Pitt is facing a legal challenge to their plan to re-seat at the Pete.

Stember is basing his suit on what he considers a promise Pitt made in 2000 in a brochure the university produced about purchasing tickets. In a list of frequently asked question in the brochure, one of the question reads:

“Do I have to maintain my Team Pittsburgh membership every year and buy season tickets every year, in order to keep my same seats?”

The answer reads:

“Yes. By maintaining or increasing your level of annual support to Team Pittsburgh and purchasing season tickets each year, you will guarantee your right to the same seats.”

Stember maintains he has lived up to those requirements. He said, “That language is clear as a bell. If Jeff Long or anyone else can show us we’re wrong, we’d be happy to listen.”

Contacted at Madison Square Garden, where Pitt lost to Villanova in the Big East Tournament yesterday, Long issued this statement:

“It is disappointing that a season-ticket holder has obviously misinterpreted our expanded donor-based seating program in the Petersen Events Center and is misrepresenting the information in a 2000 fund-raising brochure. We’re confident that our new system fulfills the commitments made in prior campaigns and will allow the university to continue to field strong and competitive athletic programs.”

Long did not expand.

I’m guessing that Pitt reserved the right to change the terms at any time. It would be hard to believe that a brochure would be sufficient to form a long-term guaranteed contract.

In recruiting news, Pitt has gotten a verbal from a top high school sophomore.

Aliquippa’s Herb Pope, a 6-foot-9 forward considered one of the nation’s top sophomores, has made a verbal commitment to Pitt.

Whether he ever plays for the Panthers is debatable.

For one, verbal commitments are non-binding. And if Pope continues to progress over the next two years, he could potentially jump straight from high school to the NBA.

Pitt was the first school to offer a scholarship to Pope, the No. 28 prospect in the Class of 2007 by the recruiting service HoopScoop. Pope also is ranked 18th nationally by Scout.com and 33rd by Rivals.com in the sophomore class.
…
According to HoopScoop, Pope would become the nation’s fifth sophomore to make a college commitment, joining top-10 prospects Michael Beasley of Upper Marlboro, Md. (Charlotte) and Taylor King of Santa Ana, Calif. (UCLA), as well as Emeka Iweka of Seattle (Oregon State) and Jon Diebler of Upper Sandusky, Ohio (Valparaiso).

King, a 6-7 shooting guard from Mater Dei High, committed to UCLA as an eighth-grader, shortly after Ben Howland left Pitt to become the Bruins coach.

I know all coaches are “reaching out” and contacting kids way before their senior year of high school, staying in contact, trying to build a relationship for a later commitment.. And I realize an actual offer is becoming increasingly common, but I had an instinctive cringe when I read this.