We don’t often (ever?) talk about Pitt baseball. Honestly, I don’t think any of PSB has ever attended a Pitt baseball game. That is about to change. Tomorrow, though, Pitt plays Penn State at the Blair County Ballpark in Altoona. Game Notes are here (PDF).

Lee is actually attending the game, and we are expecting a report.

Pitt has a press release on Chris Taft going pro.

“Through my discussions with Chris and his family and the information we have obtained through various NBA sources, Chris has decided to declare for the 2005 NBA Draft,” Pittsburgh Head Coach Jamie Dixon said. “We support Chris in his decision and in his future. Chris has been a valuable contributor to our success over the past two years and we feel fortunate to have had a person like Chris as a member of our program.”
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In 2003-04, Taft earned consensus Freshman All-America honors, the school’s fourth all-time Big East Rookie of the Year Award and was named an All-Big East Third Team selection. He also set a school record with six Big East Rookie of the Week awards. In helping Pittsburgh win its third consecutive Big East regular season title, Taft averaged 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and ranked among school freshman records in 11 statistical categories.

In 65 career games, Taft averaged 12.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. He concludes his career ranked tied for sixth among school leaders in career blocked shots with 110, finished with 13 double-doubles, 44 double figure scoring games and 14 10-plus rebound games.

The press release also has a link to his bio and stats (PDF) that was used in game notes during the season.

Given the early recruiting by Coach Wannstedt and his staff, you knew that there would be at least one from the group of Juniors visiting this past weekend (hat tip to Joel for the early heads-up).

Franklin Regional High School junior tackle John Malecki made two choices this past weekend, and the Pitt football program may be the big winner in both cases.

Malecki decided to attend Pitt’s select junior day over Penn State’s junior day on Saturday. And then after Pitt offered him a scholarship, he accepted.
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He was an All-Greater Allegheny Conference first-team player on offense and defense.

Malecki is a 6’3, 270 lb kid. He has/had a lot of good teams interested in him, including Tennessee and Oklahoma.

So far, all the early commits are on the lines. While the early commits makes me a little nervous, as I have said before, maybe there is a method to this. Going after line players early is probably a little less risky then the skill positions. High school line players, in general, tend to be more diamond in the rough types.

Or I could just be trying to rationalize this.

Well, Alex Galindo is transferring. It seems to be with Kansas Coach Bill Self’s blessing, since the reasons are to get closer to home. Unfortunately for Pitt, closer to home is not New Jersey where he played high school ball and was recruited by Pitt.

Alex Galindo has decided to leave Kansas University after one season to play basketball closer to his native Puerto Rico.

“I feel I need a change of scenery to get closer to home,” Galindo, KU’s 6-foot-7 freshman guard/forward from Mayaguez, said Monday in announcing his plans to transfer to an unnamed school — possibly Florida International — at the end of the semester.

“I need a red-shirt year to get stronger and to develop my game. My mind is still open to where I will go, but hopefully it will be resolved in the next few weeks.”

Galindo, who averaged 4.3 points and 1.7 boards while playing in 23 games, indeed has made it clear he’s itching to play nearer to Puerto Rico.
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Galindo’s mom, Socorro, said her son’s only problem with KU was the location.

“It’s not anything to analyze. He doesn’t have problems with the coaches or players. He doesn’t have any bad feelings. He’s just not happy,” Socorro said. “I do know he misses (home).

“It was hard, real expensive (to visit),” she added. “If he goes to a Florida school, it will be a lot easier.

“It’s a great university and program, but he wasn’t happy. A lot of things could have influenced him wanting to leave. There’s not the Latin atmosphere there he was accustomed to.”

The University of Florida is also a possibility.

Just an aside, but as frustrated as Pitt feels. How miserable must Kansas fans be? A team with talent like Wayne Simien. Considered one of the best teams all year. Folds to Bucknell in the first round and then has to sit there and watch Roy Williams get his national championship with UNC after only 2 years. I feel a little better.

Pitt did add a new recruit to the 2005 class. Trevor Ferguson, out of Florida (click here for a picture). He was listed as #28 pre-season in Florida High Schoolers. He was considered one of the best players in the Tampa-St. Pete area.

The kid plays point and shooting guard. Pitt appears to be trying to find some guards with solid ball handling and passing skills.

Just what any Pitt fan wants to hear as the Pirates season gets under way (of course, that isn’t an issue for those of us who didn’t grow up rooting for the Pirates). It was going to be one anyways, with Troutman graduating and the no-brainer of Taft going pro. The fact that Krauser is taking a peek makes it just a little more unnerving.

During a telephone interview from the Final Four on Monday night in St. Louis, Dixon said Krauser “is still looking into things.”

“It’s not surprising to think he would work his way into it,” Dixon said. “He wants to go to (the NBA Chicago Pre-Draft Camp).”
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Taft, as does Krauser, had until May 10 to decide on his NBA status, but Dixon had been expecting the 6-10 center to announce his intentions earlier.

“We support Chris in his decision and in his future,” Dixon said. “Chris has been a valuable contributor to our success over the past two years, and we feel fortunate to have had a person like Chris as a member of our program.”

Taft has hired an agent. A Billy Ceisler out of NYC . Don’t know anything about him. Chevon Troutman starts playing in the Portsmouth, VA, Invitational, an NBA pre-draft camp for seniors, on Wednesday. The Chigago Pre-draft camp that Krauser attends is in a week or so.

Wouldn’t that be a mixed feeling? Suppose Troutman and Krauser both have great camps that get them into the second round of the draft. Pitt would have produced a 1st and two 2nd round picks. While there is some pride in what the program accomplished, there would have to be frustrations. Pitt couldn’t even finish in the top-25 and get out of the first day of the NCAA. Think Coach Dixon might be forced to admit that the season was disappointing then?

Ron Cook, in an earlier “Final Four Notebook” column:

Pitino, who coached in the NBA with the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, had a word of advice for Pitt’s Chris Taft and most of the other underclassmen who are thinking of leaving school early for the pros: Don’t.

“I think 90 percent of the young guys who come out are costing themselves $30 million to $40 million in the long run,” Pitino said. “For every LeBron James, there’s going to be five or six situations where players don’t develop. I think it’s ultimately going to kill the NBA.”

Today he includes that quote along with comments from the other 3 Final Four coaches and says:

Are you sensing a trend here from the Final Four?

Not that college players should stay in school instead of leaving for the NBA.

That the most successful coaches are sickeningly self-serving.

Cook agrees that Taft should go to the NBA. He’s also right to point out the self-serving hypocrisy of these coaches. I just find it amusing to point out how easily he first offered up the Pitino comment about going pro earlier as a warning to Taft and without any comment then.

The most laughable thing about any of the Pittsburgh sports writers who are even using quotes from coaches and analysts, saying Taft might make more money if he stays for another year and gets a better draft position. It’s the concurrent ignorance of the NBA structure.

It’s not just the economics of earning $2 million starting in 2005 rather than getting maybe $2.5 million in 2006 (you always want the money as early as possible).

It is the fact that the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement is under negotiation. Come the 2006 Draft, there will be a new salary and draft structure. This means uncertainty about how much money will be slotted for each pick. It could very easily stay flat or go down. The expected minimum age floor is not really an issue for Taft. The fact that a top-10 pick might earn less next year is. Yet, I haven’t seen an article in the Pittsburgh papers mention that tidbit.