Many different reactions I imagine to Madison, Ohio Tight End Nic DiLillo decommitting from Pitt (so much for what his mom wanted) and committing instead to Ohio State once they offered him. I mean, it’s hard to be too offended that he backed out of a verbal to Pitt, when he did the same to Clemson. Plenty of thoughts about how the kid just can’t make up his mind and maybe he just shouldn’t have kept giving verbals if he was continually waiting for a better offer.

On the other hand, maybe the kid is playing the recruiting game correctly. He verballed to the best offer gotten early, then upgraded once and then twice. Each time getting a little closer to home and a bigger name in college football. Ohio State came calling, finally, for him. Arguably, as annoying as it can be to see a kid decommit, at least it was done in late July rather than October or November.

I imagine there will be the standard story about how he always dreamed of playing for tOSU and when the offer came, he couldn’t say no to his dream. Heck, I noted back in late June when his verbal was pending to Pitt that if they offered, he’d probably jump again.

UPDATE: Yep, sure enough courtesy of Gorman’s blog:

“I’m ready to take the heat for committing again, but to see the look on my parents’ face made it worthwhile to me,” DiLillo told the Scout.com Ohio State site. “I’ve never seen them happier. Ohio State is my dream school. What kid doesn’t grow up wanting to be a Buckeye? I know I look like a jerk, but had the Buckeyes offered earlier there never would have been any thought of Pittsburgh or Clemson.”

According to the post, DiLillo and his family also went to Pittsburgh and dropped some cash on Pitt gear along with stopping by to see the coaches  before announcing he changed his mind.

Yesterday at the end of the post about Clermond having charges against him dropped, I was going to rip the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They were the first media outlet to report the story of his arrest back on July 24 when Paul Zeise broke the story on the P-G’s website. And when it was published online, they put it in REALLY BIG LETTERS at the top of the page. So I was a little curious as to why it took them so long to put up the story of his release from the charges. Does the Post-Gazette have some sort of anti-Pitt agenda? (Gasp!)

I decided not to bring it up yesterday, and today I learned that it might have just been a product of a bad week for Mr. Zeise.

In introducing the topic, Pompeani said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is “probably going to suspend [Vick] for the rest of the season, the whole year. Is he right to do that given the fact this guy has not been convicted of anything?” Alexander answered: “Absolutely. When you’re indicted by the federal government, you’re going down. Since 1987 they have a 92 percent conviction rate.”

Zeise took an opposing view. “It’s really a sad day in this country when somehow … Michael Vick would have been better off raping a woman if you look at the outcry of what happened. Had he done that, he probably would have been suspended for four games and he’d be back on the field. But because this has become a political issue, all of a sudden the commissioner has lost his stomach for it.”

I don’t know what the best part of the article is: Zeise’s comments or the fact that the apology from the newspaper was penned by the lovable Bob Smizik.

This fails to explain why Pitt coverage has always been a little bit behind from the P-G. Meanwhile, Kevin Gorman over at the Trib does an excellent job and keeps from being a complete homer.

Kevin Gorman at the Trib is reporting that Joe Clermond had marijuana possession charges against him withdrawn. Police found the a small amount of the drug in a car Clermond was riding in on the way home from a concert at Mellon Arena. Apparently there was enough reason to believe Clermond had nothing to do with it. Clermond’s release from the charges will help him avoid what could have been a possible suspension.

Not really much else to say on the topic — hopefully, for Clermond’s sake as a young man, people can simply forget about this as though it never happened. He was cleared quickly enough that we can easily move forward from the whole situation.

Everyone likes Power Rankings, yet never before have we seen them completely dedicated to our Pittsburgh Panthers. Every week or so we’ll take a look at the biggest news makers related to Pitt sports — all in Power Ranking form.

5. Aaron Gray, center, Chicago Bulls
Gray’s been signed, and Chas wrote about that a few days ago. I was a bit surprised, however, whenever I clicked on the link to the Bulls website and saw this picture:

Definitely kind of odd to see Gray without a Pitt jersey on. Joakim Noah? Still don’t like him.

4. New Pitt football jerseys
Speaking of jerseys, Pitt’s are supposedly scheduled to be released on August 9. There have been two possible concepts floating around the message boards (home and away) but I won’t believe it until I see it.

3. College Football Live, ESPN
There are plenty of things I don’t really like about ESPN, but their new show College Football Live is a winner. You can see it at weekdays at 3:30 on ESPN and again at 6:30 on ESPN2. And if you were wondering, Mark May is a regular on the show.

2. Jim Delany, Big Ten Commissioner
We’ve talked at length about the possible Big Ten expansion that Delany might be proposing as well as Pitt’s place in the big scheme of things. One problem about the Big Ten adding a team is that they’ll need to change one of the best logos in all of sports. Notice the 11 that is formed around the ‘t’…

1. Football training camp
The countdown to camp is at less than a week and it’s pretty easy to see that the football talk is really heating up. September 1 is the start of a new year…time to start getting excited.

Two days ago the Des Moines Register published an article about Big Ten commish Jim Delany talking about possible expansion from 11 to 12 teams (link via USA Today). Since then it’s been a strong point of discussion on TV, in newspapers, and on blogs.

The expansion talks come with the upcoming release of the Big Ten Network. The network, which is scheduled to launch Aug. 30, could use another big-name university in a large television market to gain more exposure for the network and its sponsors.

So who could be that extra team? Obviously the first team that the conference will give significant attention to will be Notre Dame, but it’s more than likely that ND will quickly turn down the offer. A national TV deal, the ability to schedule whoever they want, and the fact that they can take the Big East’s bowl bids. As long as the Big East is getting a BCS bid then ND will gladly take it. Might as well cross the Irish off of the list of possibilities right now.

Then next tier of possible teams include Syracuse and Rutgers. Syracuse first: they allow the conference’s reach to extend to upstate New York. It’s a decent media market but wouldn’t get the attention of NYC residents. Plus they’re primarily a hoops school and the Big East, while not one of the top two or three football conferences, is one of the best for basketball.

What about Rutgers? They might feel as though if they add Rutgers they will gain a hold on New York City, the #1 US market, but that’s hardly true. Piscataway is over 40 miles from NYC and even after the RU football team has picked up a ton of hype, the NYC market barely notices. NYC is a pro sports town dominated by the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, and both NFL teams — not much room left for a college team, located a half hour away no less, to get attention.

The last tier of possibilities likely includes the following teams: Louisville, Missouri, your Pittsburgh Panthers, and maybe a handful of others. Louisville is a program that as a whole is on the rise…but they’re TV market isn’t all that appealing. It’s no secret that Missouri wants to join the Big Ten and adding them opens up the state of Missouri including possibly St. Louis. But what about Pitt? Well, what are the current B10 members saying about Pitt? One of the best college football bloggers (Brian Cook) on one of the best CFB blogs (MGoBlog) has this to say about the Panthers:

PROs: Geographic and academic fit. Also provides natural rival for Penn State. Football program has rich history; basketball program would be a fine addition.

CONs: Michigan and OSU are already raiding the hell out of the WPIAL. Adding Pitt opens no new recruiting grounds and only marginally raises interest in the Pittsburgh market. Their football fanbase would be amongst the worst in the conference.

Verdict: I guess. I would rather take a chance on Rutgers, personally.

Black Shoe Diaries has this to say…

2. Pitt – This isn’t the smartest choice for the Big Ten, but then this is my wish list. For all the crap I give Pitt around here, I want to see this rivalry played every year. Everyone does. Adding Pitt makes that happen.

But this doesn’t jive with Delany’s wish to expand the market for his new network. If it’s true he has an eye on the New York market, Pitt isn’t going to work.

Basically it comes down to this — the pros vs. the cons. We’re here in Pennsylvania, so we’re close enough for consideration. We have a long traditional rivalry going with PSU. As Brian says, we have a football program with a strong history and I don’t think things are going to be much worse than last season — things can really only go up. Our basketball team has been one of the best in the nation over the last 5 years and it doesn’t look like it’s going backwards any time soon. Pitt is also more than a two sport school. Many of our other sports are doing well, including a women’s hoops team on the rise. We have great facilities for football, basketball, and swimming, and with the planned renovations, the “Olympic sports” will have upgraded facilities as well.

That’s the good stuff…so what about the bad? Firstly, adding us doesn’t exactly open up a whole new market. Whether we like it or not, there’s a large contingent of Penn State folks here in Pittsburgh, so the Big Ten already has a portion of the city’s attention. We’re not in a recruiting area that hasn’t already been tapped into by Big Ten teams like they might get from a team like Missouri.

So what are the actual chances that we’d ever get seriously considered/invited? If I had to guess, I’d say the list looks like so (remember this is not who the B10 WANT, but the chance of it actually HAPPENING):

1. Rutgers
2. Missouri
3. Pitt

MGoBlog has the same three but instead has Pitt at #2 and Mizzou at #3. Black Shoe Diaries has Pitt at #2.

Say next year we do, in fact, have an offer extended to us. What’s our answer? Do we stay put in the Big East or take it? Personally I don’t know what I want us to do. Maybe we’ll just have to wait and cross that bridge when it comes, but the fact that we’re even in the consideration is interesting enough.

Having a good summer league has nothing to do with how good you will actually be in the pros. It does, however, affect whether you are going to get a contract. Aaron Gray had a solid summer.

Surprises: Aaron Gray, who averaged just about 10 points and 5.5 rebounds a game over the entire course of both summer leagues. Some suggested he could be a steal going so deep into the second round of June’s draft, and now it’s looking as though Chicago might be able to use his size and some of his low post moves. John Paxson has said he may explore giving Gray some time in the developmental league, but it also wouldn’t be surprising to see him on the roster come October.

Gray made “honorable mention” in the Orlando summer league session. He has also signed a contract with Chicago. The terms, of course, were not disclosed. It’s a bit jarring though, to see him in a Bulls jersey.

Not to mention getting involved in the Maryland and Virginia recruiting areas. Those seem to be the most noticeable factors in the verbal of Ronald Hobby.

Not only is Hobby from an area Pitt has targeted – Panthers receivers coach Aubrey Hill recruits Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington – but he has been consistently timed at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

“He’s a burner,” Scout.com recruiting analyst Bob Lichtenfels said.

He’s also not lacking for confidence.

“I’m electrifying,” the cornerback/receiver/return specialist said. “I think that’s the best way to say it.”

He did have offers from BC, VT and Syracuse. As a 1 to 2-star “athlete,” he’s a project who would likely see most of his early action on special teams.

I exchanged e-mails with Mr. Reed Patterson from the Pitt ticket office about tickets for away games. Plenty of info in the message I received from him.

Away game tickets are currently on sale to ONLY Panther Club members and Season Ticket holders, and all away games are available to those members. Each away game is priced according to whatever the team we are playing charges for that particular game. There is a maximum amount of tickets that someone is able to buy, and the location of those tickets will be in the away team sections (which will be different for each team we play). If you are a Panther Club member or Season Ticket holder and would like away game tickets please call the ticket office at 1800-643-7488. If you are not one of the previously mentioned group members, please check our website to see what , IF ANY, away games will be available.

If everything goes as planned, I’m hoping to go to the games at Michigan State and West Virginia.

The arrest of Joe Clermond for possession of marijuana is frustrating and mainly stupid. The fact is, I think Clermond will have to be suspended for at least two games. Mainly because his behavior was incredibly stupid, selfish and irresponsible.

On a personal/political level, I stand with former Pitt great Mark Stepnoski on legalization of marijuana. I find this offense  at the level of underage drinking or violating an open container law on my personal scale of where it ranks in offenses by college athletes. I’m not a big fan of the drug war and that’s the extent I’ll editorialize on the issue.

The fact is, though, that Clermond was arrested and charged with possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana. A minor misdemeanor punishable by up to  30 days and a $500 fine. The “good news” for Clermond is that the charges don’t include anything about paraphernalia — which is actually a more serious misdemeanor. He broke the law and was caught.

He’s also a scholarship player at Pitt representing the school and the football team. He was one of the players to go to Big East Media Days. An expected team captain and leader on the defense. He has dinged his own future — with a character flag.  In other words, he has to carry and behave as more than simply a college kid.

It might seem unfair to Clermond to be held to a higher standard, but it’s not like he was unaware of the way things are.

There’s a good chance the charges could be dropped if someone else takes the blame for the stuff. That doesn’t matter. Clermond was there with it present. He bears responsibility to the team, and I don’t see how Coach Wannstedt doesn’t suspend him for at least one game or two.

For the Big East media days, Rivals Radio interviewed a player from each Big East team. Pitt’s representative was Derek Kinder and the interview can be heard here. Before even finishing greeting one another, the interviewer immediately asks, “Who is going to be your starting quarterback?” The answer was pretty much what you’d expect: he’s seen three different guys in practice and didn’t say if any where ahead of the others.

He says the upcoming season isn’t looking too bad and that last year’s 6-6 record was a failure in the end. When he talks about them needing to finish games better, I automatically gag and think of the Michigan State and UConn games. In all, it’s a quick little interview, and not a bad listen.

Also, for your Penn State fill of the week, two articles about PSU and more specifically, their fan base. The first is from Rakes of Mallow, a Notre Dame blog. Penn State and Notre Dame are two of the three teams I dislike the most (WVU the third) but the ND writer makes some great points; highly recommended reading.

I don’t blame Penn State for trying to find a rival, as they don’t really have one. Ohio State is considerably more concerned with Michigan, and vice-versa, while the Irish are more focused on the Wolverines and Trojans. They could restart the local rivalry with Pitt, but the Lions envision themselves on some sort of blue-and-white pedestal when it comes to playing the Panthers.

There was also a reader submission from Mondesi’s House about college allegiances. The reader says that his Penn State co-workers dislike his favorite coach, Jim Tressel.

You would think Jim Tressel stole some of these fans’ dates to the prom, they HATE him with such passion.

This is the classic case of where PSU fans are looking for a rival. They try to act all tough towards Ohio State when Buckeye fans simply shrug it off since they have more important teams to throw their animosity towards.

Joe Clermond is one of the shining parts of a defense that lost three NFL Draft picks. He’s the poster boy of the 2007 defense and is on the schedule wallpaper/poster this year. He’s also on the Watch List for the 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy given to the top defensive player in college football, as well as on Watch Lists for the Chuck Bednarik and Ted Hendricks awards.

Now, he’s in trouble with the law for marijuana possession. Riding home with a few other people, the car he was in was pulled over with a small amount of marijuana found. He was released but will be in court for a preliminary hearing set for July 30.

“We are aware of the situation that occurred over the weekend involving Joe Clermond,” Pitt spokesman E.J. Borghetti said. “At this juncture we will decline comment and let the judicial process run its course.”

I’m sure we’ll hear more about this over the next few days and weeks.

Edit: For what it’s worth…

Sources tell PSI that Clermond is insisting that he wasn’t smoking the marijuana and was just in the car.

If you have Comcast On Demand, turn it on right now. There you’ll find a replay of Pitt vs. Providence from January 25, 1988. With Pitt holding a 6-5 lead and 15:24 left in the first half, we start the fast break. Jerome Lane gets the ball, winds up, slams it — broken backboard, glass everywhere, crowd goes nuts.

Here’s how: Your Town > Local Sports > Fox Sports Pittsburgh > Pitt Hoops

It’s the original broadcast with a few cutaways where FSN’s Rob King interviews former guard Jason Matthews. Watch it for yourself and you’ll enjoy it. You can also Pitt and UConn play for the 2003 Big East Championship with some commentary from Brandin Knight.

On the football side of the On Demand fun, you can watch the Blue-Gold game that happened back in the spring. I’ve yet to watch more than a few minutes of it but you might be able to gauge how a few more players look after watching it. From the On Demand main menu, go to Your Town > College Life > Pitt > Athletics. Your commentators for the game are FSN’s Marshall Harris as well as Foge Fazio.

I have to concede to having doubts about how much Coach Dixon will actually let the offense speed up. There’s just human nature to fall back on what has worked. Especially, if the offense costs the team too frequently with defenses lapses.

Then I read that he’ll be working at the camp put together by Memphis Coach John Calipari (July 23 entry).

The latter, naturally, was the preferred route, and that’s what led to the creation of the first annual Adidas Midsouth Coaches Clinic that’ll be held just outside Memphis on Sept. 14-16. The set-up is for Walberg and Calipari to discuss and explain the ballyhooed dribble-drive motion offense that Memphis has used to earn back-to-back trips to the Elite Eight and a No. 1 ranking in CBS SportsLine.com’s preseason rankings. Among the other coaches scheduled to appear and instruct are Bob Knight, Larry Brown, Del Harris, Rick Barnes, John Pelphrey, Jamie Dixon and Stan Heath.

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that Pitt is an Adidas school and the sponsor of the camp is Adidas.

Still, Coach Dixon will be spending part of his dead recruiting period speaking and learning about an offensive style that is more much up-tempo.

Sorry to have taken a few unannounced days off. Things have been crazy with a lot of family travel and other work issues that completely took me away from the computer. Time I thought I would have was completely occupied with other things. It likely won’t get cleared up for another week, so I’m not going to say I’m fully back yet. There will likely be spurts and starts, but nothing consistent.

Something I did read that was almost too painful. At SI.com, Luke Winn had a list of the top impact transfers in basketball since 2000 — or at least those who helped their team to the Final Four.  Two squads with impact transfers included the teams that knocked out Pitt in 2003 and 2004.

Oklahoma State’s quartet: Joey Graham, PF (from Central Florida) Stephen Graham, SF (from Central Florida) John Lucas III, PG (from Baylor) Daniel Bobik, SG (from BYU)

…

Robert Jackson, PF, Marquette (from Mississippi State)

Against Pitt, Jackson went for 16 points on 6-8 shooting.

Someday, I won’t wince when I see these sort of things.

Two new positions inside the Pitt basketball offices are being filled. Former point guard Brandin Knight was named Director of Men’s Basketball Operations while Mark Rhodehamel will take over the position of Director of Women’s Basketball Operations.

The position the Knight is taking over became open once David Cox left after a short tenure here in order to take a spot down at Georgetown.

Knight, who served the 2006-07 academic year as Pitt’s Program Assistant/Video Coordinator, will manage the day-to-day operations of the men’s basketball program, serve as liaison to athletic department officials as well as coordinate student-athletes’ practice, game and daily schedules.

Rhodehamel, who will now do similar jobs for the women’s team, has done a ton of other jobs for Pitt. Some of them include assisting as tournament manager for the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament held at the Pete, producing presentations for facilities updates and tournament operations, as well as overseeing operations for several athletic program events including football, gymnastics, wrestling, volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball.