The opening game, and the team is not making a big deal about not being in any top-25 rankings. It isn’t actually a shock. Everyone has this team on the bubble of the NCAA. Last I checked, teams predicted to be on the bubble in the pre-season don’t end up being ranked pre-season. Carl Krauser is looking forward to the season, and speaks of being a teacher to Freshman Levance Fields.

He was referring to a group that includes Krauser, junior Antonio Graves, sophomore Ronald Ramon and Fields, who joins Krauser as the team’s only true point guards.

“I just want to go out there, lead the team and show these guys about hard work and a team commitment and taking care of each other on the court,” Krauser said. “I’ve been an understudy to a great point guard, Brandin Knight. Now, I have an understudy of my own.”

I find that very encouraging that he keeps talking about wanting to make the freshmen better players. Krauser has spoken about this season in terms of the team and improving. He would appear to get that for him to have rising stock and a chance to be drafted, requires him to make the team better.

That’s very important for Krauser, because this year should be a shallow draft. With no high schoolers in the draft and even a few less international players, it increases his chance. Still, despite that, he is not included in an early list from ESPN.com on top 100 draft prospects for 2006 (Insider Subs.). Rudy Gay heads up the list.

This article cribs some tidbits from the game notes.

Then another article on the Peacock’s Keydren Clark.

The ever popular Paul Zeise Q&A is out. If Pitt is bowl bound, he’ll be keeping the Q&As going through the game. If not, the last one will be in early December.

Q: Will Pitt use Darrell Strong more in the future? And do you think the tight end will become a bigger weapon when Nate Byham gets here?

Zeise: Yes, Strong, Buches and Byham will be major weapons for the Panthers in the passing game next year, but I would argue that the tight end is more involved in Pitt’s offense this year than you think. Last year, Gill, Buches and Strong combined to catch 36 balls (and Strong was a receiver so his four shouldn’t really even count). This year the three have 49 receptions and would have about 55 if they would’ve come down with all of the balls they should have. And that’s with Gill being used more for his talents as a run blocker than as a receiver and with the team passing a whole lot less. In fact, if you look at it, the tight ends are a much bigger part of the passing offense percentage-wise than they have been in a long time. Last season Pitt had 232 passes completed which means the tight ends (including Strong) accounted for only about six percent of the team’s receptions. This year they’ve accounted for nearly 30 percent of the receptions (49 of 170). They are indeed a much larger percentage of the offense than they have been in a long time and they will get even more work as Strong and Byham gain experience and prove they deserve more touches. Matt Cavanaugh said earlier this year that he’d like to see the tight end position get somewhere between 60 and 75 catches (at a minimum) each year – which means the tight end will play a big role for the Panthers for a long time to come.

Interesting. Of course his math is off. 36 out of 232 is 16.4%. Still the point is well taken. Obviously, Pitt is throwing less, which isn’t a surprise. It also means that Pitt is not throwing nearly as deep if the TEs are seeing proportional and actual increases in the number of passes coming their way.

It’s difficult, though, to compare the offense from last year to this year. Last year, Pitt averaged 78.4 plays/game in the season. This year, it is down to 67.5. To be fair, the number of plays run by Pitt’s opponents are down by almost the same number: from 81.2 to 70.0.

It’s hard not to look ahead to next year and wonder what the offense will be like. The talent that should be there at TE. Then the possibilities at WR with Lee, Kinder and Dickerson. The weapons will be there for the passing game. It’s a question of whether they will be used.

In Zeise’s notebook column he wonders about whether it is good or bad to have the extra time off before a big game. It is the wrong question. It’s like asking whether an IPA is a better beer style than a stout. Obviously it depends on many things — the quality of the beers, the time of year, personal tastes, any food being consumed with the beer.

For Pitt, the break can only help. It’s not like Pitt was clicking on all cylinders and the extra time could disrupt the delicate rhythm they had working.

The regular season begins tomorrow evening and the school has announced the season has been sold-out. The important thing, though, is to have people show up for the game. Especially the students. A loud, continually sold-out joint is the key to Pitt maintaining the dominating home-court advantage it has had — even during some stumbles last year.

Pitt is not ranked. Expectations are modest, and the fans have a lot of questions. If Pitt has some early stumbles or even simply looks shaky, how quickly will the arena empty?

The opening night foe will be St. Peter’s of the MAAC. There is absolutely no past history between Pitt and the Peacocks. Pitt has its, game notes (PDF). (As an administrative, note, I see that Pitt appears to be shifting to the blog/link unfriendly policy of putting the PDF game notes under a “weekly release” heading. This means it will shift every game, rather than a true permanent link. Other CollegeSports based sites do this then later shift the notes into a “Game Notes” file I find it annoying because then the link I leave on this post will quickly become inaccurate.)

St. Peter’s is already off to an 0-2 start, but does feature the NCAA leading scorer for the previous 2 seasons in Keydren Clark.

Some of the Pitt players sat out practice with minor aches, but are expected to play Saturday (or at least be suited up and available).

Junior guard Antonio Graves (knee), sophomore guard Keith Benjamin (groin) and freshman forward Tyrell Biggs (knee) sat out practice at Petersen Events Center.

The players and coach are saying the right things heading into the start of the season.

Dixon said neither he nor any of his players will use youth and inexperience as a crutch this season. Dixon has four first-year players he is assimilating, including three freshmen who are expected to play significant roles.

“Our youth keeps being brought up,” Dixon said.

“We’re not going to use youth as an excuse. We’ve had to replace guys before. We can’t use it as an excuse. We have to embrace it and be excited about it.”
…
Pitt is unranked to begin a season for the first time in four years, and the Panthers are itching to prove the preseason prognosticators wrong.

“It’s definitely a different feeling,” center Aaron Gray said.

“Last year, we had a lot of hype. This year, maybe people are overlooking us.

“We’ll use that to our advantage. As the season goes on, I think people will stop overlooking us.”

Here’s a brief argument in support of Pitt getting the better deal over WVU in players who dipped a toe into the NBA draft but came back for their senior year.

Pittsnogle, on the other hand, isn’t expected to replace Tyrone Sally as West Virginia’s leader; the Mountaineers lean on Mike Gansey for that. Without Sally and D’or Fisher, Pittsnogle may be asked to rebound more, but he’s never shown he could consistently. Last season, he averaged a paltry 3.7 per game – a number hard to believe for someone who can dunk without jumping.

Pittsnogle is merely a 3-point shooter who got hot at the right time, namely the Big East and NCAA tournaments last year. He’s an excellent marksman, but he’s a dog with only one trick. Krauser, on the other hand, is a good shooter, a good passer, tenacious and mentally sound. He may not be the epitome of a college point guard, but he’s near the top at that position in the Big East.

Pittsnogle may have the better upside – the NBA loves big shooters because they provide match-up problems – but I’ll take Krauser for my college team.

For the record, Krauser averaged 4.8 rebounds/game.

Freshman Sam Young gets a puff piece.

Young, the prized player in Pitt’s top 25 recruiting class, is expected to play a major role on the team in his first season on campus. Young probably won’t start early in the season, but he will play 20 to 25 minutes a game off the bench. He scored a game-high 16 points in Pitt’s final exhibition game against IUP, most of which came via highlight-reel dunks.

Armed with a 35-inch vertical leap, a powerful inside game and a newly developed midrange game, Young has a unique mix of athleticism, tenacity and touch. Dixon yesterday compared him to Villanova forward Curtis Sumpter, a preseason Big East all-star who will miss the season with a knee injury.

“He’s got a long way to go to be Curtis Sumpter,” Dixon said. “Sam was more under the radar than Sumpter. But I see the same development. I’ve talked to Sam about Curtis being a guy he can strive for.”

When Young signed with Pitt last November, he was not one of the top 100 recruits in the country. But as his prep season went on at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia — he was named a first-team Prep School All-America — his stock rose. By the time, the final recruiting rankings were published earlier this year he was one of the top 70 players in his class.

What made Young soar in the rankings was the midrange game he developed at Hargrave, where he helped the team to a 28-1 record and No. 2 national ranking.

Last year, the big thing Pitt lacked were players who could go inside and out. If Young develops into that kind of player, Pitt can become not only a better team in the next couple of years, but a team more capable of going deeper in the tournament.

The regular season begins tomorrow evening and the school has announced the season has been sold-out. The important thing, though, is to have people show up for the game. Especially the students. A loud, continually sold-out joint is the key to Pitt maintaining the dominating home-court advantage it has had — even during some stumbles last year.

Pitt is not ranked. Expectations are modest, and the fans have a lot of questions. If Pitt has some early stumbles or even simply looks shaky, how quickly will the arena empty?

The opening night foe will be St. Peter’s of the MAAC. There is absolutely no past history between Pitt and the Peacocks. Pitt has its, game notes (PDF). (As an administrative, note, I see that Pitt appears to be shifting to the blog/link unfriendly policy of putting the PDF game notes under a “weekly release” heading. This means it will shift every game, rather than a true permanent link. Other CollegeSports based sites do this then later shift the notes into a “Game Notes” file I find it annoying because then the link I leave on this post will quickly become inaccurate.)

St. Peter’s is already off to an 0-2 start, but does feature the NCAA leading scorer for the previous 2 seasons in Keydren Clark.

Some of the Pitt players sat out practice with minor aches, but are expected to play Saturday (or at least be suited up and available).

Junior guard Antonio Graves (knee), sophomore guard Keith Benjamin (groin) and freshman forward Tyrell Biggs (knee) sat out practice at Petersen Events Center.

The players and coach are saying the right things heading into the start of the season.

Dixon said neither he nor any of his players will use youth and inexperience as a crutch this season. Dixon has four first-year players he is assimilating, including three freshmen who are expected to play significant roles.

“Our youth keeps being brought up,” Dixon said.

“We’re not going to use youth as an excuse. We’ve had to replace guys before. We can’t use it as an excuse. We have to embrace it and be excited about it.”
…
Pitt is unranked to begin a season for the first time in four years, and the Panthers are itching to prove the preseason prognosticators wrong.

“It’s definitely a different feeling,” center Aaron Gray said.

“Last year, we had a lot of hype. This year, maybe people are overlooking us.

“We’ll use that to our advantage. As the season goes on, I think people will stop overlooking us.”

Here’s a brief argument in support of Pitt getting the better deal over WVU in players who dipped a toe into the NBA draft but came back for their senior year.

Pittsnogle, on the other hand, isn’t expected to replace Tyrone Sally as West Virginia’s leader; the Mountaineers lean on Mike Gansey for that. Without Sally and D’or Fisher, Pittsnogle may be asked to rebound more, but he’s never shown he could consistently. Last season, he averaged a paltry 3.7 per game – a number hard to believe for someone who can dunk without jumping.

Pittsnogle is merely a 3-point shooter who got hot at the right time, namely the Big East and NCAA tournaments last year. He’s an excellent marksman, but he’s a dog with only one trick. Krauser, on the other hand, is a good shooter, a good passer, tenacious and mentally sound. He may not be the epitome of a college point guard, but he’s near the top at that position in the Big East.

Pittsnogle may have the better upside – the NBA loves big shooters because they provide match-up problems – but I’ll take Krauser for my college team.

For the record, Krauser averaged 4.8 rebounds/game.

Freshman Sam Young gets a puff piece.

Young, the prized player in Pitt’s top 25 recruiting class, is expected to play a major role on the team in his first season on campus. Young probably won’t start early in the season, but he will play 20 to 25 minutes a game off the bench. He scored a game-high 16 points in Pitt’s final exhibition game against IUP, most of which came via highlight-reel dunks.

Armed with a 35-inch vertical leap, a powerful inside game and a newly developed midrange game, Young has a unique mix of athleticism, tenacity and touch. Dixon yesterday compared him to Villanova forward Curtis Sumpter, a preseason Big East all-star who will miss the season with a knee injury.

“He’s got a long way to go to be Curtis Sumpter,” Dixon said. “Sam was more under the radar than Sumpter. But I see the same development. I’ve talked to Sam about Curtis being a guy he can strive for.”

When Young signed with Pitt last November, he was not one of the top 100 recruits in the country. But as his prep season went on at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia — he was named a first-team Prep School All-America — his stock rose. By the time, the final recruiting rankings were published earlier this year he was one of the top 70 players in his class.

What made Young soar in the rankings was the midrange game he developed at Hargrave, where he helped the team to a 28-1 record and No. 2 national ranking.

Last year, the big thing Pitt lacked were players who could go inside and out. If Young develops into that kind of player, Pitt can become not only a better team in the next couple of years, but a team more capable of going deeper in the tournament.

Specifically, West Virginia has one and Pitt doesn’t.

WVU is 8th in the country (236.78 yds/gm) and 1st in the Big East, while Pitt is 94th (116.30) overall and 7th in the BE (we can thank Syracuse for that). Strangely Pitt’s rushing yardage is actually up (110.6) from last year at this time and WVU’s is down (258.3) — and both teams’ passing yardage are down around 40 yards from last year.

Both teams are playing the kids at running back.

Mountaineers freshman tailback Steve Slaton: 659 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns, with 617 of those yards and every touchdown coming in the five games since he became a starter.

Mountaineers redshirt freshman quarterback Pat White, who runs like a tailback: 478 yards rushing and three touchdowns, 174 yards and two of those scores coming in starts the past two games.

Panthers freshman tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling: 389 yards in eight games, two starts.

Panthers freshman tailback Rashad Jennings: 342 yards in eight games, one start.

That list excludes others: Ballyhooed Pitt freshman tailback Conredge Collins, who has played in five games, plus sophomore Brandon Mason and Duquesne High’s Shane Brooks, both redshirting; West Virginia sophomore fullback Owen Schmitt, right behind Slaton and White as the team’s third-leading rusher with 202 yards; and West Virginia’s vaunted freshman tailback Jason Gwaltney, out a fourth game because of a sprained medial collateral knee ligament and also scratched from the regular-season finale because of academic deficiencies.

The difference is that WVU has a far better O-line. In the middle they have the likely all-Big East Center Junior Dan Mozes. Then there are the 300 pound senior tackles on either side. Experience on the line really helps them.

WVU may be running the spread, but what they are doing probably has Coach Wannstedt drooling with envy. They only average about 16 passes per game and complete 10. So, while their passing game is 113th in the country with only 127.6 yards/game, it is very efficient.

The Hoopies will be running a lot. It is their strength. And of course, it is Pitt’s weakness (74th in the country, and 6th in the BE) allowing 158.6 yds/gm.

And after another anemic performance on offense, where the running game was ineffective, Pitt will still be trying to run . Again, a lot of this is traced to the O-line that gets no push off the line and does not open holes for the running backs. Despite the ineffective running game, and facing the nation’s 5th best run defense, Coach Wannstedt sees no reason not to continue to emphasize the run.

Against Connecticut, the Panthers ran 34 times for 76 yards (2.2 per carry).

In the Huskies’ three games before their meeting with the Panthers — losses to Cincinnati, Rutgers and West Virginia — they were shredded for 689 yards on the ground. All three of those teams rushed for at least 200 yards in those games.

Pitt rushed for only 62 yards against Louisville in its previous game.

The Panthers seem to have some talented running backs in LaRod Stephens-Howling and Rashad Jennings and the offensive line has improved, but something is clearly not working.

Wannstedt said that it has been tough to pinpoint the reason.

“The commitment is there and we will stay with that commitment,” he said. “It has been tempting [to abandon the run] when you are in there preparing, and it is easy to say, ‘We are not very good at [running the ball] so let’s put our focus and our energy into something else.’

“That’s not going to happen. I don’t believe in that. It is not the right thing to do. It’s going to take some time, but we just have to stay with it. The better we get as a team, the better our run game will get.”

Well, maybe WVU Coach Rodriguez will suffer a second consecutive year of brainlock and try to throw on Pitt a lot more.

I feel like I am still playing catch-up with everything this week. The cost of starting the week very slowly. So, I’m almost to the point of just clearing out the tabs from my browser windows.

You have to love the synergy of a company owning papers in two different states. It allows them to use one reporter to cover the story then package accordingly. Take Community Newspapers Holdings, Inc. They own papers in Johnstown, PA and Beckley, WV. So regarding the Backyard Brawl, the same reporter does a story for each paper. The Pitt story is the already stock story about Coach Wannstedt knowing all perspectives of the BB as a player, fan and coach. The WV story also goes with the coach angle.

Rich Rodriguez isn’t concerned about West Virginia’s football team getting charged up for its annual battle with Pitt.

“As a coach, you’ve got to be careful not to put too much emphasis on one game,” he said. “Our guys hear it all the time (about Pitt), 365 days a year.

“I worry more about (how we’ll play) in games against a Cincinnati or Connecticut. Our guys know Pitt-WVU is going to be a very intense game every year.

“You just want them to go execute. They understand the rivalry, even our young guys. They know it’s a huge game for us.

“We want to win the Big East championship. So it’s critical. But we just want to win this game. I do just because I like to beat Pitt.

“You don’t have to mention it to our guys. For this game, I’m probably going to have to calm them down — tell them to relax a bit.”
…
Rodriguez pointed out that the ancient adversaries have split the last eight meetings. That was after WVU had won five in a row for its longest run in the series.

Pitt leads the all-time rivalry by a 59-35-3 margin. But the series for the last 50 years stands even at 24-24-2.

“Everyone will say what to expect, but it really doesn’t always come out that way,” he said. “I’ve found that Pitt-WVU in itself is enough motivation for both programs.”

Then, of course, are the player stories. Especially the Western PA kids who found themselves forced to settle for the being a Hoopie. It tends to eat at them. Of course, it has lately seemed to come back and bite Pitt on the ass but that’s another issue.

West Virginia wide receiver Vaughn Rivers didn’t have to drive far to fulfill a dream of playing in the “Backyard Brawl.”

Rivers, a Perry graduate, is one of five former WPIAL players who could play significant roles when the No. 13 Mountaineers (8-1, 5-0) host the improving Pitt Panthers (5-5, 4-2) Thanksgiving night in one of the nation’s longest running rivalries.

The Panthers passed up the chance to recruit Rivers, and he never forgot it.

“I don’t hate them, but I don’t like them,” Rivers said Tuesday following practice at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Other WPIAL standouts who made the hour drive south on Interstate 79 to join the Mountaineers’ starting lineup include linebacker Kevin McLee of Uniontown, center Dan Mozes of Washington, safety Eric Wicks of Perry and kicker Pat McAfee of Plum.

No. Not bitter about Pitt not recruiting him.

LaRod Stephens-Howling holds a grudge against the Hoopies and every other team that stopped recruiting him because they thought he was too small and couldn’t take the hits.

“They told me he was too small to play there,” Greater Johnstown coach Bob Arcurio said. “I told LaRod that, and he said, ‘Wait and see. Wait until Pitt plays ’em.'”

West Virginia wasn’t the only school that didn’t want to take a chance on an economy-sized (5-foot-7, 165 pounds) running back.

“All those phone calls to my high school coach still stick with me,” Stephens-Howling said. “I remember those teams.”

During the week leading up to the game, Coach Wannstedt is bringing in former players to talk to the freshmen about the rivalry. One of the first players was Rod Rutherford. At the same time, Coach Wannstedt is trying to keep things in check.

“There’s as much energy as we want to create right now. We’ve just got to make sure that we pace ourselves,” said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, who had arrived back in town Tuesday after a Florida recruiting trip this week.

The game against conference-leading West Virginia (8-1, 5-0) — Pitt’s last of the regular season — is expected to be played in a raucious atmosphere at Morgantown’s Mountaineer Field, where Pitt dropped a 52-31 decision in its most recent appearance in 2003.

It also will provide the Panthers with another national television game (8 p.m., Nov. 24, ESPN).

Yet, knowing all of that, Wannstedt insisted his players and staff will harness their emotions.

“If we had 10 wins right now or no wins, I don’t know if we’d approach it any differently,” Wannstedt said. “It’s West Virginia. It’s an important game. It’s national TV. It’s a conference game. It’s our biggest rival. There’s enough reasons to be motivated for this one.”

Yes there are.

It’s out there. In a week and a half, deposed Cinci coach Bob Huggins will see his “contract” with Cinci end. At that time, Huggins will be plotting his return to the college coaching ranks. Not necessarily in terms of angling for certain jobs — though he says he has been contacted by more than 5 schools already about the possibility. No, more disturbing, recruiting kids to join him.

McAlister asked Huggins if he had been doing any recruiting or had asked recruits to follow him to his next stop, wherever that might be.

“I haven’t discussed it with them, Huggins said. “In the next month or so, I probably will.”

Once he is free from the confines of his contract with UC, Huggins is not bound by any NCAA rules regarding contact with prospective players until or unless he is hired as a coach at another NCAA school.

McAlister asked him if he plans to increase recruiting efforts in December. Huggins said he would, adding that conventional recruiting rules would not apply to him.

“Pick them up, take them home from practice, feed them dinner,” Huggins said jokingly of what he would be allowed to do in recruiting.

After the interview with McAlister, however, Huggins said that doesn’t mean he’s going to put on a full-court press in recruiting such high-profile players as O.J. Mayo, the North College Hill junior who is the top-rated player nationally in the class of 2007.

Huggins said he hasn’t spoken with Mayo since Mayo made a campus visit to UC while Huggins was still coaching there.

Huggins said the likelihood of him getting commitments from several recruits while he doesn’t have a job is small.

“I don’t need to stockpile a bunch of guys to get a job,” Huggins said. “That ain’t me.”

Not to get the job, no. But to be able to jump in and win right away. Also the article reports that he called top recruit, now a Xavier signed commit Adrion Graves, at least once in November urging him not to sign. Instead wait until Huggins was hired next season and sign with him. Graves had intended to sign with Cinci and Huggins until the firing.

Just to point out the continued stupidity of the Cinci administration, by the way, the Huggins settlement back in August may lead to their VP for Legal Affairs suspended from the bar — once she is actually admitted.

In July, Monica Rimai became vice president for legal affairs and general counsel at the University of Cincinnati. But today, she’s simply known as “special assistant to the president.”

The distinction?

Rimai’s not licensed to practice law in Ohio. At least not yet.

UC spokesman Greg Hand said Rimai, formerly the chief legal counsel at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is working to obtain her license through the Ohio Supreme Court. The process could take months, Hand said, as it did for Rimai’s predecessor, James Wesner, who retired this summer after 16 years as general counsel.

In the meantime, Rimai, who makes $167,000 a year, hasn’t been functioning as attorney for UC but has focused on the other aspects of her job, including risk management and licensing, Hand said. The legal work has gone to six licensed lawyers on staff as well as the outside firms with which UC contracts.

Rimai’s status and what she has done since coming to UC has stirred debate, especially this summer, when she negotiated on behalf of the university in its efforts to terminate the contract of men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins.

In letters to Huggins’ attorney this summer, Rimai called UC her “client,” referenced Ohio case law and signed off as “Monica Rimai, Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel.”

Rimai, who did not return a call seeking comment, was acting as a negotiator, not a lawyer, Hand said.

Brilliant. That will be fun for her and the university to spin to the bar association. Another Cinci attorney who had worked for Huggins’ attorney in the past blogged on her activities and how it violated the ethics code.

It may seem like a technical violation — a lawyer not certified to practice in one state while actually certified in another — but bar associations take that very seriously. Not just for the ethics, but mainly because they like to maintain their controls and keep as many other lawyers out.

Anyways, what does this have to do with Pitt? How about potential Pitt recruit Herb Pope? Greg Doyel at Sportsline handicaps Pope and others who Huggins could be targeting.

Herb Pope: Pope, a 6-9 forward from the class of 2007, is a top-10 recruit and a likely McDonald’s All-American. When Huggins was at Cincinnati, Pope had the Bearcats among his favorite schools before committing in March to Pittsburgh. Five months later Pope backed off that commitment, and a source close to Pope says he is monitoring Huggins’ future. The connection is Pope’s AAU coach, J.O. Stright, founder of the Pittsburgh J.O.T.S. and one of Huggins’ closest friends. How close? When Huggins suffered a massive heart attack in September 2002, he called Stright. Stright called the paramedics. Odds of following Huggins: 75 percent.

The odds of Pope going to dinner at Stright’s one night and Huggins being there: near certainty.

Stright, for those who don’t know, goes back a long way with Huggins. Not sure when it started, but the relationship paid dividends starting back in 1991 when the two conspired with John Calipari on who would get what players off Stright’s AAU squad. Huggins wanted and got Fortson.

Stright was also the AAU coach who encouraged Pope to consider transferring to Arlington Country Day Prep School over this past summer.

Now as I said when he first announced, and again over the summer, I do not put a lot of stock on a verbal this early. It’s just too soon and too much is swirling around this kid. Do I want potentially the top player in the 2007 class coming to Pitt? Sure. Do I think it will happen, I have my doubts at this point. Regardless of being Freshman Safety Tommie Campbell’s cousin, this kid has a lot of other voices whispering in his ear.

It’s out there. In a week and a half, deposed Cinci coach Bob Huggins will see his “contract” with Cinci end. At that time, Huggins will be plotting his return to the college coaching ranks. Not necessarily in terms of angling for certain jobs — though he says he has been contacted by more than 5 schools already about the possibility. No, more disturbing, recruiting kids to join him.

McAlister asked Huggins if he had been doing any recruiting or had asked recruits to follow him to his next stop, wherever that might be.

“I haven’t discussed it with them, Huggins said. “In the next month or so, I probably will.”

Once he is free from the confines of his contract with UC, Huggins is not bound by any NCAA rules regarding contact with prospective players until or unless he is hired as a coach at another NCAA school.

McAlister asked him if he plans to increase recruiting efforts in December. Huggins said he would, adding that conventional recruiting rules would not apply to him.

“Pick them up, take them home from practice, feed them dinner,” Huggins said jokingly of what he would be allowed to do in recruiting.

After the interview with McAlister, however, Huggins said that doesn’t mean he’s going to put on a full-court press in recruiting such high-profile players as O.J. Mayo, the North College Hill junior who is the top-rated player nationally in the class of 2007.

Huggins said he hasn’t spoken with Mayo since Mayo made a campus visit to UC while Huggins was still coaching there.

Huggins said the likelihood of him getting commitments from several recruits while he doesn’t have a job is small.

“I don’t need to stockpile a bunch of guys to get a job,” Huggins said. “That ain’t me.”

Not to get the job, no. But to be able to jump in and win right away. Also the article reports that he called top recruit, now a Xavier signed commit Adrion Graves, at least once in November urging him not to sign. Instead wait until Huggins was hired next season and sign with him. Graves had intended to sign with Cinci and Huggins until the firing.

Just to point out the continued stupidity of the Cinci administration, by the way, the Huggins settlement back in August may lead to their VP for Legal Affairs suspended from the bar — once she is actually admitted.

In July, Monica Rimai became vice president for legal affairs and general counsel at the University of Cincinnati. But today, she’s simply known as “special assistant to the president.”

The distinction?

Rimai’s not licensed to practice law in Ohio. At least not yet.

UC spokesman Greg Hand said Rimai, formerly the chief legal counsel at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is working to obtain her license through the Ohio Supreme Court. The process could take months, Hand said, as it did for Rimai’s predecessor, James Wesner, who retired this summer after 16 years as general counsel.

In the meantime, Rimai, who makes $167,000 a year, hasn’t been functioning as attorney for UC but has focused on the other aspects of her job, including risk management and licensing, Hand said. The legal work has gone to six licensed lawyers on staff as well as the outside firms with which UC contracts.

Rimai’s status and what she has done since coming to UC has stirred debate, especially this summer, when she negotiated on behalf of the university in its efforts to terminate the contract of men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins.

In letters to Huggins’ attorney this summer, Rimai called UC her “client,” referenced Ohio case law and signed off as “Monica Rimai, Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel.”

Rimai, who did not return a call seeking comment, was acting as a negotiator, not a lawyer, Hand said.

Brilliant. That will be fun for her and the university to spin to the bar association. Another Cinci attorney who had worked for Huggins’ attorney in the past blogged on her activities and how it violated the ethics code.

It may seem like a technical violation — a lawyer not certified to practice in one state while actually certified in another — but bar associations take that very seriously. Not just for the ethics, but mainly because they like to maintain their controls and keep as many other lawyers out.

Anyways, what does this have to do with Pitt? How about potential Pitt recruit Herb Pope? Greg Doyel at Sportsline handicaps Pope and others who Huggins could be targeting.

Herb Pope: Pope, a 6-9 forward from the class of 2007, is a top-10 recruit and a likely McDonald’s All-American. When Huggins was at Cincinnati, Pope had the Bearcats among his favorite schools before committing in March to Pittsburgh. Five months later Pope backed off that commitment, and a source close to Pope says he is monitoring Huggins’ future. The connection is Pope’s AAU coach, J.O. Stright, founder of the Pittsburgh J.O.T.S. and one of Huggins’ closest friends. How close? When Huggins suffered a massive heart attack in September 2002, he called Stright. Stright called the paramedics. Odds of following Huggins: 75 percent.

The odds of Pope going to dinner at Stright’s one night and Huggins being there: near certainty.

Stright, for those who don’t know, goes back a long way with Huggins. Not sure when it started, but the relationship paid dividends starting back in 1991 when the two conspired with John Calipari on who would get what players off Stright’s AAU squad. Huggins wanted and got Fortson.

Stright was also the AAU coach who encouraged Pope to consider transferring to Arlington Country Day Prep School over this past summer.

Now as I said when he first announced, and again over the summer, I do not put a lot of stock on a verbal this early. It’s just too soon and too much is swirling around this kid. Do I want potentially the top player in the 2007 class coming to Pitt? Sure. Do I think it will happen, I have my doubts at this point. Regardless of being Freshman Safety Tommie Campbell’s cousin, this kid has a lot of other voices whispering in his ear.

Some things I’ve not gotten to in the last few days regarding basketball.

An AP Capsule summary of Pitt.

Expectations: After averaging 27 victories while making four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, the Panthers are in transition from the Troutman-Taft-Julius Page-Jaron Brown-Krauser era to that featuring the talent recruited by Dixon during his first two years on the job. Krauser is the link between the two eras, returning at age 24 after being told he wasn’t ready for the NBA. A slightly improved but still relatively soft early season schedule should let all the new players get accustomed to major college basketball before the Big East schedule begins in January. Then it gets tough in an already good conference that has added Louisville, Marquette and Cincinnati, plus DePaul and South Florida.

[Emphasis added.]

As I have said, this is a better non-con than in past years. The biggest drags on the schedule actually come playing the schools closest to Pitt — Robert Morris, Duquesne and Penn State.

Seth Davis at SI.com, who has dogged Pitt for a few years on the non-con whacks at Pitt again for the schedule.

PITT Nine of first 11 nonconference games are at home, including the only tough test (Dec. 31 against Wisconsin).

Every team schedules an overwhelming majority of the non-cons at home. Pitt is no exception, and it is also necessary to help pay for the Pete. To spin it positively, it can be pointed out that Pitt plays 2 Big 11 teams, 2 SEC teams, an A-10 team and a mid-major who made the tournament last year. It just happens, though, that except for Wisconsin, none of these foes are expected to be particularly good this year.

Dick Weiss of the NY Daily News talks about the new Big East and adds the following at the end.

None of the coaches thinks the Big East will last in its current configuration after the next five years, with a possible split between the football and non-football schools and Notre Dame in the works.

But this is a special time for the league.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Pitt has to pursue a two-track plan for the long-term. Work on creating a stable conference in the East/Midwest that won’t be in danger of getting tossed out of the BCS. At the same time, quietly work on/angle for membership in the Big 11. The latter includes effective lobbying of the PA legislature to make sure that Penn State will fully, completely, unequivocally and vocally support Pitt for membership when the Big 11 expands.

The early signing period for b-ball recruits yielded two.

The University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball program signed two student-athletes–forward Gilbert Brown (Harrisburg, Pa./South Kent Prep, Conn.) and center Austin Wallace (Bronx, N.Y./LaSalle Academy) — to a National Letter of Intent, Head Coach Jamie Dixon announced Friday. The NCAA Division I fall signing period began on Wednesday, Nov. 9.

“We are extremely excited about both Gilbert and Austin,” Dixon said. “Both are quality young men from winning programs. They are both very good athletes as well as solid students.”

Both are considered very good talents, with Wallace expected to be more of a project (as is common for Centers).

There was one miss. Pitt was unable to lure a recruit from Mississippi.

On Monday, Heidelberg High forward Andre Stephens signed with USM, becoming the Golden Eagles’ third signee of the early period.

“It’s huge,” Eustachy said. “We have the best player in Mississippi; that’s what we think he is.”

The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Stephens averaged 18 points, 16 rebounds and 4.5 blocked shots for the Oilers during the 2004-05 season.
…
Stephens was ranked the nation’s 133rd-best prospect by HoopScoop magazine and showed well at Adidas and NBA Players All-Star camps.

USM signed Stephens despite late interest shown by Texas, Kansas and Southern California.He joins preseason juco All-America Gjio Bain, a 6-11 center from Northeastern Community College in Norfolk, Neb., and 5-11 point guard Dewayne Green of Mt. San Jacinto (Calif.) Community College.

Bain turned down Pittsburgh to sign with USM.

Damn.

Some things I’ve not gotten to in the last few days regarding basketball.

An AP Capsule summary of Pitt.

Expectations: After averaging 27 victories while making four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, the Panthers are in transition from the Troutman-Taft-Julius Page-Jaron Brown-Krauser era to that featuring the talent recruited by Dixon during his first two years on the job. Krauser is the link between the two eras, returning at age 24 after being told he wasn’t ready for the NBA. A slightly improved but still relatively soft early season schedule should let all the new players get accustomed to major college basketball before the Big East schedule begins in January. Then it gets tough in an already good conference that has added Louisville, Marquette and Cincinnati, plus DePaul and South Florida.

[Emphasis added.]

As I have said, this is a better non-con than in past years. The biggest drags on the schedule actually come playing the schools closest to Pitt — Robert Morris, Duquesne and Penn State.

Seth Davis at SI.com, who has dogged Pitt for a few years on the non-con whacks at Pitt again for the schedule.

PITT Nine of first 11 nonconference games are at home, including the only tough test (Dec. 31 against Wisconsin).

Every team schedules an overwhelming majority of the non-cons at home. Pitt is no exception, and it is also necessary to help pay for the Pete. To spin it positively, it can be pointed out that Pitt plays 2 Big 11 teams, 2 SEC teams, an A-10 team and a mid-major who made the tournament last year. It just happens, though, that except for Wisconsin, none of these foes are expected to be particularly good this year.

Dick Weiss of the NY Daily News talks about the new Big East and adds the following at the end.

None of the coaches thinks the Big East will last in its current configuration after the next five years, with a possible split between the football and non-football schools and Notre Dame in the works.

But this is a special time for the league.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Pitt has to pursue a two-track plan for the long-term. Work on creating a stable conference in the East/Midwest that won’t be in danger of getting tossed out of the BCS. At the same time, quietly work on/angle for membership in the Big 11. The latter includes effective lobbying of the PA legislature to make sure that Penn State will fully, completely, unequivocally and vocally support Pitt for membership when the Big 11 expands.

The early signing period for b-ball recruits yielded two.

The University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball program signed two student-athletes–forward Gilbert Brown (Harrisburg, Pa./South Kent Prep, Conn.) and center Austin Wallace (Bronx, N.Y./LaSalle Academy) — to a National Letter of Intent, Head Coach Jamie Dixon announced Friday. The NCAA Division I fall signing period began on Wednesday, Nov. 9.

“We are extremely excited about both Gilbert and Austin,” Dixon said. “Both are quality young men from winning programs. They are both very good athletes as well as solid students.”

Both are considered very good talents, with Wallace expected to be more of a project (as is common for Centers).

There was one miss. Pitt was unable to lure a recruit from Mississippi.

On Monday, Heidelberg High forward Andre Stephens signed with USM, becoming the Golden Eagles’ third signee of the early period.

“It’s huge,” Eustachy said. “We have the best player in Mississippi; that’s what we think he is.”

The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Stephens averaged 18 points, 16 rebounds and 4.5 blocked shots for the Oilers during the 2004-05 season.
…
Stephens was ranked the nation’s 133rd-best prospect by HoopScoop magazine and showed well at Adidas and NBA Players All-Star camps.

USM signed Stephens despite late interest shown by Texas, Kansas and Southern California.He joins preseason juco All-America Gjio Bain, a 6-11 center from Northeastern Community College in Norfolk, Neb., and 5-11 point guard Dewayne Green of Mt. San Jacinto (Calif.) Community College.

Bain turned down Pittsburgh to sign with USM.

Damn.

Coach Wannstedt and the rest of the coaching staff were out on the recruiting trail this week, and a lot of them still are.

Wannstedt spent the past three days recruiting and he said he is always energized by that part of the job because of the positive feedback he gets everywhere he goes.

“It has been fantastic,” said Wannstedt yesterday after the Panthers began practices for their Thanksgiving game against West Virginia. “I was local today and I was in Florida yesterday and the day before and the reception has been outstanding. We’re going to hold on to a great class … with the verbal commitments and we’re going to add probably another four or five, which I believe, are big-time guys before it is all said and done.”

Wannstedt along with coordinators Matt Cavanaugh and Paul Rhoads were the only three coaches at practice because the rest of the staff was still on the road and won’t be back until today.

Since the coaches can’t talk about recruits, and even verbal commits until they sign, he can’t say who he was seeing, but others can.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is heading out on the road to visit several high schools of Florida prospects that the Panthers are recruiting in the coming days… The Panthers are in on several Florida prospects including Thaddeus Lewis and Darrell Davis…

Last week, it was noted that Jovani Chappel, a cornerback from Ohio who had given a soft verbal to Purdue visited Pitt during the UConn game. Apparently he liked the trip.

“Coach Wannstedt is a great guy and he told me I could join the team in January and compete for playing time,” Chappel said. “I need to sit down with my family and make a decision. I should know where I’m going by the end of the month.”

Other schools have continued their pursuit, but it appears this one will be a two-team race between the Panthers and the Boilermakers.

The emphasis on the corner to replace Josh Lay seems to be on speed over size. Chappel is 5′ 8″ and another top commit for Pitt, Ricky Gary, is also 5’8″.

Well, it looks like WVU Center Dan Mozes will be fine to play next Thursday. He sprained his knee during the Cinci game, but he is expected to be in full contact practice by the weekend. Part of why WVU has had such a great running game this season has been Mozes, who is a likely all-Big East player this season, on the line.

There are some issues of depth. Back-up tailback Jason Gwaltney, who hurt his knee a month or so ago in the Rutgers game is definitely out. A mix of slow rehab and slow classroom performances. Until he was hurt he had played in 6 games, picking up 186 yards on 45 carries (4.1 yds/carry). Pitt can expect freshman back Steve Slaton to come at them frequently.

While the Tight End position isn’t exactly much of a weapon for WVU, they hope to have their starter Josh Bailey back. Bailey has an ankle injury. The two players that started after Bailey are both out with injuries of their own, so they are now pretty far down on the depth chart for that position.

Pitt is actually in pretty good shape from an injury perspective. Defensive Tackle Thomas Smith is not practicing much because of his toe injury, but is expected to see significant playing time. He has been doing a lot of tutoring to Freshman Rashaad Duncan.

Clint Session is fully healed from his knee injury that has slowed him all season, and will get the start at SAM Linebacker.

Orson at Every Day Should Be Saturday, reviews the performances of Big East football coaches in the BE commercial that has been airing all season.

It’s worth reading the whole post, but he ignores the funniest/most painful part of the ad. The part where they seek to remind recruits/stick it in the eye of the ACC and the Mountain West that they still have a BCS bid. The Big East’s way of announcing, “goddammit, we are relevant no matter how much we get ragged on.” You almost expect the BE coaches to be in a group shot at the end and flip the bird.

The bottom part of the poll is as big a mess as ever. Wanted to drop some teams (FSU) out completely, but the dearth of other teams more deserving kept them in the rankings. Just not a lot of true top-25 teams this year. I’m also a little embarrassed at some sloppiness on my part in the ballot this week. Inexcusable.

The full blogpoll is here. All ballots can be checked here.

1. Southern California — Ho-hum
2. Texas — La la la
3. Miami (Florida) — Yawn
4. Louisiana State — Pulled another one out, as the talent is there. Still question the coaching
5. Notre Dame — No one wants to play ND in the BCS when Charlie Weis has a month to prepare.
6. Virginia Tech — DNP
7. Alabama — Shakiness finally caught up with them
8. Ohio State — Defense, defense, and oh, yeah the offense is now on
9. Penn State — DNP
10. West Virginia — Hoopies rape sheep bearcats!
11. Auburn — First big win of the season at the right time
12. South Carolina — Break a losing streak that predates WWII and you too will shoot up the rankings
13. Georgia — Shockley back, but defense went MIA
14. UCLA — Here’s where things start to get jumbled
15. Wisconsin — Okay, I screwed this one up. Plain truth, they were supposed to be out of the poll, but I goofed.
16. TCU — But for that SMU loss and they’d be giving Mountain West a legit complaint this season with their own C-USA team
17. Michigan — Ohio St. game decides whether the season was somewhat disappointing or firelloydcarr.com disappointing.
18. Oregon — Escaping with a win
19. Louisville — Everyone is still wondering about the USF loss
20. Fresno State — I am the walrus
21. Northwestern — Like I said, running out of teams
22. Florida — Or else they might have been dropped
23. UTEP — And teams like this break through
24. Florida State — While teams like this somehow remain
25. Oklahoma — And others have clawed back in

Out: Texas Tech, Colorado, GT
In: Oklahoma, UTEP, South Carolina
Games seen in whole or part: Cinci-WVU, RU-L-ville, UConn-Pitt, LSU-Ala

The Big East got another bowl tie-in.

The BIG EAST Conference has entered into a four-year agreement to participate in the EV1.net Houston Bowl and will meet an opponent from the Big 12 Conference beginning in the 2006 season. The EV1.net Houston Bowl is played at the state-of-the-art Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The EV1.net Houston Bowl will be able to select a BIG EAST team after the league’s Bowl Championship Series representative has been determined and a BIG EAST team is invited to either the Toyota Gator Bowl or the Vitalis Sun Bowl. During any year when Notre Dame participates in the Gator or Sun Bowls, the EV1.net Houston Bowl will get first choice of a BIG EAST team after the league’s BCS representative has been identified. The EV1.Net Houston Bowl has the ability to choose Notre Dame once over the four-year agreement.

The Big East will send its #3 team to play the #6 team from the Big XII. The Big East needed to add another bowl, especially after the Toronto bowl plan was rejected for a San Diego based-bowl. From my personal perspective, this isn’t too bad since my sister lives in Houston.

Give Joe Starkey credit for creating two columns from the same theme. He has an ESPN.com column on Big East football and Mike Tranghese. Plus he puts a variation on a similar column at the Trib. Both are about Tranghese defending the Big East from the ongoing attacks of how it is unworthy to participate in the pure, noble BCS system.

Mike Tranghese is fed up with the criticism of his reconfigured football league.

The Big East commissioner doesn’t want to hear it from the media — though some of us have been unable to resist — and certainly doesn’t want to hear it from non-BCS conferences such as the Mountain West.

“They need to keep quiet and go prove themselves,” Tranghese said Monday in a phone interview. “If they deserve to get in (to the BCS), they’ll get in.”

Some might point out that they did last year, kind of demonstrably against the Big East. This year hasn’t been as good with their own C-USA refugee, TCU, leading their conference.

The ESPN.com article is a bit more detailed and Tranghese spins a new tale of how the BE got to stay in the BCS.

Tranghese insists there was no hocus-pocus behind keeping that lucrative BCS bid. He scoffs at charges of cronyism levied by those who wonder whether his power-brokering history put him in a position to curry favors. Among his many posts, Tranghese served as the lead administrator of the BCS (2002-03) and chairman of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Subcommittee on Television (1997-2001), where he helped to secure a $6 billion contract from CBS for broadcast rights.

“Everybody keeps talking like I did something to make this happen,” Tranghese said in a phone interview Monday, when asked how the league kept its BCS bid. “When we lost our members, we simply went to the others [in the BCS] and said, ‘You know what? You have to make a decision.’ They evaluated, saw that we were one of the founders [of the BCS] and recognized that the Northeast section of the country was a very good thing to have. And we made a very good case.”

No doubt they did take into account the media markets, but there is no sense pretending that Tranghese’s personal connections didn’t play a huge role in this. This is also strange, since a few weeks ago after BE Basketball media day, a story came out where Tranghese admitted he pressed the BE’s case to stay in the BCS for a year.

More interesting is his story on how Louisville got included in the BE BCS ranks last season when they were still in C-USA.

“I was obviously opposed to that,” Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson told the Orlando Sentinel last month. “Louisville didn’t play a single Big East opponent last year, and yet their great season is credited to the Big East. It makes no sense.”

Tranghese says that when the BCS “decided to give us a four-year opportunity” at a meeting in February 2004, it asked for the league’s “lineup” for the 2004 season. Tranghese said he responded by listing the teams in the conference that year. They included Boston College, which would play in ’04 before defecting to the ACC, and Temple, which was known to be headed into its last Big East season (it was kicked out).

“The Big Ten said, ‘No, BC and Temple are not going to be in your league [after ’04], so they shouldn’t count, because we’re trying to evaluate you over four years. Cincinnati, South Florida and Louisville; we think they oughta count,'” Tranghese said.

Furthermore, Tranghese said, “The Mountain West sat at the table and voted in favor of it, and now they’re bellyaching about it after the fact. They need to keep quiet and go prove themselves. If they deserve to get in, they’ll get in.”

Thompson, the Mountain West commissioner, did not return a phone call seeking comment. A Big Ten spokesman said Monday that commissioner Jim Delany was not available for comment and wouldn’t be until Thursday.

I don’t know. Call it a hunch, but I don’t see a lot of games being scheduled between Mountain West and Big East teams in the next few years. Skip the Trib article and read the whole ESPN.com article.