I meant to get to this a couple of days ago, but hell, if Joe Starkey could wait for a lull for the column to run I can give it a little time before commenting. A week and a half after the NBA draft (admittedly, NBA issues aren’t exactly a high priority in Pittsburgh since The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh was released) a need to express ongoing surprise that Gray returned to Pitt.

“A lot of people ask, ‘Do you think you made the wrong decision?’ ” Gray said. “I tell them, ‘Well, I made my decision.’ ”

Call it a case of Gray’s autonomy. His was an admirable decision, inspired by his mother, Sandy, who delivered the key piece of advice. Her words kept coming back to Gray as he and Pitt coach Jamie Dixon sat up late into the night with deadline day looming.

“I was very close (to leaving),” Gray told me in an interview that aired on ESPN Radio 1250. “Even into the morning, I was still thinking about it.”

Mom’s advice kept rattling through his head — and his heart. He finally chose peace of mind and quality of life over the lure of instant millions.

“She said, ‘Once you get (to the NBA), you’re going to have to kind of grow up, and it might not be as much fun anymore,’ ” said Gray, 21. “She said, ‘Why don’t you just stay, have another year of fun, enjoy your college life, get your education now, instead of later, and just live it up? The NBA will still be there next year.”

Oh, and take out a huge-ass insurance policy against injury — just in case.

I’m not disagreeing with Starkey, though, you could make a good argument that Gray is also betting that a big year for Pitt, and (hopefully) a deep run in the NCAA will be the thing that raises his draft status.

Tyrus Thomas would not have been a lottery pick without his play in the NCAA. Everyone wouldn’t have been expressing shock at Florida players coming back for another year. Jordan Farmar wouldn’t have been a 1st rounder if not for his performance on the big stage.

As much as the scouting and draft evaluations have evolved and improved for the NBA, a big performance or two in the NCAA is worth a lot. Suddenly all the intangibles are perceived — responding to the pressure, raising the game — not to mention the simple fact that everyone sees it. Exposure matters more than anyone likes to admit.

Former Pitt track star, the football team’s first strength and conditioning coach (1980-89 and 1997-2002), Charles “Buddy” Morris is now at the University of Buffalo.

In two stints as the University of Pittsburgh’s strength coordinator, Morris, 45, worked with future Hall of Famer Dan Marino, former Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Ruben Brown and 12 other NFL first-round picks. Former Pitt wide receiver Antonio Bryant once said it was Morris who inspired him to win the Biletnikoff Award in 2000. Morris has a picture from running back Kevin Barlow signed, “To my stepfather.”

In 2002, when then-Cleveland Browns coach Butch Davis attached high priority to improving the team’s strength and speed through a more rigorous offseason conditioning program, he chose Morris to lead the way. In the two years prior to hiring Morris, the Browns led the NFL in number of players on injured reserve, a figure that was sliced significantly with Morris in the fold.

“He has different alternatives and different ways of getting the best out of his athletes,” Brown said. “He’ll make sure they’ll have the best-conditioned team out there. Whatever talent is there, he’s going to raise the level 10 percent or more.”

It was at Pitt where Morris became noted for unconventional and at times peculiar training methods. He’s had players pushing trucks and cars and chopping down trees as a means of conditioning.

A former sprinter and four-year letterman in track and field at Pitt, Morris once assisted in the conditioning of Roger Kingdom, the 1984 and 1988 Olympic gold medalist in the 110-meter hurdles. UB may represent his biggest challenge yet.

Well worth reading the full piece. Lots of good stuff, especially the loyalty he has built up from former Pitt players.

He competed in track at Pitt and stumbled into his passion four years later in 1980, when there were only a handful of strength and conditioning coaches. Then-Pitt football coach Jackie Sherrill called Morris to see if he wanted to work in the weight room, and Morris agreed. Sherrill tossed Morris the keys to the room, and the recently graduated Morris was the first strength and conditioning coach at Pitt.

“Back in the day in 1980, everyone was just winging it,” Morris said. “There was no research, no formal strength programs.”

By his own admission, it wasn’t a difficult job. Pitt was one of the jewels of the East back then with the likes of Marino, Jimbo Covert and Hugh Green. Morris worked at Pitt from 1980 to ’89 but left the program when his daughter, Kara, was diagnosed with auto-immune chronic active hepatitis and was placed on a list for a liver transplant.

He found a job running a sports medicine program in Sharon, Pa., but missed college athletics. Morris returned to Pitt in 1997, and the program had slipped from its elite status. The strength training equipment was lacking, so Morris asked for more and was told it wasn’t in the budget.

“Can I get my own money?” Morris asked.

Donations came in quickly from former players, and Morris raised more than $100,000. He received a blank check from former lineman Mark Stepnoski with a note that read, “Merry Christmas. Enjoy shopping.”

Now, he’s going to try and work with Buffalo. Good luck.

With Pittsburgh hosting the MLB All-Star Game, you have strippers arriving from Florida to fill the void. There are also plenty of parties.

We know smoking is bad, but Franco Harris made it look so good as he puffed on a premium stogie on the patio of the Carnegie Science Center during the Martinis & Cigars Under the Stars Gala Friday night. The former Steelers great was in attendance with his wife, Dana. Curtis Aiken, who co-chaired the event with Dr. Stan Marks, looked every bit the star as he walked the red carpet. … Jamie Dixon, head basketball coach at Pitt, and Jackie Dixon (no relation), director of government relations for Giant Eagle. Hometown boys John Calipari, head basketball coach at the University of Memphis, and Curtis Martin, running back for the New York Jets from Pitt and Allderdice High School, also put in an appearance accompanied by stunning date, Shakara Ledard.

I’m guessing bothe Dixon and Calipari caught very early morning flights out of town for the ABCD Camp.

Really, the only reason to mention this was to give credit to Curtis Martin for bringing a SI swimsuit model to the event in the ‘Burgh. Good job.