Not sure what to read into this.

Pope, who has Pitt on his short list of colleges, was involved in an on-court altercation at the Junior AAU Super Showcase boys’ basketball tournament in Orlando, Fla.

Pope, playing for the Pittsburgh JOTS, was sent home and will miss the 17-and-under Junior AAU National Championships, which began Thursday in Orlando.

“It was how the game was played,” Pope said. “I got hit. I never threw a punch.”

Said JOTS coach J.O. Stright, “He got into a fight, which is a no-no down here. He was suspended. He’s back in Pittsburgh.”

It was uncertain whether Pope’s suspension will affect the status of his scholarship offer to Pitt. Pitt assistant coach Orlando Antigua, who was in Orlando at the AAU national championships, would not discuss Pope’s status. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was in Los Angeles on a recruiting trip and did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The 6-foot-8, 220-pound Pope, however, said Pitt has not pulled his scholarship offer.

“That’s not true,” he said. “I talked to Coach Dixon and Coach Antigua. That’s incorrect.”

This article strikes me (pardon the pun) as an incredibly bad piece in trying to report Pope being booted from the tournament. No actual details of the incident, and the plain fact is that under NCAA regs, Pitt coaches can’t really discuss unsigned recruits in any detail. Of course Pitt wouldn’t pull the scholarship based on this. The story doesn’t even give any version of what happened. Suggesting even the reporter doesn’t know.

Just seems like the story was looking to stir something up.

On the recruiting front, Big East Basketball Blog has a look at Pitt’s work on the recruiting class of 2007.