On Sunday I noted that Syracuse might do a package deal offer for Paul Harris to get him to commit, by also offering his teammate Jonathan Flynn. It seems, that is exactly what they did, and it worked (via BE B-Ball).

Also, in response to Mark who disagreed with me about whether Harris is could end up going to prep school, college for a year and then the NBA or prep school and then directly to the NBA. I had been unaware about Harris having academic issues, but as for the prep school that apparently is still up in the air:

Harris, meanwhile, is the first player in the Class of 2006 to commit to the Orange. He will attend a prep school during the 2005-06 academic year and has narrowed his choices to Laurinburg (N.C.) Institute, Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep and South Kent (Conn.) Prep.

Harris will turn 19 in October. There has been some question whether he would be classified as a fourth-year senior or a postgraduate student at prep school next year. If he was a postgrad, he would meet the NBA’s requirements for entering the draft.

Either way, I guess it won’t be Pitt’s worry.

Yesterday, ESPN.com and Blue Ribbon Yearbook put out the conference predictions and all-conference teams (hat tip to Jamie for the e-mail).

Big East
1. Louisville
2. Pittsburgh
3. Syracuse
4. West Virginia
5. Rutgers
6. Connecticut
7. USF
8. Cincinnati

All-Big East Team

Offense
WR: Tres Moses, Rutgers
WR: Greg Lee, Pittsburgh
OL: Dan Mozes, West Virginia
OL: Travis Leffew, Louisville
OL: Jason Spitz, Louisville
OL: John Glass, Rutgers
OL: Charles Spencer, Pittsburgh
QB: Tyler Palko, Pittsburgh
RB: Andre Hall, USF
RB: Cornell Brockington, UConn
TE: Clark Harris, Rutgers

Defense
DL: Ryan Neill, Rutgers
DL: James Wyche, Syracuse
DL: Elvis Dumervil, Louisville
DL: Shawn Mayne, UConn
LB: Brandon Johnson, Louisville
LB: H.B. Blades, Pittsburgh
LB: Jerry Mackey, Syracuse
DB: Jahmile Addae, West Virginia
DB: Mike Lorello, West Virginia
DB: Josh Lay, Pittsburgh
DB: Anthony Smith, Syracuse

Specialists
K: Josh Cummings, Pittsburgh
KR: Larry Taylor, UConn
P: Adam Graessle, Pittsburgh
PR: Montrell Jones, Louisville

Offensive Player of the Year
Andre Hall, RB, USF

Defensive Player of the Year
Ryan Neill, DL, Rutgers

Newcomer of the Year
Rashad Jennings, RB, Pittsburgh

None of this is exactly shocking. There might be a little too much hype on Jennings just based on spring practice. I realize he looked very good, but there is going to be a lot of competition for the starting tailback job come August. Hopefully I’m wrong, I just don’t like to see that much pressure put on a freshman.

BRY has Pitt at #18 in its preseason rankings.

CollegeFootballNews.com also has its BE preview. It’s 1st team all Big East is virtually the same with only a couple players swapped out on defense and, putting UConn’s kicker, Nuzie, ahead of Josh Cummings.

In CFN’s BE Top 5s, Pitt is well represented under breakout players (Rashad Jennings and Mike Phillips) and top 5 pro prospects (Palko, Lee, Blades). They also warn Pitt against looking past the Ohio game to the Nebraska match-up. It’s a fair warning. The game will be the Bobcat’s season opener under new coach Frank Solich, a Friday night game, a short week for Pitt after Notre Dame.

They also rank the units. Pitt ranks 1st on defense and 2nd on offense. Pitt’s lowest rank is #5 at running back unit.

Another incentive for a Big East team to earn the BCS bid. It’s a hell of a lot less confusing than figuring out what bowl you go to after that. The BE and Notre Dame are essentially going into a sharing agreement with the Big XII over the Gator and Sun Bowls.

Very strange.