Vanderbilt junior guard Scotty Pippen Jr. says his journey to the NBA, which will begin with this summer’s draft, will be vastly different from the path taken by his father, who won six championships with the Chicago Bulls.

-- Photo By Wade Payne | Ap

The name is familiar to anyone who has followed basketball for the past 30 years or so. And there are many expectations and pressure that comes with being named Scotty Pippen Jr.

But it is something that the son of the six-time NBA champion and Hall of Fame Chicago Bulls star readily welcomes and deals with.

“I think people are always going to have expectations of me, but I wouldn’t say that it’s too much to handle,” says Pippen, a Vanderbilt University junior and the Southeastern Conference’s scoring leader with 18.9 points per game entering the week.

“I’ve always had the same name, so it’s not something that just came onto me at once. I’ve always had this pressure on me. But I’ve always used it to my advantage. I like that pressure and I embrace it, and I go at it every day like that.

“He gave me the name for a reason. He knew there was going to be some pressure behind it. But every day he tells me to work hard and focus on myself. The other stuff comes with it, but we really don’t talk too much about the name and all that, because I’m used to it.”

For one thing, the younger Pippen stands 6-3, some 5 inches shorter than his famous father. But the younger Pippen will take the biggest step in his father’s shoes when he enters the NBA Draft this summer.

Pippen put his name in the draft last year, but decided to return to Vandy for one more season with the Commodores.

“This is going to be my last year. That would be ideal,” Pippen says. “I kind of went through that whole process last year. I got the feedback I needed and it was good for me as a sophomore and an underclassman to how see the whole process works, to see how all the programs set you up for the draft, conditioning-wise, strength-wise and various drills.

“It was good for me to go last year and see the process. I think this year I’ll be more prepared for it.”

Pippen says his father offered advice. But, he adds, the process is very different from when his father, who played at Central Arkansas, joined the Bulls, and he is ready to create his own path.

“My dad helped me more through the process as a parent,” he says. “He was in the draft about 30 years ago, so the process has changed since he got drafted. He told me the process was different from when he got drafted, and he really couldn’t tell me how it was going to be really.

“The workouts and stuff were all different in his time. We have different paths. My dad went to college for four years, so when he was going into the draft, teams knew he was coming out, and he signed with an agent and everything. Last year, I was kind of undecided about going back to school or staying in the draft, and I didn’t have an agent. So it was a little bit of a different path for both of us.”

As a freshman, Pippen averaged 12 points per game for Vanderbilt, playing much of his time at point guard and operating in the shadow of Saban Lee and, for a short time, Aaron Nesmith. Last year, he blossomed, scoring 20.8 points per game.

With the regular season winding down, Pippen has averaged 18.9 points per game. But the payoff in that is that the Commodores have become more competitive of late (13-11, 5-7 in the SEC) after struggling in the SEC his first two years with a 20-37 combined record and only six conference wins.

Pippen has been given plenty of responsibility and plenty of freedom in his time with Vandy. Coach Jerry Stackhouse, he says, provided that from the beginning.

“Since I’ve been here, Coach Stackhouse has been telling me this is my team, and he gave me the keys to the car, and that’s pretty much what he’s been preaching to me. I embraced that, and I take pride in that,” Pippen explains.

“My role has changed over the years. My first year, I was a distributor, but I also could score with the ball. Last year with losing some players, I became more of a scorer, and just controlling the game more coming into my third year. It’s my team, and I take pride in that and want to lead these guys in the right way.”

Stackhouse says his star guard has matured both physically and in his all-around game.

“Scotty’s developed at an unbelievable rate, and he’s gotten better every year,’’ Stackhouse says.

“When he started out, he had Saban Lee in there and Aaron Nesmith for the early part of his freshman season. It changed when Aaron went out. He had to become more of a scorer, but he was a facilitator (as a freshman),” Stackhouse adds. “He’s gotten so much stronger. Looking at some old footage, it’s amazing just how much he’s matured, from facial hair, to his body from the weight room.”

The changes have also been noticeable in his ability to absorb basketball knowledge, something Stackhouse says should continue to improve even after he leaves Vandy.

“He’s been a sponge. He’s still got room to grow. That’s the great thing about Scotty, he’s just scratching the surface of what I think he can become as a basketball player,” Stackhouse says. “He just has a great feel, a great knack, great footwork for a guard in the paint. That really helps him draw fouls and do different things for us.”

Pippen has the experience of both his father and Stackhouse to draw on as he prepares for a pro career, and uses that to his advantage. But he also indicated that he still has a little unfinished business as a Commodore. He’d like to get a taste of the NCAA tournament this year, even though that would be an unlikely, SEC Tournament-winning run to do so.

“Coach Stack knows. He and my dad are close. They talk a lot of the time, and having played in the NBA, they know the pressure of trying to make it to the NBA as well as having the name. He’s been there to help me try to reach my goals,” Pippen says. “My goal is to make the NBA, and for the end of this year, to finish strong and get a shot at the tournament. That’s my main goal. We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but I think if we finish strong and get a little bit of luck in our favor, I think we can do that. So I’m doing all I can and trying to make it to that next level.”

Stackhouse knows that tournament or not, replacing Pippen next year will not be an easy task.

“With basketball, and players in general, no matter what level, high school, college, pros, they’re all fungible assets. You’re going to have to replace them at some point,” Stackhouse notes. “There’s going to be the next guy that’s going to come in and bring some intangibles that Scotty has, or is going to bring something totally different.

“Every team is built differently. You kind of go into each season and look at your personnel, your strengths and weaknesses.

“But you look at his production and his usage, and it’s going to be really tough for us to replace him.”