Both Pitt and WVU have their game notes (PDF) for the Saturday evening matchup, 6pm ESPN2. Dan Shulman and Len Elmore will be calling the game. This is either the 166th or 167th meeting of the teams depending on who you ask. According to Pitt, WVU has an 88-77 lead in the all-time series. WVU maintains it is 89-77. I’m not sure why there is some sort of conflict in the total games played. Pitt has a list of all the games and outcomes by opponent in their media guide (pg. 236 [57 of the PDF]). WVU, though, only provides season-by-season list of the wins and losses, and even I’m not that obsessive.

Pitt has won 5 straight against the Hoopies, including 3 straight at the WVU Coliseum. Before this run, Pitt had only won 3 games at the Big Concrete in 23 attempts all-time.

WVU has collapsed, going 2-6 in the Big East. They have lost 6 of their last 7. Looking at their game notes, it’s not hard to see why. In the conference, they are giving up almost 71 points and barely reaching 59 for themselves. They have only one player averaging double figures (Tyrone Sally, 11 pts/game). Opponents are shooting 50% against them, while they are at 36.4%.

They looked good in the non-con, notching what appeared to be quality wins. Then conference play began and they were exposed. They are still a decent team, and they are desperate. Morgantown has never been a good place for Pitt basketball. The place should be a sellout and quite loud.

An upset is possible and would be quite crushing. The best thing for Pitt, would be to get out in front early, like they did against Providence, and take the crowd out quickly. But, that’s pretty standard, isn’t it? Sorry. Long day, and I’m getting tired.

A month ago, the national question regarding Pitt, was were they a fraud? Two weeks ago, it was why aren’t their 3 stars producing? A week ago, it was, can Pitt handle Syracuse? Now, Pitt is confident again, and the questions have stopped for the moment.

The team credits the meeting following the loss to St. John’s and the renewed focus on getting the ball inside more. Not settling for outside shots.

In a story bound to raise more than a few eyebrows, Krauser credits his turnaround to going back to basics. Letting Krauser be Krauser.

“I was trying something different for the coaches,” Krauser said Monday, after he torched Providence for 19 points and nine assists in an 86-66 victory. “I was trying to move the ball a little more, but, you know, my game is basically instinctive. That’s the way I play. That’s the way everything works well.”

Does that mean Krauser was trying too hard to be the classic, pass-first point guard instead of just playing his game, and that playing his game can mean assuming a scorer’s mentality?

“Exactly,” said Krauser, who is averaging 17.3 points, 8.7 assists and 4.6 rebounds during Pitt’s three-game winning streak. “That’s exactly what it was. Sometimes, you can’t change what’s working. You know, when you step out of character to try something else, it’s always going to be a little awkward. You have to come back to yourself, to the way you play. That’s the way you got here.

“I just came back to that.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon flashed a quizzical look when told of Krauser’s remarks about feeling too robotic last month.

The story is reported straight forward, you keep waiting for the conttradiction or something. It’s not there. Still, the piece points out that Krauser, while never a classic point guard, puts up some similar numbers to Chris Thomas of Notre Dame and Gerry McNamara at Syracuse. There is also the state of his defensive play. Playing tough defense out on the perimeter helped get his offense going.

“Oh, man,” Krauser said. “It set a big fire to the wood.”

There’s a reason Krauser is considered one of the best interviews in the Big East.

Everyone,

Pardon me for breaking form, but the following needs to be written down as well as said.

As of today, it’s been 10 years since my father passed away. He was only 52 when he died and I was only 24. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about him or where I don’t regret his passing so soon. Still, I’m grateful that I had the chance to get to know him as a person and not just as “dad.” Any virtues that I possess are due in no small part to him. Any vices that I possess are in spite of him.

Dad, know this: You are missed, you are loved, and I look forward to the day when we are able to see one another again.

Thanks everyone,
Shawn

Here’s how the 2005 Big East teams rank in recruiting this year.

Scout.com —————- Rivals.com
33. WVU —————– 31. WVU
42. Pitt ——————- 41. Pitt
43. Louisville ————- 45. Louisville
49. Syracuse ————– 50. USF
54. USF ——————- 58. Syracuse
59. UConn —————- 68. Rutgers
67. Rutgers ————— 78. UConn
69. Cinci —————— 93. Cinci

58. BC ——————– 49. BC

It is troubling to see that no Big East team could crack the top-25 team, this first full year without Miami in the conference. Just something to take into account with the expectations on Coach Wannstedt. Also kind of interesting to see that BC isn’t getting much of a bounce for that move to the ACC.

No, this is not a top-20 class. It wasn’t expected to be. No, Pitt isn’t having its recruiting class discussed in the national media (though, given the context in which it was discussed last year, that could be considered a good thing). No, Pitt didn’t win the recruiting wars in Pennsylvania, or just Western Pennsylvania — they forgot to show up for several key battles. Despite that, this recruiting class seemed to leave people feeling pretty good.

Average is the word used mostly to describe this class. But it could have been worse. Former coach Walt Harris had an OK start with this class, but it seemed to pick up a little more steam with Wannstedt.

“I think he made some strides late in the recruiting process,” said Jeremy Crabtree, national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. “Obviously, he was recruiting against the calendar. He was behind the eight ball as far as time. But I think you have to be impressed with what he did lately.”

Allen Wallace, publisher of Super Prep and national recruiting editor of Scout.com also said Pitt’s class is ranked around 40th.

“I think they cleaned up some excellent athletes lately. Pitt’s class is behind Penn State’s, but I don’t know if it’s all that far behind,” Wallace said. “I would say Pitt is probably second in the Big East behind West Virginia.”

The article says two of Pitt’s recruits — Marlon Terry of Akron, Ohio and Shawn Simmons from New Jersey are still committed to Pitt, but haven’t signed a letter of intent at this time. There are no requirements for high schoolers to sign today, but it has become such an event that most do. Actually, you never have to sign the letter of intent to take a scholarship and come play at a school. The schools and coaches like it because it gives control back to them. I am kind of surprised Terry didn’t sign, since he was dressed to the nines yesterday for signing day.

At Buchtel, Carlos Parish and Marlon Terry were dressed as if they were ready for an NFL Draft party.

Parish, a defensive lineman for the Griffins who will play at the Cincinnati next season, was sporting an ivory-colored double-breasted suit with tan alligator shoes, while Terry, a 6-1, 275-pound defensive end who will play at Pittsburgh next year, sported a black silk suit with purple alligator shoes.

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night,” Parish said. “It was like going to school on the first day. I couldn’t wait to put on my new clothes.”

Said Terry: “This was an important day so I just wanted to look good.”

They were two of six Griffins players who sealed their college choices by signing Wednesday.

Maybe he mailed his?

It wasn’t just in Western Pennsylvania that Wannstedt left his mark. He left a good impression in Florida in a short time.

Scout.com analyst Scott Kennedy’s ranking of the five new coaches who did the best jobs on the recruiting trail: 1. Urban Meyer, Florida; 2. Charlie Weis, Notre Dame; 3. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina; 4. Dave Wannstedt, Pitt; 5. Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss.

The fact that nothing went wrong, and that recruiting ended on an upswing was enough to leave most (including me) feeling pretty good. The incoming class will be given a chance to win jobs, where needed or they excel, but…

Pitt returns nine starters on offense and seven on defense from last year’s Fiesta Bowl team. A couple of the newcomers could make an immediate impact, notably Bokor and Collins (who could improve a running game that managed just 2.6 yards per carry). A good portion of the class likely will redshirt, though Wannstedt made it clear that every position is open.

The Panthers are looking to beef up their lines and solidify a running game that hasn’t produced a 1,000-yard rusher since 2000. That’s why Wannstedt brought in five offensive linemen, five running backs and four defensive linemen.

My feeling is that most of the O-line is an open competition (or should be). The D-line definitely has holes.

The excitement Wannstedt has created in the area is noticeable even from outside. Hits on this site have picked up, as have e-mails. People are curious and are dreaming of big things. Optimism and Pitt. What a scary mix.

Wannstedt has done this. He keeps saying and doing the right things. Things that keep generating the positive energy. He’s already talking about the next class.

Better still, Wannstedt and his coaches were comfortable enough and confident enough with the whole process to get a head start on 2006 while catching up in 2005.

“We’ve already offered scholarships to juniors,” Wannstedt said. “We ran out of seats at the basketball game, the Syracuse game, last weekend. We’ll have another junior day at the end of the month when we play the University of Connecticut here.

“There were half-dozen or so, I talked to a kid today and offered him a scholarship, a junior today, on the phone.”

No juniors have committed yet, but “I wouldn’t expect them to right now,” Wannstedt said. “They just need to know we’re going to be aggressive with you, we want you, we really think you can help our program.”

Kevin Gorman identifies the juniors expected to be pursued in the WPIAL.

During the press conference yesterday, Wannstedt denied that he had to mend and soothe hurt feelings of high school coaches in the area post-Walt Harris. There is some logic to it, or why would he have kept Bob Junko on staff to work Western Pennsylvania.

As for the recruiting coordinator position that Coach Wannstedt needs to fill. It looks like the favorite is Duquesne University head football coach Greg Gattuso.

According to several sources close to the situation, Gattuso has interviewed for the job and is near the top of the list, but several other candidates are expected to be interviewed in the next few days.
…
In order to make room for the new recruiting coordinator, Wannstedt had to release tight ends coach Bill Bleil, one of two assistants from former coach Walt Harris’ staff whose status had been in limbo.
…

Gattuso has built Duquesne into one of the most successful Division I-AA mid-major programs. He has posted a 97-32 record while leading the Dukes to eight of the past 10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles, five bowl appearances and the 2003 mid-major Division I-AA national championship.

He has been named the MAAC coach of the year seven times and the national mid-major I-AA coach of the year twice. Duquesne finished 7-3 (4-0 in the MAAC) last season and won its sixth consecutive conference championship while extending its conference winning streak to 33 games.

Gattuso played at Penn State and was a member of the 1982 national championship team. He was the Post-Gazette Class AA player of the year in 1979 after a stellar senior season at Seton-LaSalle High.

Gattuso’s name has been tossed around a couple times after Wannstedt was hired by sportswriters who speculated that he would fit well on the new staff. They may have been correct.