It wasn’t in the Pitt section of the on-line version, but the HS section of the Post-Gazette ran an article about Aliquippa HS star Darrelle Revis committing to Pitt – in football AND basketball. [The article also mentioned that Anthony Morelli will be eligible next year, as he passed his SAT’s in November. Revis has yet to do so, and may attend Valley Forge Military Academy next year before enrolling at Pitt.]

Revis, 6’0″ 175lb., normally WR/DB (occaisional QB and KR) had a monster game in Hershey as the Quips won the AA State Championship. Less than 72 hours later, he led the Quips to victory in the basketball court by scoring 35 points against Beaver Falls. Last season, Revis led the WPIAL in scoring as a Junior (averaging 25.4 points a game), and was named to the PG Fabulous Five.

In football, Revis is the WPIAL AA Player of the Year, and a member of the PG Fabulous 22. The Tribune-Review named him their all section Player of the Year, and to their Terrific 25.

As an aside, the PIAA is re-classifying the four divisions of HS football due to the addition of the Philadelphia Public Schools. This will drop 5 WPIAL teams from Quad-A to AAA – most notably Indiana, PA which is the smallest of the current Quad-A WPIAL teams.
Just thought I would share.

With Brookhart to Akron, the loss of a lot of key seniors, the simple fact that his value may never be higher, it really is a no brainer that Larry Fitzgerald is going to look at getting an exemption to enter the NFL draft in 2004. The only reason we want him to stay is purely selfish — it helps Pitt, and we get to see him play live and in person for one more year. There is no doubt he is physically and mentally ready for the NFL.

I mean, he has been lauded all season on ESPN. An All-American for the AP and ESPN. He won the Walter Camp and Biletnikoff, and was the runner-up for the Heisman. Really, it will be almost impossible for him to top this season in college football.

I guess it is considered to be something of an honor since Nick Saban, LSU head coach, and Bob Stoops, Oklahoma head coach, were supposed to be the coaches in the East-West Shrine Game. Saban and Stoops had to pull out since they will be coaching in the Sugar Bowl on January 4. The East-West game is on January 10. Walt Harris will coach the East, and John Robinson (UNLV — how the mighty have fallen) will coach the West.

The East squad will have two Pitt seniors — defensive end Claude Harriott and fullback Lousaka Polite.

Both Pittsburgh dailies start their recap of Pitt’s squeaker win with head coach Jamie Dixon exhaling:

Post-Gazette:

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon walked off the court, puffed out his cheeks and breathed a big sigh of relief. It was likely the same feeling a lot of Pitt fans had after the No. 18 Panthers’ 79-74 nail-biting victory against NAIA Georgetown last night in the Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Tournament.

And the Tribune-Review:

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon closed his eyes and let out a long exhale as he walked off the Petersen Events Center floor Monday night, moments after his 18th-ranked Panthers escaped with a 79-74 victory over NAIA Georgetown (Ky.) in the opening game of the Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Tournament.

22 turnovers, 21-38 from the free throw line (.553), 6-21 from 3-points (.286) are some numbers from the game. Of greater concern for the Pitt athletic department is this number — 6234. The official attendence at the Peterson Center — which holds some 13,000+. The numbers are dropping.

Today is the last day to sign up and play ESPN’s Bowl Mania. The number of participants is up to 4.