Catching up with the Sunday stuff from the AAU tournament, JamFest. The local Pittsburgh JOTS won over the O.J. Mayo-less D1 Greyhounds. Naturally, the concern isn’t over who won, but who looked good and the fact that plenty of top high school talent spent the weekend at Pitt.

The JamFest drew 117 teams from 23 states, the District of Columbia and Canada and dozens of college coaches to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, Fitzgerald Field House and Trees Hall. There are already plans to return the NCAA-sanctioned AAU tournament to Pitt next April.

“We’ll definitely be back,” said Rob Kennedy, president of the New Jersey-based Hoop Group, which ran the event. “The facilities are tremendous and the location is ideal because we can draw teams from the Midwest and East. We only had a little over two months to get this together. It exceeded our expectations.”

Memphis Coach John Calipari may have more than a little snake oil salesmen in him, but he knows how to win over the media — especially the local media.

There isn’t a more approachable big-time coach in the country than Calipari, especially when this Moon native knows he’s dealing with someone who has ties to Pittsburgh. Anyhow, Coach Cal had a few interesting things to say:

On the JamFest being in Pittsburgh:

“For the coaches to come from all over the country to Pittsburgh is dear to my heart. Believe me, many people don’t know how great a city Pittsburgh is. Even I’m guilty sometimes of not realizing all that we have in Pittsburgh.

“[On Friday night] we went out on the South Side and I told the guys I was with, ‘Man, this was like mill town over here, and now it is so built up, it is amazing.’ Every time I am back, something new is popping up and it makes the city even better and better.”

On the current WPIAL and City League talent:

“In the next three years, there may be some of the best players to ever come out of this area. I can remember when Sam Clancy and Sonny Lewis and a whole crew of guys were playing in Pittsburgh. This group of kids, who are the kids getting recruited right now, is as solid as a group as there has been in quite awhile in this area.

“The people of Pittsburgh should be proud and also understand the level of talent they have playing in the area right now.”

Maybe I’m just reading a little too much in between the lines, but I can’t help but think the subtext goes something like, “Hey, Pitt, next time it looks like there might be a head coaching opening, don’t forget to give this native son a call. I need to get another raise from Memphis.”

There was also the AAU Tournament down in Houston, where O.J. Mayo went to play with the Miami AAU team (Nike sponsored over the Reebok supported JamFest). Some of the talent there has Pitt’s attention as well (not that I’m sure there were any Pitt coaches to send down there to watch them.

Luis Colon, Miami Tropics — His high school coach Shakey Rodriguez said Kansas State, UMass, UConn, Pitt and Purdue are contenders for the 6-foot-10, 260-pound center’s signature late in the game.
…
Demitri McCamey, Illinois Wolves — Big, strong and tough, the 6-foot-4 guard is a load to defend in the backcourt. With his size, he’s tough to stop on the glass, too. He said UConn, Kentucky, Illinois, Wake Forest, Pitt, Clemson, Virginia and DePaul are all interested.

Colon plays both Center and Power Forward. He’s a 3-star prospect who would appear to be something of a project. Seems to have interest from schools, but as a fallback (not actual offers yet) if higher ranked prospects don’t commit soon during this signing period.

McCamey is a point guard prospect for the class of 2007. He’s a 4-star and considered the 13th best PG out there, and #92 overall.

I’ll excerpt a bit, because arguably there’s a bit of reading between the lines for team news, but just read the whole piece.

Two weeks later, the shock, the stunning nightmare and loss, still seemed apparent in Jamie Dixon’s 40-year-old eyes, going beyond the fact that he had just taken a red-eye flight back here from California. He had gone to see a recruit. He stopped to see his parents as well.

“We still can hardly believe it,” Dixon said. “She never had any symptoms of heart problems. And we don’t have a history in our family, either. There was no reason to suspect anything — anything.”

On Friday, Dixon was in the auxiliary gym at the Petersen Events Center, the home court of the Panthers, in individual workouts, which are sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. They last 40 minutes, three times a week, until the end of the academic year. Dixon was working with eight of his returning players from this season.

Pittsburgh was supposed to be in a rebuilding year but had a strong season. It went 25-8, reached the Big East tournament final and advanced to the second round of the N.C.A.A. tournament, losing to Bradley.

Levon Kendall, Aaron Gray and Antonio Graves, who all played often during the season, were among those practicing.

“Hands ready,” Dixon called as he prowled the sideline in a black warm-up jacket and pants. “Come on, we got to be more active this year.” And: “Penetrate. You had the opening!” And: “Step through” the screen. “Very nice. Very nice.”

Hard for Pitt partisans not to take note that Aaron Gray is still taking part in individual workouts.

Right now, it seems Coach Dixon is trying to keep busy with work. I hope it helps.

WVU didn’t want it, but they were in the big minority.

Big East university presidents voted, 13-3, in November to stop enrolling athletes who do not meet the NCAA’s initial eligibility standards. There are no exceptions, which is a major change from the Big East guidelines a year ago.

West Virginia voted against it, while Pitt cast a “yes” vote for the rule, which has been under discussion for more than a year.

“I think this sends a strong statement about where we stand when it comes to the importance of academics in this conference,” Pitt athletic director Jeff Long said. “We support that. We feel it was a very good move at a great time — when we’re coming together as a 16-team conference, the largest in the country.”

The Big East became the fourth Bowl Championship Series league to stop enrolling non-qualifiers, joining the Pacific-10, the Big 12 and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Big Ten has no league-wide rule keeping non-qualifiers out. However, if a football team, such as Penn State, accepts a non-qualifier, that player doesn’t receive a scholarship even though he counts against the Nittany Lions’ scholarship limits of 85 total and 25 annually.

The Southeastern Conference allows for a limited number of exceptions spread across all teams at an institution.

There is a sidebar to the article setting out the basics of the standards. The article doesn’t say who the other two schools voting against it, but if I had to hazard a guess I’d bet on Louisville and South Florida, almost by process of elimination.

Cinci is trying to clean up its image. All the private schools would sign-off on it. That would leave Rutgers, UConn, Louisville and USF.

This comes on the heels of the amusing and dumb story of a WVU student actually going to spy on Marshall’s spring practices. Let’s give some credit to Hoopie fans for being upfront about how incredibly stupid this is. It’s Marshall. I realize it’s their in-state rival, and they got stunned by them (again) in basketball this past season, but the fact that any student or even the possibility that a coach even considered the possibility of finding anything useful from spying on spring practice is beyond laughable.

Personally, I suspect the kid goes to WVU’s J-school and was given some bad advice from a questionable source.

Blogger was down all morning up until a couple minutes ago. No blogspot blog had anything out today. WHole system, apparently.

Received the new laptop computer on Thursday. On Sunday the hard drive failed. FedEx is picking it up tomorrow for the company to replace it. So it goes.

So, road game to UCF this fall. On ESPN. And Pitt put at an additional competitive disadvantage.

Schedule-makers at both schools had agreed to adjust an Oct. 14 game to Thursday or Friday to accommodate TV but only on the condition that both schools had the same number of days off before the game. One problem: A miscommunication between Conference USA and the Big East, both of which coordinate their schedules after TV partners weigh in, has left Pitt in a competitive disadvantage.

The Golden Knights have an Oct. 4 (Wednesday night) game at Marshall, then have eight days off before playing Pitt. The Panthers play a noon home game against Syracuse on Oct. 7; that gives them just five days off.

The two-day difference did not escape Pittsburgh’s attention for long. Within a couple of weeks of UCF’s Feb. 9 announcement, Pitt Athletic Director Jeff Long fired off a letter to UCF expressing his frustration for a breach of trust.

UCF officials acknowledge Long’s point, saying Knights Coach George O’Leary never would have agreed to the game if he knew of the disparity.

Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, its disappointment probably won’t carry the day because ESPN is involved. If the Panthers take a hard line and say they won’t come to Orlando unless some changes are made, well, then they might not come at all. The Big East, C-USA and ESPN then would have to find a game for UCF.

I’m not sure which is worse. The fact that UCF is going to get over, because Pitt would also have to find another game for that day, which is possible since it would be a roadie. (Probably be able to work out a nice return game in a couple years from a decent school. Hmmm…. But I digress.) Not to mention that Pitt would lose an appearance on ESPN.

Or the fact that Pitt does need to have some concern over the competitive disadvantage to the University of Central Florida.

Not good.

If anyone has been attending the JamFest this weekend, feel free to shoot me an e-mail or leave some thoughts in the comments.

The event was something of an eye-opener for local high school coaches.

Aliquippa coach Marvin Emerson took a seat at Petersen Events Center, hoping to find out what the fuss over Herb Pope’s involvement with AAU basketball was all about at the Pittsburgh JamFest.

“You hear so much about it,” Emerson said. “I wanted to judge it for myself.”

What commenced was a brand of basketball Western Pennsylvania hasn’t seen at the high school level. One that appeared foreign to Emerson and other WPIAL coaches in attendance. One that is played with elements of street ball but with the above-the-rim athleticism of the nation’s top prep players.

“It’s like an NBA showcase,” Emerson said.
…
The underbelly of AAU basketball also was exposed when O.J. Mayo was a no-show at the JamFest. Universally regarded as the nation’s top junior, Mayo normally plays with Walker for Reebok-sponsored North College Hill and D1 Greyhounds. Instead, he opted instead to play for the Nike-sponsored Miami Tropics at the Kingwood Classic in Houston.

There is a connection of dots from shoe companies to club teams to prep schools and colleges, and Mayo’s maneuvering is a classic example of why the AAU is viewed with disgust by some high school coaches.

College coaches, however, turned out en masse to scout the prospects. It’s a chance to view a player like the 6-9 Pope in a different light. While Pope plays in the post at Aliquippa, he roams the perimeter and handles the ball for the Pittsburgh JOTS.

And they did turn out with some name coaches.

The presence of players such as Walker, Pope and Lauderdale — as well as PIAA and NCAA sanctioning of the tourney — drew prominent Division I coaches such as Iowa’s Steve Alford, Memphis’ John Calipari, Kansas’ Bill Self and Kansas State’s Bob Huggins.

Dixon was instrumental in bringing the JamFest, run by the New Jersey-based HoopGroup, in an effort to showcase Pitt’s campus to prospective recruits.

“The best thing is, the kids get to see our university and how much it has changed,” Dixon said. “We would get to see these kids play somewhere else. We have this great campus. We want students to see it.”

Wonder if Alford and Dixon exchanged thoughts on Tyler Smith. And perhaps Alford offered some tips on what to do when you find yourself down two assistants in the midst of a signing period.

Sophomore Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette also received another scholarship offer from Clemson this past weekend. Herb Pope and D.J. Kennedy of Schenley high school both denied that they were heading to prep school next fall. We’ll see.

As previously noted, and now everywhere else, Barry Rohrssen is slated to take over at Manhattan.

Neither Dixon nor Rohrssen, who were at Pitt on Saturday for the Pittsburgh JamFest AAU tournament, would comment on a published report that Rohrssen would succeed former longtime coach Bobby Gonzalez at Manhattan.

But a high-ranking athletic department official at the New York school confirmed that a news conference would be held Tuesday on campus, presumably to introduce Rohrssen as successor to Gonzalez, who resigned April 7 to take over as coach of Seton Hall.

Rohrssen interviewed Thursday with Manhattan officials and was weighing the school’s offer over the weekend. He previously interviewed at Seton Hall and Fairfield.

“Barry has been an integral part in the success of this program,” Dixon said prior to last season. “He has a great coaching background, is a good recruiter with outstanding contacts and has an understanding of how we run our program.”

Pat Sandle could be the next Pitt assistant to go, leaving Orlando Antigua, the director of basketball operations, as the only returning member of Dixon’s staff for next season.

Sandle’s name is being mentioned as a possible candidate for an assistant’s job at North Carolina State, where former UCLA coach Steve Lavin is a candidate. The two served together at UCLA from 2001-03.

Apparently Lavin has been offered the job.

Former UCLA coach Steve Lavin has been offered the opportunity to return to coaching by the N.C. State Wolfpack, according to multiple sources close to the search.

Lavin has been out of the business for three years and working as a broadcast analyst for ESPN since he was let go by the Bruins following the 2002-03 season, his only losing year as a head coach.

Lavin is working on contract details and has not yet decided whether to accept the job.

NC State was apparently considering WVU’s John Beilein as well, but much like Missouri, realized the total cost would be too high. Not sure what that means for NC State, except that Lavin better take the job or NC State fans are liable to start losing it. It’s one thing to be rejected by Barnes at Texas, then predictably used by Calipari at Memphis. Then to have sniffings around for Gillespie at Texas A&M, Brady at LSU and Ryan at Wisconsin all rebuffed stung. But to be rejected by Lavin would just be the final insult.

Man, you want to talk about a total revamping of a coaching staff. Scary but kind of funny. I have to believe Coach Dixon was already putting some list together of potential replacements after the season ended and rumors were immediately swirling around Rohrssen.

One of those articles that people in the Penn State Athletic Department grind their teeth and mutter about the e-mails they are going to get. To say nothing of what old Joe Paterno must think to see an old assistant of his all but call for the Pitt-Penn State football game to return.

This time, former football players and coaches will be playing on the same team in the Pitt vs. Penn State golf challenge June 6 at Chestnut Ridge in Blairsville.

The event will raise money for two charities geared to helping disadvantaged youth in Pennsylvania — the Second Mile, founded by former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, and the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP), administered by the University of Pittsburgh.

Last year, the golf outing was run exclusively for the Second Mile, and the competition was won by Penn State. This year, Sandusky teamed up with former Pitt coach Johnny Majors and expanded the number of charities that will benefit from the event.

The day will begin with a nine-hole competition between select former Pitt and Penn State players. Several skills competitions will follow. The former players then will be divided among the groups of sponsors and play a round of golf. Team captains for Penn State will be Shane Conlan and Mike Zordich; Pitt’s captains will be Tony Dorsett and Bill Fralic.

“It was a lot of fun last year,” Sandusky said, “but, more importantly, we raised right around $100,000 for the charity, and that’s what it is all about. And the guys still get into it.

“We have a crazy scoring system, but competition is competition. I hear the Pitt guys are really gearing up for this since we beat them last year. I expect we’ll get their best effort and I hear they have some good golfers coming out.

“I think, even though we won, the best golfer was actually [former Pitt linebacker] Troy Benson, so it should be a close battle again. We have a real festive atmosphere, and the sponsors all really enjoy themselves.”
…
Sandusky said one of the things that people seem to enjoy is the reminiscing that goes on about the Penn State-Pitt series, the memorable games that were played. He said he obviously is not alone in wishing the series would be restored.

“It was obviously a great rivalry, and there were a lot of great games between us,” Sandusky said. “It would be really neat if we could get this game going again, but I don’t know whether that will happen or not.”

[Emphasis added.]

Heh.

On a different track, Tony Dorsett will be playing. It isn’t just me is it? Dorsett seems to be making a lot more trips and apperances in Pittsburgh in support of Pitt in the last year? Coach Wannstedt and Pitt seem to be reaching out a lot harder and better to past Pitt players. Bringing them back to the “family” as it were.

Barry Rohrssen appears poised to be named the next coach of Manhattan.

Manhattan College appears ready to sign Pitt associate head coach Barry Rohrssen to succeed Bobby Gonzalez as head basketball coach, The Post has learned.

Rohrssen, 45, a Brooklyn native widely regarded as one of the nation’s top New York City recruiters, interviewed in Riverdale on Thursday, a source said, and thoroughly impressed Athletic Director Bob Byrnes.

Rohrssen, who would be introduced early next week, also interviewed at Seton Hall and Fairfield.

He stands to inherit a talented team that won the MAAC regular-season title under Gonzalez this year.

There are team issues, however, as second-leading scorer Jeff Xavier, a sophomore guard, elected to transfer to Providence during this search, and C.J. Anderson, a sophomore forward and 2004-05 MAAC Rookie of the Year, was academically ineligible this semester.

Byrne also interviewed Louisville assistant Kevin Willard and UConn assistant Tom Moore.

The potential loss of a couple star players, apparently drove Moore to withdraw from the search.

“In what has been a month of analyzing potential job openings both my wife [Eileen] and I realize what a special situation we have at Connecticut,” Moore said before leaving for Houston on a recruiting trip Friday afternoon. “[Athletic director] Bob Burns and the people at Manhattan were great to me. … I really feel Manhattan College is going to have a lot of success in the future in men’s basketball.”

Sources close to Moore say that he was operating under coach Jim Calhoun’s philosophy that when an assistant leaves to become a head coach, it should be to a place where he can be successful soon.

Manhattan, a MAAC power under Bobby Gonzalez, who left for Seton Hall on April 7, looked like such a place when Moore began discussions with school officials, but things changed when star guard Jeff Xavier decided to transfer to Providence. There are also rumors that CJ Anderson, another outstanding sophomore, is going to transfer. Anderson was lost for the season in January because of academics, and the Jaspers still finished 20-11, but without those two next year, it will be a rebuilding year.

It’s still the tremendous opportunity for Barry Rohrssen. I hope he has success.

Of course, Joe Lombardi is now at IUP.

Obviously, Orlando Antigua is going to move up to an assistant coaching position and will help keep the door open in the NY/NJ area. But Pitt is going to have to find two new assistants. The good thing, I think is that Coach Dixon probably came away from his contract extension with an increased budget to pay assistants. That means he can go after some good assistants.

It will be another subplot to watch over the next month or so.

The last Q&A from Paul Zeise for a few months. Topics include the defensive line, the size of the d-line, potentially redshirting John Pelusi, a question from RKohlberger (who just happened to e-mail me the link today) and this question.

Q: What is your take on the receivers and running backs?

Zeise: The fullback position is in great shape with Conredge Collins, but the tailback position to me is still a big question. LaRod Stephens-Howling is a great player, but I’m still not convinced he is an every down back. Shane Brooks showed some skills, but I’m not sure how fast he is as compared to the defensive players he’ll face. And Kevin Collier might be the second coming of Barry Sanders, but he’ll still be a freshman.

The receivers are a good group and I think by the time it all shakes out, could be a strength of the team. Oderick Turner can be very good, Kinder and Delsardo are consistent and the freshman class is loaded. Here is one name to remember from this recruiting class — Tamarcus Porter. From everything I know about him, he could be a big-time player.

The other part of the running game is still how the O-line does. If the offensive line can’t open a hole or even a crack, no back is going to do much.

There was also a question on how backup QB Bill Stull looked. Zeise called him inconsistent, which as he notes is not unexpected. It does segue nicely to this article from earlier in the week on Stull.

“This isn’t a story, it is a fact; I feel better right now about our quarterback position than at any point that I did last year,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “Tyler and Billy Stull both have a firm grasp on what we’re trying to do as an offense and, anytime you have guys like that, it will give you a better chance to score points

“[Stull] has gotten bigger, he’s gotten stronger and he has progressed physically and mentally since last year and that is a good sign. It is always nice to see a kid work hard to get better. Billy has, no question.”
…
“I think there is a different pressure,” Stull said. “I have always wanted to play in my hometown. I have the chance now and I think there is some more pressure because people recognize your name.

“When you have some success in high school around here, people always say, ‘OK, now what are you going to do in college?’ I feel that now and I understand that. It seems like that is the way it is playing football around here, you know, with the pressure and everything. But, I like that; I like that people want to push you to succeed.”

It will be something to keep an eye on in the fall, how much time Stull gets to play in games.

I don’t have a lot of sympathy for either side of this battle.

For 20 years, the owner of Tailgaters Bar in Harmar and his tailgating team partied in lots between PNC Park and Heinz Field. That changed last year, when a lot attendant told Paterak his pre-game festivities were taking up too much room, he said, “and forced us to park the motor home next to another motor home where we couldn’t open the door.”

Alco Parking Corp., which operates all the lots between the two stadiums, is trying to rein in super-sized tailgating parties by requiring oversized vehicle parking passes. Beginning next football season, Steelers fans with vehicles requiring more than one space will have to buy season parking passes for $1,440 — the equivalent of four spaces for each of 12 home games. That’s the equivalent of $120 per game. Single-day sales, however, will no longer will be available for oversized vehicles.

The Steelers currently have 10 home games scheduled — two in the preseason and eight during the regular season.

It was unclear last night why Alco listed 12 home games.

“Every year, I’m accused of killing tailgating,” said Merrill Stabile, Alco president. “It’s really a matter of crowd control.”

During past Steelers seasons, drivers of recreational vehicles, campers, vehicles pulling trailers, limousines, large trucks and others that don’t fit into a single space purchased multiple parking passes for $30 a space. The buyers decided how many to buy.

Many bought fewer spaces than their mammoth wagons could fit — most RVs need four — and then argued with lot managers who tried to collect for all spaces used, Stabile said.

Now, I have no doubt that the Alco people are not about “crowd control,” they are about making as much money as possible. Not even up for debate. They do their best to over-stuff as many vehicles into a lot as possible for the biggest price they can charge.

Having said that, tailgaters who want to park in the premium areas have to make a choice. Either sacrifice some space (or more cash) or sacrifice the convenience of being able to stumble into the stadium from a shorter distance.

I’m sure this will also have some impact for parking for Pitt games.

We tailgate at one of the lots that is further away (though it really doesn’t seem that big of a distance), and find it gives us more space to spread out. Our group has at least two cars, so we do the whole thing where we park and leave a space in between to set up the chairs, grill, coolers and table. Of course, the lot is rarely completely packed by the time we head into the game.

I worry about this because the tension seems to be increasing between the parking lot operators and the tailgaters, and I don’t like the odds that the police and politicians will side with the tailgaters. Tailgating has become a big operation, and for some extremely elaborate. The large majority don’t cause much of a problem.

At the same time, there seems to be a growing minority — or at least more awareness and attention given to them — of tailgaters who seem to treat the thing like their annual trip to see Jimmy Buffet. It’s their excuse (treated as if it’s some right) to get as drunk, stupid, bellicose and beligerent as they can. The game is just secondary.

I’m all in favor of the drunk part. I largely support stupid. Belicose and beligerant, however, are the problems. Those lead to the excuse for the parking lot operators and the police to crack down on everyone. That leads to further, insane neo-prohibitionist actions or cries for actions that is always “for the children.”

Everytime, some idiot runs on the field at a game or does something stupid in the stands, we have to hear the joyless sportswriters call for stricter and stricter alcohol bans. Because if it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have stupid idiots at games. Just because they are on a deadline and can’t drink in the pressbox any longer, they think no one else should either. Mike Wilbon on “Pardon the Interruption” is the worst about this.

Stop beer sales after the 3rd quarter or after the 7th inning. Then it’s stop after halftime and the 5th inning. What happens when they get the full bans and people still do stupid crap? Then it will be calls for better policing in parking lots and at the gates. With or without alcohol, stupid people will do stupid things.

Both immediate and later for discussion. Another recruiting story on Hamady N’Diaye.

“Hamady N’Diaye had a great visit to Pittsburgh,” stated Stoneridge Preparatory School Head Basketball Coach Mike Mahoney. “He loved everything about it, especially the facilities. He thought their facilities were incredible.”

Hamady N’diaye has 25 scholarship offers. He has narrowed his choices to Pitt, Rutgers and Miami (FL). Scout.com ranks Hamady the 18th best center in the class of 2006. He has been a transient player moving from New Jersey to Florida to California.

“They really showed him a good time. He spent time with the coaches and players. I know they took him to a football practice and he thought that was really special.”

When asked about his impressions of Head Coach Jamie Dixon. Coach Mahoney replied, “He felt very comfortable with the entire staff. Of course he liked Coach Dixon. What’s not to like? He’s a great guy and Hamady enjoyed the time he spent with him.”

N’Diaye was expected to hold a press conference next week to announce his decision. Apparently his decision could come sooner than expected. “Hamady is going to sit down with his parents on Friday. He could have a decision at that time. I assume his decision will occur within the next day or so.”

As far as I understood things, Pitt only has one scholarship left to offer. N’Diaye may or may not have been formally offered, and Pitt is still waiting for word from Tyler Smith.

Smith and his family indicated before the start of the late signing period that they were going to take their time. So far there has been nothing to suggest he is going to announce in the next couple of days or even week.

Two players with different timetables for deciding where they are headed. If N’Diaye wants to come to Pitt, does Coach Dixon take him and give up on Smith? Or do they try to keep N’Diaye from deciding while waiting for Smith or simply take the risk to wait on Smith?

This weekend at Pitt is an AAU Tournament. Pitt gets to put its facilities on display for some top national talent.

This weekend, Western Pennsylvania basketball fans will get an up-close glimpse at the nation’s top-ranked junior when O.J. Mayo plays for the D1 Greyhounds in the Pittsburgh JamFest 17-and-under AAU tournament at Pitt.

Mayo, a 6-foot-5 guard from Cincinnati’s North College Hill High School, is a two-time Mr. Basketball in Ohio who is regarded as a future No. 1 overall NBA Draft choice.

“It’s exciting that he’s coming,” said Pryor, a sophomore swingman from Jeannette who plays for the Pittsburgh JOTS. “Him and his teammate (Billy Walker), they can play. It’s like NBA players playing in high school. I’ve watched him so many times. He just dominates people. It’s unbelievable. I want to play against him.”

Pryor might get his chance if the JOTS — which also features Schenley’s DeJuan Blair, Jamaal Bryant and D.J. Kennedy and Aliquippa’s Herb Pope — reach Sunday’s 4 p.m. final at Petersen Events Center.

Tickets for the game are $7, and if you are a fan of spotting people in the stands, this should be loaded with NCAA basketball coaches. The event is approved by the NCAA, so the coaches can attend. They just can’t have any direct contact with the players. They will be there with the express goal of being seen by the kids.

There are four new bowls scheduled to come into creation this year. The Big East it appears, will be involved in two of them.

The new bowls have to be first approved by the NCAA bowl certification committee. More important, concerned parties are waiting for the NCAA board of directors to define bowl eligibility in 2006.

The board almost has to set the standard at 6-6 when it hands down the decision on April 27. The last time a 12-game schedule existed in 2002 and 2003, at least four teams became bowl eligible each year because of the six-win standard.

The NCAA barely found enough bowl-eligible teams last year (it needed 56) during the 11-game regular season. If teams were required to finish above .500 — in other words 7-5 in a 12-game schedule in 2006 — it’s almost certain there wouldn’t be 64 bowl-eligible teams.

A look at the new bowls waiting to be certified:

The new BCS national championship game which debuts Jan. 8, 2007 in the new Glendale, Ariz. stadium. Approval is a slam dunk.

The Birmingham Bowl, to be played at Legion Field, where UAB struggles to attract fans. This newbie would match Conference USA against either a Big East or MAC rep. Can’t wait.

The New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque. Who cares who plays in it (Mountain West vs. WAC), this is what bowls are all about: a destination city where you can go from teeing off to snow skiing in 30 minutes.

International Bowl in Toronto. Nothing says college football like a match between Big East and MAC runners-up in Canada.

Not everyone is exactly enthused it seems. Dodd is right, though, that 6-6 will have to be where they set the bowl eligibility if they want to approve more bowls. There’s plenty of pressure from the BCS schools to do so anyways. They know they stand to benefit most with that kind of standard.

Not only has Mountain West moved its football and basketball games from ESPN to CSTV, they are creating a regional network.

The first regional sports network dedicated to a single conference has a name and a football schedule. It just doesn’t have agreements to be carried on cable in two of the Mountain West Conference’s biggest markets.

The MountainWest Sports Network will debut on Sept. 2 with four games, starting with Utah State at Wyoming.

Chris Bevilacqua, president of CSTV Regional Networks, said that while his company has a national agreement with Cox, it doesn’t yet have agreements with local providers in San Diego and Las Vegas.
…
In August 2004, the nine-team Mountain West Conference, which spans three time zones, signed a seven-year, $82 million deal with CSTV that began last year.

It will carry 36 football games, 150 basketball games and more than 200 games in minor sports, as well as other programming.

“You’ve got to take it sequentially,” Thompson said. “We’re announcing it, announcing what’s going to be on it and showing some of the programming that will to be on it. Hopefully that will spur local interest and local cable operators to say, ‘This looks like a must-carry station.'”

Thompson said it will aim to be fan-friendly. The majority of the network’s football games will be played on Saturday afternoons, rather than in the evening, and only one will be on a Thursday night.

When CSTV came looking for a conference partner, “Our board just said, ‘ESPN, we’re very thankful and appreciative, but we don’t want to play on Tuesday night in football, and we don’t want to play at 10 o’clock on Monday nights,”‘ Thompson said. “We were tired of the times and the commitments that they were putting us into.”

MWSN will get on in those markets. It is just starting negotiations, and there is plenty of time. More important is getting on DirecTV and Dish satellite services.

Here in Ohio, we’ve just watched the Cleveland Indians go from FoxSports Ohio to their own network by the start of the season. Plenty of down to the wire negotiations, and the kinks still being worked out of the system.

This is the way things are going (NBA TV, NFL Network, YES …). Maximizing the money by doing your own network. It makes even more sense for conferences. It’s even easier to fill the dead space (not football and men’s basketball games) with all the other sports, the multitude of coaches and team propaganda there is.

It may seem like the Mountain West is limiting itself with its dealings with CSTV, but that is short term.

As they said, this was driven by ESPN marginalizing them in football to Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday nights. Killing their actual game attendance. As cable and satellite packages keep expanding, there’s no reason there won’t be tiers offering conference networks. Especially when some of the bigger conferences join in.

If I had to guess which BCS Conference will be first, I would say the SEC. They already have deals with CBS — who just happens to own CSTV. They have the fanbase that would support the network throughout the South.

Joe Lombardi was officially introduced as the new head coach at IUP. The second line was still the best part of the press release.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletic Director Frank Condino has announced the appointment of Joe Lombardi as the university’s new head men’s basketball coach. The hiring was made following a national search.

Define “national.”

Lombardi’s wife, Janet, grew up in Indiana, Pa., and Lombardi spent eight seasons in the Blairsville area while at St. Francis and IUP.

The other finalists for the job were Jim Boone, the former coach at California University of Pa., Robert Morris and Eastern Michigan, and John Sanow, an assistant at Vermont and a former player at IUP in the early 1980s.

Lombardi said IUP was the only Division II job he would have accepted and he never considered going halfway around the country to become a head coach at a Division I school whose program is badly in need of repair.

“I haven’t had to travel long distances to pursue my career,” said Lombardi, who isn’t close to naming his assistants. “When you reach a certain age, you want to put down roots. IUP is where I want to be with my family.”

This is not to poke fun at Joe Lombardi. By all accounts, he is a fine coach, did a good job at Pitt and appears to have his family’s interests at heart in his job choice.

This is to poke some fun at IUP and the school’s administration.

The Indians play an NCAA Division II schedule, but school president Tony Atwater confirmed the program is studying the benefits of moving up to Division I. The football program also is studying a move to Division I-AA.

“Division I is something I’ve decided to not take off the table,” Atwater said. “If you don’t have dreams, you can’t accomplish great things.”

Atwater said the basketball program won’t move next season but could make the transition in a couple of years.

“It’s still on the table at this point,” he said. “We are exploring interest.”

The chance for IUP to move up from exhibition to patsy game against Pitt. Groovy.