Gary McGhee had almost as many personal fouls as points in his first two seasons at Pitt. He scored 69 points while racking up 49 fouls as the backup to All-American DeJuan Blair.

That kind of point-to-foul ratio did little to enhance McGhee's resume as Pitt's starting center this season. Then again, four years ago another little-known junior who was better known for fouling than dominating the opposition had a similar start to his career, and it turned OK.

Aaron Gray averaged just 3.4 points per game in his first two seasons at Pitt before breaking out his junior season with a double-double average of 13.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. The 7-foot Gray used his dominant junior and senior seasons as a springboard to the NBA, where he recently signed his second contract with the Chicago Bulls.

This is not to suggest that McGhee is the next Gray, but there has been evidence through the first six games that he will be more than a serviceable player for the Panthers.

McGhee, a 6-foot-10 junior, is averaging 8.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and has posted double-doubles in the past two games. The first came against No. 3 Texas when he outplayed Longhorns center Dexter Pittman, who is expected to be an NBA draft pick next summer.

McGhee had 11 points and 10 rebounds while Pittman had 10 points and one rebound in the Longhorns' 78-62 victory. On Saturday against Youngstown State, McGhee had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

McGhee's production might be a surprise to the casual observer, but not to the coaching staff.

"We had a lot of confidence in him," Dixon said. "You can see him getting better and better. I always talked to him about taking that step. All of a sudden, it snowballs once you get some confidence. We're seeing that now with Gary. I talked to him about it when it happened to Aaron."

Gray's big improvement was part of the reason McGhee decided to come to Pitt. McGhee was not a highly recruited player out of Anderson, Ind., but he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Gray, who also was not highly recruited coming out of high school.

"I looked up to [Gray]," McGhee said. "I saw him play at Pitt. I saw him come along. They told me when they were recruiting me that he was a guy who didn't do too much early on, but he worked real hard and became the Big East's most improved player and an all-league player. That was something that drew me to the University of Pittsburgh."

His first two seasons did not produce many highlights. Outside of Pittsburgh he is probably best known for a unique feat achieved in last season's memorable victory against No. 1 Connecticut. McGhee played less than a minute in the game, but he made quite an impression on the national television audience in that short period of time.

McGhee committed three fouls in one second, which might be a record in college basketball. He fouled a Connecticut player, then fouled on the ensuing in-bounds play, then fouled when that player went to the free-throw line.

That performance gave him a nickname among his teammates.

"The guys always give me trouble about that," McGhee said with a smile. "They always call me 'Guinness Book of World Records.' "

That memory might fade if McGhee continues to play the way he has. The coaching staff recruited McDonald's All-American Dante Taylor with the idea that he would replace Blair when he left early for the NBA. But McGhee has done more than hold off Taylor. He has outplayed him to solidify his position on the team.

"I thought whenever DeJuan left I'd have to take my game to the next level," McGhee said. "When he left I started working even harder on my game. And with Dante coming in that most definitely pushed me. I knew I was going to have to work hard because he was going to be ready for minutes. He's a McDonald's All-American. That's the top 24 players in the nation. I knew he was going to be good. I knew I had to better my game or I wouldn't be getting any minutes."

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