The verbal of Lamar Patterson is a good start for the 2009 recruiting class.

The 6’5” wing, who can play both small forward and shooting guard at the college level, is an excellent outside shooter that can score from all over the floor, and he is very athletic. Others who offered included Penn State, Minnesota, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami and Michigan.

Right now, Patterson is a 3-star prospect according to the two primary recruiting sites. I expect that he will increase in “stars” as he gets more exposure.

He has good shooting range and scored 40 points in a game earlier this season. Hoopscoop.com ranks him as the 78th-best player in the Class of 2009, and 23rd among small forwards.

He was selected to participate in the Philly Rbk U camp this summer and made an impression at the U-16 tournaments. Lamar is also the younger brother of former Syracuse QB Perry Patterson.

It’s been a while since a team with as high a national ranking as Pitt’s has traveled to Dayton.

UD hasn’t had a visit from a team ranked sixth or higher since a memorable 72-71 victory over No. 3 DePaul on Feb. 18, 1984.

“It’s a terrific opportunity for us,” UD Athletic Director Ted Kissell said. “With nonconference scheduling being what it is, you’re just not going to get many of these (games) anymore. I think it’s going to be a very, very special environment.”

Dayton has fans. They did rank 26th nationally in attendance last year, but this will be their first full house of the season (the Xavier game in February is also sold out).

For Dayton to have a chance against Pitt, their talented freshman forward, Chris Wright will probably need to have a good game. At the very least, they will need him to play. He’s been hobbled by an ankle sprain that he didn’t tell the coaching staff about, and has lingered. At this point, he hasn’t played or practiced in over a week and will be a game time decision. I’d assume he will play and be effective, but that will keep Dayton fans a bit nervous.

Pitt, of course, has it’s own issues with injuries. Mike Cook will be replaced in the starting line-up by Gilbert Brown.

“I have to be more aggressive and be ready from the start instead of just playing fill-in minutes and giving energy to the team. I have to be more consistent with what I do.”

Brown is one of three players who will see increased playing time due to Cook’s injury. Senior Keith Benjamin, the backup shooting guard, will play more minutes at small forward. And freshman Bradley Wanamaker, who has not played since the Duquesne game Dec. 4, will see more minutes at small forward and shooting guard.

“We lose about 25 minutes a game, so there are 25 minutes available for other guys now,” Dixon said. “Obviously, Keith, Gilbert and Bradley will get those minutes. We interchange those guys a lot. We put a lot of different packages out there. We have a lot of flexibility. I know those guys are looking forward to the opportunity.”

It’s something of a minor upset that Brown gets the starting nod over Senior Guard Keith Benjamin. Dixon’s loyalty to starting seniors has been very noticeable in the past (John DeGroat being the most glaring example). Still, it’s hard to ignore Brown’s higher potential and size. Not to mention sticking with a forward rather than starting a three guard line-up.

Bradley Wanamaker is also likely to return to the rotation and Benjamin is saying the right things.

The injury also lands Benjamin with his biggest role since arriving at Pitt four years ago. Benjamin hasn’t played more than 21 minutes in any game since his sophomore season. Cook’s injury leaves Benjamin and Ramon as the only seniors who play.

“My voice has to be heard a little bit more now,” Benjamin said. “I have to do more things better.”

Wanamaker, who hasn’t played since the Dec. 5 Duquesne game, will switch to shooting guard, where he can show some of the skills that made him a standout Philly high school player, and some small forward.

“It’s not going to be too much of an adjustment for him,” Dixon said.

Shame Darnell Dodson couldn’t qualify academically. He definitely would have gotten some of the freed-up minutes.

Interesting note from Fittipaldo’s Q&A today about Dixon and former AD Jeff Long.

… Let me say this: Dixon is very comfortable now that Steve Pederson is the athletic director again. Pederson and Dixon have a very good relationship. Dixon’s relationship with Jeff Long was strained to the point that they almost never spoke. When Dixon was entertaining offers from Arizona State and Missouri a few years ago, he phoned Pederson, who was the athletic director at Nebraska at the time, for advice. Pederson reminded Dixon that he was in a very good situation at Pitt, and Dixon opted to stay and a sign a long-term extension.

That doesn’t mean Pitt fans don’t have to worry about Dixon leaving now that Pederson is back. The more Pitt wins the more other programs looking for a coach will put the full-court press on for Dixon. It comes with the territory of having a perennial top 25 program.

Here are the Pitt Game Notes (PDF). Dayton hasn’t put theirs out at this time.

Ray from the excellent Flyers Fieldhouse Blog contacted me about doing a little Q&A after the Pitt-Duke game — he apparently couldn’t sleep. I fired off the first questions.

1. Brian Roberts seems to have picked up where he left up last year, but with a couple more assists per game. Freshman Chris Wright appears to be as good as his recruiting ranking. So, who else should Pitt fans be wary/get to know on this Dayton squad?

I’ve been overwhelmed by the transformation of Charles Little over the past year. Charles was the A-10 Sixth Man of the Year last year, and still comes off the bench. He’s currently averaging about 7 points and 5 boards per night, but that doesn’t even begin to do justice to the player he’s become. At 6-6 and 230, the guy is built like a prototypical tight end, and moves like one, too. The problem used to be he’d get in foul trouble for being too physical, rather than relying on everything he’d been taught. This year he’s moving without the ball better, posting up better, and taking his man off the dribble better as well. He’s a matchup problem for nearly anyone he sees.

He still can’t shoot free throws to save his life. I think he’s gotten bored and is actually trying to fire them through the backboard.

2. Dayton’s tempo is not that of a run-and-gun team. Is it based primarily on a hard, tough defense or from a deliberate, half-court, set offense? How has Dayton been able to control the pace of games against opponents?

While they don’t prefer to run and gun, they can get it up there if need be. But you’re right; we’d rather slow it down and make teams beat us from the perimeter if at all possible. Someone the number of passes on the offensive end have made me feel like we’re watching Hoosiers. And it’s very effective; they won’t settle for bad shots. They’re perfectly content to keep on lobbing it around until they get the shot that they (and Brian Gregory) want.

On defense, we haven’t played much zone. The athletes on the floor almost demand you play an up front, physical man-to-man. This makes it hard to get off shots that are both quick and high-percentage. I’ve always been a proponent of the effectiveness of a good 2-3 zone in the college game, but I can’t argue with results. The Flyers have held teams to a very low percentage from the floor.

3. I’ve heard and read rumblings of dissatisfaction with the overall performance by Coach Brian Gregory. Can you explain the reason(s)? Is it his personality, style of play and/or not meeting expectations? Is this a make or break year for him with the talent on the team? What kind of impact do you think adding Anthony Solomon to the coaching staff is/will have on the team from a coaching/preparation/recruiting standpoint?

I’ll admit that I’ve always been the first to question Brian Gregory. The problem in my eyes had been the development of athletes into players. We’re finally beginning to see the type of real players that Brian Gregory saw when he recruited these kids. They’re smart and disciplined, and that’s the first sign to me that Brian Gregory is finally getting through. I think the recruits that Brian has brought in, coupled with his enthusiasm and dedication to the program, have bought him several more years. But, in the end, we need to keep seeing the results in the W column.

I think Anthony has been great for this staff. He was in a virtual no-win situation at St. Bonaventure. The fact that he managed to help keep that program alive after Weldergate is a credit to his worth as a coach. He has east coast ties, which is great for recruiting. Also, it never hurts to have a former A-10 head coach in your ear when you’re preparing for the conference slate. Excellent hire, in my opinion.

4. The A-10 has had well-deserved attention so far this season with Dayton, Rhode Island, Xavier and UMass all scoring some quality wins. That said, with 14 teams it seems that the A-10 is nearly as unwieldly as the Big East. Peering into your Crystal Ball, how do you see the A-10 looking in 5 years?

To be honest, I hope to cut back down to 12 teams. I liked the addition of Charlotte and Saint Louis, but as you said, the conference is just too saturated right now. It’s really hard for teams to rise above the middle of the pack in such a large conference, as the conference slate is almost big to avoid notching four or five losses. This is fine in a conference with the repute of the Big East, but the A-10 is not of that caliber from top to bottom. If you don’t separate from the pack, getting the attention of the selection committee is a tall task.

That said, booting any teams from the conference is something that is bound to end up in court. Say we take two perennially in the cellar, like St. Bonaventure and La Salle. It’s not like they have a conference they could jump to that will match the revenues they’re sharing now in the A-10. Unfortunately, I think the room is bound to remain crowded for the foreseeable future

Look for his questions and my answers later today.

Pitt moved up to #8 in SI.com’s Luke Winn’s Power Rankings, with the focus on the P-G puffer on Levance Fields and the same bit I liked (do I need to revise my view?).

ESPN.com’s Power Poll puts Pitt at #6.

Pitt’s big rally — and the big Fields 3 against Duke showed skill and fortitude. Losing Mike Cook is a downer. Resolution: Get to the free-throw line more. Also, take smiling lessons from DeJuan Blair.

In a less related note, Aaron Gray has moved up in attention among NBA rookies.

This 10th spot seems to be reserved for the one-week wonders. This week it’s the Bulls’ big man out of Pitt. Given three straight games of at least 20 minutes, Gray responded by averaging 10.6 points and 7.3 rebounds. Of course, he came back to earth on Saturday (and Big Ben returned to the lineup), so if the pattern holds up, Gray’s stay in the rankings might be short-lived.

After Kevin Durant, the rookie pool has been a little low on impact so far. That has meant the “role player” rookies are actually doing more.

Among players who weren’t lottery picks but have started to carve out a niche in the league are Miami’s Daequan Cook, New Jersey’s Williams, Detroit’s Arron Afflalo, Boston’s Glen Davis, Utah’s Kyrylo Fesenko and Chicago’s Gray, who looks like the best bargain value of the 2007 crop.

According to Boston’s Doc Rivers, the current draft culture hurt the 7-footer out of Pittsburgh most, because teams started poking holes at his game instead of concentrating on what he could do. What he can do is establish a presence inside, gain position and bang the offensive boards.