Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette Pitt's Levon Kendall spent the late summer playing in Europe with the Canadian national team. Click photo for larger image.

If the Pitt basketball team goes far this season, maybe Levon Kendall is precisely the tour guide to lead it.

After all, he spent part of May with two buddies driving from Vancouver, to San Francisco, to Los Angeles, to San Diego, to Las Vegas, to the Grand Canyon for an hour, and promptly back to Vancouver, 31 hours in a row.

He spent his late summer in Italy, Germany and Slovenia with the Canadian national team.

It not only means he knows how to get places, but his back is feeling up to the task of long treks.

"Had something of a normal life for a change," Kendall said yesterday of his travel-filled offseason, which ends today with the resumption of practice for Pitt and the rest of its NCAA basketball brethren.

Kendall, a 6-foot-9 senior power forward, was the fifth-leading scorer (7.0 points per game) and second-leading rebounder (5.4), shot-blocker (34) and steals (24) guy last season for the Panthers, who went 25-8 and to the NCAA tournament second round.

All of the regulars except point guard Carl Krauser return from that team, which explains why it is ranked in various dot.com preseason polls from fourth to ninth.

Coach Jamie Dixon, in a news conference yesterday to jump-start the season-opening practice, talked about the challenging non-conference schedule ahead -- including Wisconsin and Oklahoma State on the road, plus Washington at home.

Dixon talked about senior guard Antonio Graves making "great strides" and preparing himself to play more physically. He talked about Aaron Gray, Sam Young, a bigger Tyrell Biggs, and a backcourt also featuring Ronald Ramon and Levance Fields, among other contributors.

Yet the player he discussed in most detail was Kendall, a guy who contributes in far more ways than scoring.

"Levon always has been a big part of leading this team the last couple of years, to be honest," Dixon said.

Even if he doesn't look to shoot more, as his coaches have asked this season, "he still may be our best player. His rebounding, his defense, he passes, he screens. ... I've always talked about how valuable he is."

Kendall pronounced his back better and fit after seeking additional medical opinions over the summer and embarking on a new stretching regimen. It apparently was a muscle imbalance that caused Kendall such excruciating pain that he couldn't even walk at times.

Yet there he was this summer, sleeping in a tent or in the back of his buddy's truck as they explored the West, a trip the three British Columbia guys long discussed.

They drove down U.S. 101, much like Kendall's parents a flower-generation earlier. He stopped to play pickup with UCLA's Jordan Farmar and some NBA wannabes (no, ex-Pitt coach Ben Howland was out of town then).

After that, he was off to Europe with the Canadian team that played warm-up games before the World Championships, such as against Germany and Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki.

"He didn't score on me in two games," Kendall proclaimed. "I'm not claiming I could stop him every time. ... But I can play a little defense."

Among other things.