Chris Taft strolled into the interview room at Petersen Events Center on Monday night speaking softly into his cell phone. He shut it down briefly to meet with the media, but the tiny device, which disappeared into his massive hands, started up once he finished fielding questions.
One call. Two calls. Three calls ...
"Let me get back with you," he said, finally.
It was well past midnight and Taft could not escape the attention. Even when he thought he had, he was handed a different phone -- this time by Pitt media relations rep Greg Hotchkiss -- with a call from a national radio station.
"ESPN," Hotchkiss said. "They need you for three minutes."
Taft, a sophomore center at Pitt, eventually shook his head.
"The whole world's calling me," he said. "I should just turn off my phone from now till whenever ... No, no, I'm just joking about that, but I just want to concentrate on school and basketball right now. No distractions."
For a player with Taft's upside, it is almost impossible to insulate himself from family members, friends, friends of friends, old coaches, acquaintances and everybody in between. This is a kid who's being touted as an NBA lottery pick in the next year or two, a kid who's been on the cover of publications with the words "Franchise" and "Big Ticket" above him, a kid who was recently featured in a six-page article in ESPN The Magazine.
So, while most 19-year-old sophomores are trying to figure out which Simpson sister is better -- Ashlee or Jessica⢠-- or what topping they want on their late-night pizza, Taft is dealing with the white-hot spotlight.
It's why he can get criticized one night for contributing just eight points and five rebounds in a 76-69 win against Syracuse (last Saturday), then gain accolades for amassing a career-high 25 points and 15 rebounds in a 86-66 victory over Providence two days later.
No. 16 Pitt (15-3, 5-2 Big East) next plays Saturday night at West Virginia.
"I wouldn't say it's overwhelming," said Taft, a 6-foot-10 native of Brooklyn. "That's just how it is when you're the type of player that I am and you have the name that I have. Sometimes you have to shield yourself, but it doesn't bother me."
Although Taft usually isn't bothered by the attention, he conceded that he has his moments.
"When people are saying this or that, it kind of bothers you," said Taft, the 2004 Big East Freshman of the Year. "But I don't feel any pressure."
Taft is making a concerted effort to put all the NBA talk on the backburner -- "I hear it non-stop, but it can wait" -- while focusing on putting up numbers like he did against Providence.
That means more double-doubles (he has three this season) and less efforts like the ones against Syracuse or Connecticut (10 points and six rebounds) or St. John's (11 and six).
"That kid should be 18 points a night and 10 off the glass," ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said last week.
Taft, who averages 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds, relishes challenges such as the one issued by Vitale. He also believes that the recipe for grabbing more rebounds, throwing down more dunks and thoroughly dominating games, is relatively simple.
"Be more aggressive," he said. "It's February now, so it's the time of year when you have to make the plays. I'm just trying to get myself mad, fired up before these games. I want to go out there and make plays. I'll tell my teammates to punch me in the stomach, do something to get that chip on my shoulder. Because when I'm mad, I can take it out on the other team."
