'Burgh's Best to Wear It, No. 0/00: Brian Shorter rebounded from Prop 48 to make impact at Pitt

The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.

No. 0/00: Brian Shorter

Compiling the best players ever to wear number 0 or 00 jerseys in a sports city typically is a short list.

In Pittsburgh, it’s a Shorter list.

As in former Pitt basketball player Brian Shorter.

A 6-foot-6 forward, Shorter was a three-year starter at Pitt from 1988-91. He was a first-team All-Big East selection in his first two seasons with the Panthers and a second-team pick in his third.

Shorter, though, didn’t step onto the court immediately for the Panthers after arriving in 1987 as a Parade All-American. He struggled academically at Simon Gratz in Philadelphia and transferred to Oak Hill (Va.) Academy for his senior year so he could improve his grades.

Shorter still didn’t meet the minimum 700 SAT score to qualify academically at Pitt, so he had to sit out a year because of controversial Proposition 48, which was enacted two years earlier. It cost Shorter a year of eligibility and kept him from playing for a second-seeded Panthers team that lost to Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Shorter didn’t disappoint once he gained eligibility in the 1988-89 season. He led Pitt in scoring (19.6 ppg) and rebounding (9.6 rpg) and was named Big East Freshman of the Year. A highlight was his 37-point, 12-rebound performance in Pitt’s 99-91 victory against No. 3 Oklahoma.

“I think I proved myself pretty well,” Shorter said.

Shorter improved to 20.6 points per game the next season, finishing third in the conference behind Syracuse’s Derrick Coleman and Georgetown’s Dikembe Mutombo.

Shorter slumped to 13.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in his third season. Pitt made the NCAA Tournament for the second time in his three seasons, but again lost in the second round.

Out of eligibility, Shorter went undrafted by the NBA but embarked on a career overseas that spanned two decades. Shorter spent much of his time in Italy before retiring in 2010 at age 42.

When Shorter left Pitt, his 1,633 points were eighth on the school’s all-time scoring list and now rank No. 13.

Other athletes to pass through Pittsburgh have worn 0 or 00 but not for extended periods of time or with any tangible success.

• For the Pirates, there’s shortstop U.L. Washington in 1986 and catcher Junior Ortiz in 1989.

Each wore zero. Pitchers Joe Page (1954) and Rick White (2005) tried out zero squared for one season apiece.

• The Penguins never had a player wear either sweater number, and the Steelers had just two: quarterback Johnny Clement (00, 1946-48) and running back Jack Collins (0, 1962).

Clement was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in 1941, then missed four years because of military service. He resurfaced with the Steelers for three years.

In 1947, the Steelers went 8-4 and made the playoffs for the only time prior to 1972. Clement started four games in the regular season. He came off the bench in a 21-0 divisional playoff loss to Philadelphia and completed just 4 of 16 passes for 52 yards. He started one last game for the Steelers in 1948.

Collins, a running back from Texas, was the Steelers’ seventh-round pick in 1962. He also was drafted by the AFL’s Houston Oilers that year. Although he is listed on the team’s all-time roster, there is no evidence he ever appeared in a game for the Steelers.

Check out the entire ’Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.