It looks like Carl Krauser does have a smart agent.

Meanwhile, ex-Pitt guard Carl Krauser appears to be headed to Europe after a college career in which he finished as the Panthers’ ninth all-time leading scorer.

Krauser’s agent, Keith Glass, indicated the 6-foot-2 guard could wind up in a German professional league, but he presented few details.

Krauser, who attended the past two NBA Pre-Draft camps, went undrafted this year, and Glass said it was probably in the player’s best interest to play in Europe for now.

“I’m not sure what is going to happen, but I don’t want Carl just going to an (NBA) summer camp,” Glass said. “There’s NBA interest in him, but it’s not at the level I’d like.”

As has been well-documented, Krauser is nearly 26. He doesn’t have many years to make a living playing basketball. While I think he would make an NBA roster if he played the summer camps, he stands to make a lot more playing in Europe now.

It’s still a long way until November. Even going into the 2004-05 season or those teams in the 80s, I don’t think Pitt has had its fans this curious about, this ready for basketball season this early.

With all that has played out in the off-season already — good and bad — from the contract issues with Coach Dixon, the upheaval on the coaching staff, the tragedy of Maggie Dixon, actual top Div. 1 basketball talent in the area, and Aaron Gray’s decision to return for his senior year. This has been an off-season that has kept a lot of attention on the basketball program.

The return of Gray has Pitt already considered a top preseason team. In July.

“The NBA draft is over,” he said. “Every college team in the country knows what players are returning and what players have left. I’ve made my decision, and I haven’t looked back.”

Gray is one of Pitt’s four returning starters, and several players who made significant contributions are back.

Senior Levon Kendall was a staple in the lineup last season. The 6-9 forward averaged 7.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Junior guards Ronald Ramon (8.0 ppg.) and Keith Benjamin (4.6 ppg.) were in coach Jamie Dixon’s opening lineup at season’s end, though illness forced Benjamin to miss the NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore forward Sam Young (7.9 ppg.), senior guard Antonio Graves (5.0 ppg.) and sophomore guard Levance Fields (6.8 ppg.) also averaged high minutes, sometimes in starting roles.

“One of our biggest additions, Mike Cook, who sat out, has gotten a taste of how competitive the Big East is,” Gray said. “He knows exactly what is going to happen. There’s going to be no surprises. That’s a big advantage to us and something we’re going to look forward to.”

Cook, a 6-4, 230-pound forward, led East Carolina in scoring (15.0 ppg.) as a sophomore in 2004-05.

…

“Our whole mind-set, as a team, is we’ve got to get better,” Gray said. “It was a learning process for a lot of us last season. We were playing many times with three freshmen in the lineup, so we were real inexperienced. But we played the whole year knowing what things were going to be like.”

Only Gray and Graves are left from Pitt’s Sweet 16 team in 2004, and neither player made much of an impact that year.

“I played like eight minutes a game over my first two seasons,” said Gray. “Right now, we realize the potential we have, but we really haven’t done much.”

Gray is pleased the entire team is on campus and working out this summer. He said he asked every one of his teammates to make the type of commitment that he felt he was making by returning to school.

“We understand if we want to get better, there’s a lot of things we have to change,” Gray said. “We not only have to change our work ethic and how much we workout but also our mind-set.

“We can’t settle for making it to the Big East championship game and losing. We can’t settle for being the fifth-best team in the Big East during the regular season. We can’t settle for making the NCAA Tournament, or even getting into the second round or even the Sweet 16. We have to set our goals higher.

“Right now, we’re just working as hard as we can to achieve them. This season, it’s going to be special, man.”

[Emphasis added.]

I’m very high on the addition of Cook. I think it gives Pitt an option to totally change the appearance and style of their lineup to keep other teams off-balance. A line-up that could have Benjamin, Young and Cook on the court at the same time with Ramon and Fields would be one that could attack the basket from at least 3 spots and leave Ramon and Fields wide-open for outside shots as well. The ability of this team to change the entire style and tempo with only a couple substitutions intrigues me.

If you are curious to know where the Pitt coaching staff will be heading for most of the next month. Here’s a rough itinerary.

Nike All-America Camp. July 6-9, Indianapolis

Adidas Superstar Camp. July 6-9, Suwanee, Ga.

ABCD Camp. July 6-10, Teaneck, N.J.

Nike Peach Jam. July 12-15, North Augusta, S.C.

Adidas Super 64. July 22-26, Las Vegas

Main Event Las Vegas. July 22-26, Las Vegas

Reebok Big Time. July 22-26, Las Vegas

AAU National Championship. July 27-31, Orlando

Mike DeCourcy also thinks DeJuan Blair has something to prove at the camps.

3. DeJuan Blair, 6-7, PF, Pittsburgh Schenley. With his bulk and low-post skill, Blair has punished some highly regarded opponents. But there’s still an element of skepticism about his potential, perhaps because he looks heavy or perhaps because it has been a long while since Pittsburgh produced an elite player.

The camps are also expected to produce some high profile verbals to maximize some attention. While Pitt probably will not be one of the beneficiaries, they are pursuing another highly thought of player.

“I have a number of scholarship offers including Florida, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Kentucky,” stated power forward Patrick Patterson (6-foot-9 inches, 225 pounds) from Huntington High School in Huntington, WV. “I have gone back and forth with some favorite schools, but I’m wide open for the most part.

Patterson averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds a game as a junior. Scout.com ranks him a “five star” prospect and the 8th ranked power forward in the nation.

“Coach (Orlando) Antigua is the main Pitt coach I have been in contact with. He seems like a good guy. I plan to take five official visits. Three of them will be Wake Forest, Kentucky and Florida. Pitt is fairy close to home and they play in the Big East. I’m considering them for one of the trips.”

Scout.com also has Patterson as about the 22nd best prospect in the country. Rivals.com puts him as only a 4-star and at 46th best in the country (13th best Power Forward).

Pat Bostick is heading to the 2006 EA Sports Elite 11 Quarterbacks Camp in Southern California at the end of July.

Only the top dozen senior high school QBs in the country are invited to this prestigious annual event, which has seen the likes of Matt Leinart, Vince Young, Brodie Croyle, Carson Palmer, David Carr, Ben Roethlisberger (who Lalich draws comparison to) Drew Weatherford, Kyle Orton, Chris Leak, Tim Tebow, Casey Clausen and Brock Berlin among its alumni.
…
Some of the other QBs invited include Stephen Garcia of Tampa, Fla., and three QBs from Texas: Brock Mansion (committed to Cal); Ryan Mallett (Michigan); and Jarrett Lee (LSU). Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame), Pat Bostick (Pitt), and Willy Korn (Clemson), are also among those invited along with Hampton’s Tyrod Taylor (uncommitted).

Tyler Palko also went through the camp which runs from July 24-27. Some of the others attending includes Peter Lalich (UVA), John Brantley (Tenn), Aaron Corp (USC), Keith Nichol (Mich. St.) and Stephen Garcia (uncommitted).

Meanwhile recent verbal commit, Greg Gaskins gets a nice piece in his local paper.

Six months ago, Greg Gaskins wasn’t even on the radar of NCAA Division I-A college football programs.

But that was before Gaskins added two inches and 25 pounds to his frame.

Schools at the highest level suddenly started taking interest in York High’s 6-foot, 4-inch, 285-pound offensive lineman.

The University of Pittsburgh and the University of Maryland, along with Division I-AA University of Massachusetts, offered full scholarships.
…
“By April, we said, this kid is a I-A player,” York High head coach Matt Ortega said. “Some of the colleges said ‘We’ll follow him his senior year.’ But Pittsburgh and Maryland came through with the offers.”

Ortega thinks that Gaskins is only beginning to scratch the surface of his potential.

“The upside of this kid is tremendous,” Ortega said. “The kid is 16 years old. He’s a pup.”

He may be young, but he’s mature. Gaskins ranks third in his class and plans to major in either engineering or business management in college.

Hopefully this is a case where the Pitt coaching staff recognized a late bloomer’s potential before many other schools did.

So what are the odds on Pitt winning the National Championship? Not too bad.

Pittsburgh at 40/1 returns eight of their top 10 players from last year led by All Big East center Aaron Gray, who flirted with the NBA draft before deciding to return.

The big leader is North Carolina at 5-1. Florida is next at 6-1. Duke clocks in at 15-1 and Gonzaga at 35-1. Lots and lots of expectations.

Not everyone, though, thinks Pitt will fulfill them. Adam Skwara, the B-ball recruiting writer for Rivals.com thinks otherwise.

With UConn’s entire team drafted by the NBA last night and Villanova losing Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Kyle Lowry – is the Big East wide open this year? Who will step to the front – Georgetown? Pittsburgh? Louisville?

Jason in Louisville

—–

I wouldn’t say the Big East is wide open, but it will certainly have some more parity. It will be much easier for a sleeper or two to emerge this season.

Pittsburgh is the clear favorite, thanks to the last-minute return of 7-footer Aaron Gray. The Panthers have plenty of depth and I expect rising sophomore Sam Young to become one of the league’s stars. Losing emotional leader Carl Krauser will ultimately prove costly.

Georgetown is also a legitimate Final Four threat. The Hoyas are experienced, talented and will boast one of the nation’s top frontcourts, led by 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert and athletic power forward Jeff Green.

Connecticut won’t be winning 29 games again and they will be vulnerable in December. That said, the extremely young Huskies will be a contender when the league tournament approaches. Jeff Adrien will emerge as one of the league’s top big men and word is that guard A.J. Price – who hasn’t played in three years because of a brain hemorrhage – is looking like the four-star recruit that Jim Calhoun snagged in 2004. Rivals.com’s No. 3-ranked recruiting class also adds eight new players, including five-star prospects Stanley Robinson and Curtis Kelly, who will make impacts right away.

Marquette and Louisville are both capable of making runs at the league title, although they will all have to figure out ways to mask glaring weaknesses.

The Golden Eagles will have the league’s top point guard in Dominic James and possibly the best backcourt with his sidekick, Jerel McNeal. The downside is leading scorer Steve Novak is gone. His long-range 3-pointers won’t be missed as much as his size. Novak was their leading rebounder at 5.9 boards a game last season. The 5-11 James was next at 4.5.

With the addition of five-star recruits Earl Clark and Derrick Caracter, the Cardinals are as deep and talented as any team in the league. But without Taquan Dean they are lacking a proven leader and a reliable scorer. Ultra-athletic small forward Terrence Williams is the heir apparent, but I don’t think he has the game to score 15-plus every night. A healthy Juan Palacios is a better candidate.

The dark horse is DePaul. Four double-digit scorers are back, including the best-player-nobody-has-heard-of: Sammy Mejia. If often-injured big man Wesley Green can give them a presence inside this team could be dangerous.

Syracuse is the biggest mystery out there. No one player was as valuable as Gerry McNamara last season (see the 2006 Big East tourney). The Orange have added some big scoring weapons with Paul Harris and Mike Jones to pick up some of the slack.

[Emphasis added.]

Not that he is disputing Pitt as the favorite. Strange, that G-town isn’t being talked up more. They gave Florida a tough battle in the NCAA, and only lose Bowman. I would expect more than a couple prognostications to pick them to win the Big East.

Happy July 4.

Sorry about not posting yesterday. Yesterday was a funeral, and the travel involved had me on the road by 6 am and I didn’t get back until 8 pm. With the AC not working properly on the return trip, it was more than a little draining. Needless to say, thinking coherently — forget trying to type — wasn’t much of an option.

Not that I missed too much. There weren’t any news or new commits the last couple days. What we do have are the free recruiting reports from Scout.com.

It appears that Pitt is really focusing on the running backs right now. Three different running back reports over the previous couple days. Xavier Stinson out of Florida:

“I have a lot of scholarship offers, but three schools seem to stand out: Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Auburn,” stated bruising running back Xavier Stinson (5-foot-9 inches, 215 pounds) from Chaminade-Madonna High School in Hollywood, FL.
…
“I want to visit Pitt, Auburn and Tennessee and see what their campuses are like. Playing time is going to be important to me as well. The Panthers are putting together a power running game. I like that a lot because it fits me style. I like to pound the ball. I’m a physical runner.”

“It looks like the Panthers offer me the most playing time. I want to go to college and become the feature back. It looks like that could happen in Pittsburgh.”

The Panthers have offered three of Stinson’s teammates: Emeka Nwankwo (6-foot-4 inches, 290 pounds), cornerback Akeem Auguste (5-foot-11 inches, 175 pounds) and safety Eain Smith (6-foot-1 inches, 180 pounds).

Then there is another Florida RB, Zacchaeus Brown.

I have scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Ohio University, Georgia Tech and Troy State,” stated bruising running back Zacchaeus Brown (5-foot-11 inches, 200 pounds) from Royal Palm High School in Royal Palm Beach, FL.

“Three schools standout to me: Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Panthers are still my favorite school. I like their offense and I think I would fit into their scheme. Coach (Dave) Wannstedt would be great to play for.”
…
“Wisconsin and Minnesota sound interesting and they really want me to visit. I want to be thorough during the recruiting process so I owe them a visit. I should take a look at them and compare them to Pittsburgh. They have been recruiting me pretty hard.”

Zacchaeus is still in contact with the Panthers’ class of 2006 member Tamarcus Porter. He recently spoke with “TJ” and he had great things to say about Pittsburgh. “He’s up there now and loving it. I think TJ is going to make a big impact with them,” said Brown. “It would be great to play with him and play together on the same offense.”

Finally, another New York RB is in the mix.

The Panthers hosted 6-foot-3 inch, 210 pound Doug Hogue from Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, NY over the weekend. The PantherDigest.com spoke with his head coach Tom Drago about his recent visit.

“We visited Pittsburgh on Saturday and Doug absolutely loved it,” state Drago. “Doug has scholarship offers from Pitt, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State and Syracuse. Wisconsin seems close to offering as well. I received calls from Florida State and Miami (FL) today. It’s rare to have the Florida schools calling up here.”

“Doug would like to stay along with east cost. His clear top three right now would be Pittsburgh, Penn State and Syracuse.”

Hogue rushed for 1,463 yards and scored 12 touchdowns as a junior. He earned All-Section and All-League honors. Doug is capable of running a 4.4 forty-yard dash.

“Doug was in absolute awe when he met Coach (Dave) Wannstedt. He had a grin from ear to ear. Coach Wannstedt was in the middle of talking with us and he received a call from a big time offensive lineman (Dan Matha). You could tell he was excited when he took the call. Coach Wannstedt looked at Doug and said “I just landed an offensive lineman to block for you.”

“Coach Walker spent time talking with Doug and showing us Pitt’s offensive scheme. Their offense is exactly like the one we run and Doug seems like a natural fit there. He’s a very powerful player. He’s a powerful north-south runner that happens to be very quick laterally. Doug is unique. You don’t find many with his size and speed. He has a side step that would remind you of Marshal Faulk.”

Stinson and Hogue are listed as 3-star recruits and Brown as a 1-star by Scout.com. Rivals.com doesn’t have a ranking for Stinson and Brown, while Hogue is considered a 2-star recruit, while also being the best RB in NY and 10th best prospect overall.

Of course, it seems that it might be better to judge their potential based on the teams recruiting them, and their history/success with RBs. In that case, all three look like nice prospects.

Stinson is probably the highest ranked and recruited. Hogue probably has some teams concerned with being too tall at 6’3″ and Brown would appear to be the sleeper/project.

In case you weren’t aware, Scout.com has a free preview going through July 4. A chance to read all those firewall protected stories and look at video clips at PantherDigest.com.

[Disclaimer: I don’t subscribe to either Scout.com or Rivals.com. Initially it was because I was too cheap and broke, but now it is primarily because I don’t want to be accused of stealing their subscription stuff.]

So, let’s talk the 2007 NBA draft (Insider subs.).

Oh, stop screaming.

Conclusion: Overall the 2007 draft looks loaded, especially with quality bigs. The draft also appears to be strong at the small forward position. Guard play, however, looks to be a little weaker, especially at point guard for the second straight year.

Anyone who thinks Aaron Gray isn’t risking a lot in NBA cash, not just in earning money a year earlier, but in the expected high quality of the 2007 draft that could lower his status in the draft isn’t paying attention.

The 2007 draft will be loaded. There will be the various players from Florida (Noah, Brewer and Horford) who all came back for another season and all the high schoolers who had to spend a year in college killing time before turning pro (Oden, Durant, Young and Harris). Not to mention the various big men who will come out after this coming season (Hibbert, McRoberts and Hawes) and of course the Euros that no one actually knows anything about.

Just in the preliminary projections for 2007, Gray is already down at #25. Judging by the fact that 4 centers were taken in the first 12 picks in 2006, Gray made a hell of a bold choice to come back to Pitt for this season.

Meanwhile in the future range, Seth Davis at SI.com looks at some stand outs from the NBA Players Association Camp.

DeJuan Blair, 6-8 forward, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Blair didn’t show a ton of flash in Richmond, just a solid ability to rebound and score in traffic. The recruiting gurus I spoke with indicated he is one of the fastest-rising players in his class. Blair recently told rivals.com that his top five schools are Florida, Kansas State, Wake Forest, Indiana and Pittsburgh.
…
Herb Pope, 6-8 forward, Alquippa, Pa.
I’ve included Pope because he is on most national top 20 lists, but to be honest he seems a bit suspect to me. Despite his size and quickness, Pope hangs too much on the perimeter, and when he drives to the basket he never looks to pass. He also never stops running his mouth. Pope recently backed out of his oral commitment to Pitt and is currently considering Pitt, Louisville, UConn and Kansas State, among others.

Confirming the feeling of many Pitt fans to ignore Pope at this point and focus on Blair and his teammate DJ Kennedy for the 2007 recruiting class.

This is pretty cool.

The first Aliquippa Quips football camp, held Thursday at Carl A. Aschman Stadium, drew more than 60 athletes. They paid no tuition. They arrived early in the morning, or at mid-day after summer school, or whenever they could, and they were embraced.

“I just wanted to come back and give the kids an opportunity to be coached by professional coaches, and to learn something about the importance of academics and character,” Babich said.

The camp’s staff included Steelers assistants Lou Spanos and Mike Raich, head coaches Geno DeMarco of Geneva and Jerry Schmidt of Duquesne, Kent State assistant Jason Nichols, and Kent State graduate assistant Bobby Babich, son of the Bears’ coach who intercepted three passes at North Dakota State last year.

The Quips varsity staff , including head coach Mike Zmijanac and veteran assistants Sherm McBride and Pete Short, were also involved. The athletes ranged in age from third-graders to varsity standouts Jonathan Baldwin and Brandon Lindsey.

When Anderson stood at the end of the line, Baldwin stood at the front of the line. The athletes were not separated by ages. They worked together.

“We’ve got pro coaches and college coaches, and we’ve got young coaches and old coaches,” Babich said. “And we’ve got young offensive linemen and older offensive linemen, young running backs and older running backs.

The camp was put together by Bruce Babich, an Aliquippa grad and now the linebackers coach for the Chicago Bears (he also coached the linebackers at Pitt under Johnny Majors from 94-96). He has scary eyes.

Helping at the camp, in addition to the various coaches were other Aliquippa grads. This includes Josh Lay, now a rookie with the New Orleans Saints, and Pitt CB Darrelle Revis.

In the afternoon’s defensive drills, Baldwin offered advice to the youngest defensive backs during a water break. When drills resumed, Lay offered advice to Baldwin. Then, standing at midfield, Babich and Lay began talking about cornerback technique at the line of scrimmage.

The little guys got help. The varsity guys got help. The NFL rookie got help. During a break in the afternoon, Pitt defensive back Darrelle Revis talked to the campers at midfield.

“You have to stay focused,” Revis said. “To be a Division I athlete, you have to stay focused on your grades, and you have to stay focused on the things your parents are teaching you. Your parents will steer you on the right path … Stay with the positive. Stay away from the negative people who will drag you down.”

Well, unless your father is Nelson Peterson. In which case, you might want to consider different advice.

Not exactly a surprise that the stories today are about getting 3 verbal commits yesterday.

If there is a theme for Pitt’s football recruiting focus, it is this — coach Dave Wannstedt was serious when he said his top priority when he took the job in December 2004 was to rebuild the Panthers’ offensive and defensive lines.

…

Along with Matha, who was first team all-state in Class AAAA, Pitt also received a verbal commitment from Santalucces (Fla.) tight end Nick Krupa (6-4, 230) and Greg Gaskins (6-4, 280), an offensive guard from William Penn High School in York. The addition of the three players means Wannstedt has received five verbal commitments in the past three days — four linemen and Krupa, who was recruited as both a blocker and pass catcher.

Krupa chose the Panthers over Northwestern, UCLA, Stanford and Auburn. He also drew heavy interest from Miami, but said his visit to Pitt earlier this week went so well he didn’t see the need to look elsewhere. He said he was impressed with the Panthers’ facilities and the fact that they share the same complex with the Super Bowl champion Steelers. He also was excited to find out that the Bassmasters Classic was held in Pittsburgh last year because it means the fishing in the area must be pretty good.

…
Pitt would still like to land at least one more offensive lineman for its next class and a blocking tight end.

The focus locally, of course was on Dan Matha.

“Everything that I was listing, all of the pros, were just Pitt, and everything good I was saying was Pitt, Pitt, Pitt,” Matha said. “I have a good relationship with the coaches. They are probably the greatest coaching staff I’ve met. I like that it’s a big city.

“After I talked to (Pitt) coach (Dave) Wannstedt on Thursday, I called (McDowell football coach Joe Tarasovitch) and told him I wanted to commit. He told me to sleep on it. I went in Coach’s office and talked about it for about an hour (yesterday) and said, ‘This is the place where I want to go,’ so I committed right then.”

There was no need for Krupa to break out the charts or dry-erase markers. After visiting Pitt on Tuesday and Wednesday, Krupa knew as soon as he returned to his Lantana, Fla., home that he wanted to play for the Panthers. He received his only scholarship offer from Pitt, but Krupa also was being recruited by Florida, Miami, Auburn, Stanford and UCLA.

“I saw the campus and the city and saw it was beautiful,” Krupa said. “The facilities were outstanding. I really like Coach Wannstedt and the other coaches and know they will be there for awhile.”

There’s not a lot about Gaskins, because he gave his verbal kind of late in the day. On a Friday. Heading into an extended weekend with the 4th of July. He may have verballed late on Friday, but he wants to get to Pitt early.

York (Pa.) William Penn offensive lineman Greg Gaskins caught the collective eye of the Pitt Panthers coaching staff two weeks ago when he dominated at camp. The Panthers offered the young 16-year old manchild a full ride and tonight Gaskins decided he wanted to be a Panther.

“Coach (Greg) Gattuso was recruiting me and he did a great job, so I called and committed to him about 20 minutes ago,” Gaskins said. “I told him I made my decision and I wanted to be a Pitt Panther. He was excited and told me he was callin coach (Dave) Wannstedt.”

Gaskins held offers from Pitt and Maryland, but he said he felt more at home at the in-state school.

When I went there I just felt welcomed,” he said. “The coaches were great. The facilities were great. Everyone there was friendly and I just felt like that was where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life at.”

Gaskins who ranks fourth in a class of 290 is on course to graduate early.

“I would like to graduate, hopefully in early January and get to Pitt early,” he said. “I think it will help me for football and help me get a jump start on my education.”

As for another player from the area, Andrew Devlin, does not appear that close to a decision.

“I have narrowed my list to six schools at this time: Iowa, Pitt, Virginia, Boston College, Stanford and Wisconsin,” stated Andrew Devlin. “I have visited all six schools over the last two weeks. Michigan, Ohio State and possibly Notre Dame would be in the mix as well if they offer. At this time, I’m going to focus on the six schools I listed.”

Devlin has been a two-year starter for Mt. Lebanon High School. He is a versatile and athletic player capable of playing tight end, defensive end and offensive tackle on the next level. Andrew was named first-team All-WPIAL as a junior. Pitt, Boston College, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Iowa, Connecticut, Rutgers and Stanford have extended scholarship offers.

…

“It looks like I’ll make my decision on August 13th, prior to our three-a-days. Pitt is heavily in the mix. My mother is a big fan of the Panthers and she’s pushing for Pitt!”

Having a list 6 deep and waiting to see if 3 other programs offer does not indicate a decision will be likely soon (or even that it would be particularly solid). Not even by mid-August. Reads like Devlin should just be willing to take more time regardless of practices to be sure about his choice.