Greg Gattuso wasn't one of those overbearing sports parents, always hovering over his daughter's shoulder or pushing her to the brink of sports burnout.

But Katie Gattuso, a senior at Seton-LaSalle High School, last week accepted a full scholarship to the University of Niagara, an NCAA Division I women's basketball program. And if you ask her to name the person who had the biggest impact on her career so far, she'll tell you it's the only guy in her house -- the one who is identified more with football than basketball.

The Gattusos are a story of a father and daughter who have a close relationship fostered through sports.

"He's meant so much," Katie Gattuso said. "He's the one who made me more aggressive. When I was younger, he used to say, 'How can you be my daughter and not play hard?' He has motivated me so much."

Greg Gattuso is assistant head coach for the Pitt football team. He also was a highly successful head football coach at Duquesne University and Seton-LaSalle.

What most people don't know about him is he was a talented basketball player during his high school days at Seton-LaSalle, averaging 22.4 points as a senior before going to Penn State on a football scholarship.

Katie Gattuso is the younger of Greg and Colleen Gattuso's two daughters. Katie said one of her goals for years has been to earn a Division I scholarship. Her father pushed, er, guided her down the right path. Katie Gattuso, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, averaged 15 points a game last season for Seton-LaSalle.

"The only thing I ever pushed her on was effort," said Greg Gattuso, whose older daughter, Jackie, attends Duquesne University. "Some people may read the wrong way about how I pushed her.

"The only times I would get mad at her was when I felt she didn't give the effort she was capable of. When she was young, she didn't understand hard effort."

Sometimes, in her pre-high school years, Katie used to ask her father to help her with her game. The two would go to a park near where the family lives in Mt. Lebanon. Often, they'd be home in 10 minutes.

"She would say she wanted to shoot," Greg Gattuso said. "I'd say, 'Shooting doesn't mean a thing.' I would want her to compete against me and play hard doing it. I would tell her to guard me and she wouldn't because she said I was too big.

"I would tell her that it doesn't matter. Just try. She wouldn't. So I'd take her home."

Katie Gattuso laughed and said, "He used to call me a baby."

Greg Gattuso is awfully proud of his daughter these days -- and one of the reasons is because of Katie's effort on the court.

"The more she has learned that there is a higher effort to give, the better player she has become," Greg Gattuso said.

Katie Gattuso said, "I don't know how to explain it, but I always play my best games when he's there. He's helped me so much in rebounding, and just giving me pointers here and there. You gotta love him.

"My dad always tells me I'm a better pure basketball player than him, but he still doesn't think I can beat him one-on-one."

While Katie is often known as "Greg Gattuso's daughter," she has made a pretty good name for herself. She helped Seton-LaSalle reach the WPIAL Class AA championship game last season.

Niagara noticed Gattuso playing AAU the past few years.

"It's been one of my main goals in life, to get a Division I scholarship," Katie Gattuso said. "I really, really like the coaches [at Niagara]. It's a great group of people.

"The other thing that attracts me is it's a rebuilding program. I'm flattered they want me to come in and help get the program going. I don't know how to explain it. I've seen other campuses and I couldn't see myself there. But as soon as I saw Niagara [on an official visit a few weeks ago], I knew I could see myself going to school there."