I love how the NCAA decides to deal with the idea of rampant texting and recruiting.

An NCAA committee has advice for coaches who are using text-messaging as a recruiting tool: SLO DWN.

The NCAA recommended legislation Friday that would limit text messaging between coaches and recruits, a practice that has become popular because it skirts the NCAA’s limit on phone calls.

The Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet’s recommendations would limit text-messaging to between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. during the week and between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekends.

I get that the idea is to limit the amount of text messages that can be sent by limiting the time frame in which they can be sent.

Unfortunately, the legislation is being written by those who apparently never even totally comprehended e-mail service. The loophole should be obvious.

I send and receive maybe one or two text messages a month, and even I can see the “drafts” category on my cell. How hard is it for a coach to simply write a ton of text messages during the day to various recruits maybe leave a final letter off of each to claim that the message wasn’t completed until after 4 pm? Then when the designated hour arrives, simply “finish” the text message and send (making sure the time stamp reflects the time sent not written).

Heck, for the top recruits you could draft several and dole them out every hour on the hour or so. There are services to let you send text messages from a computer. Heck, if you know the recruit’s cell service, you can go to that company’s website and send them the text messages.

Back to the drawing board.

No, picking the Ducks of Oregon to be underrated going into this season can not be blamed on some subliminal programming from their unis. Looking at the four models for this year only prevokes annoyance and a desire for their failure.

Looks like Andy Katz no longer holds the spot for highest ranking love for Pitt.

3. Pittsburgh: Panthers guard Carl Krauser is gone, but Jamie Dixon will welcome back virtually everyone else — including 7-footer Aaron Gray, who decided to return for his senior year and will be one of the top big men in the country next season. Krauser was tough and his fearless approach will be difficult to replace, but Pittsburgh will return a trio of quality guards — juniors Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin and sophomore Levance Fields. The Panthers will also add East Carolina transfer Mike Cook, a versatile wing who could even see time at the point. Dixon & Co. will have forwards Sam Young and Levon Kendall — who split time at power forward this season — alongside Gray.

Other Big East teams listed are #13 Marquette, #16 UConn, #17 Georgetown, #25 Louisville. Syracuse and Villanova are listed amongst the next 10. Wisconsin, which Pitt will be playing in Madison was ranked #7.

The Altoona paper has an interview with national college basketball color guy Bill Raftery. Even more shocking is that it’s online.

Are you surprised the NBA went to a rule that you cannot draft kids right out of high school, and that these kids have to play at least one year of college basketball?

I would prefer they had gone for two years. A youngster would then have half of his degree accomplished. A kid would have a far better chance, if he fails [in the NBA], to come back and get his degree, and because he has 48 or 55 credits, you are in the hunt now.

What do you think about Pitt’s Aaron Gray pulling himself out of the NBA draft?

From his standpoint, he probably would have been able to play in the NBA, but I think his stock will go up next year. He’s getting better and better, and he’s starting to play with confidence.

“Starting to play with confidence.”?

A story today on Anthony Jackson’s verbal to Pitt following a big showing at the Pitt camp.

Jackson had an impressive showing at Pitt. Not only did he turn in the sub-4.4 40 on two coaches’ stopwatches, but he also had a standing broad jump of 10 feet, 11 inches – or more than 5 yards – in testing.

Pause for a “huh?” Maybe I don’t understand the test or how defined, but wouldn’t “more than 5 yards mean at least 15 feet? 10′ 11” is quite impressive, I would say, but that is more than 3 yards. There’s an error/discrepancy in one of the numbers.

“He’s got great hips,” said Scout.com recruiting analyst Bob Lichtenfels, who watched Jackson perform. “That 4.31 speed almost reminds you of (Steelers cornerback) Ike Taylor. That’s a good comparison. Cover corners are scarce to begin with, especially ones who run a 4.3.”

Pitt was the first school to offer Jackson a scholarship, but he said Bowling Green, Central Florida, Colorado State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Minnesota and Southern Illinois were showing interest.

Obviously he has great speed and athleticism that he relies upon. He is apparently on the raw side, so he will be something of a project to actually teach.

Last week Dom DeCicco committed to Pitt. Another article about him today.

“Just the coaches and everything down here,” DeCicco said Monday afternoon. “I just felt really at home down here on the visit.”

DeCicco, 6 feet 3, 206 pounds, met with Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt and came away ready to commit immediately. Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak — who was in Hershey for the Big 33 game last weekend — advised DeCicco via phone to sleep on it for a night.

He reconsidered and thought he might wait longer but made the commitment Friday.

“I just wanted to get it over with now,” said DeCicco, who also had considered Ohio State — his childhood favorite team — West Virginia, Iowa, Arizona State and Georgia Tech.

I think Coach Wannstedt caught a lot of schools off guard last year by being so aggressive early in recruiting and getting commits. A quick glance over the archives from a year ago, shows that Pitt ended the month of June very strong with about 10 verbals. Most of them, though, came in the final week.

But what stands out, is that schools like Penn State, WVU and ND had nothing from Western PA at that point. This year we are hearing and seeing those schools move much more aggressively and sooner in the area. Other schools seem to have adjusted to the situation. I think that is part of the reason Pitt seems to be moving slower in accumulating the number of early verbals.