I’m hesitant to believe it. The latest from Chris Dokish/PSR on Pitt b-ball recruiting has a major potential bombshell in college basketball recruiting.

However, the biggest addition on the Panthers watch list is 6’9″ 240 pound MICHAEL BEASLEY of Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA. According to the same DC area source, Beasley, one of the top four players in the country, is very interested in the Panthers even though he is currently committed to Kansas State.

“He is going to visit Kansas State and if he doesn’t like it, he already told Cox that he will go to Pitt,” says the source, who also stated that Cox was hired a day after Beasley committed to Kansas State. “If Cox was hired one day earlier, Beasley may have committed to Pitt. They won the (AAU) National Championship together and are very close.”

“I’m interested in Pitt a lot,” Beasley confirmed when asked if he was interested in Pitt, despite being committed to Kansas State,

When asked if it was because of Cox, Beasley simply replied, “Yes.”

Beasley stated that he was still committed to Kansas State, and plans to visit next month. He is unsure if he will visit Pitt if he likes it at Kansas State.

Be aware, that Beasley is literally one of the top ten players in the 2007 class. Rivals.com has him as the #1 PF prospect and #4 overall. Scout.com puts him as the #2 PF and #8 overall. Hmmm, maybe Huggy-bear might find recruiting to the Little Apple a bit more difficult than first envisioned.

Beasley originally gave a verbal to Charlotte, but when the assistant who recruited him was poached by Huggins, he decommitted in May. As expected he shifted his verbal in June to K-State. So, there could be some truth to this as far as Beasley wavering on KSU. Even columnists in Kansas aren’t sure about Beasley (or any of the originally presumed monster recruiting class for 2007).

Likewise, K-Staters should be somewhat leery of a commitment from a player (Michael Beasley) who says he knows where he’s going to attend college a year from now but not which high school or prep school he’ll attend next month.

Beasley is supposed to be attending Oak Hill Academy. Beasley was also the co-MVP at the Adidas Superstar Camp this past weekend.

So far Dokish is ahead of the curve in this one. Even if it happens that he switches his verbal, Pitt would have to be sweating until they get a signed commit.

The story also lists a couple other very talented players that are now very interested in Pitt with the hiring of Dave Cox. Chris Wright (who attends Cox’s HS alma mater) and as previously mentioned, Julian Vaughn.

I don’t have an answer.

Let me get that out of the way immediately. I just have some things on my mind, and I’m essentially wondering aloud and wondering what others think.

I’ve been thinking about it since Coach Jamie Dixon reloaded the assistant coaches. I have no problems with the hires. The seem to be good hires, and in fact, I quite like that the new coaches means more avenues for recruiting — expanding beyond simply metro NYC to NJ, Philly and the metro DC region. Admittedly, more winning and national exposure will be far more effective in recruiting top talent from more places than hiring assistant coaches with ties to the area.

What is interesting in the hirings of both Mike Rice, Jr. and David Cox is that it was noted as a big positive their ties to a sneaker camp and an AAU league respectively. And there is no disputing that they paid immediate dividends with the first commit of the 2007 class.

“I had a lot of scholarship offers before I got involved with Pitt. They really weren’t in the picture until they hired (Panthers assistant) Coach (Mike) Rice,” stated Dodson. “Once Coach Rice got to Pitt he started recruiting me as soon as he got there.”

“I visited in late June (23rd) when they held a camp there. I loved everything about it. The facilities were incredible and I liked the city and campus. They showed me the classrooms, dorms and thing like that as well. I got to meet their two point guards Ron (Ramon) and Levance (Fields). They were nice guys.”

“On the way home from Pittsburgh I was heavily leaning towards committing to them. I really liked it there and I felt comfortable. It seemed like a good spot for me. I got home and decided to commit to them. David Cox (Pitt Director of Basketball Operations) joining the staff made it that much easier.”

There’s nothing wrong or even unethical with anything here. Not even close to it. There is a long and, um, storied tradition in college athletics of hiring assistants to gain a key recruit. Larry Brown hired Danny Manning’s father when he was at Kansas (that worked out rather well). Arkansas Head Coach Houston Nutt hired the high school coach of a wavering top QB prospect as his OC this past year. Bob Huggins goes to K-State and immediately poaches assistant Dalonte West from Charlotte.

As far as the NCAA is concerned, there’s nothing illegal about the kind of package deal Huggins is blatantly pursuing by hiring Dalonte Hill away from Charlotte. Hill, a nondescript assistant for the 49ers, is joining Huggins’ staff for one reason, and one reason only: Hill is tight with Michael Beasley, one of the top five players from the high school class of 2007.

How tight? Beasley is a 6-foot-9 small forward — think Carmelo Anthony, only bigger — who could play anywhere in America, and last year he committed to play for little ol’ Charlotte.

That tight.

Beasley won’t go to Charlotte now, of course. He’ll go to Kansas State. Nothing has been announced, and nothing is official, but that’s what the hiring of Dalonte Hill really means. It has nothing to do with Dalonte Hill. It has everything to do with Michael Beasley.

That’s the sort of stuff that gets ‘tsk-tskd’ and considered sketchy at best. That isn’t the case with the present hires, and the most that has been said is that it will just allow some more access.

I guess what I’m getting at is the ethical and questionable lines in recruiting and coach hirings. There is a very large and very gray area. There isn’t a simple bright line and I think there might be a belief/argument to be made that Pitt is moving somewhere into that large gray zone.

Coach Dixon, as far as I’m concerned has been above reproach as an assistant and head coach at Pitt in terms of recruiting ethics. I’ll make that very clear. Same with all of the coaches who have been here at Pitt during this time. There hasn’t been even a hint of impropriety. There hasn’t even been the whining from opposing coaches and programs that Pitt is or has done anything even close to questionable.

That doesn’t mean things can’t happen. Especially as Pitt continues to gain greater national prominence and is in on more and more of the top recruits. That means more dealings with the AAU area. More contact with the shoe gods and their camps.

It may be something requiring a closer eye. Or I could just be thinking about it too much.

Will someone from the Pitt Athletic Department please make a call down to Starkville, Mississippi. Specifically ask to speak with the head basketball coach Rick Stansbury. Maybe something can be worked out (Insider Subs.).

Mississippi State is looking desperately for a game, and the Bulldogs will go on the road. They want to play; the question is, does anyone want to return the game?

This is the kind of home-and-home that Pitt should jump to play. Major BCS conference, but a middle-to-lower tier team (15-15 overall, 5-11 in conference, #113 RPI). Pitt would even get the first home game if they want. Sure, I’d rather have Pitt get a home-and-home with Florida, Kentucky or Alabama from the SEC, but I’ll take MSU over Howard or Coppin St. without hesitation.

USA Today has team capsules from around the Big East.

Pittsburgh had no players selected in the first round of the 2006 NBA draft. That’s the best news that coach Jamie Dixon could have hoped for when the offseason began.

While an easy path from campus to the professional ranks may serve as a recruiting aid, the lack of Panthers shaking hands with commissioner David Stern meant that center Aaron Gray was staying put. The center probably would have been a first-round pick, even though scouts told him to work on his strength and conditioning, because this wasn’t a particularly strong draft.

Instead, he decided that the potential of the coming season was too much for him to turn away from. The Panthers return eight of their top 10 players from a team that finished 25-8 and played in the Big East tournament championship game.

While Carl Krauser finally called it a career after four strong seasons at the Pitt point, youngsters Ronald Ramon, Sam Young and Levance Fields showed signs that they’re only getting better. Pitt’s always been a team with enough depth and defense to wear down opponents, and that’s expected to be the case again in 2006-07.

If not, Gray would have never come back.

There’s more and a good look around at the other teams in the BE.

During the ABCD Camp, prospects Pitt was keeping a close eye on included Hamidu Rahman and Bradley Wanamaker. The Philly Inquirer has a run down on some of the local kids performance at the camp including them.

It was Rahman’s second time at the talent-filled ABCD Camp, which featured more than 150 players, including many of the country’s top recruits.

During games last summer, a report by Collegehoopsnet.com said that Rahman was “huffing and puffing and having trouble getting up and down the court.”

Rahman said he had worked on his conditioning, which college coaches no doubt were evaluating.

“I want to be the best player I can be by the time I get to college,” he said.

Many colleges are banking on Rahman’s upside. He said he has scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Oklahoma. Connecticut and Louisville, among others, have also expressed interest.

“I’d like to play in the Big East,” Rahman said. “I like the league’s style of play.”

…

The other area players at the ABCD Camp were Roman Catholic’s Bradley Wanamaker and Monsignor Bonner’s Jeff Jones, both senior-to-be guards.

While playing with a few shot-happy teammates, the 6-3, 205-pound Wanamaker said he tried to stick with the fundamentals.

“I knew I wasn’t going to get the ball that much, so I tried to concentrate on doing the little things, like crashing the boards and diving for loose balls,” he said.

Under 2 months to the first game of the season and without an All-Star Game to serve as an additional distraction they are starting to look ahead down in Virginia. A capsule look at the opponent in the Cavaliers’ opening game.

Inside the game: Pitt allowed 185 yards per game on the ground last year to its opponents. That should be good news for UVa quarterback Christian Olsen, who will be making his first start, and senior tailback Jason Snelling. Virginia’s ball carriers will have to work against Panthers linebacker H.B. Blades, who should be one of the best defensive players that the Cavaliers will face this season. Fans can also expect talk about the cornerback position. Virginia’s Marcus Hamilton and Pitt’s Darrelle Revis are among the best in the land, but both QBs will know that long before the kickoff. Don’t be surprised if the first game in the home-and-home series – Pitt travels to UVa in ’07 – has an NFL-type feel to it with it being played under the lights in one of the newest NFL stadiums as a pair of former NFL coaches man the sidelines.

It needs to be repeated, Pitt couldn’t stop the run last year, and they couldn’t run.

Nick Krupa made his verbal to Pitt at the end of June, part of the flurry of verbals at that point. His local paper now gets around to taking note.

Krupa said he also was impressed by Wannstedt and the direction of the Panthers program. Krupa said Wannstedt told him that he was one of two tight ends the Panthers want to sign.

Verbal commitments are non-binding. Players can sign official letters of intent at the start of the football signing period in February. Among the other schools recruiting Krupa are Auburn, Stanford and UCLA. After a heavy recruitment period and receiving several phone calls during the spring, Krupa said he wanted to make an early decision.

“At this point, I’m pretty set,” he said, when asked whether he might still visit other schools.

Finally Rivals.com lists its top 40 players in Pennsylvania and Mike Farrell provides some brief thoughts.

Many recruiting fans know Pennsylvania for producing top quarterbacks and big, strong offensive linemen. This year that’s the theme in Pennsylvania as future Pitt quarterback Pat Bostick is the No. 1 player in the state and an amazing 15 offensive linemen highlight the Pennsylvania Top 40.
…
But it’s the offensive line that dominates the state for 2007 and the difference between the top five big uglies is minimal. Another Pitt commitment, Pittsburgh (Pa.) Keystone Oaks guard Chris Jacobson ranks at the top of the offensive linemen and at No. 7 overall. Stefen Wisniewski, Josh Marks, Gino Gradkowski and Dan Matha also check in as top 20 players.

And it just so happens that the line is where Pitt really needs to improve.