Lehigh University Athletics
Buchberger follows plan to achieve success
2/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Senior captain Dave Buchberger, the 6’4’’, 195-pound guard, will undoubtedly be remembered in Lehigh basketball history for his tremendous efforts on the court. However, the legacy he will leave behind off the court, as he heads to a professional career in Europe, is equally as important.
Buchberger was born on September 15, 1987 to a strong Christian family in Austin, Texas, where he lived for one year while his father was earning his PhD at the University of Texas in Civil and Environmental Engineering. The family relocated to Ohio after Mr. Buchberger got a job as a professor at the University of Cincinnati, and they settled in the suburbs about 30 minutes north of Cincinnati. Buchberger’s mother, meanwhile, worked as the financial director of Siemens PLM Software.
Buchberger was raised in an education-focused environment and his parents instilled in him at a young age that academia always was a priority over athletics. “My parents always encouraged me to take the hardest classes possible, and if I didn’t have good grades I couldn’t play sports,” Buchberger said.
Buchberger did not always know he was destined to play basketball. His father stands 5’8’’ and his mother 5’5’’. As Dave grew older and his height increased however, he stepped off the soccer pitch, put down his saxophone, and focused his athletic efforts on the court.
“I’ve been playing basketball year-round since about 7th grade. Basketball didn’t really become important to me until then. However from then-forward, most of my time was devoted to school work and basketball,” Buchberger said. By the eighth grade Dave was standing 5’11’’.
“I had my first glimpse of a potential future in basketball when I was in eighth grade,” he continued. “I was starting to get recruited to local high schools.”
Buchberger spent his freshman and sophomore years at St. Xavier High School, and finished his upper-class years at Sycamore High School. One of his most memorable moments as a high school athlete was when Sycamore beat their arch-rivals, Milford High School, in Dave’s senior year. During the game, the captain at the time, netted 26 points, and helped lead his school to victory.
As Buchberger’s high school days came to an end, he set his eyes on Lehigh University. “I came to Lehigh because it was a good fit in terms of an academic and athletic combination. The theme for my life,” he said.
Dave is studying Biology at Lehigh and the stress of a rigorous academic science, on top of athletic pressure, would be too stressful on most. “It’s not easy being a captain and majoring in Biology,” Buchberger said. “It’s very challenging, there is a lot of reading, a lot of studying; it’s really all about time management. Often I have less time for social things, but I am with the team all the time, we’re our own fraternity, so I don’t feel short changed. If you focus your efforts on academics and athletics, you don’t have a lot of time for other things,” he continued. “As a captain I always try to set a good example with the decisions I make and the actions I display. “
Dave often has to get up significantly earlier than his peers to maintain his outstanding 3.61 grade point average. Even with all of his intense athletic and academic demands, Dave has still managed to find love. He recently proposed to his high school sweetheart, Anna Pittman, this past December in New York City’s Central Park.
“I took Anna to New York, and we went out for a nice steak dinner on Broadway. Afterwards, we took the subway over to Central Park, and I must say Anna was not happy about being outside in the freezing cold. Although when I popped the question, it was all worth it,” Buchberger said. Pitmann, an Ohio State dentistry student, often has to succumb to Dave’s hectic schedule. They only get to see one another three-to-four times during a semester and consequently resort to web-cam usage as primary communication. Their wedding is scheduled for this summer in Cincinnati.
Aside from a wedding in the near future, Buchberger has immediate plans for playing professional basketball in Europe.
For the past two summers he has played in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and New Zealand with a program called Athletes’ in Action (AIA). Dave said that AIA uses sports as a platform for
ministry.
I’ve always wanted to give back and be affiliated with an AIA organization,” Dave said. “It’s my objective to empower people anyway possible.”
Although Buchberger is not officially signed with a team currently, he says his options are open for European play. “I plan on playing in Europe for as long as I can,” he said. “The salaries are not that bad. They’re clearly not as luxurious as the NBA, but they give you a place to stay, two meals a day, and your salary is tax-free. As long as I am smart with my money, I’ll be fine.” Pittman is going along for the Euro-trip and plans to use her dental degree to provide health care overseas.
Although it seems Dave Buchberger seems to have his life figured out, he is still focused on the Mountain Hawks’ current Patriot League schedule. “I and our seniors want to leave behind nothing more than a winning legacy. When you talk about our class, we want to be talked about as champions,” Buchberger concluded.
Story written by Matt Lazarus
