I guess it’s exciting that one of the hottest young (emphasis on young) high school talents in the country is saying he is giving his verbal to Pitt after the Marquette-Pitt game. Just keep in mind that Terrelle Pryor is presently a Sophomore in high school.

Pryor made a verbal commitment to Pitt yesterday after the Panthers’ victory against Marquette. He informed Pitt assistant coach Joe Lombardi of his decision and then head coach Jamie Dixon.

Pryor is a 6-foot-6 guard-forward who is ranked highly by scouting services. Scout.com ranks him the No. 8 sophomore in the country and the No. 1 small forward. Some coaches in the WPIAL believe he will be one of the best players to come out of Western Pennsylvania in a couple decades.

But the main question for Pryor is, why now? Why commit to a school when you’re not even halfway through high school?

“I think it will just let me concentrate on other stuff,” Pryor said. “Right now, I feel like I just want to go to Pitt. It’s close to home. My father can come see me play. It’s mostly about staying close to home. … But I like their gym and I like their coaches.”

Pitt has been showing plenty of interest in Pryor and offered him a scholarship yesterday. Colleges can offer a scholarship to a player at any time, and a player can commit at any time. Pryor can’t sign a binding letter of intent until November of 2007.
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Other Division I colleges were showing interest in Pryor as coaches from Pitt, North Carolina State, Xavier and Penn State already have been to Jeannette.

“The three schools he always talked about were Pitt, North Carolina State and North Carolina,” Klimchock said. “North Carolina was just starting to get interested. One of their assistants called this week. But he’s always really liked Pitt.”

Now, from what I understand, his father is physically disabled — so that’s a very legit and noble reason to want to play close by. It speaks very well of Pryor as a person. I hope he does come to Pitt. I hope he develops the way everyone is already projecting him. I just am not going to hold a 15-year old kid to anything. There’s a reason that in most states, no contract is legally binding for anyone under the age of 18.

And if he really believes the pressure will be off of him simply because he made a verbal now, well he does have a lot to learn.

Another article focuses on how the Pittsburgh area is having its first surge in basketball talent in ages.

Under NCAA rules, Pitino can’t talk about individual players. But after the game, he was asked if the talent on the court for the Aliquippa-Beaver Falls game was comparable to talent in some other areas he has recruited.

“Most definitely,” Pitino replied.

In addition to Louisville, Pitt would also like to get Pope. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon attended the same Aliquippa-Beaver Falls game as Pitino. But Pope is not the only one in Western Pennsylvania, attracting attention from major-college programs.

Dixon and Pitt assistant Orlando Antigua have been to some Schenley games. The Panthers are seriously interested in Schenley center DeJuan Blair and guard-forward D.J. Kennedy.

An improving talent base, gives Pitt increased opportunities to raise the profile of the basketball program locally, and the overall performance of the team if it can keep the blue-chip talent around.

So it looks like Elijah Fields has let the news slip early (hat tip to BurghGuy68). Both Rivals.com and Scout.com have the teaser headline behind their paid firewall, so it isn’t actually confirmed (though both list him on his individual page). It does however jibe with earlier stories today.

Also, Pittsburgh Sports Report sent out an e-mail update saying the same with some quotes from Fields.

While Keystone Recruiting was interviewing his Duquesne teammate, wide receiver Fitzgerald Bobo, earlier this week, Fields let it slip that he planned to attend the University of Pittsburgh and wanted his friend to do the same next year.

While the 6’4 1/2″ 190-pound Bobo has yet to receive an offer from Pittsburgh, the junior is regarded as one of the best wide receiver prospects in the east next season and it seems likely that he will receive an offer.

As for Fields, he does want to dispel some rumors. Many following his recruitment thought that Penn State would be his eventual choice because he was apparently waiting to receive a written offer from the Lions.

“That’s not true,” says Fields. “They offered me in writing months ago.”

Another rumor is that Fields may not qualify academically. But he doesn’t see it that way.

“I am fine with all of that,” says Fields. “I will be eligible next season.”

So much for the expected spin from the Lions.

Out in the Akron area, a guy, Nate Reed, Pitt was looking at for the future as a kicker decided to stay close to home and go to Kent State. Pitt hadn’t actually offered a scholarship, so he finally decided to take the free ride.

Pitt verbal commit Jared Martin is featured in this story on the “feeding frenzy of recruiting information.”

His high school coach had warned him that he would be heavily recruited, but Martin, was not prepared when the onslaught began.

“At the beginning of the year, I was buried with phone calls,” said Martin, a 6-foot-1, 288-pound defensive tackle from Davie.

Then, as the time to make official visits came closer, Martin started getting calls from correspondents from Rivals.com and Scout.com, the two most popular Web sites devoted primarily to college recruiting.

“They were very persistent. I would get calls as soon as my plane landed, then at the hotel before I even had a chance to unpack,” Martin said.

But Martin didn’t tell them to stop. He was looking at the Web sites himself, and it was intriguing to follow his own saga, as the correspondents posted his comments within an hour of his conversations with them.

“I guess I’m too nice of a person to say no,” Martin said.
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Martin learned just how fast recruiting news travels when he made his verbal commitment to Pittsburgh.

Martin called Pitt at 10:30 p.m. Dec. 8, after getting home from the North-South All-Star Game, and then went to bed, planning on calling coaches from the other schools he had visited in the morning.

The calls started coming before 7 a.m. the next morning.

“I saw the numbers, and went back to sleep,” he said.

The first calls were from Rivals.com and Scout.com. “Are the rumors true?” they asked.

Then came the calls from coaches at Arizona State, Colorado and Minnesota, saying they had read on the Web sites that he had committed.

“I felt bad about that, since I had met those coaches on my visits. I told them I was sorry, that I had no idea word would get out that quick,” Martin said.

I suppose I should sympathize with the Maryland people over what has happened to them this past week. Still these thumbsucker articles get under my skin.

Today’s prep stars crave attention, and we’re only too willing to give it. So Logan-El flashed a Florida Gators cap and smiled as he dropped it to the ground. Then a Tennessee cap. Then a Maryland cap. Then a Penn State cap. The suspense built, and the fans, family members and cheerleaders could barely breathe.

The kid finally showed a picture of him standing next to Penn State coach Joe Paterno, and that stood as his decision. He’d be a Nittany Lion.

Terrapins fans were annoyed that Logan-El played bait-and-switch with their emotions. He asked Maryland coaches, to whom he had orally committed two years earlier, to set aside a scholarship. He showed up at a recent Terps basketball game wearing a Maryland jersey and singing the school fight song. He gave all indications that he was coming to College Park. And then he broke everyone’s hearts.

Fans, boosters and even Friedgen’s wife were on hand to witness the spectacle in person.

Most of us don’t care if Logan-El attends Maryland, Penn State or Harvard’s cosmetology school, but the scene was sickening because of the larger trend that it represented.
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Friedgen can’t talk specifically about Logan-El, and he probably wouldn’t want to, anyway. With less than a week before signing day, no coach has time to chew on sour grapes. But Friedgen did note that when he returned to the college game in 1997 after spending a few years coaching in the NFL, something was different.

“In those five years I was away, the Internet became an integral part of recruiting,” he said. “It’s just amazing to me. There’s a lot of people making a lot of money off of these kids. And look at what’s happening to the kids’ egos. They eat this stuff up. The people who are around the kid – relatives, parents and street agents – all help to inflate the balloon.”

Coaches used to learn about their signees from a telephone call – not an ESPN announcer. By now, most big-time coaches have felt victimized by some kid’s juvenile script.

[Emphasis added.]

Yeah. It used to be it was just the coaches who were making money off of the kids with their contracts, endorsements, radio and TV gigs. Now it’s all those “others.” Totally wrong.

You know, I actually started writing this before noon, but a sick daughter and a visiting mother-in-law caused a major slow down in posting. On the bright side, we were treated to some good food and really good beers at the local brewpub last night, and I pulled off a spectacular grilled salmon with a cilantro pesto tonight.

There is no doubt this was a very physical game. Part of the reason was that was the way the game was (not) being called. The refs were just letting them play, letting the players get tangled up, and calling a held ball sooner than a foul. Marquette only got to the line 12 times and Pitt 18 (with 6 coming in the final minute).

So as we all know, Marquette came out hot and Pitt not:

Already playing without another freshman guard in Wesley Matthews (foot) and with hobbled senior forward Steve Novak (ankle), the Golden Eagles roared out of the gate against the Panthers (17-1, 6-1), who entered the day ranked 12th in the Associated Press’ poll and 10th in the coaches’.

They harassed Pittsburgh into misses on 11 of its first 12 shots in jumping out to a 13-3 lead and responded each time the Panthers made a run at them. Three-pointers by Graves and Ronald Ramon sandwiched around a Dan Fitzgerald three sent MU into the locker room nursing a 40-33 lead built by 53.3% shooting and in spite of a 17-0 deficit in second-chance points.

For the game, Pitt held a 26-7 advantage in second chance points. Gray was the second BE player to get 20 boards in a game (Cedric McGowan of Cinci also did it). Marquette shot 46.0% against Pitt. The highest of any foe this season.

The hero of the game, was obviously, Antonio Graves. He hadn’t disappeared from box scores, just from statistical relevance. Today, at least, he found his stroke. He took patient, unhurried shots and buried them.

The other big factor for Pitt was inside. The team just kept grabbing rebounds. And while Marquette hung with Pitt on defensive boards in the first half (14 D-rbds to 13 in favor of the Golden Eagles), they gave up the second chance points and Pitt wore them down inside in the sceond half (13-8 D-rbds). Off the offensive glass it was never close (19-9).

Mike DeCourcy summarized Pitt and the way the team is playing very well.

It’s that element of Pitt’s depth that has led to the 17-1 start. Often, the best players excel. When they do not, there’s always someone else to try.

That’s why Pitt has won games at South Carolina, at Louisville, at Rutgers and against Marquette (to name the first ones that popped into my head). Others have stepped up.

One of the things Graves was able to do was handle a hobbled Steve Novak.

Graves spent most of his minutes defending 6-foot-10 shooter Steve Novak, the reigning Big East Player of the Week. Novak was held to eight points, or half of his 16.3 average.

“I realized that I was quicker than him and he wasn’t the type of guy that was going to stick inside,” Graves said. “I tried to pressure him and limit his touches.”

Aaron Gray showed his sense of humor after the game.

Gray got 20 of them, nine on the offensive end. The total looks great, but proves deceiving. Gray shot 6 of 14 from the floor – he made only one shot Monday against Syracuse – and collected many of his own misses.

“A lot of times my offense is so bad, I’m just glad even with my offensive struggles that I’ve been able to get offensive rebounds,” Gray added.

Heading to a big match-up with UConn, Gray got a story in the Connecticut Post.

After playing behind Panther post heavyweights like Chevon Troutman and Chris Taft for his first two years, Gray is getting his first chance to start and play significant minutes this season for the 12th-ranked Panthers. He’s making the most of it.

Gray, a junior from Emmaus, Pa., averaged 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds last season. This season, he’s scoring 13.1 points per game and pulling down a league-best 10.4 rebounds each night through Friday’s games.

“It hasn’t been like an overnight thing or even an over-the-summer thing,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “It’s been a continuous process really since we signed him. His improvement’s been constant, yet dramatic when you look at it.”

Associate Head Coach Barry Rohrssen got a puff piece in the NY Post.

DURING his playing days at St. Francis, Brooklyn’s Barry Rohrssen was nicknamed “Slice,” because he knifed through defenses like butter. Eventually, like many others, he swapped the uniform for a suit, embarking on a coaching career.

But the nickname — unlike the butter — stuck.

Now, as Pitt’s top assistant, it’s still quite appropriate. Instead of opponents, he now slices through the recruiting trail.

At least now we know how the nickname originated.

Krauser made the cut-down to the remaining 30 for the Wooden Award. He really doesn’t have much of a chance of winning it, but it is impressive that he made the cut-down.

And finally a Pittsburgh sports columnist takes a break from writing up another Steeler story to give Pitt a backhanded compliment — so, yes, it must be Smizik.

The Panthers had been ranked in the Top 10 until their loss last week against St. John’s. With this win, they might move back into that elite group. But despite the record, despite the ranking, no one should be getting carried away with this success.

This is a good team that gets the most out of its ability, but it is not a championship-caliber team.

Not this season, at least.

There are so many ways to put this, but “screw you” feels like the most succinct and least vulgar possibility.

It is very rare that teams peak absolutely when they are supposed to. In pros or college. It takes some opportunities and things happening right. Not to mention just a team playing extremely well together.

Last year was supposed to be the big, big year for Pitt. How’d that work out?

Villanova was supposed to be unbeatable in the BE this year — then Curtis Sumpter went out and things are a lot more open.

Should UConn be this good when Boone isn’t stepping up, Gay is still inconsistent, and Marcus Williams spent half the season suspended. But then Jeff Adrien has been fantastic as a freshman; Hilton Armstrong has decided to step-up and Denham Brown is still doing his thing (and people make cracks about Krauser being around forever?). You have to take advantage of the chances when they come.

An encouraging story regarding Elijah Fields and who he will choose (probably) tomorrow.

Elijah Fields won’t reveal his college choice until Monday, but the Duquesne star receiver has privately indicated to other Pitt recruits that he will be joining them in signing with the Panthers.

Fields sat with several future Panthers during Pitt’s basketball games against Syracuse last Monday and Marquette on Saturday at Petersen Events Center.

During the Syracuse game, Fields talked to Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt’s Aaron Berry by phone to convince him to choose Pitt. Berry picked the Panthers over Minnesota and West Virginia on Thursday.

Berry predicted then that Fields would join him.

“If I sign,” Berry said, “he’ll sign.”

Apparently the head coaches and an assistant from Pitt, WVU, Ohio St. and Penn St. all paid visits to Duquesne this past week.

Out in Beaver Falls, Lance Jeter has yet to receive an offer from Pitt. And since next year’s recruiting class begins before this year’s has even signed:

Two local juniors have gained the attention of major college recruiters, including Notre Dame. The Irish have begun to show interest in both Center offensive lineman Evan Blankenship and Rochester athlete Derek Moye.

Ohio State and Pitt have made offers to Blankenship, while programs such as Virginia Tech, Iowa, Boston College and Purdue have shown interest.

The Pitt Panthers are also showing an interest in Moye. Penn State, West Virginia are also recruiting Moye and Iowa may soon get into the picture.

Honestly, how does this not grind down a coach after a while? (I know, I know. Six- or Seven-figure salaries are a hell of an incentive.)

Looks like Syracuse fans (and beat writers) might finally be getting the idea that Kevin Collier is going to Pitt.

Tailback Kevin Collier of Churchville-Chili High School has his own myspace.com site. Click here. Kevin writes:

“I’m signing to Pitt.”

Some alert readers think it might be bogus, that someone set Kevin up. My son, who has a myspace account, sent Kevin an email. He wrote back, saying it was him. “What, did you think it was my brother?” Cool tune, Kev.

Collier already has a link up there for Pitt as his college and a short message to the Syracuse community that seems to have taken it a little personally. Probably best if the Pitt community gives him a little space — don’t want him to know think we’re that insane.

Looks like we could be heading to a Zapruder film kind of moment from the Marquette-Pitt game. The Dominic James injury seems to be generating some controversy. Not the foul by Levance Fields. The bump or shove from Antonio Graves followed by James stumbling down the rest of the court in pain over his shoulder and crashing off-court.

Now that is where there is some controversy.

But the issue after the game was the two-handed shove in the back Antonio Graves gave James as James was falling to the court in pain in front of MU’s bench.

James remained down for several minutes while being attended to by medical personnel before getting up under his own power and making his way to the locker room.

After the game an angry Tom Crean gave Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon a piece of his mind before leaving the court, presumably about Graves’ shove.

“I just watched the tape. (Graves) didn’t bump into him,” the MU coach said shortly thereafter, carefully measuring his words. “The foul wasn’t the issue. The foul was just a foul. It’s what happened after the foul that I have an issue with. But we’re just going to leave that alone, watch the film and go from there.”

Now maybe the film is being run, over and over in Milwaukee and being slowed down and dissected. I only saw the numerous replays during the game and on College Gameday last night.

To me, it looked like an accidental bump. Graves was running behind Fields and James on the baseline. When James got fouled and was in obvious pain, he started pulling up and stopped angling to the basket. That was when Graves ran into him. Yes, I would say Graves probably got his hands between the two, as they started to collide, but I definitely saw no extension like it was a shove.

I heard no mention of a controversy until I saw an early release of the aforementioned article late last night.

The Pittsburgh papers are rather vague on the incident. I would also note that the J-S article makes no mention of James hurting his shoulder running into Gray on a screen as the early AP story mentioned (and again no mention of a push).

James initially injured his shoulder running into a screen set by the 7-foot Gray in the first half, then aggravated it while being fouled by Fields with about 13 minutes remaining. James had a team-high 16 points in 30 minutes, but the Golden Eagles struggled for long stretches with James sitting down and leading scorer Steve Novak contained.

I don’t want to be absolute in defending Graves. I didn’t see a two-handed shove, the refs didn’t see one, the commentators didn’t see one, the national ESPN highlight show (never exactly a group to avoid controversy) didn’t say anything and judging by the lack of reaction towards Graves by the Marquette bench at the time (since it happened right in front of them) they didn’t seem to see one at the time.

Krauser was even shown on camera talking to Crean after the incident. Then of course the article has Crean going to Dixon to give him “a piece of his mind.”

Now if Graves did give him a shove, then he should be suspended for a couple games. Pitt plays strong, physical basketball. Not thug-ball.