I have to admit I’m having a hard time to get into writing about the football stuff. There still feels like there is unfinished business on the basketball side. I’ll get there.

Speaking of unfinished business, the next signing period for basketball starts next Wednesday. Things are looking good from unverified reports on Pitt landing Tyler Smith.

Tyler Smith (unsigned): It looks like the small forward will probably wind up at Pittsburgh when the late signing period begins on April 12, unless Panthers assistant Barry Rohrssen lands the Seton Hall job. That would put the Pirates in the mix. UAB could join the recruiting battle if Mike Davis lands with the Blazers. Cincinnati is another possible destination.

With the exception of Lenn Robbins at the NY Post, who refuses to eliminate anyone, most have Rohrssen not getting the Seton Hall gig.

Tubby Smith, from Kentucky and others are still trying though.

Smith went to Pulaski, Tenn., yesterday to speak with Tyler Smith, a 6-foot-7 wing player considered one of the best unsigned players available. Earlier in the day, Rondo announced his intention to hire an agent and enter the NBA Draft.

Tyler Smith committed to Tennessee in 2005, then decided to attend Hargrave Military Academy after UT fired Buzz Peterson as coach. Peterson reportedly is now being considered for an assistant-coaching position at Kentucky should one become open.

Iowa Coach Steve Alford was also expected to visit with Tyler Smith.

College coaches could begin visiting with prospects after midnight on Monday night.

Pittsburgh, the perceived leader for Tyler Smith, had exhausted its limit of visits with the player in previous recruiting periods.

Pitt can only wait.

As expected the trickle of useless advanced predictions is underway. The only advantage is that it makes it more likely for Pitt to be among the pre-season polls and magazines in the fall.

This from Fox Sports:

12. Pittsburgh: Panthers guard Carl Krauser is gone, but Jamie Dixon still has plenty of quality guards at his disposal — Ronald Ramon, Levance Fields and Keith Benjamin. Seven-footer Aaron Gray may have been the most-improved big man in the country, and Pittsburgh will also bring back Sam Young and Levon Kendall — who split time at power forward this season.

The only BE team ranked higher is Louisville at #10.

This offering from Andy Katz at ESPN.com goes higher.

10. Pitt: The Panthers only lose Carl Krauser. He was a major player for the Panthers throughout the course of his career, but Pitt can take the hit of losing the veteran point guard. Big man Aaron Gray and forwards Sam Young and Levon Kendall give the Panthers one of the toughest front lines in the country. Guards Ronald Ramon, Levance Fields, Antonio Graves and Keith Benjamin should show everyone that the Panthers have the goods on the perimeter to match up with any team in the country. And you wonder why Jamie Dixon stayed?

Pitt is the highest ranked of the BE teams in Katz’s rankings. In the rest: UConn (11), Georgetown (13), Villanova (16) and Marquette (24). Louisville is just outside the top-25.

Lots of expectations for 2006-07.

Yesterday, I noted the possibility of a Big East-SEC Challenge in basketball. Andy Katz (Insider subs.) does his best to throw cold water on that.

SEC challenge: The SEC couldn’t reach an agreement with the Big 12 on a challenge. The SEC wanted a handful of teams. The Big 12 wanted all of them. So, instead, the SEC has approached the Big East. But the interest there is very tepid.

For the life of me, I don’t know why. If there is a tepid response, I would guess that emanates from some of the older, more powerful coaches (Calhoun, Boeheim and Pitino) who have no need of further exposure and attention for their programs. After all, they never have much problem getting invited to early season tournaments.

Still, the snippet doesn’t say who. If it is from the Big East powers or the school presidents or ADs it makes little sense. They should welcome the increased exposure and a chance for some of the other schools that can get lost in the shuffle of a 16 team league to get some additional games on TV.

Aaron Gray appears to be doing the right thing.

Pitt center Aaron Gray is considering the possibility of entering the NBA draft.

But he said Tuesday that he won’t hire an agent, which would afford him the option to return to school for his senior year.

“I’m just gathering information,” said Gray, who was voted the most improved player in the Big East conference this season after leading the league in rebounding and finishing finishing as the only player to average a double-double (13.9 ppg., 10.5 rpg.). “I’m talking to the right people. I’m not listening to agents or friends or stuff like that.

“The only thing I know right now is, no matter what happens, I’m not signing with an agent.”
…
Should the 7-foot, 270-pound Gray decide to enter in the draft, he is likely to follow the same course taken last year by Pitt guard Carl Krauser and West Virginia center Kevin Pittsnogle, both of whom, as juniors, attended the NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago without representation of an agent.

Both pulled their names before the mandatory deadline and returned for their final college seasons.

It is exactly what he should do. Go through the process. Get reinforcement as to what he needs to improve upon. Pull-out of the draft, and hopefully go to a “big man” camp this year to get some extra help.

Carl Krauser will be in Portsmouth, Virginia taking part in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. A Seniors-only event, as he hopes to get an invite to Chicago and get drafted by the NBA. Coach Jamie Dixon is heading down there to give him some support and help him get feedback and info as to his possibility of getting drafted. Presumably, so he can consider other options — ABA or overseas.

That was the final note of the story, which focused on “validation” of the tough defense preached by Howland and Dixon. Uh, okay.

But before the Bruins made their way through the NCAA tournament field to Monday night’s title game, there were plenty of basketball people who doubted whether such a system could produce a national championship contender. Could such a style that sacrifices offense for defense produce enough points against the most talented teams in the country? Would top recruits want to play in such a regimented and glamour-less system?

It didn’t help matters that Pitt and UCLA never advanced past the second round of the tournament in seven opportunities before this season. But Dixon denied that UCLA’s run to the title game this season reaffirmed his belief in the system he and Howland cultivated at Pitt. He said he believed all along that the system could produce results at the highest level.

“It didn’t give me any more confidence,” Dixon said yesterday after returning from the Final Four in Indianapolis. “Our record speaks for itself. As coaches, we look at the whole season rather than a two-week period.

“We’ve been competing at the highest level. If UCLA had lost to Gonzaga, had they not gotten that steal in the last minute and won that game, I wouldn’t feel any different. I think Billy Donovan had the quote of the week. Billy said you could play the whole tournament over again and you’d have four different teams in the Final Four. These games are coming down to one shot. There were so many close games.”

Dixon didn’t stay for the Championship game because he was out on the recruiting trail again. That’s what you like to read.

The way I read the article, it came off like Ray Fittipaldo has been listening to his colleague, Paul Zeise too much. I like Zeise. He’s got opinions and shares them and is doing a great job covering Pitt football. Now, here’s the “but…” His contempt for playing strong, defensive basketball:

Worst game: Just about any that involved UCLA. There might not be a tougher team to watch. Well, other than Pitt.

It colors, distorts and causes him to make glaring errors.

jimmy_g: The style of basketball Pitt plays is not that unlike UConn’s and they do quite well with the recruiting.

Paul Zeise: I disagree _- UConn this year utilized a lot of big guys this year and thus had to play a different style than Jim Calhoun like to. But The Huskies are generally a very athletic team and he likes the transition game. The Huskies usually have athletic wings that get up and down the court and while he preaches defense, he also loves to score points. His players are allowed to play, they are allowed to use their talent and skill, they aren’t stifled and put into a system that requires them to hold the ball for 30 seconds and shorten games by taking away possessions. It is a different philosophy all together.

First, the style this year was no different than Calhoun likes to run. He always runs a fast-tempo offense, trying to get out there on transition (the UConn Adjusted Tempo for 2004-2006: 71.4, 73.7, 71.5). He has held to a belief that his teams should always average around 75 possessions a game, which is why he tolerates double digit turnovers in games. If the transition game isn’t there, he has the team pull the ball out and they will set things up.

Pitt, simply hasn’t had the players to run the transition game like that. It’s starting to get there with the more athletic players Pitt has recruited, but you don’t run a system that won’t fit the players. To even think that Pitt is holding the ball for 30 seconds is ridiculous. Maybe you can accuse Georgetown of that, with their style and slow tempo (and while it is slow, they are doing anything but holding the ball), but its a gross exaggeration to accuse Pitt of that. There’s a difference between a deliberate offense that is making the extra pass, and an offense being used as defense. That Zeise doesn’t recognize that, or won’t admit that betrays his wish for the past styles of Loyola Marymount and 100+ point college games.

Not only has Associate Head Coach Barry Rohrssen been all but eliminated from the possibility of getting the job, but it looks like the opening the Seton Hall hiring creates won’t be in New York.

Multiple sources tell the Daily News that Ohio University’s Tim O’Shea is expected to be named the new coach at Seton Hall before the end of the week. An announcement could come as early as today, though Seton Hall sports information director Jeff Andriesse said there are currently no plans for a press conference.

If O’Shea is indeed the Pirates’ choice, it could prove to be a huge gamble on the part of first-year athletic director Joe Quinlan. O’Shea, who spent four years in the Big East as an assistant coach at Boston College, has been a head coach for just four seasons at lightly regarded Ohio University. O’Shea did guide the Bobcats to one NCAA Tournament and an 83-69 career mark, but he lacks the local recruiting ties of another candidate, Manhattan’s Bobby Gonzalez.

Rutgers went this same route five seasons ago when it hired a little-known coach from Kent State in Gary Waters and never made the NCAA Tournament during his tenure with the Scarlet Knights. Waters resigned at the end of this season and Rutgers hired Fred Hill Jr., who is known for his excellent recruiting ties in the New York/New Jersey area.

O’Shea is apparently the only candidate to get the coveted second interview. A NJ paper, though, still writes that it is simply down to Gonzalez or O’Shea.

Seton Hall University’s long and winding search for a men’s basketball coach is expected to come to an end today, with Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez and Ohio University head coach Tim O’Shea neck-and-neck for the position.

After interviewing five candidates over the past 11 days, athletic director Joe Quinlan is expected to make a job offer today, with an official announcement coming within 24 hours.

But even they seem to be hinting that it will be O’Shea.

Gonzalez, who also is in the mix for openings at Temple and North Carolina State, had a long and productive interview with Quinlan last Wednesday but has not heard from him since, sources say.

The long silence has fueled speculation another candidate — most notably O’Shea — has moved into contention. O’Shea, a native New Englander who made a name for himself as the lead recruiter at Boston College under Al Skinner, interviewed with Quinlan twice over Final Four weekend.
…
Pittsburgh associate head coach Barry Rohrssen interviewed last Tuesday. Rohrssen is a master recruiter of the metropolitan area and was an early favorite to land the job, but his lack of head coaching experience scared some key people in the decision-making process.

The Temple job, by most indications is Penn’s Fran Dunphy’s if he wants it. Gonzalez isn’t mentioned as a strong candidate in most stories I’ve seen on that job search. Same with the NC State job — though wouldn’t Gonzalez’s high-key attitude be quite the shift from the cerebral (read: comatose) Sendek.

A report from Athens, Ohio seems to add to the appearance of O’Shea to Seton Hall and the possible reason why.

An alleged argument between Manhattan men’s basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez and Seton Hall director of athletics Joe Quinlan, might cause a coaching shakeup here in Athens.

The New York Daily News reported yesterday that Ohio men’s basketball coach Tim O’Shea received a second interview with Quinlan. It is also rumored that O’Shea is the new favorite to fill the Pirates’ vacant head coaching position after Gonzalez and Quinlan had a falling out over Gonzalez’s picks for his new coaching staff.

That reads as if Quinlan wanted Gonzalez to keep some parts of the staff (perhaps John Dunne). If it’s O’Shea, then it means only the Fairfield Head Coaching gig would likely be the only potential job remaining for Rohrssen.

Well their fans probably think so. Their team makes the Sweet 16 and in the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, they get ranked 24. Behind the two teams they beat. Kansas got 22 and Pitt finishes at #18.

In the totality of the season, and if I could pretend that the highs and lows didn’t happen, it could be argued that that’s not bad for starting the season unranked. Since I can’t however, it feels a bit disappointing.

The Big East finished with 5 teams in the top 25: UConn (4), Villanova (5), WVU (15), Georgetown (16) and Pitt. No other conference had more than 3 (SEC, ACC and Big 11).

And since you know that for the next few days, there will be top-10 to -25 projections for next year, Luke Winn on his SI.com Tourney Blog gives his top-10. No he doesn’t list Pitt, but puts them amongst the “On the fringe” list.

I really don’t want to mention this, but I have to.

My wife won her office pool. She pretty much won it going away. Abandoning her usual practice of comparing mascots and asking my advice, she made her picks by comparing records, teams and some just plain dumb luck. It helped that her school — Cinci — wasn’t in the tournament to influence her biases (at least that is my ongoing theory).

When I took a look at her bracket after she finished, I think I snorted a few times especially with Florida winning it all. Stupidly, I said that if she won, I’d give her, her due.

So it’s not enough that I absolutely tanked the bracket pool, my wife won hers. I don’t drink because I want to…

Looking over the PSB bracket — congrats to P. Hunley — I can see that I’m not the only one to be topped by his wife. Lee in Altoona/State College would appear to have finished well behind his wife’s entry. She too had her team — Penn State — absent from the Tournament.

The Big East has to make sure this happen (link via Big East Basketball Report).

The Southeastern Conference has engaged the Big East in discussions for a similar series that one insider told the Daily News “are looking pretty serious.” The SEC also has explored a series with the Big 12 as a possible fallback.

Were the SEC and Big East to consummate their deal – with a series of 8-10 games annually – it would bring together two conferences that sent a combined 14 teams to this year’s NCAA Tournament.

“One of the things that could make it work is that fact that all the teams involved play in the same two time zones,” a second insider said. The games would be broadcast on ESPN should the sides reach an agreement.

Old-school Big East fans might still agitate for a return of the ACC challenge, but it seems unlikely that the Big 11 and ACC will split anytime soon. It just works for both a little better since there is less overlap in regions. I just want the Big East to do a series with any other major conference, and the SEC seems like the best choice. The PAC 10, while offering a nifty East vs. West angle isn’t workable given the size difference of the conferences. The Big 12 just isn’t that attractive, though, a K-State-Cinci game might be amusing.

If this happens, Pitt’s non-con for 2006-07 would likely be more than half complete: Duquesne, Robert Morris, Dayton, at Auburn, at Wisconsin and the SEC challenge game. I’d like to think the Penn State series would be renewed, but we all know how much Penn State hates one-sided series (that don’t go their way).

I think it is also good for the football side of things to build stronger ties with another BCS conference. Open the possibility for more dialogue on scheduling and just building personal relations with them. Anything to make it harder to lose the Automatic BCS bid.

I guess I’ll follow it through to the conclusion, even though Barry Rohrssen has faded from contention. Kind of keeping an eye on it, because if Bobby Gonzalez gets the gig, you have to imagine Rohrssen might get serious consideration from Manhattan.

Right now it is at best a 3-man race.

Seton Hall athletic director Joe Quinlan has narrowed the search for the school’s next basketball coach down to three candidates: Tim O’Shea of Ohio University, Bob McKillop of Davidson and Bobby Gonzalez of Manhattan, according to a person familiar with the search.
…
A decision could come as soon as today. An announcement is expected by the end of the week.

Once Quinlan makes a decision, he will have to get it approved by Monsignor Robert Sheeran, the school president. It will then be presented to the university’s Board of Regents — although it is believed that group will sign off on whomever Quinlan and Sheeran agree on.

Quinlan may contact John Carroll, who was an assistant to P.J. Carlesimo when Seton Hall advanced to the NCAA title game in 1989, out of courtesy today. Carroll’s biggest obstacle may be that he has not coached in college since serving as the Duquesne head coach for the 1994-95 season.

The Carroll interview will probably happen tomorrow, but it does look very much like a courtesy interview. Perhaps to gauge his interest in coming back as an assistant and lead recruiter for the metro area if O’Shea is hired from Ohio.

More likely, the decision will come down to Gonzalez or O’Shea.

Okay, all those comparisons of Pitt to Florida earlier this season seem awfully silly right about now. Especially those complaints in January that Pitt was underrated while Florida was overrated. I think I’ll flush those down the memory hole.

I didn’t expect that game last night. I thought UCLA would win. I definitely didn’t expect to see UCLA completely beaten at all facets of the game. Really, name a part of the game where UCLA played better than Florida? Not anywhere on defense. Nothing offensively. Howland was completely outcoached by Donovan, who prepared his team so impressively.

Have to admit, my view on Billy Donovan as a head coach has completely shifted. He had that team prepared. He had them playing under control. He did everything right. Not to mention, the team never let up. Kept UCLA down and kept pushing them.

Anyone else see a lot of Pitt’s bad habits shining through with UCLA in that game? Or was I just projecting? Bad turnovers, trouble splitting double teams, not handling quickness real well, frustration from the veterans, poor shooting from the leading scorer.

Disappointing and frustrating.

Only 3 more contributions since last week. That means only 15 people have made contributions. The amount raised has been $335. The goal, based on the expected costs, is $1200.

Those of you who have donated, let me say thank you, once again. I really appreciate the support and that you think enough of the site and what I’m doing to help me try to do more.

I’m not sure what to make of the rest. The site has been averaging well over 700 individual visits a day. I didn’t think it unreasonable to hope that maybe 10% would make a contribution.

Perhaps this is representative that a large majority of the daily visitors don’t place a high value on the site, or thinks it’s fine the way it is. I happen to disagree with the latter. Not just from the perspective of the hassles I’ve faced lately with blogger, but with what more I’d like to do.

In the past 12 months I’ve had offers from 3 different organizations to move to another site to do Pitt blogging. To this point, I’ve turned down the opportunities for different reasons. For the most part, though, the reasons can be summarized to these key points:

• Insufficient financial reward;
• Reduced independence — who and what I can link to and what I can say about certain things;
• Reduced public access.

So why haven’t I mentioned this? I don’t want to make it seem like a threat. And that is, afterall, what it probably appears to many of you to be by posting this. “Donate or else.”

Nothing will happen for a while. Nothing may happen at all. I am committed to moving to a new site, regardless. The result, though, might mean big gaps in posting when I travel, and not doing as much.

I just thought there would be more support.

You probably read the Sunday feature piece on Kicker David Abdul. The series of events good — birth of his son — quickly changed to bad — apartment fire leaving him without a place to live and most of his possessions — to tragic — watching his roommate and friend fall to his death while they were drunkenly crawling around a church crawl space — to frustrating — a horrible on the field season that led to his benching — to life threatening — car accident that left his kicking leg broken in three places. All of this within a 12 month period. Hopefully he can complete the comeback.

There’s this story on Pitt players making use of the digital video technology to improve their game.

“We break down each game play by play,” Bogard said. “There might be 70 plays of offense and 80 plays of defense and 30 plays in a game for special teams, so there’s anywhere from 180-200 plays per game. And each play gets broken down by sideline or end zone shots.”

During Pitt’s practice sessions, Bogard noted that four cameras shoot footage at the two UPMC fields. The offense and defense get two cameras each, on the sidelines and in the end zones.

The software allows coaches to spotlight a player and even zoom in on a certain area like an offensive lineman’s footwork or a kicker’s plant foot.

“It helps a lot with our footwork, because you don’t realize what you’re doing wrong all the time,” McGlynn said. “The coaches can tell you, but it’s easier when you get in the meeting room and see it on the screen.”

This has been very common in pro sports, and has been seeping into the college level for a couple of years. The usage has picked up in part because of widespread adoption of instant replay with digital technology. Schools already have to buy the equipment and software for instant replay, they can easily adopt it for other purposes.

Finally, Paul Zeise’s Q&A from this weekend. Questions about the lines, the running game and returning punts are discussed.

Q: What returning players do you think are ready to have a breakout season?

Zeise: I will be shocked if linebacker Clint Session doesn’t have a huge year. He looks and is playing like a completely different player out there so far. It appears as if his “light” went on and he understands this is it — his final season. He is playing under control while making big plays. I think C.J. Davis has clearly become this team’s best offensive lineman so I’d expect a big year from him. I would also look for wide receiver Oderick Turner to be a big part of whatever is going on. He is getting better every day from what I can tell. One other name to keep in the back of your mind is Mick Williams. He hasn’t always stayed healthy, but right now he is the best option at defensive tackle. He’s explosive and makes things happen behind the line of scrimmage when he gets in there.

Session playing in control is the biggest thing. He’s got the aggression and speed, but in 2004 his biggest problem was he would overpursue and completely miss the play by being out of position.

It really looks like Associate Head Coach Barry Rohrssen won’t be getting the Seton Hall job. It looks like he’s been passed on the wish list by Ohio University Head Coach Tim O’Shea.

As expected, Seton Hall athletic director Joe Quinlan met with Tim O’Shea of Ohio University at the Final Four in Indianapolis yesterday for the second time, according to a person familiar with the school’s search for a new men’s basketball coach.

O’Shea was a former BC assistant, who has strong ties in the Big East. He is not, however, a guy from or with ties to the NY/NJ area. That would mean the school would still have to find an assistant with strong recruiting ties.

Seton Hall is now hedging on whether it will even get Bobby Gonzalez from Manhattan. It appears other job offers may be coming his way.

Thought of as a front-runner for the Seton Hall job created by Louis Orr’s firing, Gonzalez, 42, a source said, may be in the running for the N.C. State position, vacated yesterday by Herb Sendek, who left for Arizona State. Gonzalez, the source said, was quite impressive in his Wednesday interview with Quinlan.

An interesting point about how ASU handled the start of its coaching search.

Here’s what happens when a rookie athletic director goes about trying to hire a basketball coach: Jamie Dixon gets a raise. Arizona State’s Lisa Love put about $900,000 on the table–a figure Pitt easily could digest–and missed a chance to land Dixon. If Love wanted to hire a coach who had a better job than the one she was offering, she needed to make the money tough to reject, possibly $1.2 million or $1.3 million. Pitt might have choked on that figure, and Dixon might have been forced to say yes to the Sun Devils. If Love didn’t figure he was worth that, or that her school couldn’t afford it, she should not have pursued him.

Considering she is now reportedly paying that much for Herb Sendek, I guess they could afford it. And he’s probably right. At that amount, I think Pitt would have been in a questionable area about whether to match or come close, and if it would be worth it.

Ah well, the important thing was that it worked out for Pitt.

Last year, Chevon Troutman foolishly passed on attending the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) for College Seniors hoping to be drafted. Instead he counted on getting an invite to the more prestigious Chicago pre-draft Camp that invites underclassmen as well. He didn’t get the invite. Didn’t get drafted, and is now playing overseas. By comparison, Cinci’s undersized power forward, Jason Maxiell played at the PIT, did very well, got an invite to Chicago and was drafted by the Pistons despite being only about 6’6″.

Carl Krauser isn’t making that mistake. He’s going to the PIT that begins on Wednesday.

This year, Krauser hopes to make an impression at Portsmouth and again be invited to the ensuing showcase camp, whose site has been moved to Orlando, Fla., from Chicago and will be held June 6-10.

Krauser, in Indianapolis for the Final Four, led Pitt this season in scoring (15.0 ppg.) and assists (4.8 apg.) for a second consecutive year and finished his career as the school’s ninth-leading scorer with 1,642 points.

On Friday night, he scored three points for a college all-star team in an 87-83 victory over the Harlem Globetrotters as part of Final Four festivities before 10,921 spectators at Canseco Fieldhouse.

No word on whether Junior Aaron Gray will (presumably) attend the Chicago camp and see where he stands in the NBA draft.

Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh took more than his fair share of abuse from Ravens fans over the years. So, at least everyone knows he has a thick skin. After his first season at Pitt, many were at least thinking, if not whispering, similar things. It’s hard when Cavanaugh was the QB to lead the last Pitt team to a National Championship. Pitt fans want him to succeed, but given the rather large overlap of Pitt and Steeler fans, there is a strong familiarity with what the Ravens’ offense was like — and the fear of that. Still, unlike far too many OC’s who catch grief, Cavanaugh at least admits he needs to do better.

“I take credit or blame for a couple of the losses,” Cavanaugh said. “I thought I called some poor games offensively, and I didn’t give our players a chance to execute some plays. … So, I’ve got a lot of improvement to make. It’s not just the players.”

But that doesn’t mean Cavanaugh and the Panthers didn’t learn from the experience.

“I learned a lot the year we won the Super Bowl in Baltimore (with the Ravens),” Cavanaugh said. “I made mistakes, but I’m also not usually someone who dwells on the great things that happen, either. I can be critical of myself and the people around me, and I want to improve all the time.”

He’s bothered by wasting the redshirts of QB Bill Stull and FB Conredge Collins. I’m not sure there was much choice for either of those. While neither did much, it matters to start playing the freshmen these days. Stull was and still is the back-up QB. He needed to get even a toe dipped in to start understanding just what being on the field at Div. 1-A was like. Give him the reasons and information to really know what he needs to do to progress.

I think what Cavanaugh needs to do a much better job of doing is recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of the players he has, and as he says, “give our players a chance to execute some plays.” If anything drove me completely nuts last season, it was the inability or unwillingness to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the players. To use them in the best way within the system. You don’t necessarily have to change the system you want to run, but you do have to run the plays that work well with the players’ abilities.

One of those players is Senior WR Joe DelSardo.

Last season, however, DelSardo made just three starts. His stats fell dramatically: 15 catches, 156 yards, zero TDs.

“At first, obviously, it gets to you. But you’ve got to get past that and be mentally strong,” he said. “I kind of looked at it as another challenge. It motivated me to work harder, get back on the field and regain that position.”
…
DelSardo knows he faces an uphill battle to gain coach Dave Wannstedt’s trust to be on the field in clutch situations. But DelSardo never gave a thought to forgoing his senior year of eligibility.

“It was too great of an opportunity to pass up,” he said. “You can’t let one setback affect everything that you’ve worked for. It’s one more challenge, one more obstacle to defeat.”

DelSardo is a reasonably sure handed receiver, willing to sacrifice the body and take a hit, who is smart but not that fast. He was used horribly last season, not at all to those strengths. Rather than putting him somewhere in the middle of the field or on a slant-in — where he could use his body to shield a defender from the ball — he was being sent down the sideline to either stop and turn for the ball or button-hook. Given his lack of speed, it wasn’t too difficult for a corner (or even a safety) to stay close and then break on the ball.

Apparently, another Conredge Collins story was needed to write about playing fullback.

“In high school, I didn’t do too much blocking,” Collins said. “It’s hard, taking on that inside shoulder from a linebacker. It’s hard to take on a block when he hits you in the middle of your chest.”

There has been a marked improvement in his blocking skills this spring. But the veteran linebackers still see a bull’s-eye on Collins’ chest when they tear into the backfield during practice.

“I got caught by Derron (Thomas), Clint (Session), H.B. (Blades),” Collins said, shaking his head and laughing. “I got caught by all of ’em a couple times. They get on me a little bit, like, ‘I got you today.’ But I tell them, I’ll be here every day. It’s a learning experience.”
…
Cavanaugh plans on getting Collins more involved by using him in some one-back sets. Collins also has good hands, which means he could expect to see a few passes come his way.

With tight end John Pelusi recovering from knee surgery, there are only two tight ends in spring practice. That’s given Collins a chance to go in motion more often and catch a few more balls than he would have otherwise.

“Basically, right now, I’m just blocking and catching the ball out of the backfield,” he said, with a shrug. “I’m doing all right.”

Of course, for Collins or anyone in Pitt’s backfield to have any success, the O-line needs to be better.

Pitt’s offensive line is still a work in progress, but coaches and players are optimistic that the unit will be one of the team’s strengths by the time the season begins.

“We have some guys with experience and we got better from the beginning of the season to the end last year, so we want to pick it up where we left off,” Pitt offensive line coach Paul Dunn said. “We’ve really tried to emphasize to the players that we don’t want to go back to the beginning, like where we were in the spring last year. The kids are working hard and that’s always a plus.

“We are still very young on the left side of the line, but we have a chance to plug some holes there and I think by the time it is all said and done, we are going to have a good group. I’m excited about what I’ve seen.”

Chris Vangas who was giving Joe Villani a battle for the starting Center position strained the MCL in his knee. He’s out for at least a week, probably the rest of spring drills, if Pitt is smart and cautious.

The players believe they are getting better.

Fifth-year senior Joe Villani returns at center, but he was a first-year starter last fall. Senior John Simonitis is a four-year starter at right guard, and he provides stability to that side with redshirt junior tackle Mike McGlynn.

“We’re doing a lot better, John and me, and we’ve been working harder on our twist games on the line,” McGlynn said. “Hopefully, it turns into some big plays and no dumb mistakes. But we’re working hard and getting better all the time, so I think we’ll be pretty good when the season starts.”

The left side has sophomores C.J. Davis at guard and John Bachman at tackle. Davis recorded starts in the final six games, while Bachman did not debut until Game 6 and was the main backup to senior Charles Spencer.

“I feel a lot more comfortable with the offense this year, and everybody’s coming together around me,” Simonitis said. “So, I expect us to be better this season. When you get new guys in there, it’s tough to make all the calls. But me and Mike have played together for three years now.

“It’s helped us a lot. And we’re on the same page, pretty much, on every play. … I think we’ll have a good line no matter what, but John Bachman is a young guy with a lot of potential. I think he’s doing all right, but he’s working hard. He’ll do well, and we’ll be all right as an O-line.”

I don’t think we’ll have a clue about the O-line until the actual games begin. The good news, with Pitt’s schedule it is likely we’ll know quickly.

Before we get to what seems to be a locally frustrating scene for Pitt, here’s something to like reading.

The word in recruiting circles is that Pittsburgh might be the school to beat for forward Tyler Smith. Pittsburgh might be unbeatable.

But the player’s father, Billy Smith, dismissed such talk. His son is still considering such schools as UK, Iowa, Pitt and Cincinnati. The player wants to talk to the coaches after the Final Four before deciding.

Recruiting analysts consider Smith an impact prospect.

That would be a way to cement the recruiting class.

The Trib. lists its “Terrific Ten” in basketball. No shock that Herb Pope and Terrelle Pryor make the list. Same with two juniors from Schenley — D.J. Kennedy and DeJuan Blair. Both also received offers from Xavier.

Their first scholarship offers came on the same day, from the same school. So, Schenley juniors DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy were feeling good last Saturday, when Xavier coach Sean Miller told them he wanted them to play for the Musketeers.
…
The 6-8, 255-pound Blair, projected to play power forward, said it helps that Xavier wants both him and Kennedy. They stop short of calling themselves a package deal, but they have expressed a desire to remain teammates in college.

“Me and D.J. are trying to go to the same school, so it was exciting,” Blair said. “I turned to D.J. and said, ‘I feel a little popular now because we got an offer.’ “

The column also has a defense of J.O. Stright from Herb Pope.

Here’s a telling quote from Pope on Stright, who reportedly tried to steer Pope to Jacksonville (Fla.) Country Day and is persuading him to take a long look at Kansas State now that Stright’s close friend Bob Huggins has been hired there:

“Who’s been there since Day One, when I was terrible at basketball? J.O. Stright,” Pope said in January. “He took me under his wing when I was in sixth grade. He’s never told me I should go to this college or this high school. He’s never turned his back on me. And I don’t feel like he has a hidden agenda.”

Two thoughts. No, no one has ever thought that Stright has exactly hidden his agenda. The other is the way the column does its level best to avoid any mention that criticism and attention to Stright happened to rise this week with the Pittsburgh Sports Report story, and *ahem* my own humble notes. Both made it into heavy discussion on message boards for Pitt and K-State. I imagine, the Recruiting columnist for the Trib., is a little bit plugged in to these things. But you just can’t mention the competition.

Both Herb Pope and Terrelle Pryor get some small puff pieces for their high school seasons. I think this bit is instructive.

Pryor is rated as one of the top sophomores in the country. He’s already made an oral commitment to attend Pitt but is rethinking that decision.

“Terrelle has a lot of people grabbing at him,” Jeannette coach Rick Klimchock said. “It’s not easy being himself. It’s pretty hard to be the star player, game in and game out.”

That is universal in the recruiting game around the whole country. If the kid has top-flight, blue-chip, McDonald’s All-American talent and potential; there is a line a mile long to try and get in with the kid.