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.

CollegeFootballNews.com does yeoman’s work each year with its 119 previews of all D-1A teams. Not only are they detailed and fairly accurate, the writers actually put their name to the work so people know who to yell at when things are wrong. In something of a change of pace, they put their Pitt preview up on the Fox Sports site before their own. (Thankfully an eagle-eyed reader alerted me.)

Head coach Dave Wannstedt is a pro coach who realizes when a talent level isn’t quite where it’s supposed to be. He knows his team has to be faster on defense, stronger against the run, more efficient in the passing game, and far more effective running the ball. In other words, the Panthers have to become the Steelers.

While winning a world championship isn’t likely to happen any time soon, being more of a player in the Big East race would do for now. While all the attention will be paid to Louisville and West Virginia and their national title hopes, the road to the Big East championship and the BCS will literally go through Heinz Field.

Pitt might not be as talented as the Mountaineers or Cardinals, but it has some great pieces in place to work around and should be better overall by the end of the season. That means the timing is perfect; the final two games are at home against … take a guess.

One of the more optimistic previews on Pitt you will find.

The season will be a success if … Pitt wins the Big East title. Crank the expectations up a notch. The team should be an experienced, hardened squad by mid-November. It’s not often you get ten games to prepare for your two biggest home games.

I have an element of “I want to believe” going as I read this. Turning to their offense profile, really drives that feeling home. While Jeff Otah and Kevin Collier are conspicuous by their absence in talking about the particular units, there is still a lot of “if… , then…” pervading the view. Honestly, I look at Pitt’s offense and there are legit questions about the running game, receiving game and the O-line. There seems to be a cautious amount of optimism about each unit, to lead to the higher expectations.

The offense preview strikes me as most concerned about the running game, but knows that Coach Wannstedt will be stressing it.

Running Backs
This could be a problem even with the return of leading rusher LaRod Stephens-Howling. The most talented runner on the roster, Rashad Jennings, transferred to Liberty after things didn’t quite work out with the coaching staff. Raymond Kirkley wasn’t able to stay healthy last year, but he was a good back and will be missed. Stephens-Howling isn’t big, so he’ll need plenty of help in the rotation meaning Brandon Mason and Shane Brooks have to be steady reserves from the start. The fullbacks will be a strength as the season goes on despite the limited experience.
The key to the unit: Average more than four yards per carry. The running game was non-existent at times last season, and didn’t exactly rock anyone’s world in spring ball, so this will have to continue to be a focus of the coaching staff before the opener.
Running Back Rating: 6

As for the offensive line, well the good news is they have more experience — which they seem to like. The bad news, is they weren’t that good last year and it won’t be too different a squad.
Moving to the Defense preview, the big issue is the D-line. The secondary seems to be in good shape with Revis on one side, Phillips coming back at safety, so the real question is who will step up to take the other corner position. The linebackers are led, of course, by H.B. Blades so that isn’t as big a concern. On this side of the ball, it just keeps coming back to the D-line.

There’s plenty of experience but not a whole bunch of size and there needs to be far more from the pass rush. There will be a rotation of sophomores at tackle who need to hold up better than departed starting tackles Thomas Smith and Phil Tillman did, while end Chris McKillop, the only returning starter, has to be an even better pass rusher. The depth isn’t bad, but that’s primarily because the starters are hardly a lock to keep their jobs.
The key to the unit: All the young players have to become savvy veterans, while Chris McKillop and Charles Sallet must get in the backfield more from the outside.
Defensive Line Rating: 6.5

It’s terribly scary that the lines are the biggest question marks — again — heading towards September. As additional reading, be sure to read this “primer” on O-linemen.

Last week, the NCAA updated its list of “schools” from which it would not accept academic transcripts.

The NCAA on Wednesday added 16 nontraditional high schools, seven of them in Santa Ana, Calif., to a list of those whose transcripts will no longer be accepted because of questionable academic credentials.

Five schools, including Martinez Adult Education in Martinez, Calif., were removed from an original list of 15 released last month after a review by the NCAA. Other schools are still being investigated and could face similar sanctions in the association’s attempt to crack down on so-called “diploma mills” whose graduates seek athletic scholarships to college.

…

The other schools removed from the original list of 15 schools were: Hawaii Electronic, Honolulu; Ranch Academy, Canton, Texas; Tazewell (Va.) City Career and Tech Center; and Virginia Beach (Va.) Central Academy.

The 16 added Wednesday include Access, Horizon, Joplin, Los Pinos, Lyon, Otto A. Fischer and Rio Contiguo, all of Santa Ana. The NCAA said 22 others have been cleared for only those graduates entering college this fall and are subject to review.

Five other schools have applied to the NCAA clearinghouse, but no decision has been made on their status for initial eligibility. They are Educational Consultants, Midlothian, Va.; God’s Academy, Grand Prairie, Texas; Mill Creek Baptist School, Youngstown, Ohio; New Life Academy, Salt Lake City; and Progressive Christian Academy, Camp Springs, Md.

The NCAA listing is not retroactive, meaning it won’t affect any athletes already enrolled in college.

There seems to be a lot of confusion and anger. Shockingly Lutheran Christian Academy out of Philly — the school that was the focus of NYTimes and Washington Post articles — got clearance for students for this fall. They are, however, part of the group of 22 subject to further review. And there’s the problem. Among the 22 that made the list were some schools that have fairly clean histories.

Mere hours after the NCAA released a list Wednesday of 22 schools that it cleared for accreditation during the 2005-06 school year, officials of two of the schools, Oak Hill Academy and Fork Union Military Academy, both based in Virginia, took umbrage at being on such a list at all.

“Our academic rigors and integrity have never been called into question until now,” said Michael Groves, president of Oak Hill, a 127-year-old institution that annually produces a nationally ranked high school basketball team and has a long list of alums that have played professionally. “We’re a high-profile institution, and we’re proud of the success that we’ve had with our young men and women.”

But many of Oak Hill’s high-profile graduates spent only a year or two at the school, and Kevin Lennon, the NCAA’s vice president for membership services, said his investigative staff is focusing on transcripts that show a student “has enrolled for only one year… or has a significant jump in his GPA in his third or fourth year.”
…

A separate list of 22 schools, including Lutheran Christian of Philadelphia; Notre Dame Prep of Fitchburg, Mass.; St. Thomas More of Oakdale, Conn.; and Virginia’s Oak Hill and Fork Union Military Academies, were cleared for prospects entering college this year, but are subject to future review.

Fletcher Arritt, who has coached Fork Union’s postgraduate men’s basketball team for 36 years, told The Inquirer that he was a little baffled that a prestigious academy offering multitiered men’s and women’s athletic programs in a variety of sports would be part of such a review.

Hey, Oak Hill is a fine institute. Esepcially since Julian Vaughn, a now potential Pitt recruit, is going there this fall.

Of course, you can question how hard the NCAA is actually investigating the schools at this point (though, to be fair, they just started and gathering information to make a legit case against accepting academic transcripts — due process and all that).

In all, 22 were passed, for now, by the NCAA because they cooperated with a complete survey in response to the basic needs of students and the overall description of the prep school. Although the NCAA put a disclaimer on the 22 by saying the NCAA still has questions (for the classes of 2007 and beyond), the students arriving on campuses this fall can move forward. Sixteen schools, including Christopher Robin Academy in New York and North Atlanta Prep in Georgia, were not cleared.

[Emphasis added.]

Yup, that’s all it took to get NCAA approval for this season. Simply respond to the questionnaire. How bad is it, that 16 schools couldn’t even do that?

This gives columnists to look at the present effort as half-assed and incompetent

In its quest to identify and admonish secondary schools of questionable academic repute, the NCAA set itself up for charges of heavy-handedness by listing some places that have never fielded sports teams. And in publicly censuring some established institutions without having done thorough homework, the administrators probably will have to rescind a few declarations and apologize to Oak Hill Academy and Fork Union Military Academy.
…
Of course, this scrutiny is long overdue. After years of operating as a subway turnstile, the NCAA’s Clearinghouse might start to resemble an airport metal detector. Maybe.

And from even a cursory examination, it appears there is plenty to scan.

or at least a starting point.

At least the NCAA took a step toward addressing the latest academic scam: bogus prep schools that clean up three years of lousy transcripts with a one-year makeover, allowing players to gain college eligibility. For too many basketball players, high school has become a vagabond process — bouncing from one school to the next, until finishing at a prep school that magically fixes a player’s academic deficiencies.

Of course, the very fact the NCAA Clearinghouse was rubber-stamping all manner of garbage diploma mills necessitated the corrective action. Now those who wound up on what everyone at the Nike camp is calling the “banned list” are squawking.

…

Many coaches at Nike wondered how Lutheran Christian avoided being immediately banned by the NCAA. Lennon said that the review process is continuing for that school — and that its “graduates” have hardly been green-lighted to play in 2006-07.

“Some of the students who attended there might get their records reviewed [by the NCAA Clearinghouse],” Lennon said.

The NCAA’s other hope is that its member schools will stop using the Clearinghouse eligibility standard as their own. In other words, just because the NCAA screwed up in allowing schools like Lutheran Christian to proliferate, it doesn’t mean the schools have to look the other way and admit its players.

“That should not be a de facto admissions standard,” Lennon said.

*cough* Bob Huggins *cough* Kansas State *cough*

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.

Both papers have stories on Darnell Dodson committing to Pitt this weekend. As Chris Dokish had noted in breaking the news of his verbal, Dodson is still learning how good he could be.

Steve Keller, a New Jersey-based recruiting analyst, agrees with Farrello about Dodson’s potential. Dodson is not currently ranked among the top 150 prospects in his class, but Keller believes he will be one of the overlooked recruits who will shine in college.

“Darnell Dodson is just starting to scratch the surface of what he can be down the road,” said Keller, who publishes Steve Keller’s National Recruiting Report.

“He has grown in the last year and the expectations have grown. He could be a 6-6 or 6-7 two-guard. If that happens, the sky is the limit. Pittsburgh saw the upside that not a lot of other people saw. If the kid works, he can be a superstar.”

Dodson’s high school coach Glen Farrello compared him to a former player of his, Delonte West who starred at St. Joseph’s and is now with the Boston Celtics.

The credit for landing Dodson is being given to new Pitt assistant Mike Rice.

One might think that David Cox, an assistant coach for Dodson’s Maryland-based AAU team who is expected to be offically named as director of basketball operations at Pitt in the coming days, had a key role in Dodson’s verbal commitment. But Farello indicated otherwise.

“Mike Rice … that’s how they got him,” Farello said of Pitt’s newest assistant coach, who joined the Panthers’ staff in June from St. Joseph’s.

Rice, who is the son of former Duquesne and Youngstown State coach Mike Rice, has been friends with Farello since the two met at the Eastern Basketball Invitational camp in Trenton, N.J.

“It was completely unrelated to (Cox) going there,” said Farello, whose coaching staff includes Dodson’s father, David. “It was already decided before that went down.

“I know people won’t believe that, but it’s simply a bonus to have them together. David (Cox) is not really known as an AAU coach as much as he is known as an assistant principal at (Washington) St. John’s College High School.”

A suspicious cynic might chalk some of that up to the usual tensions that can exist between high school coaches and administrators and AAU operations.

I assume most of you have been reading Dokish’s Dispatches from the ABCD Camp. Lots of interesting stuff.

I honestly don’t see how David Abdul will make it back to the Pitt squad in time for this season. He is still shooting for it. Despite, not only having the needed heart surgery to repair a leaky valve. On top of that, he still needs to get his gall bladder removed this month. To get medical clearance to step on a field, a cardiologist will have to approve it. That and more in a long piece about David Abdul.

Chase can see the physical effects on his father’s body. The outside of Abdul’s right leg is badly scarred where doctors performed skin grafts and inserted a permanent metal rod after the car accident. Abdul’s chest contains an 8-inch vertical scar, the remnants of his recent heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

His son likes to sit on his father’s knee, but until Abdul regains strength the boy must be placed there carefully.

“I can handle anything that life throws at me,” Abdul said. “But if something happened to Chase, that’s the one thing that would break me.”

The blond-haired child cannot comprehend the confluence of events that have shaped his father’s life. Adults also struggle for perspective.

“The kid has been through a lifetime of heartache in a couple of years,” said David’s father and longtime kicking mentor, David Abdul Sr. “You couldn’t make this kind of stuff up. It’s too unbelievable.”

Pitt special teams coordinator Charlie Partridge doesn’t want Abdul prematurely returning to the Panthers and further endangering his health. Partridge has watched Abdul make two other comebacks, including one from the car accident in which doctors gave him a 10 percent chance of kicking again.

“It’s a real testament to David’s perseverance,” Partridge said. “I don’t know if he has had a chance to kick with a clean bill of health — and I mean mentally and physically — since his freshman season.”

Abdul may have to seek a medical redshirt for the 2007 season. The only reason it would be a question mark is that it would be his second medical redshirt. The NCAA is somewhat, um, unpredictable in that area.

I hope he makes it.

This weekend is the seemingly venerable ABCD Camp. It’s started well for Pitt, as a verbal has been given. Pitt’s first recruit for the basketball class of 2007 is not from New York or New Jersey. That alone is a shock, given recent years.

The University of Pittsburgh basketball team has added DARNELL DODSON of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland. The 6’6″ Dodson was on Pitt’s radar before the Panthers added his former A.A.U. coach, David Cox, as director of basketball operations, but the arrival of Cox was the final straw for Dodson to choose the Panthers. Dodson chose Pitt over Boston College, Georgetown, Providence, Rutgers and Virginia Tech.

Dodson has well above average athletic ability and is good offensively, both from three point range and taking it to the basket. However, in what has become true Pitt basketball tradition, he is not a good free throw shooter.

Dodson is a 3-star recruit according to Scout.com and not ranked by Rivals.com. Chris Dokish comments that Dodson is a lot of unrealized potential at this point, that can be a lot better. That would explain why BC and Al Skinner were interested in him, since they specialize in those “diamond in the rough” types.

DeJuan Blair out of Schenley is also at the camp, and Pitt of course is watching him. Along with some other players.

Most of their attention is on the usual suspects, but two players PSR has noticed they have paid special attention to thus far have been giant New Jersey center HAMIDU RAHMAN and Philly combo guard BRADLEY WANNAMAKER.

Both Rahman and Wannamaker are listed as 3-star recruits by Scout.com. Rivals.com hasn’t ranked either Rahman or Wannamaker at this time. Rahman seems to have interest from a lot of schools in the Big East (St. John’s, UConn, Seton Hall, Syracuse), but it would appear that Pitt is the only one to actually offer at this point. Wannamaker has drawn some interest from Wake Forest, Virginia and Villanova as well as Pitt, but it would seem no actual offers have been made to him at this point. Of course, that could change following the camp.

Another player who could be adding Pitt to his list is Julian Vaughn.

Look for Pitt to be a player in his recruitment. The Panthers hired David Cox, a former DC Assault assistant coach. Vaughn said since playing at the USA U18 trials, Washington has now entered the picture. He also said Kentucky has jumped into the picture. The ACC is recruiting him, too. That hasn’t changed. On the court, Vaughn is playing with more confidence and poise than he did at the end of the spring. He’s shed about 10 pounds thanks to a crazy Rocky Balboa-like workout regime. Minus the raw egg shakes though.

Rivals.com has Vaughn as a 5-star recruit, the 19th best prospect and the 5th best PF in the 2007 class. Scout.com is a little cooler towards him. Making him only a 4-star, 34th best overall and 12th best PF.

Vaughn has lots of interest and seems to be hoping for an offer from UNC.

Ah, the NBA Summer League. The chance for undrafted players and those who had to go overseas for another shot at making the NBA roster. A couple former Pitt greats will join the fun.

Guard Vonteego Cummings, a three-year NBA veteran who ranks among the top 10 all-time in three categories for the Panthers, will play for the New Jersey Nets’ team in the Pepsi Pro Summer League in Orlando, Fla. And forward Chevon Troutman, the second-leading scorer for Pitt two seasons ago, will play for the Chicago Bulls’ team in the Orlando league.

Cummings, who last played in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2001-02 season, ranks 10th all-time in scoring at Pitt with 1,581 points, fifth in assists (458) and second in steals (235) as a starter in 97 of 103 career games.

Cummings was selected in the first round of the 1999 NBA draft before being traded to Golden State, where he played his first two seasons.

Troutman, a 6-foot-7 forward, spent last season playing professionally in Italy.

Their chances of making it are slim. They do, however, get to pick up a check and keep making money by playing basketball.

Okay, for many, this post may as well get filed under “that’s too much information.” The demented geniuses at EDSBS made this the latest BlogPoll Roundtable issue last week. I’m just getting around to it, because I am not sure there is that much interest and if there is, then I’m even more disturbed to know that.

1. Education. List the region of the country you were born in, what universities you attended and at least one other you would have attended if your alma mater didn’t exist.

Raised in Lebanon, PA amidst the Amish and Mennonites. Went to Pitt from 88-92 ending up with a BA in Poli Sci and Business, minors in economics and accounting (I had some trouble making up my mind). Case Law School in Cleveland in the mid-90s. If Pitt hadn’t existed I probably would have ended up at Emory down in Atlanta or Boston U as those were the other schools I had on my list (that accepted me).

2. Sports Affiliations. List your top 10 favorite teams in all of sports in descending order. For instance, your alma mater’s football team may be number 1, but perhaps there is a professional team that squeezes in before you get to your alma mater’s lacrosse team.

A (1): Pitt football

A (2): Pitt basketball

C: NY Yankees (it’s a family thing)

D: Philadelphia Eagles

E: Philadelphia 76ers

F: Pittsburgh Penguins

After that I can’t call them favorites, but they are teams I cheer for out of familiarity or pity.

G: Pittsburgh Steelers (familiarity, and it irritates the natives and my wife)

H: Cleveland Cavaliers (both)

I: Philadelphia Phillies (If not for my Yankee upbringing, this would be my favorite baseball team. Grew up watching them and listening to Harry Kalas call the games. I can still rattle off the 1980 World Series regulars by heart.)

J: Pittsburgh Pirates (Pity)

3. Movies. List the movie you’ve watched the most, your favorite sports related movie, the movie you secretly love but don’t like to admit it (possibly a chick flick or b film), and the movie you were (or still are) most looking forward to from this summer’s season.

Most watched: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Airplane! or Blazing Saddles. I’m really not sure which I’ve watched more times.

Favorite sports related: Slap Shot

Don’t like to admit: Starship Troopers. Yes, I know it is practically nothing like the classic Heinlein book. In fact, I do my best to pretend they have absolutely no relation. It’s completely mindless, poorly acted, lots of violence and even gratutitous nudity serving no purpose. What’s not to enjoy?

4. Music. List your favorite band from middle school, high school, college and today. Also, as with the movies, include the song you secretly love but don’t like to admit. If Nickleback is involved in any of these responses, please give a detailed explanation as to why, god, why.

Working backwards, I don’t think there is a favorite band any longer. Part of it, is I just haven’t found time to look for good new stuff. Something had to give as you get older, have the family and such. Music seems to be the thing. I haven’t bought a new album in several years. Mostly it’s been stuff like some Dick’s Picks, maybe some Widespread Panic, or just finally going to CD on a bunch of stuff that I still had on tape (Replacements, old U2, etc.).

College was now more than 10 years ago. Grateful Dead and Pearl Jam — I think.

High School was mainly the Kinks.

I’m not going back any further.

Don’t like to admit: Alannah Myles, “BlackVelvet.” It was that sultry, smoky, voice that makes me think of a young Kathleen Turner in Body Heat or even better — Crimes of Passion.

5. Books. Favorite book you’ve finished, worst book you’ve finished and the book you really should read but haven’t gotten around to it.

Favorite Read: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy has profoundly influenced my life. I periodically go back to re-read it.

Worst Read: I feel a need to rationalize justify. When I was in college, two things collided, a subscription to Playboy and some chick interested in feminist lit. A subscription, means that eventually you might actually read some of the material besides turn-ons and turn-offs and the college football/basketball previews. In the short hits section of the mag, before getting to the tastefully done airbrushing, there was a lambasting of this book from a radical feminist/law professor, Catherine McKinnon, Only Words. It was so over the top, that I thought for sure that they were exaggerating. I made a mental note to maybe see if it was that insane. A few months later, I was trying to start something with a girl who actually paid some lip service to the stuff.

I actually blew cash on the book. To my enduring shame. The things you do to try and get laid. The shit was incomprehensible, tortured logic beyond belief and complete puritanical, censorous crap. Needless to say, I didn’t get any.

Should Read: The wife has been after me for years to read some Terry Pratchett.

6. Travel. Favorite city you’ve ever been to and the one place you still must visit before you shuffle off this mortal coil.

Favorite City: Chicago, I guess.

Must Visit: Amsterdam. For the, uh, museums.

7. What do you love most about college football in 20 words or less?

A weak Haiku version:

Violence, contact
Emotions, passion displayed
Tailgate, drink, friends.

If the Dayton Flyers don’t make the NCAA Tournament this coming season, it won’t be due to their Strength of Schedule.

UD will be facing three of the top-nine teams in the ratings published by Fox Sports — Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Creighton — as well as perennial stalwart Louisville.

When someone pointed out that the killer lineup should generate enthusiasm among the players, Gregory cracked, “But it’s not always fun for the coach.”

Actually, Gregory welcomes the challenge. “It’s exciting to have an opportunity to play that competition,” he said. “We want to get to the point where … when we play every one of those teams, it’s a toss-up. We’re moving forward in that direction.”

The entire non-conference schedule won’t be released for at least a couple of weeks, but the Flyers are tentatively set to open the season Nov. 11 at home against Austin Peay (17-14 last season).

They’ll face Louisville (21-13) at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati on Nov. 24 and host Creighton (20-10) on Dec. 6 before going to Pitt (25-8) on Dec. 23 and North Carolina (23-8) on New Year’s Eve.

That will definitely offset the hit they will take when they get to the A-10 schedule — not a team to be found in any early top-25 previews.

If you really want to start planning ahead, the NCAA has released the sites for 2009 and 2010. Pittsburgh isn’t hosting anything, but Philly will host 1st and 2nd round games in 2009.