National Signing day is next Wednesday. A couple weeks ago, Coach Wannstedt said they only had a few more scholarships to offer. They got a commit last week, another yesterday, and it looks like they finished today. A Gus Mustakas, from South Florida, gave his verbal. He had offers from USF and Northwestern. The kid is likely going to play Defensive End or Tackle. He is not a big name signing. He was an all-Broward County selection, though.

Pitt now has 20 recruits in this class. There might be room for one more at this point, but this is likely the last one. I just wish I saw more offensive linemen in the lists.

Pitt’s non-conference schedule has been released.

Sept. 3 — Notre Dame

Sept. 10 — at Ohio

Sept. 17 — at Nebraska

Sept. 24 — Youngstown State

Except for the YSU game — couldn’t they find some D-IA team, anywhere to play — this is a respectable non-con. A tough road game in a truly hostile environment. ND at home to kick off the season. Even the Ohio game becomes intriguing, on the road and with Frank Solich now the head coach there.

Conference home games should be Syracuse and UConn and then 2 of the 3 newbies — Cinci, USF and Louisville.

Little things from national media. Some directly about Pitt, some that just have potential impact and another thing that just caught my attention.

In the stories rounding up weekend basketball games, UConn is having its stature questioned.

With Connecticut still leading Pittsburgh by double digits early in the second half Saturday night, Dick Vitale said, “I just don’t think Pittsburgh is the same team as they were last year when they had Julius Page and Jarron Brown.” By the time the Panthers had completed their stunning comeback from 17 down to win 76-66, a more appropriate observation might have been, “I just don’t think UConn is the same team as they were last year when they had two NBA lottery picks and a four-year point guard.”

Of course, I think back to last year, when UConn appeared to be faltering and people were breaking legs jumping off their bandwagon. Calhoun is one of the best coaches in the game, I expect this team to regroup some time soon. Stewart Mandel also looks ahead to this week’s action and may be hedging on a key game.

Syracuse at Pittsburgh, Saturday. I don’t know how many people are aware of this, but the Orangemen are 19-1. But they’ve also barely been skating by lately and have yet to play a road game nearly as tough as this one.

I wish there was another game for Pitt this week before Saturday. Greg Doyel at Sportsline notes the game and how important it was for Pitt.

By the way, did anyone else notice all the 25-point halves last week? Pittsburgh’s Chevon Troutman had 25 in the second half against Connecticut, Florida State’s Von Wafer did it to Wake Forest in the first half and Boston College’s Jared Dudley rung up 25 on Villanova. All three of their teams won, too. Go figure.

Best wins

* No team picked up a more-needed win than No. 21 Pittsburgh, 76-66 at No. 16 UConn.

Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News notes that the basketball scheduling for the, soon to be bloated, Big East is going to be reviewed after the first two years.

The Big East is planning to re-evaluate its basketball scheduling format after two seasons in the expanded 16-team format. Conference members will play 16 games, facing 10 teams once and three designated teams twice each. That means that each team will have two league partners each year that it does not play in the regular season. There are some in the league who would like to see the Big East go to an 18-game regular season. But the majority of coaches oppose that move because it would mean league members doing more damage to one another in the pursuit of NCAA Tournament bids.

That fits in my theory that the BE will split after about 5 years. They’ll find a lot of unhappy coaches and programs because of the system. Try something else that still won’t solve the problem of plain bloat and finally the football schools will say goodbye.

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that Joe Crawford a much heralded freshman recruit to Kentucky was considering transferring, and Pitt was one of the schools looking at him. Problem was that his National Letter of Intent bound him to Kentucky for the full year, unless the school chose to release him from it. If he left, it would cost him a full year of eligibility, and he couldn’t play until his Junior year — losing a year and a half, really. Kentucky wouldn’t budge, and he has now returned. Both Seth Davis at SI and DeCourcy at TSN, see the same message for top blue chippers: Don’t sign a NLI. Here’s what Davis said (subs. req’d):

Memo to future blue-chip recruits: Do not, under any circumstances, sign a national letter of intent. That should be obvious in the wake of Kentucky’s decision to use the NLI’s guidelines to force freshman guard Joe Crawford to return to school after he told coach Tubby Smith last week that he wanted to transfer. The NLI says that if a player doesn’t finish his freshman season, he loses a year of eligibility unless his school waives that penalty. Kentucky administrators chose not to do that, leaving Crawford little choice but to stay in Lexington and give the Wildcats another chance. Most players are unaware that they don’t have to sign a letter of intent. The NLI program is administered not by the NCAA but by the Collegiate Commissioners Association, and its provisions are written to protect schools and coaches, not players. Had Crawford known last April what a bad deal the NLI is for players, it’s doubtful he would have signed on the dotted line.

DeCourcy followed up from a question in his mailbag.

…You make a bold statement saying: “Future Joe Crawfords might want to think twice before even signing a letter. Players don’t have to sign to receive an athletic scholarship, and a letter does not guarantee a scholarship.”

This may well be true for a Division II or III school, however in competitive Division I basketball there is no way that a big-time program is going to risk a McDonald’s All-American not showing up to campus. Letters of Intent are necessary for NCAA basketball recruitment to run smoothly.

Were I the parent of an elite recruit, I would never let him or her sign a letter of intent. I’d tell the school that my kid would be showing up for classes and workouts in the summer, and that if my word wasn’t good enough then I’d find a coach and program that were more trusting.

I understand why schools feel the need to have the letter — I just do not understand why they choose to make the letter favor the university to such a great degree. You say that no program would risk a McDonald’s All-American not showing up? What school is going to turn down a commitment from somebody like Joe Crawford on the grounds he refused to sign?

I have to say, Davis and DeCourcy look right. Crawford may not have gotten what he wanted, but you have to think at least some future recruits and their parents will have noticed what happened and fight against signing.

Sticking with Mike DeCourcy, who had a real busy day, a lot of stuff seeing how the preseason predictions look at mid season. From the hits and misses list. First a Miss then a Hit

Chris Taft. We had the wrong Big East sophomore making a huge advance. Taft was ranked as the No. 5 center; UConn’s Josh Boone was No. 10. Reversing their spots would have been more accurate.
…
Penn State. Hours of research and years of experience went into designating the Nittany Lions as No. 11 in the Big Ten.

He also singles out what Pitt needs to fix to save the season.

Pittsburgh’s defense. Unyielding man-to-man defense was the foundation of the Panthers’ three straight Big East championships, and they spent most of a cushy December pretending nothing had changed. But as the Panthers went 3-3 in a six-game stretch, their opponents shot 48.2 percent from the field. Pitt switched to zone defense when it could not keep St. John’s from penetrating. This team needs a new defensive identity in a big hurry.

Yep.

For those who still think (or may be hoping) that Carl Krauser might try to go pro after this season. Consider this (subs. req’d)

This draft is shaping up to be one of the best point-guard drafts ever. Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Raymond Felton, John Gilchrist, Ronnie Brewer, Jarrett Jack and Curtis Stintson along with international prospects Roki Leni Ukic and Uros Tripkovic, are all possible first-round picks if they declare.

Factor in Krauser’s shoulder issue and poor play in January, and if Krauser tried to come out this year, he’d be lucky to get signed to play in the NBDL.

Final, unrelated to Pitt but something I find interesting. Colorado University has run a huge deficit for its athletic department because of all the money it had to pay for investigations and still has to pay in litigation because of its football program. As such, all programs are forced to make major cuts — especially in the travel budget — and it appears to be putting the basketball teams at academic risk (via College Basketball Blog — #9). The charter flights have been cancelled, so kids aren’t getting back to campus to make class. And speaking of Colorado, that hard recruiting code they instituted with much fanfare and pride. Already being relaxed when faced with reality.

It took the administration at Colorado less than two months into the heart of recruiting season to realize the university’s new stringent standards weren’t going to cut it. Idealism was fun while it lasted.

The new standards aren’t unrealistic, but they make the coaches sell the program by themselves. Which is why with two weeks remaining until national signing day, the university quietly agreed to allow current players to meet recruits and sell the university.
…
It’s too late for the relaxed standards to help this season, but they will have an impact on future recruiting classes. And, by next year, don’t be surprised if those standards are — quietly — all but eliminated.

Shocked that is happening. Well, shocked they couldn’t even last a year.

I’m not trying to rub it in the Husky-nation’s face over this loss. Really. I just find some of the coverage hilarious. I also think their Coach, Jim Calhoun, is one of the most caustic, biting, best quote guy in college basketball.

“Most of the first half we played exceptional basketball in the sense of moving the ball,” Calhoun said. “We did the exact opposite in the second half. We’ve lost four games this year and, far and away, that was the most disappointing. It’s not even close.”

Though, with every coach, the most disappointing loss is always the most recent.

“They didn’t let us run our offense and we decided to take 10 3-pointers because that’s the easy way out as opposed to the best way out,” Calhoun said.

Sophomore point guard Marcus Williams (4 points, 11 assists, three turnovers) and junior Rashad Anderson (19 points on 6-of-12 shooting) both jacked up ill-advised treys that rankled Calhoun.

“We ran a play to go inside and the next thing I know I see Rashad fading away at 23 (feet),” Calhoun said. “It was the last thing we needed, and that’s a junior by the way. Maybe, like when he’s a postgraduate student doing his doctorate work, he’ll pick that concept up. We, as a team, had better do that. We had better realize what we are and who we are and understand we have some very good things about us.”

[Emphasis added.]

Wow. The sports writers covering UConn, must absolutely love this guy for spicing up stories.

But this loss seemed to come suddenly after taking the big lead. And during the big lead, the Huskies were acting like the game was over while mugging it up for ESPN cameras in front of a nationally televised audience.

“We got up 17 points and we were celebrating,” Calhoun said. “But they came back and we lost. We lost at Gampel, where the atmosphere was great.”

Calhoun pointed to the Huskies getting out of their offense in the second half. UConn took 10 3-pointers in each half, but the difference was Rashad Anderson made four in the first half and just one in the second. Anderson was 5-for-10 from beyond the arc, and his teammates were a woeful 0-for-10.

“In God’s name, why do we have to take 10 3-pointers?” Calhoun asked.

You know, I said I didn’t see much of the player celebrating on the TV, but maybe I’ve just become desensitized to seeing players mugging for the camera. It’s not uncommon or original any longer, so it could be I just didn’t notice. I noticed, more the panning to the students.

If you’re Jim Calhoun, though, one of your big guys whining about physical play should be a bigger concern.

“It was real physical in there,” said Villanueva, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. “Troutman was throwing a lot of elbows, (center Chris) Taft was pushing. It was real physical. We told the refs and they didn’t make the call, but you can’t blame the game on the refs. We had the game in our hands, we just let it slip.”

Sounds like you were blaming the refs.

An article listing the problems UConn showed during the game. This one has Husky players still trying to figure out what happened.

One big win doesn’t mean everything is perfect for Pitt. For better or worse, Pitt how has to wait until Saturday night before they play again. The bad news is that it takes away from the immediate positive energy and momentum the team might feel after such a big win. The good news, is it gives Pitt more time to work on their defense and prepare for Syracuse.

The talk is still about Chevy Troutman. Dick Weiss at the NY Daily News was impressed. It was just astounding to all at the way he took over the game.

Troutman was described as relentless, passionate and overpowering. But the word everyone kept coming back to was possessed.

“Chevy has this look on his face when he’s anxious, and he starts shaking,” Pitt junior point guard Carl Krauser said. “Once you see Chevy shaking, you know he wants the ball, and we just kept feeding him the ball.”
…
“That boy is an animal down there,” Krauser said. “He was just down there outworking those guys. It was all about the will and passion of the player, and he showed he had more will and passion for the game. He wanted to win that game and he did whatever it took.”

The victory was huge because Pitt had lost three of its past five and was coming off a bad loss at St. John’s. Plus, it was a win against the defending national champions on their home floor.

Troutman was taunted at halftime by Connecticut’s student body. At the time, he had four points and three turnovers and had been shut down by Connecticut’s strong front line. Once he got into the locker room, reserve center Aaron Gray said he saw something change in Troutman.

“People were chanting in the crowd, ‘Hey, great half, Chevy.’ ” Gray said. “He was like, ‘All right, I’ll go to work now.’ He was possessed in the second half. You could see the fire in his eyes.”

Apparently the UConn Husky players were getting a little too into things in the first half, thinking the game was over as well.

A season’s worth of celebration was pent up inside Rashad Anderson. And when he hit his second three-pointer of the first half Saturday night, it all came tumbling out.

The junior forward raced into the corner of Gampel Pavilion and saluted the UConn students, who were creating an unsustainable din, as Pittsburgh coach Jaime Dixon called timeout.

Near the UConn bench, Jim Calhoun surveyed this wild scene – Anderson was not the only one taking it to the seats – and saw trouble.

The Huskies were ahead by nine – a lead they would stretch to 17 in short order – but wilted when Pittsburgh mounted its inevitable challenge.

“We were all so happy, jumping around and running to the corners and stuff like that, and that really concerned me,” Calhoun said. “If someone did that to us, I think it would inspire us. And secondly, games are 40 minutes. That’s what the rules say.”

I’m really not sure the Pitt players noticed. The ESPN cameras didn’t show anything.

What may have helped Pitt, was a 3-hour team meeting after the St. John’s loss.

Team members agreed they were taking things for granted, they were reading too many press clippings and they were getting caught up in the hype. And, while it’s far too early to determine if the meeting caused a complete reversal of fortune, the Panthers took major strides in that direction with a 77-67 comeback win at Connecticut on Saturday.

“We were believing what we were reading,” said 7-foot sophomore center Aaron Gray, who went 3 of 4 from the field against UConn and had seven points and four rebounds in 12 minutes. Gray’s hook shot gave Pitt the lead for good with 7:37 remaining. “We got a little lazy and a little too confident, but we were humbled (in three last-minute losses to Bucknell, Georgetown and St. John’s) real quick. We realized things aren’t going to be easy anymore.”

Senior Chevon Troutman, who had 25 of his 29 points in the second half against UConn, said the Panthers were victims of previous successes, considering they had posted the top winning percentage in the nation the past three years and have played in three consecutive Sweet 16s.

“We were always used to winning, so we just felt like, ‘Oh, this is another one of those games we’re going to win, no matter who it is,’ ” Troutman said. “And then, the other team came up with bigger plays than us.”

Of course if Pitt goes out and lays an egg against Syracuse or just plays at a .500 clip, then...

Come March, a three-hour team meeting Tuesday night at the New York Hilton might be considered a turning point in Pitt’s season. Or, it might merely be a footnote in the 2004-05 history of the Panthers.

That all depends upon the way Pitt completes the final six weeks of the regular season. But judging from their 76-66 victory against defending national champion Connecticut Saturday night, something positive happened in that meeting, which came after an embarrassing loss to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.
…
Senior forward Chevon Troutman said the team’s consistency of effort was also called into question.

“I felt like it put our team back into perspective,” Troutman said. “We have to work for everything we get. We can’t take plays off if we want to win. Coach has been doing a good job of getting us ready. We just didn’t do a good job of executing for him.”

Now they just need to show that it wasn’t a one game thing.

Here’s a brief story on Dante Milligan announcing his transfer.

Just over a week before National Letter of Intent Day, or as most sane people call it: the first Wednesday of February. Pitt can add another recruit to the list, and it looks like a good one.

Conredge Collins from Florida. He’s a Fullback, and considered by Rivals.com to be the 3rd best FB prospect in the country and 24th overall in their “Postseason Florida Top 100.” Scout.com (used to be Insiders.com) has him listed as the 98th overall prospect in the Southeast. Collins had offers from Miami, FSU, Florida, NC St., Ohio St. and Penn St.

Nice.