So, I’m told it’s this Christmas thing and the stories should be positive wherever possible. Sure. Why not?

A fairly extensive story on John DeGroat’s hard road. Read it all. As a personal aside, the wife is a Juvi. Court Magistrate and comes home far too often with stories that will never have a happy ending. It’s nice to read one like this.

DeGroat also has an extended family at the Abbott House, a social service agency in New York that helps place children with foster families. After his problems at the group home in Yonkers, DeGroat had a short stay at the Abbott House, which placed him with the Macks.

The Abbott House brought about 30 of its children on a field trip to Pitt Dec. 10 to watch DeGroat play against Penn State. DeGroat tied his career-high with 11 points that day and visited with the children afterward. The Abbott House has decorated a wall with pictures and articles about DeGroat.

DeGroat, who is majoring in administration of justice, gives back by counseling the children when he is home.

“I’ve watched him grow into a fine young man,” said Terry Barrio, an employee at the Abbott House, who has known DeGroat for eight years. “We always knew he was going someplace. He comes back and talks to our kids. He’s a role model now. We’re all very proud of him.”

The other in-depth story is on Pitt Associate Head Coach, Barry Rohrssen.

Dick Weiss, the renowned college basketball writer for the New York Daily News, called Rohrssen “the coach with the biggest recruiting impact in the city of New York and on Long Island.”

Ahead of Jim Calhoun. Ahead of Rick Pitino. Ahead of Jay Wright, Jim Boeheim and others.

“He opened doors for the Panthers to be a top 10 program,” Weiss wrote.

Rohrssen also works closely with Pitt’s post players, including junior center Aaron Gray, who is fast-developing into an NBA prospect.

“Barry has been an integral part of the success of this program,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He has a great coaching background, is a good recruiter with outstanding contacts and has an understanding of how we run our program.”

As Pitt’s associate head coach, Rohrssen headlines Dixon’s staff of tireless assistants, who have managed to replenish the Panthers’ roster annually with impact players. Joe Lombardi, Pat Sandle and former Pitt star Orlando Antigua round out the group.

Rohrssen, deservedly, gets much of the credit for developing Pitt’s “NY Pipeline.” He’s been rumored for several coaching jobs, and other teams have tried to poach him for their staff.

Not surprising, and it hasn’t changed from last week. No one is exactly taking Pitt seriously yet.

ESPN.com decides to have their experts talk about each of the remaining unbeatens in college basketball and their “legitimacy” (all Insider subs.).

JayBilas is surprisingly friendly:

Go ahead, bag on the schedule, but Pitt is learning how to win and is gaining confidence with new parts. Freshman Levance Fields can run the point and can move Carl Krauser off the ball so Krauser can use his strength and ability to exploit defenses without having to run the team. Is Pitt top-10 material right now? Not yet, but the Panthers are good enough to be in the top 20 during conference play.

Doug Gottlieb continues playing the a-hole position of “telling it like it is.”

A pathetic schedule that only now challenges them, Pitt does have Karl Krauser’s experience and leadership to navigate the untested waters of upcoming road games. I expect Wisconsin to give them fits at home, and I also expect Pitt to become a bubble team late in the year because of its schedule.

I really don’t disagree, but I do wish ESPN.com could spring for a copy editor. It’s “Carl,” not “Karl.”

Fran Fraschilla defends a coach:

The worst thing about Pitt’s nonconference schedule is that coach Jamie Dixon has accrued zero U.S. Air miles this season. Including a road date at Duquesne, he hasn’t even crossed the Monongahela. As long as the formula works and Pitt continues to be relatively successful in Big East regular-season play, who can really argue? Carl Krauser has been playing more at the two this season, and Aaron Gray helps provide a solid inside-outside combo. If Levon Kendall could play every game against USA Basketball, Dixon would be really excited. If they get past games at South Carolina and against Wisconsin, then we’ll talk.

Over at CollegeHoopsNet, there is a blast at Pitt’s non-con.

Pittsburgh is now 9-0 and has played… ahem: St. Peter’s, Robert Morris, Maine, St. Francis (but that’s St. Francis of New York, not Pennsylvania…as if there’s any blasted difference to a Big East team), Auburn, Duquesne, Penn State, Vermont, and now, Coppin State. John Thompson would be proud, though a tad disappointed that St. Leo and Hawaii-Loa didn’t make the itinerary. The Panthers have played some wimpy non-con schedules in recent years, and this one certainly continues the tradition. Even the best spinster couldn’t count one of those wins as impressive. (Which is the best one? Auburn? Robert Morris?) No way the Panthers deserve their #25 ranking yet, not over teams like Northern Iowa, Bucknell or even West Virginia. Hate to keep piling on here, but if Pitt doesn’t win a minimum of 21 games, they shouldn’t get a single sniff of NCAA consideration. It’s one thing for a program to schedule like this when it’s trying to learn how to win; it’s something totally different when you have a recent history of NCAA appearances. Late December games against South Carolina and Wisconsin don’t make up for this putrid ledger. Pitt is better than this.

What can you say? I think he’s over stating the number of wins by about 1. Assuming Pitt at least splits the next 2 non-cons and goes either 9-7 and picks up a win in the Big East Tournament or goes 10-6 in conference play, and Pitt is in. Let’s face it, though, other than Auburn, I don’t see any team Pitt has beaten so far that will be looked at later as a quality or even decent win.

It’s the way it is, and the RPI will factor into the NCAA Tournament decision.