DeJuan Blair

He officially announced his decision to attend Pitt at the Ammons Recreation Center, where his basketball journey began, and became the first City League player to play for Pitt since Darelle Porter from 1987 to 1991.

Blair became the starter during his freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh.

He made the All-American Freshman team, helping the Panthers win the Big East Conference tournament and securing a fourth seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Panthers won their first-round game against Oral Roberts, but lost in the second round to fifth-seeded Michigan State.

Blair was named the Big East Co-Rookie of the Year, earned All-Big East honorable mention honors, and was named the Big East Rookie of the Week three times.

He also set Pitt freshman school records for most starts (36), rebounds (337), and field goals made (168), and became the first freshman in Pitt history to finish with 400+ points and 300+ rebounds.

DeJuan Lamont Blair (born April 22, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player.

He played college basketball for the Pittsburgh Panthers from 2007 to 2009.

Blair led Schenley to the 2007 PIAA Class 4A state championship, the first state title for a City League team since 1978; in the final against Chester, he had 18 points, 23 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots.

He was also named Pittsburgh City League Player of the year three times.

Blair also played in the summer leagues at Pittsburgh's Kennard Park and played a championship game in which his team played against a team led by future Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who was also a highly regarded basketball prospect.

After two surgeries during his high school years, Blair was left without any anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) in his knees.

Blair was heavily recruited coming out of high school.

Besides Pitt, other schools pursuing him included Florida, Kansas State, Indiana, Marquette, Miami, West Virginia, Wake Forest, and Tennessee.

His parents admitted that if they had their way, Blair would have gone to Tennessee because they liked the Volunteers' coach Bruce Pearl, and thought it would be a good idea for their son to leave the city.

Blair himself had problems making up his mind; while considering as many as 18 different scholarship offers, he was so confused that one day he threw his cell phone across a room, breaking it.

However, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon recognized the importance of Blair's maternal grandmother, Donna Saddler, who had played a major role in his upbringing, and on the first day he was allowed to contact Blair, he called Saddler, asking to come to her house.

She told Dixon that they were having a family reunion at the house that day, and invited him to come, which he did.

When Dixon was down to his last scholarship in the 2007 recruiting cycle, he called her, telling her that Blair would need to take the scholarship at that time.

In the end, Saddler made the decision for him, telling him "Pitt is it."

She liked Dixon and the proximity of her home to the school.

Also, she was well aware that Pitt would be losing starting center Aaron Gray to graduation, which would have made Blair a likely candidate to start if he attended.

Both of his parents played basketball at Schenley High School, which was located in North Oakland/Schenley Heights until 2008, and his uncle ran the nearby Ammons Recreation Center, where he learned to play the game.

Blair attended the same school as his parents, Schenley High School.

While there, he played for the basketball team and scored 1,563 career points and finished with an overall 103–16 team record, including a 57–0 record within the Pittsburgh City League.

He was named the AP player of the state and made first-team all-state his junior and senior year.

In the 2008–09 season, Blair helped Pittsburgh earn a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.

Blair and Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet shared co-Big East Player of the Year honors for the 2008–09 season.

He was a consensus first-team All-American selection by the Associated Press, USBWA and The Sporting News.

Blair entered the 2009 NBA draft where he was selected as the 37th overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs.

He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 7 seasons with the Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Washington Wizards.

Blair also played in the NBA Development League and overseas in Russia, China and Argentina.

The oldest of four children (one of whom died in infancy), Blair grew up in Pittsburgh's Hill District.

Although he was the smallest of his siblings at birth, he was the largest child in his class by the time that he started at Manchester Academic Charter School, where he attended kindergarten through eighth grade.

He also made the NABC's second team and finished tied for second with Tyler Hansborough (two votes each) for the 2009 Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, an award which was won by the eventual first overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, Blake Griffin (66 votes).

In April 2009, Blair declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final two years of college eligibility.

On June 25, 2009, Blair was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with 37th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft.

His stock fell because of questions surrounding his durability and knee surgeries.

On July 17, he signed a four-year deal with the Spurs.

In his first NBA game, he posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes against the New Orleans Hornets on October 28, thus becoming just the third Spurs rookie, along with David Robinson and Tim Duncan, to record a double-double in his debut with the team.