Accroding to this report, it reads like a decent recruiting weekend for Pitt.
While the majority of the official visit weekends in December were about hosting previous commitments, the month of January was to put the finishing touches on the already stellar class.

The Panthers hosted top prospects like four-star Aaron Berry who went into the trip with Minnesota and Pitt leading Michigan State. Other top visitors included three-stars Elijah Fields and Andy Miller.

Miller came away impressed seeing the Panther program up close.

“I have been to Pitt before but most of my contact was to their practice facilties,” Miller said. “I liked how Pitt is set off a bit from the City of Pittsburgh. To tell you the truth, I was a little surprised.”

The choices that remain for Miller include Pitt, Ohio State, Indiana, and West Virgina.

Who knows, but I think Pitt may end up with 2 of the 3.

Meanwhile, the Blue Hens of Delaware welcome their latest transfer from Pitt.

But unlike Flacco, who is expected to battle for the starting quarterback job this spring, Agnone may take some time to make an impact at Delaware.

The newcomer was a receiver as a junior at Red Land High, catching 30 passes for 429 yards and eight touchdowns. He then switched to QB as a senior, throwing for 1,490 yards and 13 TDs while earning honorable mention All-State honors.
…
Delaware returns two of its top three tight ends next fall in Steve Selk and Mike Mailey.

Good luck.

Every school has those black sheep. Virginia Tech’s latest is Marcus Vick. If VT is lucky, the events will be forgotten and obscured 40 years later.

For Pitt, it is not so simple. Not when the former QB and letterman (1960-62) sits in a federal prison selling bad paintings.

Former U.S. Rep. James Traficant is known to most people for his toupee, bombast and penchant for accepting bribes.

Now, for less than $200, you can purchase a softer side of the maverick Youngstown-area Democrat – the one who spends his time in federal prison painting scenes of pastoral tranquility and equine majesty.

Traficant was forced out of Congress after he was convicted of racketeering and bribery in 2002 and sentenced to eight years in prison.
…
Local painter and art critic Doug Utter found the paintings lacking: “There’s no overwhelming talent or expertise in evidence.”

And Utter noted that Traficant, who was easily recognizable by his oversize wig, draws the horses with flowing hair.

“His emphasis on manes and tails is almost fetishistic,” Utter said.

Now that’s just mean. This is lacking in talent?

You can find this example and others for sale here.

According to the site:

Most of the proceeds from the sales will be donated to Mr. James Traficant, so that he can be provided proper and sufficient materials to continue with his art and painting, while he is still imprisoned.

Uh, okay. Anyone with access to the athletic department and registrar’s office think we can delete all records of his existence from Pitt?

It’s a few days old, but I still enjoy reading about it. Call it Schadenfreude if you like; I say it was only a matter of time. Yes, Marcus Vick, the dumbest college athlete this side of Maurice Clarett, was aressted on firearms charges.

RICHMOND, Va. — Former Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick, kicked off the team last week for his behavior on and off the field, was charged Monday with pulling a gun on three teenagers during an altercation in a restaurant parking lot.

Vick surrendered at the Suffolk magistrate’s office after three warrants were issued for his arrest Sunday, Magistrate Lisa Noel said.

The reason for the gunplay? High school kids.

Police said the parents of a 17-year-old boy reported that Vick pointed a weapon at their son and two others during an altercation at a McDonald’s in Suffolk, a southeastern Virginia city where Vick’s mother lives, Sunday night.

Yup. High School Kids. It seems they were, y’know, mean.

The Post reported that a person close to Vick said the teenagers were taunting the quarterback, and that Vick showed the gun to scare them.

And now this is where things stand:

If convicted on all three counts, Vick could be sentenced to up to three years in jail and a $7,500 fine, [Lt. Debbie] George said in a statement.

It’s been said before on this blog but it bears worth repeating: The ACC wanted these guys and now it’s got ’em. Careful what you wish for boys! Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck.

A long, sad story appears to finally be reaching the end — at least as far as the general public is concerned. For the parents and his friends, this is never really over.

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has reached an undisclosed settlement with the family of a 19-year-old University of Pittsburgh football player who died in 2003 after a fatal fall at a Homestead church, where the priest had served alcohol to underage college students.

“A settlement has been reached to the mutual satisfaction of all parties. All of those involved have also mutually agreed not to disclose the terms of the settlement,” said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese.

The settlement, reached during a conference yesterday, will be covered by insurance, he said.

The parents of Billy Gaines, Kimberly and William Gaines of Ijamsville, Md., filed a $75 million federal suit in September 2003.

In the summer of 2003, the Rev. Henry Krawczyk — in violation of diocesan policy — invited Billy Gaines to live in a former convent belonging to St. Maximillian Kolbe parish in Homestead, where he was pastor. Mr. Gaines and several of his Pitt teammates moved into the convent after a fire damaged their Oakland apartment.

On June 17 Father Krawczyk held a cookout, where he served alcohol to the underage Pitt football players. Mr. Gaines had a blood-alcohol level of 0.166 — well above 0.10, the state’s drunken driving threshold at the time — when he entered the attic crawl space of the church and fell through the ceiling to pews 25 feet below.

His roommate and friend David Abdul was up in the crawl space with him and watched him fall. While Krawczyk is still with the Diocese, he is stripped of his duties permanently and may never present himself or serve as a priest again.

During the layoff, Coach Jamie Dixon did see basketball. He went to check on one member of the 2006 recruiting class, Gilbert Brown, but was also able to watch another once-and-possibly-future recruit Mike Davis.

Husky big man Mike Davis (6-ft-9 inches, 250 pounds) verbally committed to the University of Pittsburgh two year ago. He attended Xaverian High School and at one time played alongside former Pitt standout Chris Taft. Davis was considered the top big man in New York City. His teammate, Levance Fields, eventually chose Pitt as well. Due to academic shortcomings, Mike was forced to attend a number of prep schools until he settled at Notre Dame Prep School.

The PantherDigest.com spoke with Notre Dame Prep Head Basketball Coach Bill Barton to receive an update on Davis. “Mike continues to improve on and off the court. He’s a totally different person and player than the one that first came here,” said Coach Barton.

His talent and game have never really been in question. It has been his grades and his willingness to keep after them — as illustrated by being forced out of Xaverian and bouncing through a few prep schools. It is still unclear as to just how well he is actually doing with his grades, but his coach is trying to get Pitt to officially offer once again.

Coach Barton indicated that Davis is still very high on the Panthers but the competition for his services will begin to stiffen the longer they process continues. “I think Pitt could land him if they wanted to. With the pool of great big men dwindling, the competition is only going to get tougher,” he said. Schools from the Big East, Big Ten and ACC have inquired about his services.

Pitt is definitely looking for a Center or Power Forward who can play Center for the 2006 class. Davis’ classroom performance make him a risk. Not just because he could end up academically ineligible at Pitt if he loses interest once he gets to Pitt. There’s been a lot of questioning and slowly increasing focus on prep schools and what they do regarding grades. Teams really have to look carefully at that part now.

Yesterday night, Coach Dixon attended the Beaver Falls-Aliquippa High School match-up. Along with plenty of others.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was in the capacity crowd. In the first row of bleachers behind Aliquippa’s bench was none other than Louisville coach Rick Pitino. Aliquippa coach Marvin Emerson actually turned to Pitino a few times and asked him if he had any pointers.

Pitt football players Tyler Palko and Darelle Revis were in the house, as well as former Pitt basketball players Brandin Knight and Curtis Aiken. Current Schenley High stars DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy made the trip from the city.

Junior Herb Pope, of course, was the reason Pitino was there, and the primary reason for Dixon. Lance Jeter, the Beaver Falls Senior, was just at Pitt for a football recruiting weekend. Some of the younger talent also was impressive.

As expected, the stories about Pitt started trickling out again today. Not on the opponent, just on Pitt’s upcoming schedule.

Pitt is in a situation in which it must hold serve at home against the Blue Demons because of a quirk in the Big East schedule that has the Panthers playing four games in nine days, three of which are on the road after DePaul.

After the DePaul game, Pitt plays Sunday at Louisville, Wednesday at Rutgers, Jan. 21 at St. John’s and then at home Jan. 23 against Syracuse.

Pitt is the only team in the Big East this season that has to play four games in a nine-day period. Syracuse plays three games in six days next month, but all three are at home. A few other teams play four games in 11 days, but no team must face the gauntlet the Panthers must in the coming weeks.

Big East associate commissioner John Paquette said yesterday that the unusual schedule was a result of television. Television executives dictate when games are played. The DePaul game usually would be scheduled on Wednesday, but the league had the chance to get the game on national television on ESPN, so the game was moved.

That forced the Louisville game to be moved to Sunday, which is a regionally syndicated TV game. And, under usual circumstances, the home game against Syracuse would be played on a Wednesday, but ESPN wanted the game for its Big Monday national television game, so that game was moved as well.

That regionally syndicated game against Louisville will be airing against the Steelers-Colts Playoff game. Nice. (As a personal aside, I have to visit my family this weekend and learned that the UPN affiliate in Lebanon or Harrisburg will be carrying the game so I can catch it.)

Of course, with the layoff, the team has stressed that it has enabled it to get healthy and all that good stuff.

For the Panthers, though, the time off seems beneficial; they last played an exhausting double-overtime affair Jan. 4, outlasting visiting Notre Dame, 100-97.

“We’ve done pretty well,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “It was a concern early on. I wondered how we were going to handle the eight days when we first looked at the schedule. But we’ve had some injuries, so the timing was good for a layoff.”

Kendall, who has battled back spasms, agreed.

“It’s been good,” he said. “A couple of guys, including myself, have had a chance to heal some minor injuries, refocus and get back together as a group. We’ve had a couple of really good practices the past few days. It’s been a chance to kind of get our legs back under us and get ready for this tough stretch coming up.”

The fact that Pitt is one of three remaining unbeatens, but still outside the top-10 is not lost on others.

That’s right. The 12-0 Panthers haven’t broken the Top 10. But Pitt will have time to prove it belongs. The Panthers have yet to face their beefiest Big East foes, including Louisville, Connecticut, Syracuse and West Virginia.

Pitt is celebrating its basketball centennial this winter. It looks as if the 100th season could be memorable.

“Before the season, coach (Jamie Dixon) asked me, ‘Do you believe this team can be one of the best Pitt teams ever?’ ” guard Carl Krauser told reporters after last week’s 100-97 double-overtime win over Notre Dame. “And I said yes. When I said yes, I thought of all the young guys and all the talent we have on this team. We have a deep bench and guys who are ready to play.”

With that extended layoff serving as almost the dividing line, and Pitt’s national TV debut tomorrow, the DePaul game is essentially the start of the second-half. The move from obscurity and doubts of the 1st half to being noticed and expectations to prove it. Not many have seen Pitt play to this point, and it will be up to the team to demonstrate why they belong in the top-10.