Virgina, that’s not terrible. And at 24 and the network he’s got at his disposal off name value alone, the guy will only do better…even if he never gets paid to shoot a basketball again.
Depressing stories are Maurice Clarett, Diedrick Finn, Corey Blunt…and other athletes that spoil a gift and end up in jail or worse. Leave New York once in a while.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:00 am
What the hell movie was that? That sounds awesome!
January 16th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Maximum Overdrive
January 16th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Thanks Clown, the title escaped me. I think Emilio also wears a bandana and works as a short-order cook in that film, as well. Not sure why King never got another shot in the director’s chair after that one.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Judgment Night
January 16th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Most people here don’t seem to know what a double wide trailer is. This isn’t some depressing story, he took his shot and wasn’t good enough. Too bad he has to fall back on a degree with a solid job and a good life after it. How terrible!
January 16th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Mighty Ducks 2
January 16th, 2009 at 10:06 am
If he still wanted to play hoops that bad, he wouldnt have ballooned up to 300 punds.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Oh, fuck. Maximum Overdrive. With the all AC/DC soundtrack.
Irish - I am not shitting you. I pulled out the Judgement Night soundtrack to listen on the drive to work this morning. Forgot it in the basement. Cypress Hill and Pearl Jam. At one time mixing rap and rock sounded promising. Then Limp Bizcuit came alaong.
“i’ll take the one with patsy kensit, thanks. ”
That’s the chick. Hotty.
BTW, Young Guns is Emilio’s finest work.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Or, you know, he can’t realize his dream because he isn’t that great? The only thing depressing here is if he really thinks he has a chance, because anybody who has watched him knows he doesn’t. Slow, unathletic streak shooters aren’t in demand in the NBA. Shocking, I know.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am
i meant pounds
January 16th, 2009 at 10:10 am
TBL, he got his shot at “the dream” and didn’t make it, no harm in that. Take your shot, then (and I hesitate to use this word) settle for a normal life. At some point you grow up and realize ball/money aren’t worth as much as wife/kids.
Riverfront is right, depressing is guys who blow everything and end up dead or in jail. This is just a story of life.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Probably should’ve read the article.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:13 am
@KC Res- exactly. great soundtrack
January 16th, 2009 at 10:14 am
That’s not very nice. The article explains why. He’s got the same problem my dog does.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Fantastic movie, Emilio’s best work.
Men At Work can’t get no love in here?
January 16th, 2009 at 10:17 am
bsanders -
Infected anal glands?
January 16th, 2009 at 10:18 am
bsanders - eats his own poo?
January 16th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Ummm, with two kids? It would be tight no matter where you live.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Nah, he gets his shit pushed in when he gets his hair cut and I nipped the stool eating in the bud when he was a puppy.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:25 am
If I remember the SI article correctly, he grew up in a trailer. Learned to shoot b/c he couldn’t dribble on a gravel driveway. 50k is a good salary w/ 2kids if you take care of business.
my youngest is nicknamed after him.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:29 am
TBL, did you actually think Pittsnoggle was going to make it in the NBA? If so, you were well in the minority.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Of course it would be tight, but so would making that much while on the road pursuing a dream that likely never will be realized. He’s 24, and his wife is probably the same age. There’s a lot of room for both of them to grow in their careers. And Pittsnogle is a legend in WV, it’s only a matter of time before he’s got a teaching/coaching position at a High School somewhere.
I’m the only member of my family not to be a public school teacher going back three generations. We live in Ohio. Trust me, it ain’t a bad gig.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:39 am
LMAO, nice
January 16th, 2009 at 10:47 am
disagree. Clarett fucked his own life up getting his goose on. he’s a blithering idiot.
i didnt think he was going to be an NBA star by any stretch … but he was drafted.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:50 am
you read his quotes? the guy isn’t thrilled with his life. he didn’t use the word ‘depressed’ but that’s the the impression i got.
guess it’s just an interpretation thing
January 16th, 2009 at 10:54 am
They should go overseas
January 16th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Great movie!!
I love the part when the lady who has lost her mind, is just screaming at the machines: “WE MADE YOU! WE MADE YOU!”
Somehow the truck stop they are in, has an armory in the basement.
“Everything, Bobby! He’s got everything!!”
Thats what Esevez is told by the fat guy on the toilet while enquiring about what weapons are in the basement. He wasn’t shitting ( no pun intended ) they literally had a full arsenal down there. Which is both ironic and handy, since they use the weapons to help get them to a nearby island that has no electricity. Yet another ironic yet fortunate event.
Great movie.
‘Who made Who’ is still possibly my favorite AC/DC song. That song rocks!!
January 16th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
If the word “trailer” wasn’t in this story nobody would be trying to argue that it’s depressing. And it isn’t.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
some more on the guy
January 16th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Agreed. There is nothing depressing about being a productive member of society and raising a family. It’s pretty elitist to pass judgement on someone just because they live in a trailer.