Top recruit fulfills promise
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The fierce recruiting battle over Sam Dittmer came down to two schools, Brigham Young University and Stanford. A paid recruiting trip from his Indiana home to BYU in January 2008 helped sway the decision in the Cougars' favor. During that visit to the Provo, Utah, campus, Sam realized he could get reps with the first team straight from the get-go at BYU. To top things off, he got along rather nicely with Tiancheng Ouyang, the man who would be his coach if he became a Cougar.
Sam eventually accepted BYU's scholarship offer and committed to becoming a Cougar. After graduating from Zionsville Community High School, he enrolled at BYU in time for fall semester 2008. He earned a spot in the starting lineup as a true freshman and was instrumental in his team's top-25 finish.
"Once I decided to go to BYU, I was happy with the decision," Sam said. "The people at BYU have been very good to me. I didn't get much help in high school because I reached the point where … no one in high school could help me [improve]. BYU has been great; I've got a good coach there and everything."
So, what sport does Sam play? He doesn't. Rather, Sam is a math prodigy. In 2006 he was the national high school math champion. Last year, Sam led BYU to a 23rd-place finish in the 405-team Putnam Math Competition. His individual score placed him 65th out of more than 2,000 contestants and accounted for over 60 percent of BYU's team tally (Donald Sampson and Michael Griffin also competed for BYU).
"It's six hours, probably a longer math test than many people have ever taken in their lives," Sam said. "But it feels like you have to be really, really fast because you have to do 12 problems – that's a problem every half-hour, and these are pretty hard problems."
Sam is the sixth of seven children; his parents Phil and Janet Dittmer reside in the Indianapolis Indiana North Stake. Math aptitude runs in the family — Brother Dittmer is a medical physicist, and Sam's older brother Andrew is on the cusp of receiving a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University.
Sister Dittmer attributes Sam's easygoing and laid-back demeanor at least in part to being one of the younger children in a large family.
"He is a really fun boy," she said. "He is really, really bright. Maybe it's because of his position in the family, but he's just relaxed about it and very casual. He never makes anybody else feel uncomfortable because he is so bright."
Sam possesses a self-awareness and sense of humor not typically associated with a run-of-the-mill math-team member. For example, Sam's assessment of his missionary preparation — he enters the Missionary Training Center July 22 and will serve in the Albania Tirana Mission — is laden with euphemism and delivered with tongue firmly lodged in cheek.
"I'd like to get my body on a more missionary schedule," he said. "I'm not super close to that yet. I'm going to bed a little later than 10:30 [p.m.] and getting up just a little after 6:30 [a.m.]. But I've been reading 'Preach My Gospel' and scriptures.
"I had this ambitious goal of going through 'Preach My Gospel' and, for every scripture reference, reading the entire chapter it came from so I could get context. However, my mathematical abilities are beginning to suggest to me that that might be impossible."
In an effort to drum up publicity for Sam, Donald and Michael, the well-meaning folks at BYU Public Relations dubbed the team "Mathletes." The moniker stuck. Unlike one of his teammates, Sam characteristically found humor in the label.
Sam said, "I'm fine with it because it's sort of funny and it puts you in a position where you can make ironic comments about it and play it off. You can tell girls all kinds of funny stuff, like how you're a mathlete and ask girls if they'll be cheerleaders at your competition.
"But I remember one of my teammates, when he heard they were going to be using the term 'mathletes,' he was like, 'Oh no. Oh my.' "
Unlike student-athletes who compete with their bodies, Sam's primary tool is his mind. However, something LDS athletes and "mathletes" share in common is the reality that, following a full-time mission, time is needed to readjust and return to the level of proficiency enjoyed prior to missionary service. While he acknowledges the possibility that rustiness may mar his math prowess when he returns from Albania in 2011, Sam is confident it isn't anything he won't be able to overcome.
"I'm not too worried about [staying sharp]," he said. "I think there will be some holes when I get home and I might be slower, but it'll come back."
Brother Andrew Dittmer, Sam's older brother and himself a returned missionary, concurs. Regarding his own post-mission re-acclimation to math, he said, "It takes you a while to get back into things, but eventually you reach a point where it's like you never stopped."
