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February 1, 2006

Summarizing The Class Rankings

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 10:11 pm

Signing day is over, though, players can still sign up until April 1. So Tamarcus Porter, who apparently hasn’t signed with anyone at this point, could still be part of Pitt’s class. Got to admit, I’m not going to worry much about it at this point. Sure I’d like him to sign with Pitt, but I suspect I’ll be more pissed about OL Eric Rodemoyer signing with WVU in a couple years than if Porter, a Safety, goes to Wake Forest. Losing any O-Lineman seems worse than a Safety right now.

Should also point out that Bishop-McDevitt RB LeSean McCoy surprised everyone by choosing Miami. Or rather, he will choose Miami. He has a year of prep school ahead of him. You never know. Next year, he could sign with Pitt…

Now how did the Pitt recruiting class do compared to other schools. Ultimately, Pitt fell from the Top-10. There is quite a bit of variance.

Rivals.com placed Pitt all the way down at #21.

Scout.com had the highest ranking for Pitt at #11.

ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. struck the dead middle and had Pitt at #16 (Insider Subs.).

I think ESPN’s ranking would have been higher, but they actually had no evaluations (and to their credit were honest enough to admit it) on 4 of Pitt’s recruits: Fields, Hughes, Mathews and Romeus.

I’m also thinking ESPN needs to rethink it’s rankings system:

Click for the enlarged view.

Princeton and William & Mary make the list of top-25??

Scout.com recruiting expert, Jamie Newberg broke down the top-25 recruiting classes for SI.com, and said this about Pitt:

HEAD OF THE CLASS:
TE Nate Byham (1), DT John Malecki (19)
NEWBERG’S ANALYSIS: In his first full year of recruiting, coach Dave Wannstedt & Co. landed a host of Hot 100 prospects: Byham, the nation’s top tight end; running back Kevin Collier; wide receiver Dorin Dickerson and offensive lineman Joe Thomas. Collier could emerge as a franchise back. The Panthers scored big on the D-line, especially at tackle with Jason Pinkston and Malecki. Pitt went down to Florida and found some talent for its secondary, with safety Tamarcus Porter and cornerback Ricky Gary, who are teammates from Pahokee. Landing safety Elijah Fields was a great way to close out this class.
BIG FISH THAT GOT AWAY: CB Darrin Walls (Notre Dame)

I guess they still think Porter will sign with Pitt.

Pitt easily had the best recruiting classes of all the Big East schools. Louisville was #2 in all the rankings. USF, UConn and Cinci were #6-8 in all rankings. The disagreements were over #3-5.

Scout.com and ESPN.com both had Syracuse take in the #3 class. Rivals.com went with Rutgers. BE Champs WVU managed #4 at best.

Here’s what Talman at Rivals.com had to say about Pitt’s class.

Starting out hot, head coach Dave Wannstedt had the pieces coming together early in the process towards one of the top classes in the country. With another talented year in Pennsylvania, the Panthers dominated in-state and had fans looking past a rough 2005 season.
Biggest recruit: Dorin Dickerson, rated as the No. 5 player in the state of Pennsylvania, is truly a phenomenal athlete who can provide an early boost for the Panthers in a number of different spots.
Sleeper: A rising star in the Sunshine State, three-star athlete Tamarcus Porter brings skills at both receiver and corner. His versatility will go a long ways at Pittsburgh.

Maybe I should rethink my opinion on Porter.

Sporadic Media Recap, Part 2

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 4:26 pm

You know what it means when you have plenty of people praising Pitt in a loss to UConn? It means people haven’t really been watching them. Oh, sure, maybe they saw the highlights of some games. Read the write-ups, checked the box score, looked at the RPI and even raised an eyebrow when they realized who they had beaten. They just hadn’t seen them play and there was no singular player that was carrying the team (making storylines that much more difficult). Each team they beat, no matter how much it was supposed to be a test, was suddenly found wanting. It was enough to make even the most level-headed, reasonable fan paranoid. Most egregious was the line of thought that Pitt this year is merely a version of last year’s Boston College. College B-Ball Stat Guru, Ken Pomeroy, disputes the notion:

But I say, buy into Pitt. These teams are different. I wasn’t running the Pythagorean rankings last season, but I was curious where BC would have been at this time in 2005, when they were 18-0 and ranked #5 in the AP poll. Turns out they were 21st in Pythagorean. Pitt currently ranks 10th.

BC really played down to weaker competition a lot during the win streak. Pitt isn’t doing that. The Panthers will lose a few the rest of the way – the Big East will do that to everyone. But don’t slap the “overrated” label on them yet.

From Andy Katz’s ESPN.com blog (Insider subs.) comes an interesting nugget/complaint about the Pitt-UConn game:

The officials working Tuesday night’s Pitt-Connecticut game might have thought they were the show. Ed Corbett handed out two technicals, one each to Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and UConn coach Jim Calhoun.

Corbett’s officiating prompted this comment from Calhoun: “I’m worn out and I’m sure at least two of the officials are worn out, too.”

Meanwhile, this crew wasn’t done ensuring the crowd saw them. Dixon complained that the officials let Hilton Armstrong enter the lane for a free throw after the official blew the whistle for the free throw. He pleaded for an explanation, but to no avail. At the next timeout, official Karl Hess came over and jawed with Dixon. It was, let’s just say, unbecoming of the official to react that way.

This was a first, as well: One of the officials stuck his head into Pitt’s huddle in the final six seconds to tell them to break it up, when Pitt’s Carl Krauser snapped back. The Panthers’ coaching staff didn’t want Krauser to get ejected, so he was escorted to the locker room with six seconds remaining. Krauser had already fouled out with just under three minutes remaining.

Interestingly, the UConn media reaction to this game was that the Huskies passed a major test.

The Big East rivals, who met in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 league tournament final, staged another epic battle Tuesday, with the winner getting a leg up in the conference race. The Huskies (19-1, 7-1), who have won eight games in a row, remain tied with Villanova for second place in the Big East standings. West Virginia, unbeaten in league games, remains on top.

“For us to go any place, we have to beat Pittsburgh,” Calhoun said. “And for Pittsburgh to go, they have to kind of go by us.”

UConn couldn’t pull away with Gray still doing damage down low and Krauser willing his team along. Krauser fouled out with 2:58 to play and his team trailing 69-66, but the Panthers still had life. A 3-pointer by Ronald Ramon — the Panthers first trey after missing 16 in a row to start the game — cut the UConn lead to 71-69.

“You can see a team that believes it’s going to win,” Calhoun said. “They had no doubt they were going to win. None. Therefore, that’s the toughest guy to face all the time, the guy who believes he’s going to win.”

The media and even the coach seemed to be questioning UConn’s will and desire.

And perhaps a bit … soft?

Hence, if we accept the coach’s assessment, the Pittsburgh Panthers should have been the perfect test case. They have fearless guards in Carl Krauser, Ronald Ramon and Levance Fields. They come by their reputation of physical basketball honestly, big and strong and tougher than flank steak.

Pittsburgh did not disappoint here Tuesday.

And neither did UConn.

There was nothing soft here.

It had been two weeks earlier when coach Jim Calhoun said his team wasn’t “ferocious” enough yet. And then it was late Tuesday night, it was UConn 80, Pitt 76, and the ferocious-o-meter was climbing. That’s the residual effect of beating Pittsburgh.

Calhoun likes to call these games “rock fights.”

“In this game, you find out what you are,” Calhoun said. “There’s a knock on the door and you have a choice to open it or not. If you open it, you face the dragon. This was the most physical team … even though we may have faced it a little at Louisville, this was a team that truly believed they were going to win. You can see it in their eyes. After 35 years of coaching, you can see a team that believes it’s going to win. They had no doubt. None. That’s the toughest guy to face.”

Or at least it made for a good storyline once they passed. That story also had more gratuitous shots at the refs.

Indeed, this was a night when Ed Corbett, Curtis Shaw and Karl Hess must have taken their cues from counterparts in the WNBA: Call nothing early, call everything late — and without a hint of the game’s rhythm.

And at the same time, this game left those who saw it hungry for more.

Too bad there’s no regular-season rematch down the road. This rivalry deserves a sequel.

Fans will have to be satisfied with what transpired Tuesday when top-ranked UConn emerged with an 80-76 win over No. 9 Pittsburgh in a Big East Conference thriller at Gampel Pavilion.

The Huskies (19-1, 7-1) held a shaky grip on the lead for nearly the entire game before sinking 9 of their last 11 free throws in the final two minutes, 58 seconds to secure their eighth straight win.

“It was a hard-fought basketball game,” coach Jim Calhoun said. “We’re terrifically happy. I’ll go home and sleep exceptionally well with this one because I feel wonderful about the win. I feel wonderful about the fact that our character and our toughness is being tested. … We’ve got a long way to go.”

“If we (let up), they would have taken the game from us,” Boone said. “We weren’t going to allow that.”

It took every ounce of determination for UConn to finish the game.

And Boone was apparently tired after coming up clutch.

“Pitt was really, really tough tonight,” Boone said. “I think I’m still running on adrenaline. You’re playing out there, the crowd is hyped, the game is close, they’re coming back. … It’s tiring. Hopefully you’re able to finish it, just like we did tonight.”

Boone scored 10 of UConn’s 13 points in one stretch. His three-point play gave the Huskies a 58-53 lead. Pittsburgh, however, followed with consecutive baskets, the second coming on an uncontested putback dunk by Sam Young. Boone kept rolling, dunking on an offensive rebound, then dunking on a feed from Gay, who zipped a pass into the post. Boone had noticed Levon Kendall cheating to his right, so he went left. That made it 62-59.

All seven of Boone’s field goals seemed to come with the Huskies reeling a bit.

The UConn player of the game though, was clearly Rudy Gay. He was the reason UConn won. I admit, that was the first time I truly saw why he is expected to be a #1 pick for the NBA come June.

The other story is the issue of the Jeff Jacobs column calling-out Jim Calhoun, I mentioned yesterday. Radio is now involved.

WFAN radio’s Mike and the Mad Dog plan to broadcast live from the Hartford Civic Center leading into UConn’s Feb. 21 game against Notre Dame. It should be a controversial show. Hosts Mike Francessa and Chris Russo spent much of Tuesday’s show discussing Jeff Jacobs’ column in Tuesday’s Hartford Courant. Jacobs, who’s in Detroit for Super Bowl media week, was a call-in guest on WFAN. His column centered on the suspension of UConn’s Williams, who was arrested for his involvement in trying to sell stolen laptop computers over the summer, and the contentious relationship between Jacobs and Calhoun.

While Mike and the Mad Dog had much to say Tuesday, Calhoun did not discuss the issue after Tuesday’s game.

This story isn’t going away.

Don’t Forget

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 3:06 pm

I hope those of you who are still wanting a little b-ball fix have gone over to Keith’s blog. He’s got some thoughts on last night’s game. Definitely worth reading. I’m not sure when I’ll get some more stuff up on b-ball today.

And Finally…

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 2:58 pm

The official press release from Pitt on the recruiting class.

Today, Wannstedt was able to officially welcome the Panthers’ 2006 recruiting class by receiving National Letters of Intent from 25 players. The group is already earning praise as one of the nation’s top recruiting classes and Pitt’s best class since the late 1980s.

“It is our goal to build a top 10 football program at the University of Pittsburgh,” Wannstedt said. “For us to reach that level it is important that our first full recruiting class provide a strong foundation for future success, both on and off the field. Building a championship program is a process and the first step in that process is bringing in the right type of people who are committed students and athletes. I believe this group fits that mold.”

Pitt’s recruiting arm stretched to six different states and lured some highly decorated talent.

2006 Pitt Recruiting Class Breakdown

By Position:

Defensive Linemen — 7 (Justin Hargrove, John Malecki, Jared Martin, McKenzie Mathews, Jason Pinkston, Greg Romeus, Tyler Tkach)

Running Backs –1 (Kevin Collier)

Offensive Linemen — 4 (Scott Corson, Kevin Hughes, Jeff Otah, Joe Thomas)

Linebackers — 3 (Dan Loheyde, Nate Nix, Greg Webster)

Wide Receivers — 3 (Dorin Dickerson, Elijah Fields, Aaron Smith)

Defensive Backs — 4 (Aaron Berry, Jovani Chappel, Ricky Gary, Lowell Robinson)

Quarterbacks — 2 (Dexter Davidson, Kevan Smith)

There are short bios on each of the commits.

Maybe they were waiting to hear from Porter, but still nothing on that front. It can always be updated.

And here’s a bit from today’s ESPNNation NLI signing chats (Insider subs.)with Jason Pinkston and Justin Hargrove (big hat tip to Jamie H.).

Buzzmaster: (1:11 PM ET ) Next up, we have Jason Pinkston and Justin Hargrove, both of whom will be attending Pitt.

Buzzmaster: (1:11 PM ET ) They both come from Baldwin HS in Pennsylvania, which is coach Dave Wannstedts alma mater.

BK (Loras): What was it like being recruited by a guy that went to your same high school?

Jason Pinkston: (1:17 PM ET ) It was pretty cool I knew a lot about him. We had a good relationship. He could come in whenver and I got to sit down with him and talk.

Justin Hargrove: (1:18 PM ET ) It was real nice. He reminisced about Baldwin and the drills he did.

Nick (Columbus, OH): Justin, at 245 lbs. do u plan to play DE or LB?

Justin Hargrove: (1:18 PM ET ) DE. That’s what they told me.

Tom (Harrisburg): Welcome aboard! Do you think you are keys to turning the program around?

Jason Pinkston: (1:19 PM ET ) Yeah, I think with the recruiting class we have and all the players we have coming in we’ll get back to the top.

Brock (IA): Jason/Justin how do you see the Pitt. program in the next 3 or 4 years?

Justin Hargrove: (1:19 PM ET ) I see Pitt pretty much at the top. The recruit class that we’re getting is going to take us there.

Juan (san jose.ca): What is the biggest factor in deciding which school to attend?

Justin Hargrove: (1:20 PM ET ) I would say academics. I want to do something medical. They have good facilities. The comfort level with the coaches also.

Jason Pinkston: (1:20 PM ET ) A good coaching staff. The relationships with the players. The academics.

Carlos (Seattle,WA):
Why go to Pitt and not Penn State?

Jason Pinkston: (1:23 PM ET ) I was recruited by PSU. I thought Pitt was a better place for me. I wasn’t sure about the coaching staff at PSU would stay the same. Coach Wannstedt at Pitt helped.

Ben (The LC): Do you think the defense can step up and the Pitt offense can retool and come back better than before?

Justin Hargrove: (1:24 PM ET ) I believe they can, with the freshman class we have can help with the defense and offense.

Stan(oklahoma city): The wait is over, how does it feel guys?

Jason Pinkston: (1:24 PM ET ) It’s pretty good. You have a bunch of coaches calling, now you pick a college and you’re set with it

Justin Hargrove: (1:25 PM ET ) It feels great. I’ve always wanted to be a Pitt Panther. It feels great to be a Panther.

Gianny (Louisville): How much of a role was Pitt’s history in your decision? Do you think you can bring the Panthers a 10th national title?

Justin Hargrove: (1:25 PM ET ) The history was a big role, coming from Pittsburgh. I think we can bring them a title.

Jason Pinkston: (1:26 PM ET ) It was pretty big. We got to watch some of the games from a while ago. I think we can bring a national title home.

Buzzmaster: (1:27 PM ET ) Thanks to the future of Pitt for joining us.

Congratulations to all and welcome to Pitt.

Getting NY

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 1:14 pm

Syracuse has more reason to be pissed at Pitt. McKenzie Mathews apparently chose Pitt, according to his page on Scout.com (nice catch Reed). He’s still listed as unsigned on PantherLair and PantherDigest doesn’t list him on the commit page at this time.

That means Pitt got Mathews and Collier right out of ‘Cuse’s back yard. Along with Lowell Robinson from Junior College in NY. Not to mention their old running backs coach last year.

Then there is beating them in basketball 3 straight times.

Heh.

UPDATE: That’ll teach me to gloat.

Audi Augustin signed a LOI with NC St.

No Time To Waste

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 12:45 pm

Sure, there may not be any announcement of a press conference or any celebration by the Pitt coaching staff and Dave Wannstedt,regarding the recruiting class signed. But guess what?

Pitt season tickets go on sale today.

Named one of college football’s top 10 recruiters by SportsIllustrated.com, Dave Wannstedt delivered on that hype today by signing Pitt’s most decorated recruiting class in recent memory.

Armed with 14 returning starters and a recruiting class ranked among the nation’s best, the Panthers are eagerly anticipating the upcoming season and want you to be a part of it. Season-ticket packages for the 2006 campaign are on sale beginning today.

Pitt will host an attractive seven-game home schedule — one more home game than last year and the most at Heinz Field since 2002. Although dates and times are being finalized, the Panthers have a set slate of home opponents that includes the best of the Big East Conference and non-league games against foes from the Big 10 and Atlantic Coast Conference.

I guess that also makes it the time to remind you people about my season ticket fund.

Finish Line Sighted

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 12:19 pm

Jeff Otah is checked off on Scout.com. That just leaves the kids who are waiting to announce.

UPDATE: Another potential darkhorse signee, QB Thaddeus Lewis, signed with Duke.

Nearly There

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 11:58 am

Okay, Rivals.com has Byham signed.

Really that just leaves Jeff Otah as the only recruit presumed to sign with Pitt left.

Audi Augustin hasn’t announced if he will go Pitt or NC State. Right now he is not listed on either NC State recruiting site as being a commit of any sort. Same for Pitt.

PantherLair has McKenzie Mathews listed as a Pitt verbal, even though he won’t be announcing until later. He is likely to choose between Pitt and Syracuse, though BC remains a possibility. He is not on any other commit list.

Tamarcus Porter is choosing between Wake Forest and Pitt. Since his original verbal was to Pitt he remains on Pitt’s boards. Both Wake Forest recruiting sites don’t list him.

Hope that clears things up a little.

Rivals.com Crunched

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 11:15 am

It was inevitable that one of them would go down. Actually, I think Scout.com will hit a wall at some point as well. Still, Rivals.com’s family of sites seems to be totally down for the moment.

UPDATE: Very short crash. All back up it would seem.

Getting Down

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 11:04 am

Kevin Collier and Elijah Fields are in according to PantherDigest. Meanwhile, PantherLair has Scott Corson signed.

Between the two sites, these are the only ones yet to give an LOI:

Nate Byham
Jeff Otah
McKenzie Mathews
Tamarcus Porter
Audi Augustin

Byham, of course is the biggest blue-chipper left on the board.

Steady Trickling

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 10:35 am

Rivals has added Greg Webster and Kevan Smith to the LOI list.

Just would love to see Collier finally checked off, just to end any last minute fears.

UPDATE: Scout finally gets one-up on Rivals by having a big number of new checks:

Aaron Berry, Ricky Gary, Greg Romeus and Joe Thomas.

Very, very good stuff.

Another Batch

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 10:00 am

It really looks like PantherLair/Rivals is really aggressive today in info on who is signed.

Justin Hargrove, Jason Pinkston and Jared Martin are all listed as signed.

UPDATE: And Nate Nix is checked.

Have to admit, that this is kind of silly. Kind of like the political junkies hitting refresh during the 2004 election to see what the absolute latest projections on the election were.

Is This Fun, Or What?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 9:18 am

Okay, looks like you can add Lowell Robinson and Tyler Tkach to the in-box.

PantherDigest is now caught-up. I was starting to feel nervous about the discrepencies.

UPDATE: PantherLair now has John Malecki signed.

One of the Big Ones

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 8:46 am

Looks like Dickerson has made it official.

UPDATE: Dexter Davidson is checked off according to Rivals.com, as well. Scout is still not showing it. Looks like Rivals has the early lead as far as getting the information out.

And Here It Goes

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 8:42 am

Looks like the letters are filtering in. Aaron Smith and Dan Loheyde are both checked for signing the LOI. This is the day that Rivals.com and Scout.com find out about the stress levels of their servers.

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