Fire away.

A good piece about Aaron Gray from Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News.

If Gray had really wanted to be in the draft, the body he wore to those workouts would have looked like — well, like the one he’s wearing now for the promising Panthers. Most players show up for pro tryouts having trained so hard they look like a combination of Lance Armstrong and The Rock. Gray looked like he had stopped for a cheeseburger at the Hard Rock Cafe.

“I wasn’t committed to going in the draft. I wasn’t committed to coming back to school,” says Gray, a 7-footer who is an old-fashioned, low-post big man. “Me, once I’m committed to doing something, I put 100 percent effort into it.”

Now, NBA scouts who were indifferent about Gray last June are raving about his conditioning, his understanding of the game and his impact on the Panthers.

“I came back for this team,” Gray says. “I didn’t come back to improve my draft status or show people I can do what they think I can’t.”

Now, Gray’s body language is telling you Pitt might be a Final Four team.

The article then breaks down some different parts of Gray’s game and conditioning that have improved. Needless to say, this is the kind of article you enjoy reading in full.

Game 75, and Pitt is favored by 27 points. Pitt is 43-31 vs. the Stage Magicians and hasn’t lost in Oakland to Duquesne since 1982. Feel the energy.

While Pitt’s program is rolling, Duquesne has enjoyed only one winning season in the past 20 and none since 1993-94. It doesn’t figure to change this year. Only two players returned from a team that endured an atrocious 3-24 season.

After opening with a pair of victories following a chaotic period that included the shooting of five players near the Dukes’ home court, Palumbo Center, it has been 2 1/2 weeks since Everhart’s team has enjoyed success.

The Duquesne team is just a wee bit on the inexperienced side.

Duquesne is the one of the youngest, dressing only two healthy players with Division I experience prior to this season.

How inexperienced is Duquesne compared to Pitt?

Panthers junior Mike Cook has started nearly as many Division I games (47) as every healthy player on the Duquesne active roster combined (51).

And as previously noted, the Dukes have no size to match Aaron Gray.

Another story on how Pitt assistant, Mike Rice, Jr. grew up rooting against Pitt as the son of the Stage Magicians’ Coach.

Some of the players from both teams remember going against each other in the AAU games of NY.

The Panthers have five players from New York: 6-foot-1 Ronald Ramon (Bronx), Levance Fields (Brooklyn), 6-2 Keith Benjamin (Mount Vernon), 6-8 Tyrell Biggs (Nanuet) and 6-9 Austin Wallace (Bronx).

The Dukes have two active players from New York: 6-6 freshman Robert Mitchell (Brooklyn) and 6-3 Stephen Wood (Queens). They also have two Brooklyn natives sitting out this season under transfer rules: 6-9 Shawn James (Northeastern) and 6-2 KoJo Mensah (Siena).

The Duquesne New Yorkers and the Pitt New Yorkers know each other from high school competition, AAU ball in the summer and age-group tournaments that attracted some of the top talent on the East Coast.

Fields, Biggs and Wallace were members of the AAU Gauchos; Wood and Mitchell were on the Metro Hawks.

That should juice the rivalry.

Not that anyone is looking past this game. Afterall, you need to take them one game at a time.

Pitt junior guard Keith Benjamin isn’t looking ahead to the highly ranked Badgers, however, because that could cause some problems.

“We look at every game as a test for us,” he said. “Every game is different, and we have to get up for every game. We don’t want to be the team that loses when we have a chance to be No. 1, so it’s great for everyone. And we’re going to keep working hard to reach that goal.”

Game time is 7:30, er 9 pm (whoops).

No matter how often you think you’ve solved the problem, they just survive and keep coming back.

Mike Kent, the strength and conditioning coach is gone, and the early favorite is one few would object and many would support — Buddy Morris.

Wannstedt is said to have a short list of strength and conditioning coach candidates with Buddy Morris, the strength and conditioning coach at the University of Buffalo, at the top of the list. Morris was the strength and conditioning coach at Pitt from 1980-90 and also from 1997-2001 and is a favorite among many key alumni, particularly many former Pitt football players.

The guy’s an interesting character.

Kevin Gorman picks up on the idea that Rhoads could be being set up for big trouble having to coach the linebackers.

Rhoads’ reprieve comes with a twist. After seven years as secondary coach, he will now be in charge of linebackers. Rhoads inherits a corps facing a major overhaul, as the Panthers lose starters Brian Bennett, H.B. Blades and Clint Session to graduation and are expected to play several freshmen next season.

Rhoads could not be reached for comment.

These will be redshirt freshmen. Guys Wannstedt recruited and has been telling us will be the foundation for the future. Think there won’t be more than a little pressure on him to make sure there are noticeable improvement? Wannstedt’s whole excuse is that the talent isn’t there. Now it is supposed to start showing and impacting.
The fact that Rhoads could not be reached for comment is typical. He had some duties changed and a member of his coaching staff was removed. Can’t get out there and make any comments. It’s not going to be nice friendly questions to him. If it isn’t lauding him or praising him, there is nothing from him.