I guess that’s the thing about the Chicago camp. It’s a lot of speculation. After what appeared to be a good first day, and making it likely he would try to stay in the draft, Krauser had a less than stellar day.

Playing as the backup point guard behind Notre Dame’s Chris Thomas and on a team that also included former Memphis star Sean Banks, who scored a game-high 19 points, Krauser had only two points on 1-of-3 shooting during the first day of organized games. He also finished with four assists, no steals and three turnovers in 19 minutes in his team’s 98-88 loss to a team led by 17 points from Omar Thomas, formerly of Texas-El Paso.

But it was a junior guard from Maryland, John Gilchrist, who caused fits for Krauser, pressuring the Panthers guard on every possession while finishing with 15 points at the offensive end.
…
“I know everybody’s saying negative things because they want me to go back to Pitt, but all I need is one team to say, ‘Carl, we like what you do,'” said Krauser, who was graduated last month but has the option until June 21 to return to Pitt to play for another year because he has not hired an agent.

Michael Malone, Krauser’s camp coach, is among those who thinks Krauser needs to return to Pitt if he expects to get a legitimate shot at playing in the NBA.

“To play in the NBA, you have to have a definitive NBA skill, and I don’t think he has one,” said Malone, a Knicks assistant. “A lot of kids don’t realize how hard it is in the NBA.”

Malone said Krauser, defensively, is “real active.

“But for him to make it, he’s got to be a consistent jump-shooter, he’s got to … just be solid at the point guard, and he’s got to develop a mid-range game. When you come off pick-and-rolls and you can beat your man off the dribble, in the NBA, you’re not going to beat the second guy.

“He’s got a great coaching staff at Pitt. He should go back, get better, work on his weaknesses and that’ll help him know what the whole process is about. Then, when he comes out next year, he’ll be ready to go, just like Ryan Gomes did at Providence.”

Krauser said he’s considering only two options: Pitt or the NBA.

Krauser has today and tomorrow to change people’s minds.

Meanwhile, Chris Taft arrives in camp soon for some interviews and a physical. Guess he’ll have to have his sore right knee checked. The latest on Taft is that he has fallen to the second half of the first round at best — out of the lottery.

We all know that the 12th game is about getting schools and conferences more cash. The assumption was that most schools would basically use it to schedule more chumps for home games.

My hope was that with the shortage of guaranteed chumps and more schools demanding at least a 3-for-1 deal, that long-term the Big East schools would start playing more difficult non-con games. The reasoning being that as more teams struggle to find opponents, and face a backlash from fans and media for scheduling Div. 1-AA teams to fill the void (I can dream), that there would be an eventual move by teams to play tougher games. Basically a supply and demand issue.

What would be bad for the Big East football as it is presently configured with only 8 teams would be if the demand to fill the extra game was shrunk by BCS conferences adding another conference game. Essentially meaning teams would get an extra game every 2 years, but not increasing the demand for non-con opponents.

The Big 12 considered this but opted against it — for now. The PAC-10, however, has opted to use the 12th game to play in-conference.

A disturbing trend, and will also hurt the Big East in terms of conference strength of schedule.

The other thing to note is that the Coaches Poll will now only be the USA Today Coaches poll. ESPN is ripping itself away from this poll.

The cable sports network said it no longer wanted its name attached to the rankings unless all ballots were made public, not just the final ones. USA Today will continue running the poll, which helps determine who plays for the national championship.

It means nothing right now, but is merely reflective of the growing desire for transparency.

That seems to be the take of Andy Katz regarding Krauser.

Pittsburgh’s Carl Krauser, who is 24, told ESPN.com that he has family issues that could weigh heavily on whether he stays in the draft or returns for his senior season.

“I’ve got over 90 percent of my degree finished and so I’m just focusing on the basketball aspect of my life, and I have a little son at home, 10 months old, and I’ve got to go out there and take care of my family first,” Krauser said.

Krauser said he’s hoping one team will tell him he has a shot to run a team. He sounds like someone who would take any shot he could get, regardless of the draft spot. Krauser was giddy about being at the NBA draft camp Tuesday, saying he’s “real happy to be here.”

The Panthers’ staff, led by associate head coach Barry Rohrssen, is watching Krauser. Head coach Jamie Dixon is due in later this week. At this juncture, the Panthers aren’t banking on the junior point guard’s returning.

I’ll wish him luck, and hope he makes it.

Still, despite the glowing reviews in the Pittsburgh papers, when ESPN’s Chad Ford commented on the standout players yesterday, Krauser wasn’t on the short list.

The players just went through scrimmages Tuesday evening, but Maryland’s John Gilchrist, Memphis’ Sean Banks, Florida’s David Lee, St. Joseph’s Dwayne Jones, George Washington’s Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Louisville’s Ellis Myles, Poland’s Marcin Gortat, Chicago State’s Deji Akindele, Pepperdine’s Alex Acker and Washington’s Will Conroy caught the eyes of several NBA scouts in attendance.

Just waiting and watching.

Carl Krauser appeared to have a good first day in Chicago:

It only took Pitt junior Carl Krauser a few minutes of the first practice session yesterday to show the NBA general managers and scouts, who packed the Solheim Center at Moody Bible Institute, those intangibles that have made him a successful player.

Krauser was one of about 64 players who were invited to participate in the NBA pre-draft camp which began yesterday and will run through Friday. The players were divided into six teams and will compete in a number of drills and scrimmages throughout the week.

During the first team drills, Krauser showed a little of everything Pitt fans have become accustomed to from him — the good and the bad. He was one of the most intense players, a vocal leader and played great defense, grabbing loose balls and rebounding over bigger guys. He also turned the ball over a few times while attempting no-look passes.

“The thing I love about Carl is he is a leader,” said New York Knicks assistant coach Michael Malone, who is serving as the head coach for Krauser’s team this week. “There aren’t many leaders out there. A lot of guys can play the point, but Carl was the floor leader from the time he stepped on the floor.

“This was the first time out there with guys he never played with before and he is already running the team, he is already telling guys where they need to be. And most of all, he has a great enthusiasm for the game and it rubbed off on the rest of the team — everybody was feeding off of Carl.”

In a true sign of someone having a sense of humor, Krauser’s teammates this week include Kevin Pittsnogle of WVU and Chris Thomas from Notre Dame.

As much as Malone was positive about Krauser, he still pays lip service to going back to school. So did former Pitt great, and tragically the Atlanta Hawks GM, Billy Knight.

“For the record, everybody in our organization believes that players who have eligibility remaining should go back to college,” said Michael Malone, an assistant coach with the New York Knicks.

Predictably, Knight, the former Pitt star and current Atlanta Hawks executive vice president and general manager, didn’t give Krauser the NBA vote of confidence he’d like to hear.

“He should take advantage of his college opportunities. That’s what I suggest,” Knight said.

I just don’t know if he’ll be drafted in the 2nd round.

Meanwhile at Hoopsworld.com, their writers’ latest mock drafts put Taft at #12, #24, and off the board.

Final note, Associate Head Coach Barry Rohrssen was named one of the top 25 college basketball recruiters by Rivals.

Continually plucking players out of New York City for the Pittsburgh program, Rohrssen again landed one of the city’s finest in four-star prospect Levance Fields. Two other four-star players, Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs, are part of Pittsburgh’s five-man class.

Pitt is getting the talent. Now to put it to use.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way. Pitt will be losing some players with academic and medical problems.

Kyle Smith a Redshirt Sophomore Defensive End has sustained too many concussions in the last five years to be permitted to play any longer.

Instead, Smith will begin pursuit of a high school coaching career as a paid assistant at his alma mater, Harborcreek. He plans to enroll at an Erie college in January.

“They told me I couldn’t play anymore,” Smith said. “They allowed me the option to stay, but I decided I’d rather come home and be with my family.”

Smith said he suffered concussions as a high school sophomore and during his redshirt season at Pitt before enduring four last fall.

The first came in a collision with Temple quarterback Walter Washington. That was followed by another on the Pitt sidelines against Boston College. Smith, wearing street clothes, was hit in the face by the helmet of a teammate celebrating the game-ending fumble recovery.

The academic casualties are Junior Defensive End Azzie Beagnyam, Redshirt Freshman Wide Receiver Andre Broussard, and Redshirt Freshman Cornerback Steffan Brinson. All are leaving the team.

Beagnyam had been held out of the spring game for academic reasons. He is going to transfer to Division II Abilene (Texas) Christian so he does not have to sit out a year.

I guess that frees up some more scholarships.

Speaking of which, another hot wide receiver from Florida has Pitt on his short list.

“I’ve gotten a couple more offers, actually a lot more offers,” Preston Parker said. “FSU, South Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, USF, UCF, Akron, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and there’s one more, but I can’t tell you until Monday.”

According to Parker, he’s also getting heavy interest from Arizona State, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Much has been speculated that the Hurricanes of Miami may be the next school to go ahead and pull the trigger on a scholarship offer, especially with how publicized Parker has been with his love affair with the ‘U’.

“I’m getting heavy interest from Miami (Fla.),” Parker said, “I’m gonna be at their camp on Saturday. If Miami did offer I would still want to wait it out and check out a bunch of schools.”

Among those is Pittsburgh, whom Parker wants to take a strong look at.

“I’ve got a lot of strong feelings for Pitt,” Parker said, “I’d be very happy if I got a chance to play there. I like the coaches and the offense. I’m very happy that they offered me.”

Rivals has him listed as the #31 player in Florida.

On the lighter side, Pitt great Tony Dorsett is in the Pittsburgh area for the annual Tony Dorsett/McGuire Memorial Celebrity Golf Classic. The event raises money for physically and mentally handicapped children and adults cared for at McGuire Memorial Home in Daugherty Township. There were some Pitt greats in attendance

Supporting Dorsett’s cause this year were ex-Pitt stars Mark May, Hugh Green and Bill Maas. Former Pitt coaches Johnny Majors, Jackie Sherrill and Foge Fazio played. So did a pair of former Heisman Trophy running backs – George Rogers and Mike Rozier – as well as former Steelers star Franco Harris.

There were at least 50 other celebs including Ty Law, the Aliquippa native and former New England Patriots cornerback who’s still a free agent.

A couple others in attendance included Matt Cavanaugh and Tyler Palko.

On Monday, the new tutor and his star pupil were able to put football on the backburner for a few hours and enjoy a day at one of the area’s most spectacular golf courses.

“It was kind of neat,” Palko said of the experience. “I really enjoyed it. I hope he says the same.

“Not that we were buddy-buddy or anything but I hope to have a great relationship with him. Hey, he’s the last quarterback to win a national title here (at Pitt). So I’ve got a lot of questions for him.”

He still has a lot of questions for him about that?

Pitt has it’s latest press release trumpeting its place in one of the college football preview magazines.

Reflective of Pitt football’s elevated national reputation, the Panthers are well represented in Lindy’s 2005 college football annual, which recently hit area newsstands.

Junior receiver Greg Lee (Tampa, Fla./Chamberlain) was named a Lindy’s All-American (second team) and the nation’s No. 4 wideout overall. Junior quarterback Tyler Palko (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) was named Big East Offensive Player of the Year, while junior linebacker H.B. Blades (Plantation, Fla./Plantation) was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Blades was named the nation’s No. 5 outside linebacker, while Palko was listed as the country’s No. 9 quarterback. Other Panthers who received top 10 national positional rankings included senior Bernard “Josh” Lay (No. 9 cornerback) and junior Adam Graessle (No. 10 punter).

As a team, Pitt was ranked 19th nationally and second in the Big East.

By some luck, I had been in a bookstore late last week and saw some of the preview magazines. Unfortunately, in Ohio, it’s almost all Big 11 preview stuff, so I didn’t know how they ranked the players in the Big East.

The Pitt preview was in there since they were in the top-25. In the section on wide receivers, the feature story was on Greg Lee. He’s going to have a lot of attention this year. It’s worth noting that the Lee story and Pitt’s preview were both written by Paul Zeise the Post-Gazette’s Pitt football beat writer.

Lindy’s has also begun to follow Athlon’s lead in providing a cheesecake section. Several pages devoted to those who do their best to raise our, um, spirit during the game. Lindy’s, though, is lousy about putting anything online.

Unlike Athlon. Athlon’s ranked Pitt #23, and released some tidbits earlier. Again, stuck looking only at the Big 11 Regional issue (I’m guessing the national issue will make it out here in July or August). The issue also had a “Players Forum” of Q&A. One of the players was Tyler Palko.

The issue predicted Pitt for a minimum of 8 wins. They expect 1 loss (Louisville) and 2 games that are toss-ups (ND and Nebraska).

The final preview (again a damn Big 11 regional) was from The Sporting News. They place Pitt at #29. The only things worth noting were under the topics of “Clutch Players” they ranked Palko #1 for “Best QB in a 2 minute Drill” and Lee #1 under “Best deep threat.”

I’ll try to have some thoughts on the CollegeFootballNews.com preview (hat tip Kohberger) later.

It doesn’t matter how deep the draft is in point guards, if Krauser thinks he will be drafted in the second round, he’s going to stay in the draft.

I don’t think it’s that he wants out of Pitt, so much as he wants in the NBA.

Some think if Krauser comes back, he could possibly break into the bottom of the 1st round and get the guaranteed money (no guaranteed contract in the 2nd round).

“At this point, I think a guy like Krauser should use this camp as a learning tool for himself and find out what he needs to improve on in his game in order to become a first-rounder next year,” said Chris Ekstand, who is a consultant to the NBA and specializes in scouting and the draft.

“Even with a big week, he probably won’t be a first-rounder, which means there is no reason for him not to return to school. This camp will give him a real good idea of what he needs to work on and if he maximizes his experience and uses it to improve, he certainly could become a first-rounder next year.”
…
Ekstrand, who said [WVU’s Kevin] Pittsnogle, like Krauser, probably would benefit from going back to school to work on his game, pointed to Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson as an example of a player who used the camp as a learning experience and then made improvements in his game his senior year to become a first-round pick.

“That happens a lot, so, hopefully, Krauser, who in talking to general managers and scouts around the league the sentiment is that he is clearly a second-round pick, will follow a similar path,” Ekstrand said.

Krauser’s athleticism, defense, intensity and toughness will be his ticket into the NBA, Ekstrand said, but his biggest liability is his consistency shooting the midrange jumpers.

He’s not there to gauge his draft stock, so much as to try and impress a team to take a chance on them. That is clear to most (Insider subs.).

Carl Krauser, 6-2, Jr., Pittsburgh: Krauser was working out with John Lucas in May. He’s 24 and would be a fifth-year senior if he went back to Pitt. Krauser wants to stay in the draft — and to do that he’s going to have to be a standout in Chicago. He has the ability to dominate the position at this camp. If he does, he has a real shot to be a second-round pick. That could be enough for him to stay in the draft.

The Chicago camp hasn’t released an official list of invites, but ESPN.com got a copy of it (Insider Subs.). It confirmed that Chevon Troutman was not invited. That decision to skip the Portsmouth Invitational for Seniors last month is now looking completely moronic. Another undersized power forward, Jason Maxiell of Cinci, dominated at Portsmouth and the lesser competition and got the Chicago invite.

The Downtown Pittsburgh YMCA Scholar-Athlete Banquet this past weekend apparently had a good turnout. In attendance included 3 Division I head basketball coaches : Pitt’s Jamie Dixon, Skip Prosser of Wake Forest and Sean Miller of Xavier.

Thankfully Coach Dixon wasn’t the speaker:

Pitt basketball coach Jamie Dixon spoke at a recent banquet honoring high school athletes.

Spies say he threatened former Penguins coach Rick Kehoe’s record for dullness, which was thought to be unbreakable.

Instead, the Downtown Y got Peter King of Sports Illustrated who sent a nice shout-out regarding PNC Park.

The heart wants what it wants. As much as I thought logic and reason dictated Krauser playing another year at Pitt rather than entering a very point guard heavy draft that will likely leave him undrafted, I have to concede that Krauser really wants to be in the NBA.

There is a line of thinking that suggests Carl Krauser is better-suited for the NBA than he was for the college game.

Krauser, Pitt’s offensive-minded point guard, won’t disagree.

“The college game is so much different,” said Krauser, who led Pitt in scoring (16.9 ppg) and assists (5.9 per game). “The structure makes it different. I’m more of an instinctive player than a player who thinks as much when I’m out there on the floor.”
…
“It’s a whole different ball game than in college,” he said. “Right now, I’m just trying to perfect what I can do on the court and off the court. And I want to perfect it from guys who understand how to do it. I feel way more comfortable now than I did before.”

I think Krauser can succeed in the NBA, I just don’t think he’ll get a chance if he can only get in as an undrafted free agent. A team has no investment or risk with him. No impetuous to give him time, like if he was even 2nd rounder.

Add in the fact that the NBA may hit another lockout, and reason suggests he should play one more season at Pitt.

Meanwhile Chris Taft’s agent is getting defensive. In a piece that, if not for the agent quotes and lack of hyperlinks, might as well have been culled from this blog and message boards Taft’s workouts get discussed.

Ceisler admitted Taft’s workout in Toronto was below par, but said it also was Taft’s first NBA audition.

“It was like a first job interview,” said Ceisler, who still expects Taft to be a lottery pick.

The agent claims Taft has turned in three consecutive “lights-out” workouts, for the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Boston Celtics.

“With the Clippers, Chris dominated (Final Four MVP) Sean May in every facet of the game,” Ceisler said.

NBA teams are permitted to work out prospects for 1 1/2 hours, Ceisler said. Some teams emphasize individual skills, others stress one-on-one and two-on-two matchups. No more than four players can take the floor simultaneously.

I mentioned the good Clippers work out, but as for Golden State, that is in question:

After reportedly stinking up the entire city of New York with the workouts he held over the past two weeks, Chris Taft has decided to take his show on the road. The latest stop was at Golden State yesterday, for an intimate meeting with Ike Diogu. The results, according to a person that was in the gym, were not pretty to watch. Basically Diogu scored on Taft repeatedly… again and again and again, until things started to get embarrassing. On the opposite side of the ball, Diogu stopped Taft in his tracks repeatedly and thoroughly handed it to him. Things got so bad and Taft got so down on himself (again, in the opinion of this eye witness) that people thought he would just quit the workout. That never happened, but it was supposedly close.

That doesn’t sound like the same workout. Here’s the link to the Ike Diogu interview.

Yet the negative reports are the norm. He clearly blew a natural fit with the Knicks:

Originally it seemed like Taft was a lock to be the Knicks draft pick, but he has been terrible in workouts. In my last exclusive article about the Knicks, I wrote that Taft, if motivated, would have been the perfect fit for Marbury’s talents.

This is going to take more than spin from Taft’s agent to overcome the reputation he is earning.

In basketball attendance (PDF, via MarquetteHoops).

The 2005-06 Big East had 8 teams in the top 50 in average attendance: Syracuse (#1), Louisville (#4), UConn (#15), Marquette (#21), Cinci (#27), Pitt, ND (#41) and Providence (#47). With the exception of USF, all the other members of the new Big East finished in the top 100 in attendance.

How the other conferences did:

Big 11, 9 teams: Wisconsin, Illinois, Mich. St., Indiana, Ohio St., Iowa, Purdue, Michigan and Minnestoa

Big 12, 8 teams: Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma St., Oklahoma, Iowa St., Texas, Texas Tech and Missouri

SEC, 7 teams: Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and LSU

ACC, 5 teams: North Carolina, Maryland, NC St., Wake Forest and Virginia Tech

Mountain West, 4 teams: New Mexico, UNLV, Utah and Bringham Young

WAC, 2 teams: Fresno and UTEP

PAC 10, 2 teams: Arizona and Washington

Atlantic 10, 2 teams: Dayton and Xavier

Missouri Valley, 2 teams: Creighton and Wichita St.

Remaining C-USA, 1 team: Memphis

The PAC 10 has to be embarrassed by its member schools in terms of attendance. Put to shame by the Mountain West.

No shock that the Big 11 leads in attendance. Biggest schools and biggest arenas.

Cinci has officially revealed its new logo. Really, it is just an “update.” They italicized the “C” and now the claws look more like inverted commas (in the words of my wife, a Cinci alum).

Still awaiting word on what Marquette will be called.

After a couple weeks of nothing but bad news for Taft in the draft, an actual positive story.

On Thursday Taft worked out for the Clippers against Sean May and outdualed the Final Four tournament MVP. In a 2 on 2 game with Elder and Ewing, Taft outplayed May in all facets of the game.

NBADraft.net is still putting Taft in the 10-18 range.

Well, there is some more of Pitt’s name coming up with top Western Pennsylvania talent. In this case Dorin Dickerson of West Allegheny:

Though I wish I could claim I managed to find a diamond in the rough, a hidden gem that I managed to uncover, college scouts and coaching staffs alike have been well-aware of him for some time now. A running back/wide receiver prospect, Dickerson has already roped in some twenty-plus scholarship offers from across the country. With 21 total offers on the table (Toledo, Virginia, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Penn State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, West Virginia, Eastern Michigan, Rutgers, Wisconsin, LSU, Pittsburgh, Boston College, North Carolina, Connecticut, Michigan, Purdue, and Akron) before he has yet to play a down of his final high school season.
…
“Right now I am looking at Michigan, Pitt, Penn State, Ohio State and Florida right now. I am not sure if there is a “top” school right now, but any of those five I could potentially see myself at.”

However, if one was going to handicap Dickerson’s decision-making process, one would have to put the hometown teams first on the list. However, Dickerson has definitely made it clear that the Wolverines are the most hot in pursuit of his versatile abilities.

Begging the real question, who benefited more from PSU joining the Big 11, Penn State or Michigan?

The so-called increased transparency by the Coaches Poll is already being questioned.

It was amusing more than outrageous that Steve Spurrier reiterated this week at the SEC meetings that he usually votes Duke in his preseason top 25 coaches poll ballot.

It’s Spurrier’s way of giving a shout out to his former employer. Spur Dog guided Duke to a share of the ACC title in 1988.

What’s distressing is that the AFCA told CBS SportsLine.com last year that it has never taken the vote away from a coach for improper voting patterns. If Spurrier is being allowed his dalliance, how do we know that other coaches don’t flat-out penalize hated rivals by leaving them out of the Top 25?

Making the ballots public at the end of the season hardly answers that question.

Nope.

Final note is an article about Steeler back-up QB Charie Batch putting up a lot of money to help rebuild a playground in Homestead. It got some corporate support from the Home Depot and others helped:

Along with the volunteers, several Steelers participated in the renovation process. Other major contributors to the cause include Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cutler Hammer, Caruso Paving and the Renewal Center of Pittsburgh.

Brown, Jenkins, and former NFL and Pitt running back Adam Walker, also a Steel Valley alum, reminisced about the condition of the court before the renovations began.

“Saying it (the playing surface) was uneven is an understatement,” Walker said. “I remember playing basketball here and you were literally climbing uphill or running downhill. It looks awesome now.”

Walker said he spoke with Batch about rebuilding the playground last July and added he is amazed the dream is about to become a reality.

“From standing under the pavilion last year and seeing this done 11 months later, it’s outstanding,” the former San Francisco 49er and Philadelphia Eagle said. “It just looks so much better.”

Adam Walker. Now there is a name I haven’t heard in ages. Didn’t even know he made it to the NFL. The article doesn’t mention what he’s doing now.

Looks like the stupid NCAA rule change limiting the length of media guides to 208 pages has finally started getting noticed.

In the rough and tumble Big 12, Missouri is always looking for an edge to impress recruits.

The Tigers thought they had found one with a mammoth 614-page football media guide – unofficially, the largest in the nation – that is mailed to prospective student athletes. But now the NCAA is taking it away with an edict that colleges trim their media guides to a maximum of 208 pages for next school year.

The new rule has sports information directors across the country scrambling to decide what will make the cut when a hundred or more pages in some current guides must be scrapped. And many of them aren’t happy.

“Our football coaching staff believes putting together a first-class book helps sell the program,” said Chad Moller, Missouri’s director of media relations for athletics. “Now we will have to find other creative ways to make our book stand out from the crowd.”

Schools such as Nebraska and Georgia are faced with the prospect of cutting their football guides in half before the start of next season. Publications go to print this summer.

The article is filled with complaints about how records and information will be cut. Of course, I made that observation a month ago. Catch up, you slackers.

There is still the potential positive of forcing schools to do a better job of utilizing their websites as a repository and database of school records, information and history.

You want another prediction of how schools will get around this? An enclosed CD in the media guide with all the stats, history, records, photos and more. Digitize it, baby.

I’m not too surprised by this.

Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt does not intend to release back-up quarterback Joe Flacco from his scholarship should Flacco decide to transfer.

Flacco, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound sophomore, has expressed a desire to transfer, but, according to Wannstedt, has not made an official request for a release.

“We’ve told him, ‘We want you back and we aren’t going to give you a release to another team,’ ” Wannstedt said Friday. “He hasn’t said he’s leaving. He has talked about the possibility of not returning, but he hasn’t taken the next step.

“Joe’s an important part of the team. I told him we need him, and I told his father the same thing.”

If Flacco had expressed a desire to transfer in January or February, he probably would have been freed. That’s a general courtesy extended to some players when there is a new coaching change.

Also, with Wannstedt still just settling into the job, he likely would have been a little more flexible about things.

Of course it is all still speculation since Flacco hasn’t actually asked for a release or stated that he is transferring.

Unlike Luke Getsy, from last year, Flacco has no logical school where he can transfer. He’s from New Jersey, and Walt Harris is now at Stanford. It’s unlikely he wants to go across the country, who knows if he has the academics to transfer to Stanford, and who says Harris wants him?

Still, I will blatantly hedge by saying, I’ve been wrong plenty of times before, and don’t see any reason for that to change.