I forgot the other thing that should be considered. What is the overall graduation rate for each university? It is more of a perspective thing, and gives a better idea of how far off from the “common” student a particular program is doing.

I had written in my other blog back in August about graduation rates at Ohio’s public universities — and finding myself in the uncomfortable position of defending tOSU. The numbers aren’t going to be perfect since they are different studies and slightly different time scales, but they do base on a 6-year period to graduate. Overall, at Pitt, the graduation rate is around 65%.

Obviously, the football and basketball are still lagging, but perspective helps.

So the latest NCAA Graduation figures came out, and Pitt didn’t do too well in key sports.

Football, 48 percent; basketball, 29 percent

This should not shock anyone. The seasons covered were Freshmen from the 1995-96 season to 1998-99. This is taking into account the changed standards which now includes JUCOs and transfers.

Honestly, I’m kind of surprised the basketball was that high. Those classes were at the height of the Ralph Willard error. I mean, think about the players that included: Kelli Taylor, Isaac Hawkins, Blount, and others who let’s just say were never serious about their studies for whatever reasons. There were just a lot of questionable characters at the time.

As for football, well, what can you say. Half Majors and half Harris recruits.

Dennis Dodd makes the argument that while it may be a less than positive thing — publicity-wise — for schools, it’s hard to blame many of the coaches unless they have been on the same job for an extensive period.

Meanwhile, the most accurate way to apply these grad rates is to the coaches who have been around since 1995, when the NCAA started counting. There are only 13 in I-A if you include just-retired Bill Snyder at Kansas State and Syracuse’s Paul Pasqualoni, who was responsible for the players in the last year of measurement (2003-04).

Oddly enough, BYU football only has a 40% graduation rate (it may have something to do with the Mormon missionary work, but still kind of amusing to note).

I will be more curious about the numbers in a few more years — when it reflects all of the Harris time and the Ben Howland/Jamie Dixon era.

A couple more articles about the results. I’m sorry, it is important, but considering I find most of the off-the-field stuff regarding big collegiate athtletics (football and basketball) to be a lousy process of indentured servitude, hypocrisy and lies that this tends to be a self-serving argument.

Schools and their fans at Boston College, Penn State and ND will point to their graduation rates as indicitive of how great their school and coaches follow the mission while then saying that it is an isolated incident when the players fire arrows through dorm walls, fights and their players are shoving counterfiet bills up their rectum to try and avoid being caught, uh, passing them.

It cuts both ways, and I just can’t work up the outrage.

You can view any school’s graduation rate, here. Pitt’s is here (PDF).

Remember Trevor Ferguson? A late, sleeper signee with Pitt. 6’6″ player who had good range inside and out. He was released from his NLI with Pitt after showing up for some summer school and workouts, because he was homesick and had family issues — his mother had passed away in the last year or so — so he wanted to stay closer to home in Florida.

Well, not so much (via Section Six):

N.C. State’s newest basketball commitment won’t have to wait long to join the program.

Trevor Ferguson, who was briefly a member of the Pittsburgh program and committed Monday morning, plans to enroll at N.C. State the day after Christmas.

He won’t be able to play or travel until after the 2006-07 exhibition games, but can practice immediately as a member of the scout team, his prep school coach said.

Tony Cole, Ferguson’s coach at New Creations Christian School in Richmond, Ind., said Ferguson chose Pittsburgh without ever visiting there because he was impressed with coach Joe Lombardi.

Cole said Ferguson didn’t realize he didn’t fit into Pittsburgh’s rugged, half-court style until he got there. Ferguson, a 6-6 wing player, left Pitt and enrolled at New Creations instead.

Well, isn’t that interesting. Based on that, one might think the kid pulled a punk move and used a dead mother as an excuse to get out of Pitt without losing eligibility or having to pay his own way for a year because he found out he wasn’t tough enough. This article notes the discrepancy between what was said back in August and now.

Didn’t realize or know about Pitt’s style of play? It isn’t exactly a new shift in philosophy from the last 5 years.

Of course that’s just a knee-jerk reaction. Nothing from the actual kid himself. Love to hear his explanation. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to want to talk. Letting his coaches do the flakking for him.

Call it a hunch, but I don’t think Coach Jamie Dixon will be letting a kid out of his NLI quite so easily next time.

For those of you who think Aaron Gray isn’t doing enough on the boards, Ken Pomeroy has an interesting bit of information:

Best Defensive Rebounder: Aaron Gray of Pitt is hauling in 31.9% of his opponents missed shots while he is on the court. He’s averaging double-digit rebounds in only 24.9 mpg. Granted, against weak competition.

Now, Pitt has crashed the Coaches’ Poll at #25 and sits (unofficially) at #28 in the AP. With Pitt officially in the top #25 of a poll, expect the cries regarding Pitt’s non-con to intensify.

The Big East Power Poll is out and Pitt is #3. Here is how my ballot looked.

1. UConn — Undefeated and unbowed
2. Villanova — Ditto
3. Louisville — I just don’t like to slam a team for losing a rivalry game. Especially on the rival’s home court. Besides, I couldn’t justify moving anyone ahead of them.
4. Pitt — that includes my team, when the only victory for the week came against Vermont
5. Syracuse — McNamara getting hisrhythmm and the schedule is soft
6. Georgetown — Easy game time for them
7. WVU — DNP
8. Marquette — This is a bit of a gut thing, but Marquette is going to be a tough team in the BE this season
9. ND — And I’m seeing the NIT for ND for a 3rd straight year.
10. Cinci — Probably a little low, but I cannot get a feel for this team from game-to-game, week-to-week
11. RU — I almost wanted to ding them for playing a Div. II team this past week
12. Providence — Best thing for them was not playing all week.
13. DePaul — So, they go on the road and beat Wake Forest, then lose at Old Dominion?
14. St. John’s — Marist? Lose to Marist at home? There are two reasons they are not at the bottom of the list:
15. Seton Hall — Someone do the merciful thing and pull the plug on Louis Orr now.
16. USF — Had to comeback to beat FAU. No depth and injuries killing.

Early surprises: Cinci and Marquette
Early disappointments: St. John’s and Georgetown

Show your prognostication superiority. The bowl games kick-off tomorrow night. Still time to enter the bowl challenge, and join the “Pitt Sports Blather” group.

A puff piece today on Krauser continuing his ascent on several of Pitt’s all-time lists.

In unbeaten Pitt’s 63-52 victory over Vermont on Saturday, Krauser scored 21 points to increase his career total to 1,289 and move past Chevon Troutman, Sean Miller and Bobby Martin.

Earlier, Krauser had passed John Riser, Bob Lazor, Curtis Aiken, Jerome Lane and Jaron Brown after starting the year at 1,148.

Next up is Jerry McCullough, who finished his college career in 1996 with 1,342 points, and Brandin Knight, whose 1,440 points ranks 13th.

Krauser played behind Knight to start his college career before Knight used up his eligibility in 2003.

With the schedule roughly one-fourth elapsed, Krauser appears to have time to finish among the top 10 scorers at Pitt. He needs 292 points — an average of 15.4 points per game — during the Panthers’ final 19 regular-season games to tie Vonteego Cummings (1,581) at No. 10.

You have to figure on passing Cummings, with at least 2 additional games. Assuming Pitt manages to finish #12 or higher in the Big East so Pitt will play at least one game in the Big East Tournament. And while the NCAA isn’t assured, I am willing to bet that at a minimum Pitt makes the NIT.

Krauser also looks to break 500 assists this season to be only the 5th Pitt player to have more than 1000 points and 500 assists (Brandin Knight, Sean Miller, Darrelle Porter and Jerry McCullough)

Concern over perimeter defense is the topic.

In the first 3 minutes and 25 seconds of the second half of Vermont’s game against Pitt Saturday, the Catamounts scored 12 points on four 3-point baskets, and that was eight more points than they scored in the final 11:22 in the first half.

The instant offense was an instant reminder of one of the biggest problems that plagued Pitt last season: perimeter defense.

Defense has been one of Pitt’s strengths through the first eight games of the season. Seven teams have failed to score more than 60 points against the undefeated Panthers. But defending the 3-point shot continues to be a headache for coach Jamie Dixon and his staff.

Pitt ranks 13th out of 16 Big East Conference teams in defending the 3-point shot. Opponents are shooting 37.6 percent from 3-point range. That has to be disconcerting given the level of competition to date. With better shooting teams due soon, it will be imperative for the Panthers to improve.

If Vermont can convert eight 3-pointers, what will a more accomplished 3-point shooting team such as West Virginia do against the Panthers? …

Sounds dire, except for one little fact. Vermont made 27 attempts to just have 8 3s fall. That’s a .296 average. Pitt actually held Vermont below their season average of .314 (including Saturday’s game).

It should be something of a concern, but not the way this article sets it out to be. It’s hard to be that upset about a team throwing up tons of 3s when they are under 30% shooting. Unfortunately, the piece was a little lazy.

There’s reason to worry about perimeter defense considering how much trouble Pitt had with it last season. This isn’t the way to make the case.

3-point shooting versus Pitt: 58 – 154, .377
Opps. avg. 3-point shooting: 428-1230, .348

Teams are shooting better against Pitt right now, but the difference is not that vast. Take out the games against Pitt and the teams are shooting .344 (370-1076). To take the opponent 3-point shooting average down to .344, is 5 made shots.

5 made 3s in 8 games is the difference. Should the defense be tighter? Yes. Yes it should. But then, we always want better. We want to see Pitt keeping teams shooting below the average. Not just average or just above average.

In 3 games, Pitt held teams below their 3-point shooting average: Vermont, Duquesne and Maine. In all 3 examples the difference was exactly one less 3-ball. If the team makes a 3 they are right around or perhaps slightly above the season average.

In 3 games, Pitt allowed teams to shoot just above their average: Penn State, St. Francis (NY) and St. Peter’s. Once again, the difference was one more 3 going down.

The difference really came in 2 games: Robert Morris (10-19, .526) and Auburn (6-12, .500).

The Auburn game can be somewhat excused because they got most of the 3s (5-8) in the second half when Pitt gave the bench a lot more time.

As for Robert Morris, well, simply put, Pitt was lazy on defense that game. RMU came out and hit 7-11 on 3s in the first half. It was a game where Pitt came out without giving much of an effort to begin the game. In fact, Pitt didn’t start turning the game on, until about 2 minutes into the second half.

What I would like to see in basketball, is much like hockey, the +/- ratings of players. That would be a better indicator of the kind of defense they play. I’m betting teams keep some sort of stat like that, but it isn’t a number available for general discussion. It’s a shame, because I think that would be a greater indication of a player’s defensive and offensive value.

Since the season ended, there have been hints that Greg Lee might skip his senior season and go pro in the NFL draft. This, despite a subpar season marred by disturbing lapses in concentration leading to a lot of drops. Earlier in the week, Todd McShay for Scouts, Inc./ESPN.com (Insider subs.) was listing underclassmen who are going pro, should go pro and should stay in school. Greg Lee was included on the list of those who should stay.

Lee came into the season widely considered one of the top 5-10 WRs in the country. Definitely the best in the Big East. While his numbers still looked good, was all-Big East and led the conference in receptions (27th in the country) and receiving yards/game, it was a disappointing season. The aforementioned issue of dropped passes was very noticeable — especially considering the little room for error on offense that Pitt had.

So it would seem that Lee would be foolish to go pro early. Apparently not.

Lee sent feelers to the NFL to assess his draft prospects. So far, he has not received an official response.

Pitt’s coaches are hoping they can talk Lee into staying. According to some scouting services, he likely would be a fifth-round pick at best, especially coming off what most would consider to be a disappointing season.

Lee believes the crop of receivers eligible for the NFL draft will be stronger next year, which is one reason he is considering an early exit.

He has not signed with an agent, however, so he could change his mind and return to Pitt for his senior year without losing his eligibility.

So he would be a Day 2 draftee, and I don’t think he’d be outstanding at the combines regarding speed. Lee did not show great bursts and wasn’t much for yards after the catch.

Arguing for going pro early is the fact that Pitt’s new offensive plan is still to run the ball more. For his own future, what does that mean regarding showing what he can do? How much will he be utilized and isn’t it possible that his stock will further drop if he doesn’t get the deep ball and finds himself on more short routes and going across the middle more?

I think he should come back for his senior year, but I’m hardly unbiased. Terrell Allen was dismissed from the team and will be transferring, and WR LB Tyler Tipton and TE Robbie Agnone — admittedly guys who didn’t see the field — are also transferring. Pitt will not be particularly deep at the position and Lee is still the #1 receiver for Pitt and Tyler Palko.

Ah, finals week. The sugar, caffeine, nicotine, mild hallucinations from pulling 2 all-nighters in a 3 day stretch, the lack of personal hygiene, and then selling your books for beer money. It’s not that I miss all of that, so much as I miss knowing that I was able to do that without dying or ending up hospitalized. Ah, youth.

Pretty much as expected. Pitt had a slow, sluggish game after a week off and finals.

Due to semester exams, Pitt practiced sporadically last week as players spent more time in the library than in the gym. And for much of yesterday afternoon’s game against Vermont, it appeared as if the Panthers’ heads were still in the classroom.
…
Coach Jamie Dixon did not practice his team Sunday, Monday or Wednesday. When he did attempt to have a practice, three or four players were absent so they could study or take tests.

“We seem to play better when we practice. I’m sure about that,” Dixon said with a smile. “It’s not an excuse. It’s just part of college basketball. Everyone goes through it. We had more finals later in the week this year than in the past. That was something that was different. We’ll face worse adversity than that. Any wins in finals week is a good win.”

Again, not terribly unexpected. A young team, finals, not a lot of practice, a week between games, and the expected let-down after blowing a team out of the water. It doesn’t stop a bit of frustration and wishing otherwise, but, uh, “it is what it is.”

Coach Dixon, as usual, defends his players and the team.

When it was suggested that Vermont was able to get some easy looks at the basket at the outset, Dixon quickly countered.

“People have high expectations,” he said. “When 34 percent isn’t good enough, then you know where we’re at.”

Which, of course, was not the question. The question was the early, wide-open shots Vermont was getting. The Catamounts able to follow their own shot because Pitt wasn’t boxing out under the basket. Vermont actually was even with Pitt on rebounds in the first half. It took Pitt more than 10 minutes into the game before taking the lead for good. The Panthers opened with 3-14 shooting, before closing the half with 9-14 shooting.

Vermont hit their first 4 shots, 3-4 on threes in the beginning, and were getting second chance points. The Pitt D came around first. Vermont started out 5-7 shooting, then 3-16 the rest of the half.

That’s what gave Pitt the opening to start blowing it open. That, and Carl Krauser taking over. Krauser caught fire during Pitt’s run in the first half, and single-handedly forced a change in Vermont’s defense.

“He’s a really good player,” said [Vermont Coach, Mike] Lonergan, whose team went to a zone to slow Krauser. “They’re a very, very physical team. We battled their big guys and the guys really worked the ball around, we just couldn’t get a break.”

It is a luxury to have Krauser be able to take over these games. He not only provided the leadership to settle the team down, but scored almost at will for a stretch.

I know he’s not the only one to have ever faced the issue of wanting to be there to help and care for an ailing parent, while trying to follow his own path and goals; but that doesn’t make the issue any less difficult.

The story is out that Rashad Jennings is considering leaving Pitt to help care for his father back in Virginia.

Recently, Jennings’ father had a setback in a long battle against diabetes. Albert Jennings, 53, already has had one leg amputated because of the disease and doctors now say they might have to amputate the other one.

“It’s tough, watching my mother carry my father,” Jennings said, his voice soft but firm. “I don’t want to leave that burden on my mother. I want to be home with them. This is where I belong.”

About a week ago, Jennings talked with Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt about the situation. He said Wannstedt told him to go home and take his time making a decision.

Wannstedt was unavailable for comment yesterday. A Pitt athletic department spokesman said neither the school nor Wannstedt would issue a statement until after the matter was resolved.

I believe under NCAA rules, Pitt and Coach Wannstedt are also prohibited from discussing the subject until resolution is reached.

The struggles of Jennings’ father have been going on all semester.

The situation appears completely in flux as Jennings is torn in many directions — wanting to be there to help his father, not leave Pitt, not stop his education (and lose access to the academic support structure provided by a major university), and play football.

I am truly impressed that he doesn’t want to stop his education and admits his desire/need for the academic support provided at Pitt (or any major Div. 1-A school). It shows a strong and admirable character, and someone with a real desire to get his education. A reflection of the kind of man he is and the way he was raised by his parents.

Here’s hoping things work out for Rashad Jennings. I hope he is able to stay at Pitt, not (just) because of his football ability, but because he is the kind of person you want to have at your school.

Some information relayed to me, suggests that Rashad Jennings has a lot on his plate regarding family and emotions right now.

Keep in mind that this is unconfirmed stuff, but it seems important enough to mention, if for no other reason, then the kid may need to be cut some slack. There are some reports that Jennings’ father may be suffering from Diabetes. That would be Adult or Type II Diabetes. It may not have been noticed/caught in time to prevent some serious circulation damage that could result in amputation of some limbs.

Obviously, we wish the best to the Jennings family, and hope for the best.

Open thread on the game. Comment away.

Halftime Update: Pitt leads 32-19.

Horrible start. More than a little rust on Pitt. Not a great sign when Pitt’s next week-long layoff ends with the first real roadie to South Carolina.

Pitt missed first 5 threes of the game and Pitt started 3-14 overall. Vermont, on the other hand hit 3-4 on threes at first and 5-7 overall. Good shooting and lazy D.

What kept Pitt from being at risk to being absolutely buried in the first 10 minutes was that Vermont fumbled the ball away — 8 TOs, 13 for the half.

An early problem was that no one other than Gray was pulling down the rebounds — 6 of the 16 rebounds — Kendall had 3 and 7 others with 1 apiece.

The other early problem was way too much shooting on the perimeter early. They just weren’t going inside (again).

Turned it around, though, with a flurry and fury. 25-4 run by Pitt in last 10 minutes.

Final: 63-52.

I’lll give some credit to Vermont. They did their best to hang around. They stopped turning the ball over, and were impressive off the boards.

Pitt was struggling to get the ball inside. You almost half to force it inside, at some point. Gray simply was not given chances inside. In fact, most of the guys playing inside weren’t given opportunities. A little too much settling, or was the Catamount D that good at blocking the inside pass?

Today’s useless fact. We are all North American Cougars. That’s right a Catamount is the same as a Panther — they are all the same beast.

Vermont’s basketball has actually mined Pittsburgh for talent.

Several recent Catamount standouts are from the Pittsburgh area led by UVM’s all-time leading scorer, Eddie Benton ’96 (Perry), who is the women’s coach at Laroche College. Others include Erik Nelson ’98 (Fox Chapel), George Roberson ’95 (Penn Hills), Jeremy McCool ’95 (Keystone) and Dave Ostrosky ’94 (Fox Chapel). Current UVM assistant John Sanow is from nearby Windber, Pa. and he played at Indiana-Pa.

So when Hillgrove and Groat mention this sort of thing on the air today, you can thank the Vermont Athletic Department for the info.

The Pitt Athletic Department has its own pre-game summary. The press release was used to fill a brief notebook article.

As for today’s game, the players and coach are optimistic.

“They’ve really been killing some teams,” said Cieplicki, who along with his University of Vermont men’s basketball teammates, travels to Pittsburgh to take on the undefeated Panthers at 4 p.m. today. “No one expects us to go in there and win, and we’ve got to use that to our advantage.”

The Catamounts (3-4 and winners of three of their last four) will need any advantage they can find against Pitt (7-0), which has beaten opponents by an average of 22 points per game, including 37-point wins over Penn State and Auburn. The Panthers also knocked off UVM league-rival Maine, 62-49.

“They’re drilling everyone right now,” said UVM first-year coach Mike Lonergan. “My goal is to stay competitive and remember that this game will help us.”
…
“To stay in the game, we’re going to have to hit some shots,” Lonergan said, “and we’re going to have play more physical.”

Vermont’s main focal point on offense is a freshman point guard, Mike Trimboli who is averaging 17.4 points and 6.4 assists. He also averages about 4.6 turnovers and almost 35 minutes per game. Their other main weapon is a junior from the Czech Republic, Martin Klimes. He is 6’8″ but plays Center averaging 15.6 points and 5.7 rebounds.

He actually starts ahead of Chris Holm, a Junior Center who is 6′ 11″. Looking over their roster, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Holm and Klimes on the court together to give Vermont some size to match-up against Pitt. Unsurprisingly, there isn’t a lot of height on the team. They aren’t playing migits, but there just isn’t a lot of size or bulk on the team.

Antonio Graves receives a story in each paper today. The focus, of course, is on his new role coming off the bench. Slightly different tones to them. The P-G story seems to imply that Graves is not very happy about it, is frustrated but is holding it in check because of expectations of more PT as the competition improves.

“To be honest, it’s kind of hard,” Graves said yesterday after the Panthers had finished preparations for today’s game against Vermont at the Petersen Events Center. “Knowing where I came from last year … My role was a lot bigger.

“But I’m a team player. That comes first. We’re going with what’s working. I’m getting comfortable with it. My main thing is not who starts but who finishes games. When we get to the Big East, when it’s tight, I want to be one of the guys who is in there.”
…
While Graves said he was getting accustomed to his new role, he made it clear he was striving for more playing time when the Big East season comes around. That very well could be the case. Dixon has leaned on experience in the past and could turn to Graves for some leadership later in the season.

“That’s what’s keeping me motivated,” Graves said. “This whole experience has made me a lot hungrier.

“Down the line, I’ll be much needed because of my experience. Who knows what’s going to happen? Injuries, foul trouble … I’m still adjusting and getting used to things. It’s not easy coming from where I was last year. But I’m a team guy and I love Pitt. I’m going to do whatever coach asks me to do.”

The Trib story implies that Graves is a little more relaxed about the whole situation.

Mismatches aside — Pitt is outscoring its opponents by more than 22 points per game — Graves is averaging 16.0 minutes per game to go with 5.9 points and 2.9 rebounds. He has played through sporadic foul trouble and an ankle injury that forced him to miss most of a 79-58 victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) on Nov. 29.

“His minutes are not as much as last year (26.9 mpg.), obviously, but nobody’s are right now,” Dixon said.

But you can bet the Pitt coach is pleased to have Graves on his roster as much as anyone on the team. He has been a valuable reserve in the Panthers’ deep backcourt this year, shooting 40.6 percent (13 for 32) and getting to the free-throw line 16 times while playing both guard positions.

“He’s playing very well,” Dixon said. “He’s given us a lot of good things, offensively and defensively. It’s nothing that he’s doing (wrong). We’re playing more guys, we’ve had some blowouts and he had the ankle injury in the game where he played only four minutes. There are so many things that come into play.”

Winning, of course, is a great cure for problems that arise, and Graves knows it just the same. But it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t mind playing more often. Yet, the thought of winning keeps coming back to him.

“I’m definitely contributing. Coach looks at me as one of the top defensive guys on the team,” Graves said. “He wants me to keep the game going when Carl (leading scorer Carl Krauser) and other guys come out. My main focus is to keep the defensive pressure up, and I can do that. It’s all about being a leader.”

You have to believe he is frustrated not to be starting. The thing is, though, he has been very good off of the bench. Providing more of a spark and seems to be able to handle not being in there right away.

Both stories, though, engage in blatant revisionism that Pitt and Coach Dixon “found” Graves and took a chance on him when no one else was ready to take him. That’s simply not true. Graves had academic issues that was holding him back from scholarship offers. He was a first team all-Ohio guard in his Senior year of high school. He was on the verge of heading to prep school when his final scores came back high enough — in August — to allow him to qualify. He did have offers from Rutgers and Bowling Green, along with interest from Ohio State and Cinci if his scores came up.

Well, if this is true (hat tip, Scott), he won’t be released from his scholarship.

WTAE channel 4 ABC’s Pittsburgh affiliate has just reported that Freshman running back Rashad Jennings has requested a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh.

Jennings reportedly sited family issues for the reason behind the transfer. It is being reported that Jennings apparently wants to transfer to the University of Virginia in order to be closer to his family.

Pitt starts a home-and-home with Virginia next season. There is no way Coach Wannstedt will let him go without him paying his own way and sitting out a year.

Right now, there is nothing about this story on the WTAE site.

He must be really homesick. Not only will he have to sit out a year, he already has a year of prep school added to his time [Ed., factual correction] lost a year because he deferred his enrollment. He’ll be approaching Krauser age by the time he gets back on the field again.

It can be argued, though, that this is not as big a blow as it might seem. It would open the door for Conredge Collins to show he can be the man at Tailback, rather than Fullback. Not to mention, perhaps if Brandon Mason can stay healthy for a week he could get his shot. Then, of course, there is the highly touted Kevin Collier coming next fall.

It may not exactly be the most glamorous, but Pitt will have some amazing continuity in the punting game. From Andy Lee to Adam Graessle to Dave Brytus.

Dave Brytus, who punted for Purdue the past two seasons and is a West Allegheny High School product, plans to enroll at Pitt in January and join the Panthers as a walk-on.

The 6-foot-4, 227-pound left-footer was one of 10 finalists for the Ray Guy Award this past season as a sophomore at Purdue, averaging 39.6 yards per punt and having 31 percent of his punts land inside the 20. He also handled Purdue’s kickoff duties this past season.

Brytus will join the Panthers as a walk-on next month because Purdue coach Joe Tiller would not release him from his scholarship — Pitt or any school, then, couldn’t give him a scholarship until 2007. Thus, Brytus will pay his own tuition the next two semesters at Pitt and won’t be eligible for a scholarship until Pitt’s spring 2007 semester.

Brytus plans to redshirt for 2006 (Graessle’s Senior year), meaning he will have 2 years of eligibility remaining.

“I have always been a big Pitt fan, and deep in my heart always wanted to be a Panther,” Brytus said. “Even out here [at Purdue] I would make sure to watch the Pitt games. It is just something in my heart. I just feel like I belong at Pitt and playing for a great coach like coach Wannstedt.”

Brytus, also an accomplished amateur heavyweight boxer, cited being nearer his family as a large reason for the transfer. His sister, Kathleen, 15, has epilepsy and goes to Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children.

“She has kind of always been sick and needed a lot of attention,” Brytus said. “But, lately, she has needed even more attention, and I feel like I need to be there for my family.”

A punter who is an amateur boxer? In the heavyweight division? Damn.

Welcome to Pitt, Dave.