FAIRLESS HILLS - Dalton Pepper allowed himself just the trace of a grin when the subject of his deadly jump shot came up in conversation.
So, how many shots does he take a day? Two hundred or perhaps 300?
“This summer, I used the shooting machine, and I probably shot 500 to 1,500 shots a day,” the Pennsbury senior said.
That is just a small window into a regiment that has taken Pepper to the top of his sport.
“A lot of players will come in and go to the workouts you have all year, and that’s going to help them,” Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla said. “But I’ve always believed it’s what we do when no one’s watching that determines what we’re going to be.
“No one will ever say he succeeds just based on talent. He gets where he is because of the time he puts in.”
Pepper is a relentless worker who lives with the singular dream of one day playing in the NBA.
On Wednesday morning with his parents – Jack and Cheryl Pepper – as well as his coaches looking on, Pepper took the first step toward realizing that dream when he signed a letter of intent to play basketball at West Virginia University.
“I chose West Virginia for multiple reasons,” he said after expressing gratitude to his family, coaches and teammates. “I like the academic situation they had to offer me. I felt comfortable with the coaching staff, and I really liked the way they run things.
“Also, the players were all nice and explained how much they enjoyed playing for Coach (Bob) Huggins. Finally, I figured it was the best situation for me to get on the court quickest for a team that is contending for a national title and for a coach who can prepare me for the next level, wherever that is.”
Pepper made a verbal commitment to West Virginia on July 18.
“It just took so much off my back,” he said. “It was relieving. It felt good.”
There was also a feeling of relief in Morgantown where coach Huggins and his staff had been following Pepper for three years.
"His work ethic and his passion for the game are really what attracted us," said West Virginia assistant Billy Hahn, the lead recruiter for Pepper. "He loves to be in the gym, he loves to get better, and he's always in the weight room. We just feel there are so many intangibles.
"We also liked his versatility - he rebounds, passes, shoots, and he can go to the rim and finish. He does a lot of things."
Wednesday’s signing brought to an official end a recruiting war to land the gifted shooting guard’s talents that began when he received his first letter of interest in eighth grade.
“I was pretty excited when I got it,” he said.
Pepper chose West Virginia over an impressive list that included Villanova, Temple, Miami, Wake Forest and Seton Hall.
“He’s a young man who’s had this goal for a long time,” Sciolla said. “Sometimes it doesn’t work out, and that’s what made this all the more special.”
According to those who know him best, Pepper could have generated as much interest in two other sports had he not elected to focus on basketball.
“He’s a kid who could have been a first day Major League draft choice as a pitcher, and he could be having BCS type schools looking at him to play quarterback,” former Falcon assistant coach Leon Nazian said. “He’s that type of athlete, but basketball is where his passion is.
“You knew when he was in sixth grade and he was playing with the kids who were in eighth and ninth that there was something special there.”
Sciolla - who Pepper credits for his development as well as helping with the recruiting process - tells the story of two talented eighth grade basketball players, one of whom was Dalton Pepper.
“When he was in eighth grade, there was another kid in our school district who was compared to him – very athletic, similar size,” the Falcons’ coach said. “They said, ‘These two could both be Division One players.’
“This other young man went to a local school – didn’t come here – and is a very nice boy but is not going to play Division One basketball. He was just as athletic as Dalton. The difference is Dalton’s preparation and how much time he spends on his game and how he goes about it the right way.
“It took him out of the category of being talented or precocious when he was younger to accomplished and a leader.”
Pepper’s resume is a dazzling one.
A first team all-SOL player since he was a freshman, he was the National Conference Player of the Year in 2008. He is a three-time Bucks County Courier Times Golden Team member and was the newspaper’s Player of the Year in 2008. In 2008, he was an AP first team all-state selection after earning second team honors as a junior.
With a full season yet to play, Pepper is already the second all-time leading scorer and third all-time leading rebounder in Pennsbury history. He trails Bucknell guard Jason Vegostsky (Pennsbury ’05) by 20 points for the scoring lead.
Last season, Pepper – who can bury shots from just about anywhere beyond the midcourt stripe - broke his father’s 28-yard old record by scoring 746 points in a single season. He had one of the five best rebounding seasons in school history, pulling down 317 rebounds for an average of 9.6 per game.
“He rebounds really well, he can post up, and he finishes at the rim,” Sciolla said. “People who don’t know him look at his picture and think he looks like a taller version of Opie Taylor. They don’t understand how athletic he is.
“He gets a form of reverse prejudice on the national scene until you see him play, until he dunks on you.”
During Pepper’s three years as a varsity starter, the Falcons have experienced unprecedented success. They have won three consecutive National Conference titles, compiling a 42-0 record in league play during that span.
The Falcons have averaged 26.5 wins a year the last three years, and Pepper’s teams have reached the PIAA playoffs in each of those years, including the Final Four last year. The 2008 Falcons set a new school record with 30 wins, which included a 23-1 regular season mark.
Pepper was the catalyst to Pennsbury’s success.
“Dalton is very physical,” Sciolla said. “He’s very strong, and he can play outside, or he can play inside, but most of all, he wants to win.
“If you ranked the number one skill that he has, it would be competitiveness – if that can be considered a skill.”
At West Virginia, Pepper is expected to play shooting guard, filling in the spot that will be vacated with the graduation of Alex Ruoff. Last year, the Mountaineers advanced to the Sweet 16, but Pepper's decision was about a whole lot more than basketball.
"Dalton came out here with his mom and dad, and once they met with our academic people and had a chance to interact with our players that were here for the summer sessions - the whole family thought it was a good fit," Hahn said. "I think they felt very comfortable, not only with the basketball but with the academic part. I think they liked everything about it. It was a good relationship that developed with all of us."
Sciolla believes it will be a perfect fit academically, athletically and socially.
“Dalton is a quiet guy,” the Falcons’ coach said. “Dalton can hang with any type of person, but he’s more an average Joe type of guy.
“Academically, West Virginia will make sure he’s able to succeed. Coach Huggins’ style is a style Dalton likes – he’s intense, he’s a guy who demands his guys play very physical.
“Socially, Dalton, his father and his family are more Tim McGraw than they are Ludicras and 50 Cent.”
Pepper has handled life in the spotlight with quiet class.
“We have been lucky,” Sciolla said. “The last three kids that were major stars here in basketball – unless you knew they were on the team, you wouldn’t know it by how they carried themselves in the hallway.
“From Dalton to Lavoy Allen, who’s at Temple now, to Torrian Jones, who played at Notre Dame – they carried themselves in a way that they didn’t want or need any special attention. “
With his signing behind him, Pepper can focus on his final high school season.
“You can just focus more on winning – not just on what you’re doing but more on the team concept,” he said. “We want to go further than last year.”
And that’s exciting news for fans of Falcon basketball.
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