Pitino Says Blount Will Play A Big Role

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

And apparently he weighs 250 pounds (Put a feather
in your cap, Josh O)....

Blount will sign with Celtics

Friday, July 21, 2000

By Paul Zeise, Post-Gazette Sports Writer


Former University of Pittsburgh center Mark Blount will sign a free
agent contract with the Boston Celtics Aug. 1, according to Celtics head
coach and president Rick Pitino.

"We are going to sign him to a contract. He will be a Boston Celtic this
year," said Pitino. "And not only that, he will play a big role for us.
We expect a lot of big things from him because he has worked very hard
and has made himself an NBA player."

Blount, who had a tryout with the Celtics earlier in the summer and
played with the Heat and the Celtics during summer leagues, is playing
in the Celtics' Shaw summer league this week. He spent the early part of
the summer in the United States Basketball League playing for the New
Jersey ShoreCats, where he was named first team all-USBL after averaging
15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He joined the team late, however,
and became a starter midway through the season, after which, he averaged
over 20 points and 10 rebounds. He played for the Baltimore BayRunners
of the International Basketball League over the winter and led the team
in blocked shots.

Pitino, who was in Pittsburgh yesterday for an appearance at the
Five-Star camp at Robert Morris College, said that Blount is an example
of a player who had to hit rock bottom before he developed his talent.

"He had the best medicine for his problems out there -- failure," Pitino
said. "I saw him two years ago and he was a skinny kid with skills and
no work ethic. This year he shows up, he's 250 pounds, he's got a great
attitude, he's working hard and now he has earned a spot on our roster
for the season."

Blount, a 6-foot-10 center who left Pitt after two seasons, was drafted
in the second round (55th) of the 1997 NBA Draft by the Seattle
SuperSonics but didn't make the rosters and bounced between the CBA and
USBL over the past three years. NBA rules prohibit any team from signing
free agents before Aug. 1.