So, former Pitt AD, Steve Pederson has to find a new head coach for Nebraska basketball. The question, naturally gets raised, as to whether a traditional football school can even become an occasional top-25 team. It seems like a stupid question. The answer is yes, assuming the commitment is realy there, resources are spent and the right coach is hired. Pitt is cited as an example as to a school that has done it.

When Pittsburgh — under the leadership of Pederson, it’s worth noting — fired Ralph Willard prior to the 1999-2000 season it had gone six years without an NCAA Tournament appearance. Panthers football legend Dan Marino sneezing was bigger news in the area than anything that happened inside or outside a 3-point line.

Enter Ben Howland/Jamie Dixon.

Howland and Dixon (otherwise known as coach and assistant) came to Pitt together, and almost immediately turned things around. The second year featured a winning record. And the third year, 2001-02, marked the Panthers’ first trip to the Sweet 16 in nearly 20 years. Howland departed for UCLA after the ’02-03 season, and Pitt wisely allowed Dixon to step in. All he’s done is go 76-22 the past three seasons while setting the stage for what may be a Final Four campaign this year.

In an interview with UCLA Coach Ben Howland, there is naturally nothing but support and belief that Pederson will hire the right guy. There is a short hand revisionism though, about the hiring of Jamie Dixon to replace Howland at Pitt.

“Kerry does a great job (but) I think Steve is going to first look at all head coaches. When you’re in a major conference, I would say almost always that’s the case,” said Howland, who had an assistant, Jamie Dixon, succeed him at Pitt. “Jamie was really unique, and I recommended him.”

That of course ignores the fact that Pitt pursued and offered the job to Skip Prosser of Wake Forest. Only after Prosser finally turned the gig down did Dixon get the offer. So the situation wasn’t quite that unique.

Then there’s the new incursion by Pitt into the DC area for recruiting. Luke Winn on his new CBB blog for SI.com noticed the article from Monday.

Today, the focus is much narrower: the changing dynamics of the Washington D.C. talent market.

…

A nice story in Tuesday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette describes how coach Jamie Dixon is banking on newly hired director of basketball operations David Cox to help make Pitt a player in D.C. recruiting. Cox, to put it lightly, is “hooked up” inside the Beltway after serving as an assistant with the Assault for seven years. Coincidentally, with Cox in the fold in July, the Panthers landed Darnell Dodson, a 6-foot-6, three-star wing player for the Assault. They’re also now in the hunt for Vaughn and McClain and are said to be considered by Beasley as a possible back-up option should he change his mind about K-State. Cox also gives Dixon more pull in his battle against Huggins for Herb Pope, an ultra-talented power forward from Alquippa, Pa., who formerly played for the Assault.

Oh — and Chris Wright, the lone, five-star D.C. prospect who hasn’t made his college decision? He doesn’t play for the Assault, but that doesn’t mean he’s unfamiliar with Cox. “Actually,” Wright told Scout.com this summer, “[Cox] was the assistant principal at my school [St. John’s College High]. We had a very good relationship before he went to the University of Pittsburgh.”

Wright has two Big East schools on his short list: Georgetown … and Pittsburgh. Is anyone surprised?

The only correction is that Dodson credited his verbal to Mike Rice, not Cox. Though, it seems not to be believed.

Should also note that PF Julian Vaughn gave a verbal to Florida State yesterday.