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Salem's Saab learned dedication, hoops from her grandfather

Tuesday, February, 12 By Alan Siegel
Staff writer

Amanda Saab's visits to her grandfather always began with the same question.

"How's basketball?"

Even in his 80s, Bill Winn was sharp. He constantly talked hoops.

"He always said, 'Stick with it,'" Saab said. "I'll never forget that."

Winn passed away last year at 85, but he's never far from Saab's thoughts. After all, he was the one who introduced her to the game.

"He was an amazing guy," she said.

Before she was the leading scorer (17.7 ppg) for surprising Salem High (13-3, 11-2 Class L), the Windham resident was an energetic toddler. While babysitting Amanda, Winn would set up a Little Tikes basketball hoop.

"I'd play him one-on-one," Saab said. "I had no idea of the rules, I always used to call timeouts. I must've called 500 timeouts."

It may not sound like much, but it was a start. For Winn, it was natural. Exercise was vital to his well-being.

A World War II veteran, he made his living as a meat cutter in the commissary at Fort Devens, a Massachusetts Army base that closed in 1996. In his 50s, a routine check-up revealed high blood pressure.

Something had to give, his daughter Pam | Amanda's mother | said, or he, "Would have a very short life span." Within a year, she remembers, her father had quit smoking and dropped more than 100 pounds off his 250-pound frame. He began walking, then running to stay in shape.

"I wish I had the discipline that man did," Pam said. "That generation, they attacked everything."

By the time he retired in 1985, he was running several miles per day, often with Boomer, his golden retriever. Pam used to jokingly call her dad, "A walking posterboard for good behavior."

Winn had a profound influence on Amanda. As she climbed the youth basketball ranks, he'd insist that one day he'd watch her on television.

"He was the best grandfather ever," she said.

Sure enough, when Amanda was a freshman at Salem, she made the varsity team. Her first TV appearance soon followed. Even in his final years, after he moved from Lowell to an assisted living facility in Windham, he tuned in to Salem cable access to catch his granddaughter's games.

"Watching Amanda play," Pam said, "was all he ever wanted to do. He was her biggest fan."

When Amanda could, she'd visit.

"Amanda went over once a week probably," Pam said. "And she called him and told him whether or not she won."

The 5-foot-10 junior forward has improved steadily over the past few seasons. She's helped the Blue Devils to back-to-back state tournament berths, averaging 9.1 points per game as a freshman and 11.5 points per game as a sophomore.

Londonderry coach John Fagula, who has sent more than 40 players to Division 1 schools over the past two-plus decades, has seen a marked improvement in Saab's game this season.

"She's gotten much stronger around the basket," said Fagula, whose Lancers defeated the Blue Devils, 59-58, on Courtney Morrissette's buzzer-beating jumper Jan. 5.

Once content to hang around the perimeter, Saab's been dominant at times in the post, scoring more than 20 points on six separate occasions.

"Hopefully we can get our team out there," said Saab, whose sister Jaslyn played volleyball at Salem High, "so people will notice us."

Over the past few years, Saab has looked up to players like Pinkerton's Jenny McDade and Londonderry's Stefanie Murphy, who now play at UNH and Boston College, respectively.

"I want to be as good as they were," she said.

On the court, Pam said, Saab, an Eagle-Tribune volleyball All-Star who led the state champion Blue Devils in kills and blocks last fall, is as driven as they come.

"She wants to win," Pam said.

Amanda's grandfather may not be in attendance anymore, but there's plenty of family support. Pam and her husband Ed, who played football and baseball at Lawrence High, attend all of Amanda's games.

Ed tapes every game before reviewing them with Amanda. When he flew to Phoenix for the Super Bowl two weeks ago, his biggest concern was missing some Salem action.

Alas, the Salem-Merrimack contest was postponed due to snow. "He knew before me," Amanda said with a laugh.

That kind of dedication seems to run in Amanda's family. Her grandfather was the same way. It's clear she's already following in his footsteps.

"He always told me how much he ran," she said. "No matter how old he got, he still stuck with it."