Pite, Sam

Samuel H. Pite

Pite was one of Yale University's greatest players in the early decades of the twentieth century. He was one of the Ivy League's top scorers when he played in the 1920s, leading Yale to the conference title in 1923. The legendary journalist, Walter Camp wrote of the two-time all-conference selection, that "Sam Pite, the brilliant Yale forward, is one of the most amazing basketball players I have ever seen in action. He has speed and basketball sense, but more important still, he seems to have an instinctive sense of direction and distance in tossing the ball. This enables him to throw baskets from any section of the floor and from almost any position. He never needs even a second to 'set' himself for a winning toss."

In an e-mail to this web site in January, 2003, Sam's grandson Andy Pite contributed the following observation: "When my grandfather was a freshman at Yale, the coach, an anti-Semite, would play my grandfather only sparingly. My grandfather left the team. The Alumni at Yale were very upset because the team did not do well. The coach was fired. The new coach (my grandfather had no intentions of playing for Yale) had to go to his house to convince him to came back and play for Yale. At that time he played for a New Haven 'semi-pro' team called the Atlas Club. The Atlas Club was a predominately Jewish team, as there were very few other outlets for Jewish athletes in the New Haven area.

"It has been said, I can't confirm it, that the 'time-line' in basketball was instituted due to my grandfather's ability to dribble the ball all over the court to maintain possession."

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Dec. 25, 1901 - d. Sept. 1980

Career Highlights:
A three-year varsity player for Yale University, Pite first appeared on the basketball court in 1922, as Yale struggled to a 4-21 record (1-9 in conference). The following year (1923), Pite stepped into a starting role and became one of the best players on the team. A forward, he became Yale's top scorer from the field and also led the Ivy League in field goals with 38 (no one else in the conference had more than 23).

Named first team All-Ivy League and All-America that year, Pite finished seventh in the conference in scoring, with a 7.6 points per game average (76 points in 10 games). The only reason he did not finish higher was because of the college rule that allowed one player on each team to shoot all free throws. Nonetheless, Pite was outstanding as he helped lead Yale to an overall record of 16-3 and the Ivy League crown with a 7-3 conference record.

In 1924, college basketball changed its rules and decided the fouled player would shoot free throws. Pite, who continued to score from the field at a terrific pace, took advantage of the opportunity to score more points and ended the season as the Ivy League's leading scorer with 99 points in 10 games (a league-leading 39 field goals and 21 free throws). Named first team All-Ivy League for the second consecutive year, he showed off his scoring prowess in a late-season game against Pennsylvania when he scored 18 of his team's 22 points in a 22-18 victory. Unfortunately, Yale was not as strong as the previous year and only had a record of 12-10 (3-7 in conference).

Origin:
Connecticut

Career Dates:
Pite played forward at Yale University, 1922-1924.

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