PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It's hard to go to the Petersen Events Center, Acrisure Stadium, any Pitt event and not see Sam Clancy. Now one of the school's greatest ambassador's is having his number retired.
Pitt basketball players will no longer wear the number 15 as announced by Panthers basketball coach Jeff Capel between the first and second quarter of the football game against Cal Saturday at Acrisure Stadium with the entire current basketball roster and coaching staff there to celebrate with Clancy.
A four-year starter from 1977-81, Clancy averaged a double-double over his career, 14.4 points and 11.6 rebounds. He remains the only Pitt player to score more than 1,000 points (1,671 12th in Pitt history) and 1,000 rebounds (1,362 tops in Pitt history). Clancy also won a gold medal in the 1979 Pan American Games for head coach Bobby Knight, who would grow fond of the Pittsburgh native.
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Clancy would not play in the NBA, even though he was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 1981 and played a season in the CBA. In 1982, even though he never played college football, Clancy was drafted by the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. He would play in the USFL and then 10 seasons with the Seattle, the Browns and Colts.
After coaching in professional football, Clancy came home and served as the Panthers football strength and conditioning assistant before becoming the director of the Pitt Varsity Letter Club.
