Sam Young vs Justin Champagnie Debate
- Thread starter TheSpecialSauce
- Start date
As sophomores? No point in making that comparison. Sam only averaged 17 minutes a game as a sophomore.
Sam Young is the best Pitt players since the 2000s. Champ is playing well but he has a ways to go yet.
ETA: I love Champ. He's great! I hope he's the best Pitt player ever. But until he is, everyone knows my unabashed Sam Young favoritism. So I view this comparison as blasphemous!
Sam Young is the best Pitt players since the 2000s. Champ is playing well but he has a ways to go yet.
ETA: I love Champ. He's great! I hope he's the best Pitt player ever. But until he is, everyone knows my unabashed Sam Young favoritism. So I view this comparison as blasphemous!
I'm not ready to say Champ has a higher ceiling yet. He rebounds better than Young but has nowhere near the ability (yet) to stretch the floor like Sam. That being said, Sam's 3pt shooting took a huge jump between his sophomore and junior year so I'm not ruling out a similar bump.
I think we're all forgetting just how dominate Sam was. He hung around the NBA for a few years. I see Champ as a great college player right now. I don't see him as an NBA player unless he learns to shoot. He would get absolutely abused by NBA forwards.
The best I can say is that I thought @PittPoker was insane when he made this comparison last year. This year, I'm willing to entertain the discussion!
Yeah if I recall you crucified me with that comparison lol. I wasn't far off. I can't even imagine how awesome Champagnie will be as a senior. Especially if he works on his 3 point shooting.
I still think you're wrong. Just not AS wrong as you were last year!
If Champ improved the next 2 years the way Sam did at that age, there won’t be a comparison.
But that’s part of what made Sam special -found a new high year after year.
But that’s part of what made Sam special -found a new high year after year.
I think Justin is clearly a much better player as a sophomore than Sam was as a sophomore. And, he probably is a better player as a sophomore than Sam was as a junior. That leap Sam made between junior and senior year was quite large and he already was an All-Big East performer. Not sure if/when Justin will get to that quality level though he has a lot more time in life overall to get there as I think Sam played his senior year at Pitt at 24 years old while Justin is 19 now.
He'll get there. My prediction next season he will be knocking down 3's at a nice clip to go along with everything else he does well.
Sam was 23 (going on 30) his senior year
So is we truly mean “at the same age”, Champ is way ahead
So is we truly mean “at the same age”, Champ is way ahead
Did you see the game today? Champ showed that same explosiveness that Young had and I didn't know Champ had. Coming off of an injury. Like I told some friends, thank god his jumper range rivals mine nowadays, because if he had one, he would definitely be an NBA draft pick after this year. Hopefully he stays another year to work on that and handle.
He's definitely explosive. But I just don't see the defense and shooting right now to be an NBA player. That's not a knock on him at all. He's projecting to be an incredible college player.
If he somehow starts defending better and shooting 38-40% then we're talking a different story.
I know. I guess when I said that, I was surprised by how quickly he got up today. But yeah, he needs to improve shooting definitely and quickness/handle. Which isn't all bad because I would selfishly like to see him on this team next year which looks like it should be a pretty damn good team.
And just to be absolutely clear, I LOVE Champs game. I think he's GREAT. And like I told @PittPoker, you can't deny his numbers or his impact. But Sam Young was one of the five or six best players to ever play at Pitt and he was just a second round guy who was in and out in five or so years.
Now Champ is younger and that always helps in the league. But I just don't see the shooting or defense yet. He's nowhere near able to play SG so he's having to guard LeBron, Kawhi, Paul George, etc.
All this being said, I saw one HS game two years ago and came away very unimpressed and he made me eat my words so I hope he does it again here.
Yeah you mention high school, he wasn't even a top 200 recruit was he? We pretty much hit the jackpot with him didn't we?
I took a one credit volleyball filler class my senior year up at Trees in 2006. It was during the middle of the day for two hour sessions, twice a week. Sam Young was in there almost every single day shooting for hours by himself. Dude had a serious work ethic.
Last edited:
I think so. I believe he was top 150 and when he reclassified he fell out. My memory is hazy though.
I want to again reiterate that I LOVE his game and love rooting for him. I'm not trying to rain on the parade. Just talking about him in the context of the NBA and my absolute hands down all time favorite Pitt Panther.
Well.....I said in another thread on how unimpressed I was with Hunter Dickinson and thought he was a 4 year project ala Aaron Gray and he's tearing it up for Michigan.
But....no one missed on Dickinson. Many people missed on Champ. And it seems like many missed on Femi Okudale too.
Seriously I hope I’m wrong. Both guys remind me so much of the type of player that made Pitt a mainstay in the top 25 for a decade.
I specifically remember having this exchange with you. We both agreed that Pitt should live in the 75-150 range like we did for a decade. And that we hoped Capel would have better luck closing on those one or two too 25-50 guys that would get Pitt over the hump into the FF.
Maybe I’m being a prisoner of the moment, but I see that core of too 150 guys (plus smart under the radar guys) coming together. Time for Capel to bring in that one piece we need.
I agreed with you on Dickinson. I never thought he'd be this good early.
I liked Femi immediately from tapes.
I had no clue Champ would be like this.
This is credit to the coaches. We are seeing a trend of talent evaluation and coaching.
When things keep happening like this, it's not an outlier, it's skill.
There’s no arguing whose the better rebounder by numbers , but I think it’s prudent to remember that anyone’s numbers would suffer mightily playing alongside Blair .
Justin is really making a mark for himself and if he continues to improve he will be in the conversation for the best handful of Pitt players . Sam‘s level is attainable, doubt that he’ll equal the impact of Billy Knight , Charles Smith , Blair or Shorter . Hope he does though !
For all the critics of coach JC recruiting Justin was rated 247th best prospect coming out of hs !
Justin is really making a mark for himself and if he continues to improve he will be in the conversation for the best handful of Pitt players . Sam‘s level is attainable, doubt that he’ll equal the impact of Billy Knight , Charles Smith , Blair or Shorter . Hope he does though !
For all the critics of coach JC recruiting Justin was rated 247th best prospect coming out of hs !
BOOO this post. Young was a more important player to that 08-09 team than Blair. You slander him by not putting him in the same category.
Pretty sure he was ranked much higher than that but dropped because he moved up a year.
Or when I was the first to say Champ was best player on the team. U laughed and just said No.
False.
Also false. Champ helps raise Pitt's ceiling. X is more important and a better player in determining its floor.
Sam’s one of my all time favorite Panthers , but the addition of Blair was what made that team . That’s no slight on Sam .
I believe he would have been more like top 100 had he not reclassified.
If Champ can become a 35% three point shooter, he can get a job as an NBA three. If he would improve his shot and handle a great deal, he would be an extremely interesting prospect as an NBA two. At the moment, he doesn't seem to have an NBA position.
Before that, he was a great athlete who was an OK basketball player.
I was told by someone on the staff that they figured he probably took 20,000 3 point practice shots that summer.
Absolutely. Just right now he's not quite good enough to be a 3 and D guy and so I don't quite see a fit yet. When I think of those guys I think of Danny Green, who shot almost 42% from 3 his senior year.
It was the same for me. I was kind of the first guy to really dig into Femi's film and evaluate him. I LOVED his prep game, and the huge leap forward that he had made adding inches to his height and his biceps. The passing game in tight was just so impressive - and he was simply a thug around the basket. So tough to stop.
I really couldn't get a read of any kind on Justin. I watched some of his games and I just I couldn't figure it out. Looked like he might be a good player eventually, but I wasn't sure.
Last edited:
Until I see Champ do a backflip and play the piano I am still going with Sam in this debate.
