An e-mail that I believe is being sent to all football season ticket holders.

Dear Panthers Fan,

I am writing to thank you for your commitment to our football program as a season ticket holder. Your support means a great deal to our players, coaches and entire athletic department.

I am also asking for your help, input and opinions. As a season ticket holder, you experience Pitt football in many different ways. We are dedicated to ensuring that experience ranks among the very best in the country.To help us achieve that goal, I would like to get your insights on such subjects as the Heinz Field game day experience, ticketing, your interactions with the Pitt athletic department or any other thoughts you may have. We are also interested in your ideas on how to build an outstanding home field advantage by attracting other football fans to Heinz Field.I don’t think this information is best read on a survey. Instead, I welcome you to write me directly, or email me at spederson@athletics.pitt.edu. For your convenience, I am also sending a hard copy of this letter to your mailing address on file with a postage paid envelope if you prefer to use traditional mail. Your opinions and ideas are very important to Pitt and will help us make the best decisions going into the future.

We are extremely excited about our football program. Recruiting has been excellent and that bodes well for future success. Coach Wannstedt has an excellent staff and they are working hard to build a championship future at Pitt.

Under the direction of Coach Wannstedt, our young team made tremendous strides in the face of adversity this past season and saved their finest performance for last. After watching our stunning victory over West Virginia, it was hard not to anticipate the exciting possibilities for 2008. In fact, Sports Illustrated has already looked ahead to next year and highlighted the Panthers as the 2008 college football season’s potential “breakout” team. We return 17 starters, including two of the nation’s rising stars in linebacker Scott McKillop, who was named to various All-America squads this year, and tailback LeSean McCoy, who broke the Big East freshman rushing record and was selected the conference’s “Rookie of the Year.”

We can also look forward to one of our finest home schedules in recent memory. We will play six games at Heinz Field, including Big East rivals West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers, as well as traditional Big Ten power Iowa.

I look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions. Best wishes for a great 2008 and Hail to Pitt!

Sincerely,

Steve

As I noted yesterday, it looked when McGhee went in there that the Bulls had no clue about the guy. It was true.

The fact that McGhee was a big part of the victory was shocking to the Bulls. He had three total points entering the game.

“McGhee didn’t even make the scouting report, but he did a heck of a job for Pitt tonight,” South Florida coach Stan Heath said.

Apparently McGhee earned the minutes. Not just because Blair got in early foul trouble.

BB_nut: With the way McGhee played last night, do you think JD will use him more?

Paul Zeise: Well I just walked out of Dixon’s news conference and a big part of his message was exactly that — that he wants to get McGhee a lot of minutes and more importantly, he wanted to going into last night’s game — not just because of the foul trouble to Blair — because he thinks he has earned it and he can help the Panthers under the basket.

By the way, the Panthers Weekly episode where Dixon talks about injuries to Diggs and McGhee keeping them out of the line-up is on FSN-Pittsburgh on Saturday @ 1:30 and Sunday @ 2:30.

Sam Young and Keith Benjamin are going to play up the disrespect card/chip on the shoulder/something to prove mentality.

“A lot of media say we’re going to fall ofg the board,” junior forward Sam Young said. “But basically, I’m still here. Some other guys who have been playing good all year, they are still here.”

…

Benjamin, who is averaging 18.3 points in three games since moving into the starting lineup, said he’s tired of hearing about Pitt no longer being a factor in the Big East.

“I don’t like people talking and saying we can’t do something as a team,” he said. “I feel we are still one of the best teams in the country, no matter who we lost.”

Whatever motivates them and their teammates.

From the USF media perspective, there were a few different views about the biggest problem from the game. There was the defense or lack thereof from the Bulls.

What USF didn’t have against No.20 Pittsburgh on Wednesday night was any kind of defense, and the Panthers used a 14-2 run in the second half and steady shooting to pull away to a 79-66 victory.

“Our defense just wasn’t there,” Bulls coach Stan Heath said. “Any time somebody comes into your house and is able to shoot over 50 percent, it’s not a good sign.”

Gransberry matched a career high with 26 points and added 11 rebounds, but the Bulls had little else to help him inside. The Bulls as a team could do little to slow Pitt, which hit 53 percent of its shots and half its 3-pointers.

“Don’t be surprised if there’s no baskets up today and we just spend the whole time defending,” Heath said of his next practice. “It’s not acceptable to give up those kinds of percentages.”

The removal of the rims is an old technique Heath learned from Tom Izzo while an assistant at Michigan State. Football pads may also be used.

Another perspective saw the balance of Pitt’s scoring versus the almost one-man show of USF.

USF got another standout performance from 6-9 center Kentrell Gransberry, who carried the team on his back and tied his career high with 26 points. The senior also pulled down 11 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.

Jesus Verdejo, whose point production has slumped in recent weeks, came alive with 17 points, hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc while knocking down 7-of-9 shots. Freshman guard Dominique Jones chipped in 13 points, but no other Bull had more than four points, and USF got only four points from its bench.

“We’ve got to get more production out of our bench, and we’ve got to find someone to fill that small forward spot,” Heath said.

Finally, the problem was inside.

Instead, Pitt played volleyball on the boards until the Panthers finally scored. The deficit was 10 and the game was essentially lost. The life got sucked out of the Sun Dome and people started heading for the exits with five minutes left, not sticking around for Pitt’s 79-66 win to become official.

“That sequence kind of summed up the game,” Bulls coach Stan Heath said. “We just didn’t have an answer on the rebounding end.”

Indeed, Pitt’s inside play was the difference in the game, despite the best efforts of USF’s Kentrell Gransberry. His 26 points and 11 rebounds helped keep the Bulls in the game as long as he could, but, well, let’s put it this way: the answers to help USF become competitive in the Big East aren’t necessarily on the roster just yet.

The crowd was their largest of the season at 6027.

Slow and steady wins the race. That may have been one of the most grinding 79-66 games I can remember. When you see a halftime score of 40-33, you think Pitt must have been running a bit. Instead, it was just good shooting. Pitt shot over 50% in both halves. They withstood runs, and kept scoring. Other than the final couple minutes Pitt’s longest stretch without scoring a point the entire game was a little under two minutes midway through the first half — when Pitt went from being up 22-17 to being tied 22 all. That was also the last time Pitt was tied or trailed the Bulls.

I think the big thing for most Pitt fans was Gary McGhee. I happened to watch the Monday edition of the Jamie Dixon Show of Panthers Weekly today. He said that McGhee and Diggs have been battling little injuries, but getting better and could expect them to be playing soon. To be honest, I assumed he was blowing a little smoke to excuse not playing Diggs and laying the groundwork to claim a medical redshirt for McGhee. Maybe not.

McGhee looked surprisingly good. I guess he has been coming along in practice. It helped that the Bulls were totally unprepared for him. They seemed to expect him to be a space and foul eater for Pitt. As such they ignored him on offense, which helped free him up for a couple easy baskets that really gave him confidence. After his second score, Doris Burke had a couple minutes to pour through her notes to observe that the Pitt coaches said regarding McGhee: “They say he’s more developed as a freshman than Aaron Gray was.”

Um, context please. Gray played practically no minutes as a freshman. Was completely raw and doughy. Talk about damning with faint praise. Gray came in as a project, not a McDonald’s All-American.

Late in the first half, Keith Benjamin began feeling it. By the 3:33 mark in the first half he had 11 of his 20 points.

Most of Pitt’s turnovers came in the 1st half. In this game, I don’t think Ramon was as big a culprit. I saw a lot of the early turnovers happen because the players are just not familiar enough with each other on the court. Spacing was off, Brown and Benjamin each had at least one turnover because they got too deep and there was no one where they assumed/expected to pass off the ball. Shockingly, Pitt only had 10 turnovers.

Holy crap, assists. Ramon had 7, Brown had 4 and Wanamaker and Benjamin each had 3.

Gilbert Brown looked a lot more confident in his shooting in this game and it translated to 10 points on 4-7 shooting (2-4 on 3s). Less tentative especially in the second half. Making a couple early baskets definitely encouraged him.

USF is an improving team, but they just aren’t good enough. It took a little longer, and the difference wasn’t as vast, but there was a lot in the way this game went that reminded me of what I saw from the Bulls in their loss to Syracuse on Saturday. They hung tight for the first 10 minutes or so, then started drifting off the pace. A couple minor runs to make it look like they might challenge; but then fading out. The major difference was that USF shot pitifully at the Carrier Dome, unlike tonight.

Something for Coach Dixon and the assistants to work with the players on. Not getting burned on screens. For the last 4 games, I have been seeing a lot of single, double and even triple screens being run against Pitt to free up shooters. Maybe some more of the 2-3 zone will help, but it seems to me that teams are really using the screen against Pitt’s man defense a lot more. And quite effectively.

Yeah, Wednesday nights are lousy for me. I’ll be back later with DVR Delayed Thoughts.

Regardless of Pitt’s injuries, they are still a ranked team, and teams like USF dream of knocking off ranked teams.

“When you beat a ranked team at home, it goes on your resume for the NCAA Tournament committee,” Gransberry said. “It’s possible to get there with nine nonconference wins and I think 18 wins is possible to get a bid to the NIT or NCAA.”

…

Gransberry and point guard Chris Howard said the Bulls expect more.

“It’s going to take a win against a nationally ranked team to gain the respect from the analysts,” Howard said.

And Gransberry said the push for the postseason begins tonight.

“This is the starting point for the rest of the season,” Gransberry said. “Playing a ranked opponent and protecting the home court.”

The Bulls have played two Big East games. Beating woeful Rutgers and losing handily at Syracuse. There should be a good match-up inside between DeJuan Blair and Kantrell Gransberry.

Gransberry is a taller, more experienced version of Blair. One season after being the only player in the Big East to average a double-double, the 6-foot-9, 270-pound Gransberry is averaging 15.1 points and 11.6 rebounds. The former LSU transfer is a projected late second-round NBA draft pick.

“He’s a big, physical guy,” Dixon said. “He’s an inside force for them. He’s a good rebounder. He has great hands. Anything he touches he seems to hold onto. He’s a presence.”

The guy who scares me, though, is one of the players who will be right there with Blair for Big East Newcomer of the Year — guard Dominique Jones.

The Bulls are a better team than last year. With some improved talent and a better coach. USF got extremely lucky when their coaching search completely floundered with targets like Gregg Marshall refusing USF in favor of Wichita State. It looked only retreads were willing to consider the job. That was until Akransas decided to toss Stan Heath over expecting to be able to land then Texas A&M and now Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie. Whoops.

USF was able to swoop in and get Heath, who after some early struggles and injuries has looked a lot better. Really, though, who is saying Pitt despises him?

South Florida coach Stan Heath laughed over the phone yesterday when he was told that he was still despised at the University of Pittsburgh six years after he handed Pitt a devastating defeat in the NCAA tournament.

“Let it go, Pittsburgh,” Heath said good-naturedly. “I’m at South Florida and the other coach [Ben Howland] is at UCLA.”

In March 2002, Heath was the coach at Kent State when he and forward Antonio Gates spoiled Pitt’s hopes of reaching the Final Four in an NCAA third-round game in Lexington, Ky.

The game is on ESPN2 at 7:30, here are Pitt’s game notes (PDF).

Late to just get through some things.

Shockingly, Doug Gottlieb might be reconsidering a slightly hyperbolic statement (Insider subs.).

I may have overreacted on ESPN News when declaring Pitt an NIT team due to injuries. Pitt played its tail off in its loss to Nova on Sunday. Jamie Dixon had great depth early on, and his style of preaching mental toughness helps the Panthers battle through this incredibly tough time.

From a basketball tournament in Houston last week, one of Pitt’s late recruits, Dwight Miller was playing. He made Van Coleman’s list of players that stood out.

This active rebounder and low block scorer had some moments in Houston, scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the game we watched. If he ups his intensity he will be a force.

Seth Davis at SI.com, unsurprisingly puts Pitt in his “sell” category in his annual “Stock report” on NCAA Tournament Teams. I think the reasons are well known at this point.

You’ll want to keep an eye on this one because there’s still some talent here, but even though the Panthers put up a good fight at Villanova on Sunday before losing, the reality is they have lost two starters to injury, including the one guy they could least afford to lose in point guard Levance Fields. Not only is Ronald Ramon not a point guard, but if Ramon is running the offense, that means he isn’t catching the ball on the wing. They’re saying Fields might come back from his foot injury at the end of the season, but I doubt that will leave him enough time to take the Panthers deep into the NCAA tournament.

There’s a good chance Pitt will use a little more zone, as they did late against ‘Nova. Just don’t expect too much.

Ramon is going to have a hard time getting shots running the point. That was already rather obvious. Not sure he should try too hard to force it.

Ron Cook felt Pitt at least had a mental victory in Philly. Coach Dixon, though, doesn’t buy that stuff.

“Our guys feel they should have won this game — no matter how many players we have,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said, the deafening roar from the home crowd after Villanova’s 64-63 win still ringing in his aching ears.

“We still have the guys to get it done.”

Dixon seemed more disappointed, more frustrated, maybe even angrier after this game than he has been after other losses, although the truth is he has been so successful that there really hasn’t been much of a sampling to gauge. Maybe it was because he knows Pitt wasted a big chance to get a precious conference road win mostly because of 22 turnovers, some of which could be attributed to being without Fields — the team’s best player — and others to fatigue from having to play with such a short bench. More likely, though, it was because he knows this game quite likely provided a damning glimpse of how this Big East season will play out.

Contrast this approach with the poor mouthing and moaning by the coach of Pitt’s opponent on Saturday.

But Gonzalez, whose team is in Milwaukee to face No. 15 Marquette tonight in its second Big East game of the season, would argue that the loss of guard Paul Gause is more devastating to Seton Hall than Pittsburgh’s losses are to the Panthers.

“Pittsburgh loses Mike Cook and Levance Fields and they put in Terrell Biggs and Keith Benjamin — now, we would kill for those guys,” Gonzalez said after the Pirates’ victory over Morgan State on Saturday. “When Seton Hall loses Paul Gause, we can’t absorb that loss, like some of the rich people in the conference. We don’t have enough players, enough talent. So, it’s a fight. For us to win any game from here on out without Paul is going to be tough. Because it’s tough to win a league game on the road with him, it’s going to be really tough without him.”

Whether that is some sort of blunt assessment or a motivating tool to send a message to his players in the media, I don’t think much of it. It’s one thing to pull a Lou Holtz and puff an opponent. It’s another to essentially tell your team, they don’t have the talent to compete.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Pirates lost tonight to Marquette. It was a good effort by Seton Hall, and they were definitely helped by the fact that the refs swallowed their whistles on a lot of inside stuff — we can only hope for similar officiating when Pitt faces Marquette.

I don’t think Pitt has shown up in any type of football rankings in at least a couple years. That’s why when Mark Schlabach ranked us at #22 I got a little more excited for the 2008 season.

22. Pittsburgh The Panthers have reason for optimism after upsetting West Virginia 13-9 in the regular-season finale, a loss that cost the Mountaineers a chance to play for the BCS championship. Dave Wannstedt failed to produce a winning record in his first three seasons as coach of his alma mater, but the Panthers seem ready to turn the corner in 2008. Pitt lost four games by seven points or fewer in 2007. Seven starters are expected back on both offense and defense. Tailback LeSean McCoy ran for 1,328 yards and 14 touchdowns as a freshman, and freshman quarterback Pat Bostick was much improved by season’s end. Receiver Derek Kinder and defensive tackle Gus Mustakas will return from season-ending knee injuries. Linebacker Scott McKillop led the country with 151 tackles and led a defense that showed bite in 2007.

We should remember a few things before we get too pumped up: the 2007 ended less than 24 hours ago, we haven’t even seen what National Signing Day will bring to every team, and of course the injury bug could come out of nowhere and ruin a season in the blink of an eye (see: Pitt hoops). We’re also not entirely sure who’s going to start at QB and whether or not they’ll be competent enough to lead the team.
Still, next year should be a fun time to be a Panther fan.

Ever since Paul Dunn was fired as Pitt’s O-line coach (as opposed to last year’s “leaving to pursue other opportunities” in LB Coach Curtis Bray), the immediate rumor/speculation/leak was that NY Jets O-Line Coach, Tony Wise would be hired. Here’s Wise’s bio on the NY Jets site.

Well, for now. There’s a reason, beyond being a longtime friend of Coach Wannstedt’s that Wise might be the guy.

I’m hearing that the Jets might be trying to hire a “running-game coordinator.” Haven’t nailed down any candidates as of yet, but this would be an interesting move for Mangini. In two seasons under Mangini, the Jets haven’t been able to run the ball on a consistent basis. Obviously, the line needs to be upgraded, but there are scheme and philosophy issues here, too. It sounds like Mangini wants a fresh approach.

This certainly doesn’t bode well for line coaches Tony Wise and Mike Devlin. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that both guys were in trouble, and that seems to be the case.

That’s from the NY Daily News Jets beat writer. Always better to jump than be pushed, I guess.

Of course Bruce Feldman thinks this will be (is?) a great hire (Insider subs.).

I’m getting on the Pitt Panthers’ bandwagon now. They have a lot of reasons for optimism (I’ll write more about that later this week) and the latest bit is Dave Wannstedt hiring his old buddy Tony Wise to take over the O-line. Wise is a very good technician and should make a big impact at Pitt.

We can only hope.

In case you didn’t see Gateway HS’s Shayne Hale choose the Pitt hat during the Army All-American Game.

NBCSports.com Video Link

It should also be noted that WR Jonathan Baldwin impressed scouts.

Baldwin was right with DeVier Posey all week when it came to being the best receiver on the East and his touchdown in the game was a thing of beauty. He’s too big to handle for cornerbacks.

He is generally ranked as a 4-star recruit but after his showing over the last week, he could get bumped up to a 5-star prospect. As if stars even mattered…

Here’s a shocker. The national theme of Pitt’s loss is that the team is struggling without Levance Fields. Now, before you just scream, “duh!” Keep in mind that going into the season, the national writers presumed Pitt would be a top-25 team, but wasn’t exactly sure how. To a large degree that applies to the national audience — or at least the presumption. So, there is a belief or need to explain now how much that hurts Pitt and to explain the loss.

Mike Cook is gone for the year. LeVance Fields is out 8-11 weeks. Jamie Dixon is down to seven scholarship players, and while he’ll undoubtedly keep Pitt battling, can he really keep this injury-riddled team competitive in the Big East? It missed a golden opportunity in Sunday’s 64-63 loss to Villanova. Maybe it was fatigue (six Pitt players went at least 23 minutes) or the fact that they’re down to three guards (one of which, Ronald Ramon, [above] is battling injuries) but the Panthers were done in by 22 turnovers, including one with 10 seconds to go. Big East play is not the place to find a team’s identity but Dixon has to discover new-look Pitt’s in a hurry.

Yes, factual error in number of scholarship players, but it effectively is 7 until Dixon plays Diggs or McGhee.

And this bit.

Sunday offered a glimpse of how badly Pittsburgh is going to miss Levance Fields. The Panthers needed a game-winning play in the final seconds, and in normal circumstances the ball would’ve been in Fields’ hands. But because the junior point guard is out with an injured foot the ball was in Ronald Ramon’s hands, and his hands turned it over for the fifth time and allowed Villanova to escape with a 64-63 victory.

Former Philly area sportswriter, now with ESPN.com did a whole article on Pitt trying to adjust.

So, understandably, when the question was posed, Young paused for a considerable time before answering truthfully.

“I don’t know,” the Pitt forward said. “I’m trying to figure that out right now. I’m sure the coaches and the rest of my team are trying, too. We’re trying to see how it will work. There’s a lot of stuff going on, and we’re trying to figure it out. In the process, we’re trying to win games.”

…

Afterward, it would have been easy for Dixon to throw up his hands and say, “What can you do?” No doubt, most hoops aficionados across the country are doing just that.

But Dixon isn’t one of them.

“There’s no excuse for this. We should have won,” Dixon said. “We had it. We played well enough to win.”

No, you won’t find the Panthers crying in their soup. They shed tears after Cook went down, got through the shock after Fields hobbled off, but quickly have realized January is not the time for the group pity party. Young admitted his team is a little lost in the game plan department, but he quickly followed up by insisting that his team will find its way.

The Panthers (12-2, 0-1 Big East) even have a morbid sense of humor about the whole thing. On the pregame press release, underneath the roster, associate media relations director Greg Hotchkiss prints the team’s disabled list.

The article also says that Ramon is “playing with one dislocated shoulder and likely a torn rotator cuff in the other.” You know, I see teams playing with 4 guards. Wonder if Pitt will end up playing with 4 forwards at some point?
Coach Dixon appears to really be pushing the point publicly that regardless of the injuries, there are no excuses. I imagine that is as much for the players. To let them know the coaches and players are still accountable, and that the season isn’t over just because bad things have happened. Something the players are also saying publicly.

“Levance … I’d love to have him on the team, but he’s not here right now,” Blair said. “We have to play with who we got. We just have to keep our heads. We have to have trust in everyone..

“We can’t get Levance back. We can’t get Cook back.

Someone has to step up. We just have to play through it and not think about it.”

Villanova got huge contributions from a freshman and reshirt freshman in Malcolm Grant and Antonio Pena. Grant who already this season showed tremendous accuracy and range on his three-point shooting put it on display against Pitt. Pena, provided a much needed extra body inside for rebounding and put backs with Drummond out.

Villanova Coach Jay Wright, did acknowledge that his team won in large part because of who Pitt didn’t have.

“Let’s not make any mistakes about it,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “This is a game where Levance Fields steps up big-time.”

But he’s not available right now.

I suppose it’s very frustrating, because I’m sure we can all think of just a couple plays that if Pitt hadn’t made a mistake or the ball went in, Pitt would be the winner. Instead Pitt loses 64-63.

That’s the nature of a tight loss. The “what if” game.

• What if Blair had made any of those bunnies around the basket (5-14), or even one more free throw (2-5)?
• What if Benjamin hadn’t committed that final dumb foul that put him out of the game and gave ‘Nova the and-1?
• What if Ramon hadn’t committed any number of turnovers? Or Ramon hadn’t missed the front end of a 1-and-1?

And those are just a few off the top of my head.

You can bet if Villanova had lost, their fans would be playing the same game considering the way Pitt shut down Cunningham, Reynolds, Fisher and Redding. The Villanova bench bailed out the starters in this game. Grant and Pena scored 34 points. The Wildcat starters came up with 25. I guess that’s what makes the loss frustrating. The primaries were stopped, but other ‘Nova players stepped in.

Overall, this is what has to be expected for most of the Big East schedule. Very up-and-down play. Moments where it looks like Pitt can overcome it all and moments where the team looks totally lost. I expect it will improve later in the season, but to not expect some tremendous inconsistencies over the next 2-3 weeks is not being realistic.

Teams like Villanova, Marquette, Seton Hall and Syracuse. With their strength so obviously in their backcourt will be among the teams that really force Pitt to struggle.

Of greater concern to me is that I don’t think this team is in a position to stick with a 7-man rotation. In both halves, I saw Pitt start to wear down physically as the players just couldn’t get enough of a blow on the bench. All the starters played at least 30 minutes, with Blair leading with 37 minutes. They hit a point with 7 minutes in each half, where they really seemed to lose a step. Villanova went 8 deep (technically 9, but Stokes only played 5 minutes) with at least 15 minutes of playing time. I believe that Coach Dixon knows from practice that Diggs, Frye and McGhee aren’t ready for the primary game situations; but he may not have a choice. I really worry that someone else will go down, because they are so worn out in the game, that they just take a bad step or move.

In some ways, this is what Oklahoma State endured last season. A team that started so strong, just didn’t have enough bodies because of injuries that derailed a promising season.

A couple other thoughts.

Blair needs to work on being better at positioning himself to receive the ball. The competition is better now, and without Fields, the passing not nearly as crisp. That means he needs to help make sure he has position to protect the ball on entry passes. It’s why he isn’t getting the ball as directly and more off of rebounds. Ramon at least recognizes his limitations and isn’t forcing the ball inside. It’s why Young got more balls tossed into him than Blair.

I think we can expect a lot more slower tempo games from Pitt. The good news is that Young seems willing to play in that system. He wants to run, we want him to run. Right now the team can’t, and as a leader and top player he seems to know that is playing within the present constraints.

Even without Fields, Pitt can control and impose the tempo on other teams.

The one position coach that most wanted to see go is offensive line coach Paul Dunn. He was a part of Dave Wannstedt’s original coaching staff as well as being a former Pitt player, but so far his OL unit has failed to put out the needed results. During his three seasons, the best player we saw was Jeff Otah, but other than that the O-line was mostly a disappointment.

Who might replace him? The Post-Gazette offers one name:

A replacement for Dunn has not been hired, but the top candidate is believed to be New York Jets offensive line coach Tony Wise, who is a longtime friend of Wannstedt and has been on the same staff with Wannstedt at a number of places the past 30 years, including stops in the NFL with the Cowboys, Bears and Dolphins. Wise was a graduate assistant at Pitt in the mid-1970s.

Another name that might be mentioned is current Thomas Jefferson HS head coach Bill Cherpack. He played for Pitt from 1985-89 and has had a ton of success at TJ including winning back-to-back state titles.

“His record speaks for itself as to what type of coach he is,” Panther head coach Dave Wannstedt said of Cherpak. “There’s a reason why T.J. has such a good football program.”

Don’t forget, his best player — Lucas Nix — will be playing on the OL in the near future.

Meanwhile, the hoops team is tied up at 30-30 at the half. Villanova ended the half on a very nice run, but with our roster situation I think being tied is good enough for now. More to come.

Bad news, Seth Davis at SI.com picks Pitt in his weekend picks.

DePaul is ranked 234th in the country in defensive efficiency, yet the Blue Demons shot 51.1 percent against Villanova on Thursday night. Even with Pitt suffering from injuries to Mike Cook and Levance Fields, they have too much experience for the young ‘Cats to overcome.
Pittsburgh 72, Villanova 69

The good news, he was 7-0 in games played so far. The downside, is he has to be wrong at some point.

Gary Parrish at CBS Sportsline apparently got a lot of e-mails from Pitt fans about the team after the injuries. He includes today’s game in the weekend watch.

Game worth driving to see in person: The sentiment from Pittsburgh fans is that everything will be fine despite injuries to Mike Cook and Levance Fields, but I have my doubts because it’s difficult to envision too many teams not slipping after losing their second-best and fourth-best scorers. So the question isn’t whether the No. 13 Panthers will slip, but how far? Are they still a legitimate Top 15 team? Top 25? Sunday should provide some answers when Pitt visits 17th-ranked Villanova.

Part of why ‘Nova  lost to DePaul was that they were 6-26 on 3s. That was on the road. Call it a hunch, but I don’t think they’ll shoot that badly at home.

Despite the embarrassing loss by ‘Nova, some seem to think Pitt’s injuries will make it an easier game for the Wildcats.

As of two weeks ago, Sunday’s matchup looked to be a tossup, but with a depleted Pitt roster visiting the Main Line, Villanova could pick up a solid win early in Big East play.

Of course, ‘Nova is lacking one of their best inside players in Casiem Drummond who has a fracture in his foot. The game is being played at ‘Nova’s on-campus site. Pitt hasn’t won there in the last five tries (the Wachovia Center is a different issue). Despite all the questions, naturally the players and coach remain upbeat and positive.

But many national analysts are now writing the Panthers off and don’t believe they can win the conference title.

“I’m pretty sure if I was an analyst somewhere I would do the same thing,” senior Keith Benjamin said. “That’s their job. That’s what they’re supposed to do. When you lose key guys like a Levance Fields, who has one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the country, and Mike Cook, who is one of the best wingmen in the country, you have to write us off.

“It’s our job to try to prove them wrong. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We keep it very in-house. We know we can play basketball. We’re just going to go show them now.”

Young said he tries not to pay attention to what is being written and said about the Panthers.

“I try not to feed into that stuff,” Young said. “Coach told us he has just as much confidence in us now as he did at the beginning of the season. I still think we have a chance. It’s just a matter of people stepping up.”

The questions will not stop coming for Pitt.

4. How much trouble is Pittsburgh in? A promising season for the Panthers looks like it could get ugly quickly. Within the past two weeks, they have lost starters Levance Fields (broken foot) and Mike Cook (torn ACL), and redshirt freshman Austin Wallace (fractured patella) was lost for the season in early December. That leaves coach Jamie Dixon with nine scholarship players, and not all of them are healthy either. Senior guard Ronald Ramon, who will move over from shooting guard to replace Fields, is dealing with injuries to both of his shoulders. He’s shooting just 19.2 percent over his past four games, so maybe the Panthers will be better off if he’s thinking pass first. Pitt opens Big East play Sunday at No. 17 Villanova.

We’ll see if everyone steps up with increased minutes in a much tougher game.

The game, if you aren’t in the Pittsburgh area is on the ESPN FullCourt package. It just so happens that the week long free promotion kicked off yesterday. So, find where they are stashing those channels and you can still watch the game even if not showing in your area. (It is being shown on MSG, MASN and FoxSports-Pittsburgh.)

Pittsburgh Sports Insider maintains that Jarred Holley will (or has) commit to Pitt. It seems to be a matter of when, not if.

Josh Jenkins, the stud guard out of Parkersburg, WV did a brief chat on Rivals.com.

Will you take all your visits before making a decision?

What are the pluses and minuses for the schools on your final list (OSU, WVU, PITT, FSU)?

– pittengineer75

Jenkins – Yes.

OSU the positive are that it is close to home and the prestige of the caoches and the program. If you go there the chances you’ll go to the League are very high. The negatives for Ohio State would be they already have three of the top four offensive lineman in the country committed.

West Virginia is in-state, it’s close to my home. If I go there I would be known throughout the state, I wouldn’t just be another kid. The negatives are they don’t put very many offensive linemen int he league.

Pitt is not that far from home, only three hours. They have a prety good program on the rise because they are pretty young.

FSU postives are the coaching staff is amazing. They have great coaches down there. Coach Trickett is a great offensive line coach and he knows how to get the most out of every offensive lineman. The negatives are it is so far away.

I don’t have my hopes up, but I want to.

Then there is the gameday reporting of Shayne Hale’s formal, non-binding, verbal commit to Pitt.

Hale was quick to squash any potential doubters who felt he may choose Pitt just because his best friend Cameron Saddler is heading there.

“I made this choice for me,” Hale said. “I had to pick where I wanted to be regardless of what anyone else thought about it. I chose Pitt, because I feel that is where I belong.” This was actually a tougher decision for Hale then what people think in picking Pitt over perennial Big Ten power Ohio State.

“I honestly was all ready to go there, but then they kind of stopped talking to me for a while,” he said. “Pitt never backed off me. Joe Daniels did a good job of recruiting me, but in the end it just didn’t feel right to me.”

The article is worth clicking to see Hale with the Pitt hat on.

Well Shayne Hale makes it official that he will be verballing tomorrow.

Asked at the U.S. Army awards banquet where he will attend college, Hale said, “Pitt.”

“I went on official visits, and it all just came down to what is best for me. At one time, it was Ohio State. Another time it was Pitt. Once I narrowed it down, it’s Pitt.”

Hale said part of the reason he chose Pitt over Ohio State is that the Panthers wanted him to play primarily linebacker and Ohio State was recruiting him as a defensive end/linebacker. He said he hadn’t called Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt before the banquet, but he planned to do so last night.

The other verbal comes from a former verbal.

On Friday, Johnstown Bishop McCort tight end Mike Cruz, who committed to Pitt on April 1 but reneged three weeks later, made another pledge to the Panthers. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder picked Pitt over scholarship offers from Clemson, Florida State, Illinois and West Virginia.

“I opened my decision up to get a little more comfortable with recruiting,” Cruz said. “After I saw other schools, I knew Pitt was definitely the place for me.

Pitt never stopped recruiting and communicating with Cruz. Greg Gattuso was responsible for Cruz’s recruitment.

Apparently the story is that his mother needed convincing.

“Mike has always really wanted to go to Pitt,” said Bishop McCort head coach Ken Salem. “It took some convincing with his mother, but she did become comfortable with the idea of Mike going to school in an urban environment.”

For the record, his mom was with him in Pittsburgh when he decided to verbal to the coaches last spring.

Cruz attended Pitt’s Blue Chip Day Saturday. His parents, James and Martha Bernard, came to Pitt yesterday and were given a personal tour of the campus and athletic facilities.

“My mom’s the world to me,” Cruz said. “Having her there while I committed was the greatest thing. I just wanted her to be here for it.

“It was her first time to Pittsburgh. It was an amazing experience.”

Cruz of course made a very foot-in-mouth decommit from Pitt last spring. This after his loving commit earlier that month. Amazing what a difference nearly a year makes. When he verbaled it was all about how deep Pitt was at TE and that it was easy to see him moving to defense. Now, TE is looking mighty thin.