It’s no secret that the Big East didn’t exactly reload on signing day in February. Pitt was the only school to crack the top-25 with regards to the various recruiting class evaluations. Louisville was close to the top-25 and in one or two rankings. The rest weren’t close. So, it is no surprise that when you look to teams and players in the Big East who will have an impact right away, that Pitt and Louisville are the teams with the juice. Tom Lemming (disclaimer of questionable reliability alert) lists 5 freshmen who could be expected to have an immediate impact in 2006. 2 from Louisville (DE Deantwan Whitehead and WR Josh Chichester). Pitt had the other 3 players: TE Nate Byham, DL Jason Pinkston and Dorin Dickerson (who he sort of lists as a linebacker?)

It was a horrible recruiting year for the Big East — with all five of these impact players matriculating to just two different schools — but one major standout is Dickerson. This 6-foot-3, 210-pounder can do it all, having logged time at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, strong safety and outside linebacker at Imperial West Allegheny. No matter what the position, Dickerson plays like a champ.

On offense, he’s a long strider with good vision and instincts with tremendous hands. He could play either running back or wide receiver at Pitt. On defense, Dickerson was one of the most aggressive players in western Pennsylvania, showing a great change of direction and quickness to the ball. Look for this local product to do a lot of damage for Dave Wannstedt.

Dickerson’s versatility and athleticism so desperately needs to be taken advantage of — especially on offense. I really worry that Coach Wannstedt and OC Matt Cavanaugh will not be flexible enough in their game plan to do that.

Looks like Tyler Smith chose Iowa (hat tip, Ryan). It would have been nice, but not terribly shocking. Iowa can almost guarantee him plenty of playing time. They had a senior-laden team and two additional players transferred after this season. I expect he will start for the Hawkeyes come November. No such assurances could come from Coach Dixon and Pitt.

If I’m an Iowa fan, though, this is a very bad day. They are losing their AD.

Bob Bowlsby found an opportunity to head one of the most successful programs in college athletics too good to pass up.

After a three-week courtship, the 15th-year University of Iowa director of athletics was named Tuesday as the new athletics director at Stanford University, where he takes over July 1 as the head of a program that has won 50 NCAA team championships in the past 14 years.

“I look forward to the challenges and the rewards which come with the duties,” Bowlsby said. “Stanford is an exceptional academic institution which also supports a broad-based and very highly competitive intercollegiate athletics program.”

Bowlsby said he wasn’t necessarily looking to make a move but considered the chance to head the Pac-10 program “an extraordinary opportunity.”

“I’ve been to the campus a couple of times, and I’m impressed with the people I’ve met,” Bowlsby said. “It’s easy to get a feel for the pride of the university, and I was smitten by what I saw and felt even at that point.”

Bowlsby has done a tremendous job at Iowa in finding and keeping coaches. Iowa fans can only expect that rumors of Kirk Ferentz’s departure for greener pastures to only intensify this fall.

As for Pitt, I expect Coach Dixon will strongly consider a project Center with that last available scholarship. Or he just might not use it. Pitt is in a good position, really with the players. No absolute need for a position right now.

So now that the long expected departure of Barry Rohrssen has happened, what’s next for Pitt? Orlando Antigua appears to be moving up a chair to a full assistant. Right now it is not a full promotion — Coach Jamie Dixon has only told the NCAA that Antigua is filling in for the spot with the departures of Lombardi and Rohrssen untill naming a replacement. That’s important because Antiqua, along with Assistant Pat Sandle, are out on the road recruiting.

Coach Dixon released a statement in support of his departing coaches that was not exactly stunning in what it said.

“It is my desire to have assistants at the University of Pittsburgh who aspire to be head coaches,” the statement read in part. “It is a wonderful compliment to our program when other institutions are interested in our staff members for head-coaching jobs. It’s a tribute to what we’ve accomplished here not only in terms of winning on the court but also the academic achievements and character of our players.”

As the Ron Cook column notes, it isn’t like Coach Dixon won’t have a stack of applicants trying to get hired. Most of Cook’s column is just explaining that Rohrssen leaving isn’t the end of the world. (Reminder, most writers and columnists don’t write their headline. So, don’t blame Cook for the fact that the story title stresses Aaron Gray leaving as a disaster when he devotes all of 4 sentences to Gray.)

Joe Starkey’s column paints this time as new key moment for Pitt basketball. The first major shake-up to the coaching staff, the departure of Krauser and the potential loss of Gray.

Not likely. I’m betting Sandle will stick around for the job security. Gray’s probably 50-50, and lots of talent remains. But this still represents a major test. Pitt must prove it can negotiate the next turn in its development as a top-tier program.

It’s called the reloading phase.

Every successful program — college or professional — must be proficient here, because a byproduct of winning is losing good people.

The Steelers are well-schooled in the process. They’ve been losing coordinators and talented players for years. It was never truer than in the wake of their Super Bowl XL victory, when other teams lavished large contracts on Antwaan Randle El, Chris Hope and Kimo von Oelhoffen.

Pitt’s immediate task is to find a New York City recruiter to replace Rohrssen. The job is expected to fall to Big Apple native Orlando Antigua, the school’s director of basketball operations. A Pitt alumnus and former Harlem Globetrotter who is fluent in Spanish, Antigua seems like an excellent candidate.

Not that it’ll be easy to replace Rohrssen, whose departure could hurt Pitt in its pursuit of big-time recruit Tyler Smith of Hargrave Military Academy.

I’m not too concerned about how this affects the recruitment of Tyler Smith, if for no other reason that Iowa and Kentucky have both just shaken up their staffs as well. In the case of Smith I think it comes down to where he thinks he can start quickly and his comfort with the head coach.

Now on the speculation as to who will take the open coaching vacancies. Assuming Antigua is given a full-time assistant coaching gig with Pitt, that opens up the Director of Basketball Operations position. Chris Dokich thinks that promoting John Alesi to the gig might be likely. It makes a lot of sense looking at his resume and NY connections — including the fact that his father is the head coach at Brooklyn’s Xavarian High (Chris Taft and Levance Fields).

Dokish also speculates that Scott Rigot — recently purged from Kentucky’s staff, and a Pittsburgh native — might make a good assistant candidate (and it probably wouldn’t hurt in luring Tyler Smith). Read the whole post. Interesting and plausible.

The sidebar to this story on Rohrssen leaving, lists some potential candidates. Probably just as speculative, but worth noting that Larry Harris — former Pitt great, and someone I suggested merited pursuing — is on the list. It also lists Buzz Petersen — the former Tennessee head coach, now running Coastal Carolina and UCLA Assistants Ernie Ziegler and Kerry Keating.

Brandin Knight is listed as a possibility for Director of Basketball Operations, but I suspect he is still going to try one more run at the NBA.

The AP story on Barry Rohrssen taking over at Manhattan.

“There were such great people at Pittsburgh and I miss those kids already,” Rohrssen said. “Recruiting in the Big East and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference have the same objective, just recruit good players who want to play at your school. Nothing changes.”

Gonzalez led Manhattan to a 129-77 record in seven seasons with two appearances in the NCAA tournament and two in the NIT. The Jaspers won two games in the NIT last month before losing at Old Dominion and finishing with a 20-11 record.

“Continuing what has gone on here means high standards,” Rohrssen said. “This school has had tremendous success and I hope to continue that.”

Three of the last four head coaches at Manhattan went on to jobs in the Big East: Steve Lappas, Fran Fraschilla and Gonzalez.

“Some very good coaches have used Manhattan as a steppingstone so we have earned that reputation as a mid-major program that provides opportunities for our coaches,” said Manhattan president Bro. Thomas J. Scanlan, FSC. “With New York City being such a big part of Manhattan College, Barry being a New Yorker was so important to us.”

You have to appreciate the candor of Manhattan. They don’t BS with expecting the coach to stay a long time. They hope he moves on to something bigger. It means they are winning.

It was also a good score for Manhattan that Rohrssen is well-liked by the local media.

The Jaspers’ job has become one of the best stepping-stone gigs in the country. But it takes a street-smart city kid who has strong ties to the high schools and the area’s powerful summer travel teams to max out its potential.

Rohrssen fits the profile.

Like Lappas, Fraschilla and Gonzalez, Rohrssen does not have any head coaching experience, so there will be a learning curve. But the formula has worked here before.

Rohrssen, though, actually steps into a situation with plenty of expectations.

Dereck Whittenburg had it easy by comparison. When he was hired, Fordham was coming off a two-win season.

Norm Roberts had it easy. St. John’s was coming off six wins, a Sexcapades scandal and a looming NCAA investigation.

Bobby Gonzalez has it easy. Even though Seton Hall went to the NCAA Tournament last season, there was more buzz at a silent monk retreat than in South Orange.

Barry Rohrssen doesn’t have it easy.

Not to mention the plans that are in the works for a 6000-seat facility jointly shared with Iona and Fordham in Mt. Vernon.

Rohrssen has already met with the players on the team. His first big job is to try and keep 3 top players.

Now, if he can only convince Jeff Xavier of the opposite.

Xavier, a sophomore guard from Pawtucket, R.I., who averaged 16.6 points this season, has a scholarship waiting for him at Providence if he’d like to transfer, sit out a season and play for his hometown Friars. The Big East might be too tough to turn down, but he is keeping all options open.

“Providence is my dream school, but I still haven’t made a final decision,” said Xavier, who will finish the semester on the Riverdale campus. “Nothing’s official.”

The same goes for the rest of the Jaspers’ Big Three – sophomores C.J. Anderson and Arturo Dubois. Anderson was the 2004-05 MAAC Rookie of the Year, but was declared academically ineligible after 16 games this season.

Keeping the talent already there is the big issue. Especially with only a few weeks left in the late signing period.