Now that the underclassmen decisions have been made (Jeff Green going NBA; Dominic James back to Marquette), it will be time for another round of early top-25 predictions. Gary Parrish at Sportsline puts 5 Big East teams in his top 25. Louisville — 5, Georgetown — 8; Marquette — 10; Villanova — 12; and Pitt — 24.
The Panthers are similar to Southern Illinois in that regardless of what leaves, it’s safe to assume they’re going to be pretty good.
Well, it’s a compliment to the consistency of the program at this point. There is a bit less underestimating Pitt after players leave. Personally, I’m not that sold on Marquette being that high. I still question their inside presence (or lack thereof). That said, the Big East will be a jumble with Syracuse, ND, UConn, Providence and WVU all going to be pretty good which is 11 of the 16 teams.
Scout.com/Dale Grdnic had a couple stories on the Pitt assistants. New assistant Tom Herrion says all the right things about staying awhile.
“Few coaches stay a real long time at any one program, and young assistants are mostly looking to move on to head coaching jobs,” Herrion said. “But I’ve already done that. That’s not where I’m at right now in my career, so I’m very glad to be at Pitt. Clearly, Jamie’s success speaks for itself during his four seasons as a head coach at Pitt.
“And he’s not threatened to bring in someone with head coaching experience. That certainly speaks to his level of confidence. As we got to know each other, he found out that wasn’t my agenda. I’m part of a team here, in terms of working with other talented coaches, and we all have a niche to help this program build on its winning tradition.”
Herrion’s big niche is of a top recruiter. He also has experience running a more up-tempo offense. Two things to watch.
Orlando Antigua also gets a piece.
“We want to show the kids that we bring in here that getting a good education, getting a college degree, is just as important as success on the basketball court,” Antigua said. “And they can get both here at Pitt.”
As a native of the Dominican Republic and hometown of the Bronx, N.Y., he has become a key recruiter for Pitt.
“Orlando has played a key role in our recruiting since he joined our staff,” Dixon said. “He understands what type of players we look for and what type of student-athletes we want to represent the University.”
Coach Dixon says the right things about Antigua, but there may be some pressure on him with regards to recruiting. Mike Rice came in last year to really bring in a bunch of recruits to give Pitt it’s best recruiting class in almost 20 years. Tom Herrion this year comes in with a reputation for being an ace recruiter.
Orlando is a former player and is well liked, but he hasn’t received a lot of credit — even if he was the one to keep DeJuan Blair in the ‘Burgh.
This year, the big recruiting target is Eloy Vargas. Pitt had been the presumed favorite for him because Pitt was recruiting him early — before he started making a big impression on coaches from other schools on the AAU circuit — and he had a relationship being built with Antigua. Now that Vargas is getting lots more attention and offers, Pitt seems to be falling back into the pack and it is unclear if Pitt is even considered a lead anymore. If Pitt doesn’t get Vargas that raises some questions about Orlando Antigua’s ability to close on the recruit.
I’m not the type that has any problem with that, but is this still the case? If so, has that affected his ability to academically qualify? Also, how would that impact his recruitment? How many other schools really have the capacity to accomidate a mostly Spanish speaker [we have Antigua and Ramon, if nothing else]?
