UT's Pittman on his nickname, Wal-Mart and an absurd transformation

Dexter Pittman has became far more aggressive around the rim in his senior season for the Longhorns. John Albright/Icon SMI

The latest subject of our hoops Q&A series is Texas center Dexter Pittman, who's off to an impressive start in his senior season, averaging 13.6 points and 6.1 rebounds in just 19.8 minutes per game.

He arrived in Austin in the same 2006 recruiting class with Kevin Durant, but weighed more than 390 pounds and played sparingly in his first two seasons. In four years in Austin, the 6-foot-10 Pittman has undergone a miracle transformation, slimming down to near 290 pounds and establishing himself as the anchor in the paint for the second- ranked Longhorns, who are 8-0 and have big tests looming against North Carolina and Michigan State. The following is an edited transcript of our conversation:

Luke Winn: Can you tell me the origin of the nickname Sexy Dexy? I was watching the Long Beach State game (on Dec. 7) and an announcer suggested that you might have made it up. Figured I'd give you a chance to set the record straight.

Dexter Pittman: The nickname originally came from the women's basketball team, the summer before my freshman year. I'd be the only male basketball player in the weight room early in the mornings, when they were there, and they saw how hard I was working. They commented on how my body was changing, and one of them said, "You're getting sexy!" All the girls were like, "Yeah!" -- and one came out said, "Sexy Dexy!" That's where the name came from. I was just a pup then, and Kevin wasn't even on campus yet, because he was still playing All-American stuff.

LW: Who were the key players involved in that -- and was either a future girlfriend?

DP: It was Mariana Mergerson and Kristin Nash. I did date Mariana a little bit. We're still like best friends.

LW: Why is your Twitter account Big_Pitt instead of Sexy_Dexy? I thought that would be a natural handle.

DP: I didn't want people to think I was conceited.

LW: I wanted to ask you about a few Tweets. One said that you had Twitter activated on three phones. Really?

DP: I love phones like women love shoes. Even if they're not on -- I just want to have them around. I'm known on the team to have the best phones. Like, if the iPhone is out, I get it before any one of my teammates. And then they be getting on me, like, "Man, you change numbers more than anybody I know! I'm not even saving yours in my phone!" I have the iPhone right now, but I love Blackberries, so I got the Storm and the Curve, and I don't know which one I want to give up yet.

LW: Why this phone obsession?

DP: I think phones are the backbone of this generation, communication-wise, the way we stay in touch with family and friends. And I love technology. My dream was always to be an engineer or something when I got older. When I was a little boy I didn't think about playing basketball, I dreamed about building computers and robots. ... When I was seven, if the VCR broke, my grandma would tell me to fix it, and I'd take it apart and put it back together. Or I'd go to one of my neighbors' houses and fix their TV. I love taking things apart and putting them back to together.

LW: The other Tweet was about your love for Wal-Mart. You said it's "my favorite place and it's the place to be." That's a serious thing?

DP: Oh my god. If I could live in Wal-Mart, I'd live there. Do you know that movie Where The Heart Is? It's the one where the lady has a baby in Wal-Mart, and stays in Wal-Mart. That's one of my favorite movies because of that scene.

Wal-Mart is a great store. If I get rich, I want to buy one, because it has everything. You don't have to go anywhere else. I'd rather go to Wal-Mart than the mall. I had an addiction where I was going to Wal-Mart every day to buy something, but I calmed down. I haven't been there in two weeks -- that's why I don't have any food in my fridge.

I'm scared I'm going to go there and blow all my money. Because I'd stop in the electronics department and buy a Blue-ray or something, and I'd get home and be like, why did I just buy this?

LW: Seems like it got a little out of hand.

DP: I was going every day. It was crazy. I'd even get mad when someone would say something about Target. I'd be like, "I hate Target, don't talk about Target." Wal-Mart is so much better. I want to go there right now, now that we're talking about it.

If you watch CNBC, they've been showing a special about Wal-Mart. I've watched that probably three times. It talks about the communities where they build stores, their prices, their stock, all that.

LW: When did this obsession start?

DP: My grandma used to always take me there when I was younger. It's a superstore ... and that's another reason I like Wal-Mart: It's so big, I feel small there.