When Chevon Troutman was 12 years old, he dropped off his younger brother Tony and younger sister Gayann for their first day of first grade. The two little ones were naturally scared to go inside the school, but Chevon kissed them on the cheek and told them everything would be fine. That’s what mothers and fathers are supposed to do.

At the time, though, the Pittsburgh senior forward’s mother, also named Gayann, was serving a 13-year jail sentence. His father, Steve, who would later serve brief jail time when Chevon was a senior in high school, wasn’t around that morning because he worked many off hours fixing washing machines and dishwashers.

There’s a possibility both of them will be on hand when the Panthers host the Orange on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Petersen Events Center. Troutman’s mom was released a few years ago and lives in Pittsburgh. His father has been out of jail since Troutman graduated high school.

With his father working and trying to support the family, Chevon quickly grew into the role of second parent to his three younger siblings.

‘Whenever I got home from school,’ Troutman said, ‘I had to go hang out with them and make sure they were alright.

‘They were learning first-hand from me how to act.’

He helped steer his siblings away from the trouble that surrounded them in the low-income and high-drug sections of Williamsport, Pa., – the trouble that seeped into the lives of his parents, relatives and close friends.

But while those around him caved to the pressures, Troutman escaped. In high school, Troutman’s half-brother was shot, and just two weeks ago, his cousin was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

‘I didn’t want to be like everyone else back home,’ Troutman said. ‘I wanted to be productive with my life.’

And he has been. The college degree he earned last spring was his family’s first.

On the court, Troutman is averaging career highs of 14.1 points and 8.3 rebounds this season. He played a large role on Pitt’s NCAA Tournament teams of the last three years and continues to show proficiency in all aspects of the game – scoring, rebounding, passing and most notably, defending.

‘I really attribute the discipline (Troutman) has on the basketball court to all those situations that happened to him in life,’ said Mike Bailey, Troutman’s head coach at Williamsport Area High School.

The person most responsible for his success in basketball, though, is Matt Johnson, Troutman’s assistant coach at Williamsport Area, now an assistant coach at Penn College in Williamsport.

Johnson’s friendship with Troutman took off in the summer after seventh grade, when Troutman first played basketball competitively. Troutman was playing for Johnson’s father on a local AAU team made up of eighth grade graduates, and Johnson was assigned to personally care for the team’s youngest member.

It was clear right away Troutman belonged out there with the older guys.

‘(Troutman) hustled a lot for young kid,’ Johnson said. ‘You usually don’t see guys that big diving for balls.’

In the process, Johnson became Troutman’s personal coach and, more importantly, an older brother figure and the second most prominent adult figure in his life besides his father.

Over the rest of that summer and summers to come, Johnson took Troutman to any tournament or camp they could find.

But that took money.

‘(Troutman) worked on my family’s milk route,’ Johnson said. ‘That was from 3 a.m. to noon every day of the week (in the summer) so he could afford to go on the trips on the weekends.’

For the next five-and-a-half years, Johnson was the closest person to Troutman. Troutman led Williamsport Area to the state championship in his junior year and won Player of the Year honors in Pennsylvania his senior year.

But Troutman had a rough first year at Pitt as a redshirt. He practiced, but didn’t play in any games. For the first time in his life, Troutman was removed from the most important people near him. And Johnson blames himself for the difficulties the situation posed.

‘It may have been my fault,’ Johnson said, almost remorsefully, with a sigh. ‘Because we were together so much – I was advising him, coaching him, teaching him – I felt it was time for him to break away after high school.’

So Johnson rarely called Troutman at first, hoping he would start to get out on his own.

‘He felt he was alone,’ Johnson said. ‘He had no money to pay for calling cards or for a cell phone. And when I did call him, he was too proud to say things are terrible. He’d say, ‘You know, everything’s great.”

But playing and excelling for Pittsburgh changed his mood. Troutman’s sister enrolled at Pitt when he was a sophomore. Two years had passed since Troutman had lived with family. Now he had somebody right next door.

Furthermore, his parents have greatly improved their lives. First, there is his mom, with whom Troutman is building back a relationship. And then his father, who Johnson said has changed since watching the life his son, Chevon, has led.

Said Johnson: ‘His success has been unifying for the family.’

Published on January 26, 2005 at 12:00 pm