news-record.com

GREENSBORO — When the bus leaves for Salem, Va., this morning, Josh Pittman will be on it, riding toward what he hopes will be a national championship.

It's not a ride he thought he would be taking at this time last year.

Pittman, the News & Record's 2008 high school boys basketball player of the year and a four-year star at Trinity, looked like a shoo-in for a scholarship at a Division I mid-major program.

The interest was there. The offers were not.

The mid-majors' loss was Guilford's gain. And both the Quakers (30-2) and the 6-foot, 160-pound guard couldn't be happier.

"I took my (recruiting) visit, and I fell in love with Guilford," Pittman said. "I like to win. That's what I did in high school. I won, and I got used to winning. And the basketball program here has the same feel as I had at Trinity.

"Even if I played great, I don't know if I could've gone someplace that didn't win. Losing is no fun. I don't think I could've been happy."

That's not an issue at Guilford. In their seventh season under coach Tom Palombo, the Quakers climbed to No. 1 in the NCAA Division III poll for the first time this season and finished the regular season No. 3.

They're playing in their fourth straight NCAA tournament and headed to the Division III Final Four in Salem for the second year in a row.

They win. And win. And win some more.

Pittman has helped from the get-go. He's not the star of this team, which is built around seniors Tyler Sanborn, Clay Henson and Rhett Bonner. But Pittman has played in all 32 games as the first player off the Quakers' bench.

"It's a different role for me, but I can't complain. We're winning," Pittman said. "Clay and Rhett are experienced players, both of them seniors, and they're teaching me something at every game, in every practice. They're helping me work on my game and develop my talent for the future."

Pittman averages 6.7 points per game, which ranks fourth on the team behind the three senior stars. He's averaging 19 minutes, by far the most of any rookie on the team.

"He's had a tremendous amount of success as a freshman, which is hard to do," Palombo said. "There's a lot of other teams he could be playing on right now where he could be averaging 20 points and 10 assists a game, and be the freshman of the year in the conference and maybe the country. Because he is that talented.

"To his credit, he's figured out a way to fit in with what we're doing, and at the same time be himself," Palombo added. "He's had to scale it down a little bit because we have guys like Clay and Rhett and Tyler. If he was playing on some other team, he could easily put up some monster numbers. It's hard for people to guard him."

Down the road, Pittman might put up those big numbers at Guilford. For now, he's content to soak up advice from Henson and Bonner.

"Rhett and I both try to talk to him and help him on the court where we can," Henson said. "He's a great player. He's got a good basketball IQ, and he does a lot of things without us having to tell him to."

Pittman said this season has been all about improving his defense and time management. He's adjusted to the class work, juggling it with basketball and being away from home — although it's only a 25-minute ride from campus to Archdale in his Nissan Xterra.

He makes that ride some Sundays, to visit family and eat a home-cooked meal.

Sometime this weekend, Pittman will be riding on a bus from Salem to Greensboro. He hopes his team has a national championship trophy on board.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com