In Kentucky, a much heralded Freshman Guard, Joe Crawford, wants released from his letter of intent to transfer to another school. The kid is a Michigan native, and it is assumed that Michigan State is his destination. However, there are six other schools that asked for his release from Kentucky (subs. only):

Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Pittsburgh and Clemson also asked for a release.

If Crawford isn’t released from his NLI by Kentucky, he would be a second-semester junior when he’s eligible next December, even though it will be only his second year of college.

Kentucky spokesperson Scott Stricklin said the school doesn’t want to start a trend of allowing freshmen to come to Lexington and then leave, treating the early season essentially as a tryout. Crawford’s decision to leave doesn’t fall under extenuating circumstances, since it’s just a playing time issue. Crawford was averaging 13.3 minutes a game but played only four minutes against South Carolina and only three against Kansas. He hadn’t scored in the last three games as he got squeezed out of the guard rotation.

[Emphasis added.]

Yoni, over at College Basketball Blog has more on this story. My impulse is that while the kid is a talent, I don’t see him being happy at Pitt. If it’s right away playing time he wants, he will have a hard time getting that much at Pitt. Pitt hasn’t exactly rushed anyone on to the floor. Ronald Ramon is the only freshman seeing significant playing time at this point, and at first that was mostly because Graves has had issues with his ankle.

Selfish head cases with interfering parents make me nervous anyways. I suppose if he has some interest in Pitt and he is a talent, Pitt has to at least ask for his release. It seems unlikely, though, that Kentucky is going to back down. There is no reason to, and I actually agree with their position.

Ray Fittipaldo of the P-G has his Pitt basketball Q&A posted. As has been constant in all the Q&As there has been the steady stream of questions that boil down to, “why does Coach Dixon play Demetris so much?”

Q: I think Pitt is missing a solid small forward. Pitt was blessed to have Jaron Brown for three seasons. He could play against guards and he could play against bigger guys too because of his super long arms. I don’t think Yuri Demetris can fill the role Jaron Brown did. Also, why does Dixon continually pull Demetris and Ronald Ramon out of games when they’re getting on a roll. Ramon hit two 3s in a row and then Dixon pulled him out of the game. He has to let these guys get into a rhythm, especially Ramon because he is the best outside shooting threat Pitt has.

FITTIPALDO: I don’t think Pitt coaches expect Demetirs or anyone else to take Jaron Brown’s place. Brown was too good a player for anyone to think they could step in and do as a good a job as he did. I think they look to Demetris for certain things and then either Ramon or Graves for certain things when they play the small forward spot. Demetris is an OK shooter, but is an excellent passer and a decent defender. Graves and Ramon are two of the team’s best 3-point threats. Brown wasn’t a good shooter, but he got a ton of rebounds and made all the dirty plays no one else would make. In that sense he is irreplaceable. Whatever player is playing the small forward spot this season pales in comparison to Brown. When Alex Galindo chose Kansas over Pitt last spring, I think that was a crushing blow. Galindo is contributing as a freshman with the Jayhawks and would be starting here by now. Pitt’s inability to recruit a comparable replacement for Brown could come back to haunt them by the end of the season if Demetris does not improve greatly.
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Q: Obviously, this is no time to panic, but my question is this: Is Jamie Dixon playing the right players? Mark McCarroll has clearly taken a step backward. Yuri Demetris is playing too much for a program of Pitt’s stature. It seems to me that Benjamin, DeGroat and even Levon Kendall are more dynamic players or at least will be, if given more playing time. Remember during Troutman’s freshman year when Ben Howland admitted that he probably should have played Troutman more earlier on. Could this be a similar case with at least one of the aforementioned players?

FITTIPALDO: I don’t think any of us outside the program really know what DeGroat or Benjamin can do because they haven’t received ample opportunity in games to prove their ability. I would like to see more of DeGroat. Even if he is a defensive liability, he might be able to give you more scoring, and I believe that is something this team is going to need more of in the Big East. You are not going to get by scoring in the high 50s and low 60s against ranked teams such as Connecticut and Syracuse, especially when your defense is average at best. I agree that McCarroll doesn’t seem to be the same player as last season, but he is getting about four minutes fewer per game. Maybe with more time he would produce more. Kendall is third-string behind Troutman and McCarroll. We’ll find out next season if he is a player or if he was a recruiting miss.

I realize it was only the Under-21 Canadian national team, but Kendall was a star player for them over the summer. I guess the coaches feel he doesn’t have the mobility or outside shot to play small forward.

I’m not sure if missing out on Galindo was a “crushing blow.” He became available at the last minute when there was a coaching change at UTEP. It would have been nice, to get one of the best recruits in the country, but it’s not like Pitt spent all their efforts and pinned their hopes on getting him. Rutgers also went at him hard, and since he was NJ native it probably hurt them from many more angles.