Gorman Pitt catcher has last laugh

Kevan Smith can only chuckle when he hears people say that thebest quarterback on Pitt's campus spends his days squatting behindhome plate instead of taking snaps under center.Selected to the All-Big East baseball team this week for thesecond consecutive season, this time unanimously, the 6-foot-4,240-pound quarterback-turned-catcher has the look of a major-leagueprospect. Smith is batting a Big East-best .407 with 11 home runsand 56 RBI ? including three solo shots in the first two games ofthe Big East tournament ? while showing off his "plus-plus" armstrength and athleticism.The fifth-year senior from Seneca Valley has no regrets aboutsigning with Pitt for football, even if the decision tobypass baseball out of high school probably cost him a six-figuresigning bonus. Former Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt mightfeel differently, as his handling of quarterbacks contributed tohis eventual firing."I'll think about it ? I was supposed to be a top-five-rounderin baseball ? and wonder what could have been," Smith said by phoneThursday from the Big East tourney in Clearwater, Fla. "But I gotto play football and use that scholarship toget an education and then play baseball. It probably cost me somemoney, but having my (marketing) degree will help down theroad."This is what Smith envisioned when he switched sports midwaythrough his college career, not that it didn'tcome without setbacks. Football got off to a promisingstart against Grambling in 2007, when he passed for the most yards(202) in a starting debut by a Pitt freshman ? including DanMarino.That game was the high point. Smith soon saw his starting statusslip away, along with a perfectly placed pass. At Michigan Statethe following week, Smith threw two interceptions ? one a pick-six? and watched wide receiver Oderick Turner drop his throw for thego-ahead touchdown.The low point didn't come until the next season.Wannstedt told Smith he would start for the injured Bill Stullat Notre Dame, and Smith took the majority of first-teamrepetitions in practice. When the Panthers arrived in South Bend,however, Pat Bostick got the starting nod ? only to use Smith onthe second series, which started at the Irish 20. On first down, hethrew incomplete. On second down, Pitt ran the wildcat with LeSeanMcCoy. On third down, Smith was sacked.Pitt settled for a field goal, and Smith never saw the fieldagain."That was the turn," said Smith, who had only started 12 gamesat Seneca Valley because of a broken wrist his junior year. "When(the coaches) did that to me ? had me starting the whole week, thenhad me play only two plays ? that showed they had no confidence inme."By the time Wannstedt demoted Smith to fourth string and askedhim to change positions after the season,tera gold, Smith was contemplating adifferent move. It was the same one made a quarter-century earlierby Chris Jelic, the former Mt. Lebanon quarterback who also playedcatcher at Pitt and was drafted in the second round by the KansasCity Royals in 1985.Where Tino Sunseri struggled in his first season as starter lastfall, Smith developed into a star under baseball coach Joe Jordano.He ranked among the Big East leaders in hits, runs, doubles,triples, RBI and on-base and slugging percentage this spring."That's what scouts like about me," said Smith, who also had 10stolen bases. "They see more power in my swing, a lot of upside inmy talent. ... Every guy says I have top-five or top-10-roundtalent, but I'm a senior and don't have a lot of leverage."What Smith does have is the experience of starting at two major-college sports, of knowing that hehas faced adversity and overcome it. Those are things that won'tshow up in scouting reports but do when he looks in the mirror.That's where Kevan Smith has the last laugh.