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.”
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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.
