…or, Them Hoopies is fer real!!!

Beating Oklahoma earlier this season was impressive, but knocking off no. 3 Villanova certainly implies that West Virginia’s roundballers are ready for Big East play. Both games, it should be noted, were also road wins for the ‘Eers, which, to my mind at least, makes them all the more impressive.

On a larger scale, this win, coupled with Marquette’s victory over UConn last Tuesday, their subsequent loss to Cincinnati and ‘Nova’s victory over Louisville last Thursday, point to the Big East starting to live up to its expectations as being THE basketball conference. No one team, not even pre-season favorites for winning the conference, looks dominant right now. Good. I’d rather have a Pitt team that’s in the running but has to play its collective ass off almost every game than one that can rest on it laurels. Our guys, IMHO, seem to raise their level of play when the pressure’s on. In the long run, any tough conference loss will only make us better come tournament time.

But enough with the Captain Obvious bit. I’ll leave the deeper analysis of this issue to Chas. In the meantime, I’m off to mark my calendar so that I can actually remember the time I posted twice in the same week. Peace, yinz.

I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion that I blog on Cleveland and Ohio politics here. Tomorrow I make my radio debut with another blogger on the local NPR affiliate. They do have live streaming from their site, but no podcasting unfortunately. The segment will be live and around 10 minutes long around 7:45 in the morning.

That, of course, means that I will very likely have a late start on tomorrow’s posts.

It’s everyone’s chance to confirm that my voice is meant for typing not radio.

Anyone remember the Cornerback from Akron who was supposed to commit to Pitt? Brian Williams. Well he’s been at Valley Forge Military College getting his academics fixed, wait that came out wrong. He’s working on his academic situation to qualify for college. He’s going to be there for another season.

The Panthers are still the favorite to retain his services in the fall of 2007, but they might have some competition. Several schools have contacted Williams through Valley Forge and his high school coach, Claude Brown. Notre Dame, Indiana and Maryland have all shown some level of interest.

“I’m quite sure that Pitt is going to come in on him, but I know as schools find out he’s at Valley Forge, some other schools are going to come in after him,” Brown said.

Williams said Wannstedt and assistant head coach Bob Junko stay in touch with him by calling at least twice a week.

“I’m still with Pittsburgh strongly, but if another big school comes, I’m going to weigh my options and go from there,” Williams said.

He’s also been spending time at running back, interestingly enough.

One of the players Pitt hopes to add to its recruiting class for 2007, they have already offered.

The WPIAL in Pennsylvania is always a launching pad for great talent at the college level and next year figures to be no different. One player to watch for is 6-5, 250 pound TE/DE Andrew Devlin out of Pittsburgh Mt. Lebanon.

Devlin made an impact on both sides of the ball for the Blue Devils this fall, who finished the season with an 8-4 record and a loss to eventual state champion McKeesport in the WPIAL AAAA semifinals.

Not surprisingly, Pitt, which dominated Western Pa. recruiting this year, is the first school to tender Devlin a scholarship offer.

“I’m extremely interested in Pitt,” Devlin told Pantherlair.com. “I think coach Wannstedt is doing some great things down there. It’s still really early, but they’re definitely a school I’m looking at.”

Devlin is also getting mail from the likes of Notre Dame, BC, Virginia, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and many more. He figures to be one of the state’s more heavily pursued prospects in the Class of 2007 before all is said and done.

Another player in Western Pennsylvania is likely a Pitt target in both football and basketball for the 2008 class.

Terrelle Pryor stole the pass at mid-court and dashed left, glancing down as he neared the basket to measure whether the defender running stride for stride with him would make a play for the ball.

With his opponent caught flat-footed, the Jeannette star sprung off the floor and flushed a left-handed dunk. Never mind that he’s right-handed. Or that he’s only a sophomore. As quickly as he elevated to the rim on that play, the 6-foot-6, 205-pound Pryor is gaining a reputation as one of the best basketball players in Western Pennsylvania and the country.

Scout.com ranks Pryor the nation’s top small forward and No. 8 player overall in the Class of 2008. Another national recruiting service, HoopScoop, had Pryor No. 33 in the sophomore class in its preseason rankings.
…
Penn State already has offered scholarships in football and basketball. Coaches from Pitt, Penn State, North Carolina State and Xavier have watched Pryor practice, and Louisville and West Virginia are expected to visit Jeannette this week.

“I don’t really think about it,” Pryor said. “I try to work hard and stay humble. You can’t really get excited or your head will get big. I’ve been all around the U.S. I know there are greater players. I know where I have to get to.”

Pryor is leaning towards focusing on basketball. I just find it somewhat amusing that Penn State hasn’t wasted anytime offering him a scholarship. There was a brief appearance of a PSU troll here, trying to mock because Coach Wannstedt had made it known to Kevin Collier’s younger brother (a sophomore) that he too would have a scholarship offer. Just the way things are these days.

Anyone who watched the ND-Pitt game on Wednesday, knows Pitt had some players dinged up. Aaron Gray had an ankle issue. Levon Kendall’s back was flaring and it turns out there are some other aches.

Following an off-day, forward Levon Kendall was held out of practice Friday at Petersen Events Center with back spasms. Forwards John DeGroat (bruised thigh) and Sam Young (hip pointer) also were hobbled, but both players practiced.

While the current layoff represents the longest of the season for Pitt, ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll, Dixon isn’t worried about his team becoming complacent.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” he said. “Frankly, it hasn’t been something we’ve even thought about.”

The next game is on Thursday against DePaul — who, by the way, beat a not-surprisingly tired Notre Dame team last night 72-67. Even more shocking, ND once again showed no interior presence.

Doyle Hudson gets a minor puff piece on his transition to Pitt and still learning to play basketball.

Hudson has aspirations to play a more prominent role with the Panthers. It takes junior-college players some time to get used to the rigors of Pitt’s program. John DeGroat went through it last season, and he is starting this season.

“At first, it was rough,” Hudson said. “It’s much more aggressive, a much faster pace. In JUCO, it’s much more laid back. Here, it’s a good competition every night. I’m just trying to get better. I’m not giving up on this year yet. I still think I can contribute.”

Not sure why, but it was a problem for DeGroat as well last year. Keeping up with the pace. DeGroat often seemed a step slow. I mean with Hudson, it is a little more. Simply put, he needs more bulk and strength. He doesn’t seem strong enough to be out on the floor for long.

Not directly related, but considering the number of ACL and other surgeries he does — and the work on Kicker Josh Cummings knee this past season. A fairly interesting puff piece on Dr. Freddie Fu.