Well, Rivals has it’s initial basketball Rivals 150 list for the 2008 recruiting class. Keep in mind, that these rankings will change (see also, Blair, DeJuan). The power forwards and centers dominate the list as this seems to be a strong class for that. Present verbals Nasir Robinson and Travon Woodall are at #86 and #121 respectively. Robinson is considered the 15th best small forward in the country. Woodall is the 21st best point guard according to their rankings.

Considering Pitt’s needs were not pressing at the power forward and center position for this recruiting class, it’s not surprising that, they won’t be highly ranked right now.

One of Pitt’s main targets for the 3d scholarship, Eloy Vargas, is a power forward and ranked 46th. PF Samardo Samuels (St. Benedicts where Dan Hurley coaches), who Pitt may still have a shot at (despite competition from UConn, Florida, Louisville and UNC) is the #6 prospect overall.

This article from Gary Parrish at CBS Sportsline was somewhat amusing about the fans and message boarders obsession about the next great recruiting class and players.

Fans are similar to the rest of us, really.

They enjoy talking about the future more than the present.

Just like we enjoy talking about the future more than the present.

The only difference is fans spend their time talking about recruiting and the next wave of prospects, and we spend our time talking about our next car, our next house, our next job, our next anything. Either way, it’s the same principle at work, lesson being it’s better to dream than live, better to imagine than enjoy.

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“Recruiting gives fans an opportunity to brag and say ‘Look what our program is able to do,'” said Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel. “Fans are able to brag and get on message boards and pick on other fans. It’s very, very odd. It really is. But I’d rather have a top 10 team than a top 10 recruiting class.”

Yeah. I’ll give him that about looking to the future. He loses major points, though, for falling back on what has become the latest sportswriter convention: quoting from message boards as anecdotal evidence to make his point. That point, when it comes to using fan message boards is to “prove” fan expectations/beliefs/views or simply the fans are insane. It’s there, someone posted it, the point is made by their own words.

Such a lazy act. When a sportswriter does it, it’s like he’s announcing that he’s either mailing it in or just needs to fill out column space.

ESPN.com has a list of the top-10 most underrated basketball programs. Pitt makes the list at #7.

Maybe several of these programs are more “underappreciated” than underrated, but all 10 stay true to one central theme: Regardless of size, budget, league or absolute performance, all of them have delivered on the court in a fashion that surpasses the general perception of the programs.

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Jay Bilas’ description of the Panthers is fairly apt — they are one of college hoops’ equivalents to the “best golfer never to win a major.” Under Ben Howland and now Jamie Dixon, though, this program has had a lot of recent success in a very tough and deep conference. This season marked Pitt’s sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, during which the Panthers made the Sweet 16 four different times (2002-04, 2007). The Panthers also claimed at least a piece of three Big East titles from 2002-04 and won the Big East Tournament title in 2004.

The individual ballots are here.

It’s fair to say that, despite the large number of wins, tournament appearances and runs in the Big East Tournament, Pitt is still not going to be a name at the top of most people’s list when it comes to top programs in the country. That’s fine for now.

You don’t change that general perception in one year or even just one decade. Especially when you consider the number of years (decades?) Pitt basketball has been a virtual non-entity. Even when Pitt eventually breaks through to the Elite Eight and Final Four, that still doesn’t make change the perception. It takes sustained success, achievement — and more people burned in their brackets for believing Pitt will go deep, not be the early upset victim.