So Chris Ball leaves Pitt after one season to go back to an old haunt.

Former Washington State University secondary coach Chris Ball will return to the Cougars’ sideline next season.

New WSU coach Paul Wulff announced Friday that Ball would be coming back to join his defensive staff.

Ball spent three years as WSU’s secondary coach from 200-02.

I’m not even going to speculate on what happens next for the coaching staff.

Big East conference play got underway the last couple of nights. As that was happening, a slew of previews came out once more updating things. As you can imagine, injuries — especially to Pitt — were a big theme.

Dixon has enough depth and experience at those position to keep the Panthers competitive in the Big East, as long as they defend the perimeter. We’d be surprised if they didn’t make the NCAA Tournament, although without Fields it will be a lot harder to get back to the Sweet 16.

Pitt’s injuries have been the most prominent, though, several other teams have their own problems.

Pittsburgh lost Mike Cook (knee) for the season and guard Levance Fields (foot) for at least two months. The Panthers will be an interesting case study. Coach Jamie Dixon’s club may go 8-10 or 9-9 in the league, yet still be in the conversation come Selection Sunday.

Syracuse lost last season’s starting backcourt – Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins – to knee injuries. Padgett was expected to miss the season, then returned for the league opener Tuesday against Cincinnati. The Bearcats lost perhaps their best player, Texas transfer Mike Williams, in the fall with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Marquette’s Dan Fitzgerald (wrist) and Providence guard Sharaud Curry (foot) also have been hobbled.

Villanova is also without Casiem Drummond who went down with a stress fracture provided vital defense and rebounding inside Pitt’s injuries, however, are still the big story.

The biggest story heading into conference play is the state of the Pittsburgh Panthers (11-1).

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Not only were Jamie Dixon’s Panthers one of the favorites to win the Big East, but with freshman DeJuan Blair stepping in nicely and averaging about 10 rebounds, they had all the pieces necessary to make a Final Four run.

But now, who knows? No loss for Pitt this season will be as big as the two the program has already sustained in the injury column.

So with Pitt down, the question in part is what teams will challenge G-town for the Big East.

Has any team’s fortune changed more in just more than one game’s time? First, the Panthers lost forward Mike Cook for the season in overtime against Duke. After they stole the win on a late Levance Fields 3, they lost Fields for perhaps the rest of the regular season while getting destroyed at Dayton. The Panthers still have one of the best frontcourt tandems in the country with freshman forward DeJuan Blair and junior Sam Young, as well as a lot of grit, but these losses are two big blows any team would struggle to overcome. The loss of Fields might short-circuit Pitt’s conference-title hopes.

Marquette is about the best bet at the moment. Louisville has appeared to falter, but you should never count a Rick Pitino team out this earl. Some think Villanova — of course that was before the loss to DePaul last night.

Personally, and I hate typing this, I think UConn will be back up there. Things seem to be coming together with the talent they have.

The big HS All-Star game is as much about some top players having a bigger stage to announce their verbals. A little extra publicity, and maybe drama. That is unless the news hasn’t been steadily leaked for a while.

The big thing Pitt can expect from the US Army All-American Bowl is that Shayne Hale will make his decision known. And that Pitt will be the hat he puts on. Even the Virginia papers are acknowledging this.

Several other highly touted players will be making college decisions Saturday in San Antonio. Shayne Hale, a 6-3, 235-pound defensive from Gateway High in Monroeville, Pa., will decide between Virginia, Ohio State and Pittsburgh. He is expected to choose Pittsburgh.

My only promise if the announcement comes is that I will avoid the obvious post headline of “Hale to Pitt.”

The big question mark and potentially huge coup, though, would be if OG Josh Jenkins from Parkersburg, WV were to select Pitt.

Jenkins, who led Parkersburg to back-to-back state titles, said Pitt entered the picture mainly because it’s close to home. He will visit Pitt on Jan. 18 and he said it would take an exceptional visit to sway him toward the Panthers.

“It’s going to have to blow me away probably, so it’ll be interesting if they do,” he said.

Unfortunately, Pitt basketball will be at Cinci on the 19th, so no Oakland Zoo treatment to help the case. I wouldn’t be surprised with the hiring of Bill Stewart by WVU, if it doesn’t swing him back to the Mountaineers.

The game is on at 2 pm tomorrow on ABC (whoops, mistake made) 1 pm on NBC. There’s an Under Armour All-star HS game on ABC at 2pm.

Let’s see, Gene Collier yesterday in a chat actually fielded a Pitt question.

jimmy_g: The devastating injury losses that the Pitt basketball team has suffered may be too much to overcome. How do you see this affecting their remaining season?

Gene Collier: Negatively and substantially. With Cook and Fields out, 30 percent of the scoring is gone, not to mention their experience. Fields ran the show. Now the show goes on without a front man. Fields could return by March. DuJuan Blair has broad shoulders, but not this broad.

You may sense a theme as Andy Katz at ESPN.com had his own chat (Insider subs.).

Fo Sheezy, Pittsburgh: Andy: Let’s cut to the chase. With the injury bug in full force, what can we expect of Pitt the rest of the regular season? The Panthers looked like a top-10 team after the Duke game, but the Fields injury is an absolute killer. He is the best player on that team, and he plays the most important position. So here is my 2-part question…(1) Where do you see Pitt finishing in the Big East? and (2) What have you heard as far as the time table for a possible return for Levance Fields? Thanks!!

Andy Katz: Is that your real name?

Well, Fo, I can tell you that the world didn’t end at Pitt. Nope, there is no Chicken Little roaming around Petersen. Jamie Dixon is still very optimistic after Ronald Ramon had 10 assists and no turnovers. I totally disagree with Doug Gottlieb, who said Pitt is going to the NIT now. The Panthers will win games, especially at home. The Big East, save Marquette and Georgetown, is even and there are plenty of games to be had. As for Fields, think more Padgett than Cook. The surgery went well and the feeling is that he will be back possibly during the Big East season instead of in the postseason.

Finally there was the Ray Fittipaldo chat today.

7_man_rotation: Do you think Pitt can go .500 in Big East play and how many Big East games do you think they need to win to get into the NCAA tournament?

Ray Fittipaldo: I think if Pitt goes 9-9 in the Big East the Panthers would be giving themselves a chance. That would give them a 21-10 record entering the Big East tournament. If Pitt wins one game in New York I think they would be assured of a spot.

Pitt cannot have any letdowns against teams like Rutgers, Seton Hall and St. John’s this season because beating the upper echelon teams in the league will be difficult with Cook and Fields. I’ll predict they’ll play two games under .500 without Fields. But depending upon when he comes back they could still make a run a berth in the tournament.

needdepth: What are our chances against Nova? Can we match up?

Ray Fittipaldo: Villanova is not a big and strong team. Jay Wright has some nice guards and small forward types, but Sam Young and DeJuan should have a big edge on the inside. I think it will be a matter of whether Pitt can contain Scottie Reynolds. He’s Villanova’s best player and the Panthers will need to keep him in check if they want to have a chance.

The ‘Nova game scares the hell out of me because ‘Nova’s guards are slashers and penetrators. If (when?) they get past Ramon and Benjamin, they can be the ones that will get Blair and Young in foul trouble.

With the loss of players for Pitt, they fell in meaningless power rankings. ESPN.com dropped them to 15.

Like aging, coaching ain’t for sissies. Down two starters, Jamie Dixon is now coaching on the fly just as the Big East schedule dawns with a Sunday date at Villanova. One idea — get the ball in DeJuan Blair’s hands more. The sensational freshman forward took just six shots in a win against Lafayette.

And yet, for whatever reason, they have Dayton behind Pitt at #16.

Luke Winn at SI.com dropped Pitt, but has them at the top of of his “On the Cusp, Tier 1.”

Pittsburgh (11-1): The Panthers’ ugly loss at Dayton normally wouldn’t be enough to knock them out of the rankings. They do, after all, have a win over Duke on their resume. But with Mike Cook and Levance Fields now out of the equation, Pitt no longer resembles the scary team we saw at the Garden before Christmas.

I don’t have a problem with these rankings.

Just to recap the local stories on Lamar Patterson committing to Pitt.

The commitment fills a top recruiting priority for the Panthers, who were in the market for a wing player for the Class of 2009.

“I think he will be a great addition to the program,” [McCaskey Coach Steve] Powell said. “He’s a very skilled player. He has excellent size. He’s an excellent shooter. He can handle the ball. He has good court vision. He runs the floor. He can create off the dribble.

“I think he will do very well in coach Dixon’s system. Pitt’s players are very physical and very aggressive. That’s what he has to work on, his overall physical strength. But he has a year-and-a-half to get that. He comes from good stock. The work ethic is there. The gene pool is there. I can’t see him doing anything but having success.”

The Duke game had a big impact on his decision.

Patterson said he thought Pitt was the school he would attend for a while, but Pitt’s victory against Duke last week cemented the decision.

“The way they came back that showed me a lot,” Patterson said. “And when Mike Cook got hurt, coach Dixon was right by his side. I liked that.”

From the Lancaster papers it was about Pitt fitting him and his family.

“He just told me after practice today that he’s going to Pittsburgh,” Red Tornado coach Steve Powell said Friday afternoon. “He had a big smile on his face, so they must have made a great impression on him.

“It’s an excellent program. I think Lamar will fit right into Coach (Jamie) Dixon’s system.”

A 6-foot-5, 220-pound junior, Patterson has helped lead McCaskey to an unprecedented three straight L-L League boys’ championships. Versatile enough to play guard, forward or center, Patterson leads the Lancaster-Lebanon League in scoring (24.4).

“I like Coach Dixon, and the facility played a big part in it,” said Patterson, who expects to major in computer science at Pitt. “My mom wanted me to stay (close to home), so I wanted to do it for her.”

Patterson was just happy to take care of the matter early.

“I wanted to do it now,” he said. “Now I won’t have to worry about it. I can just focus on playing my last two years at McCaskey and getting ready for the next level.”…

“I was thinking about it all day,” he said. “It was on my mind before the game. I finally decided I’d heard enough from everybody else, and Pitt was the best place for me to go.”

Apparently, though, some don’t like his game.

Realizing his shots weren’t falling, Patterson decided to concentrate on setting up his teammates and crashing the boards. He did well on both counts, racking up eight assists and 10 boards.

But every time he passed on an open look to hit a teammate, you could hear some muttering coming from the home stands.

It’s ridiculous.

Reads like he will be an excellent addition.

Okay, late watching on this. So, three years to the day, Pitt suffered its only non-con loss at the Pete since it opened. Yes, the Bucknell game. What were the odds that Pitt would play another Patriot League team on the same day?

Watching in the first half, the thing that immediately occurred to me was that the offense looks fine, but the defense will be a big issue. Benjamin especially. He continually cheats to the basket either to try and help or be in position to get a rebound. He was the biggest issue to me in leaving his man open on the perimeter for Lafayette to get open threes. Either he didn’t take it seriously or he had a little too much confidence in his own ability to recover and getting back. It wasn’t happening.

Interestingly, while Ramon may have been the de facto point guard, he wasn’t bringing the ball up everytime. It seemed that Pitt was trying to get others to do it. May not be a bad idea since Ramon struggles bringing it up and is susceptible to traps and the press.

The only thing I can figure as to why Pitt played so far off the players on the perimeter was that they were preparing for Villanova. It’s not like Lafayette has guards who could take Pitt off the dribble. Villanova with Reynolds and Fisher, however…

That said, Lafayette was taking and making some hellaciously deep threes. Pitt really struggles with the screens. Sam Young does not like to rotate out on them.

Think the Pitt coaches worked over Biggs on taking shots a lot closer to the basket? No threes attempted by him this time, and the deepest shot he took was maybe a 10 foot baseline jumper. That said, it was hard to judge his game considering the lack of size by Lafayette. It allowed him a lot of chances for easy put backs.

There were 13 turnovers by Pitt. Not terribly surprising in the first game without Fields. That Young had 5 (all in the first half) and Ramon had 0 is something of a surprise.

Ramon also had 10 assists along with some excellent shooting — 11 points on 3-4 (all 3s) shooting.

Hopefully the game will also serve as a bit of a confidence builder for Wanamaker. Shot 2-3 for 5 points. He had lots of 2s. Assists, rebounds and turnovers. And 1 steal. Big concern he might be a bit wound for going home to Philly this Saturday.

It was a record number of 3s made against Pitt, but despite that Pitt got the win.

Near the end of the game, Bob Sanders actually clarified the football player stuff. It isn’t necessarily to play them like Cinci was forced to do. It was to have a few extra bodies for practice. That actually makes a lot more sense.

The most noticeable thing at the end of the game. No Gary McGhee. I’m guessing that Coach Dixon has determined that he must redshirt him.

Hard to judge a lot from this game, other than the fact that the team needed a regrouping/patsy game to get used to playing without Fields as well as Cook. That said, it was nice at the end when it was a complete laugher to see the players smiling and being highly amused at Cassin Diggs picking up a charging foul in the final couple minutes.

Pitt’s second half shooting was astoundingly accurate. Pitt shot well in the first half at 15-27, but was an amazing 20-25 (8-9 on threes) in the second half. Putting it this way, Pitt’s effective FG % in the second half was an astounding 96%.

Overall, Pitt looked, played and the numbers reflected a much better effort and team in the second half.

Still don’t know what it means for this Saturday and the rest of the Big East slate.

Like it or not, the whole conference supremacy crap that goes on forces us to pull for teams that at times we wouldn’t cross the street to spit on them.

Having said that, West Virginia absolutely humiliated the Oklahoma Sooners with a 20 point win, 48-28. I admit it. I was cheering for them. If for no other reason, then the whole Big East bashing crap goes away for another year.
Everyone was picking against them — for good reason.

The only downside, and I heard it near the end of the game, the excuse/revisionist history will be that Pitt beat WVU because Pat White got hurt early in the game. White wasn’t playing well when he got hurt.

Seeing Owen Schmitt  break down on national TV actually moved me. Well, except for the whole, “I love this state,” part

I’m on DVR delay tonight, so no liveblog. Fire away,  but try to keep it somewhat clean.

Rivals.com has a story on commitments expected at the game this weekend.

Other Rivals100 players are also expected to announce. Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway defensive end Shayne Hale will choose between Pitt, Ohio State and Virginia and is expected to put on a Panthers hat. Hale hadn’t been considering Pitt until recently so his change of heart is quite a surprise and would be huge for Dave Wannstedt and his staff.

Just about 5 weeks to NLI day.

There was the story from Joe Starkey on Brian Davis. Essentially about what was and might of been.

What happened at Pitt?

“Basically, I stopped going to class,” Davis said. “Can’t blame anyone but myself. I’m not the only one who’s ever done that, won’t be the last, but I can’t blame anyone but myself.”

Davis believes he erred in staying too close to home. He put too much time into entertaining his homeboys from Washington and too little into taking care of business at Pitt.

Davis, though, is content with his life and has one.

Not so for Todd Becker.

Becker made waves as a true freshman on special teams for Pitt, a top-10 program at the time, and was named special teams captain as a sophomore. But on Dec. 16, 1982 — the day before the team was set to fly to Fort Worth for the game — his life came to a tragic end.

At the time, Becker had been banned from a dormitory for several minor infractions, most notably squirting a fire extinguisher. He snuck into the building to attend a party thrown by several of his teammates, but when authorities were called, he fled for fear that he wouldn’t be able to play in the bowl if he were caught.

Becker ultimately fell to his death from a third-story window. He was 20 years old.

The program hasn’t been the same since, enduring just 12 winning seasons in the ensuing 25 years. Pitt lost that year to SMU, reached another New Year’s Day bowl in ’83, but didn’t return until 2004 — and even then, was highly overmatched.

Something that has more to do with coaches, recruiting and players since then; but it makes an interesting time mark.

The regrouping game.

The Leopards, who went 9-21 last season and lost games this season to Wagner and Farleigh Dickinson, afford Pitt a chance to tinker with its rotation before heading into the 18-game conference schedule.

Pitt’s Big East opener is Sunday at No. 17 Villanova (10-1).

“(Lafayette is) going to go out here and play us hard,” Ramon said. “That’s for sure. But at the same time it’s a game that we can see different lineups and see how we are synchronized out there as a team.”

Hopefully, all nine scholarship players will get a chance.

Dixon will start two seniors, a junior and two freshmen against Lafayette. Another freshman, Brad Wanamaker, is the only healthy reserve guard. And two other first-year players — junior-college transfer Cassin Diggs and freshman Gary McGhee — could be pressed into action as well.

Pitt opens Big East play Sunday at Villanova, so the game tonight is one in which the Panthers can experiment with different combinations.

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Dixon likely will try many different combinations over the next few weeks as he tries to figure out what is best for his team in the wake of the injuries.

One option is playing a bigger lineup that would include Diggs or McGhee and Tyrell Biggs.

Junior forward Sam Young, the team’s leading scorer, has experience playing small forward and could play some there with Biggs at power forward and Blair at center. He could even move Blair to power forward and play with Diggs or McGhee at center.

It’s going to be something to see just how flexible some of the players are. Young prefers to be an undersized PF. He was unhappy trying to play the small forward spot last year. Will he be more flexible if Pitt needs him to be elsewhere?

I guess, to some degree, it will be a question of leadership on the court from players like Young and Ramon.

Happy New Year. In case you missed it from all the bowl games, Louisville just got dropped by Cinci — in Freedom Hall and with Palacios and Padgett back — that isn’t supposed to happen when you get healthy.

How bad is Pitt’s injury situation? Bad enough that coaches from other conferences, that didn’t face Pitt, bring up the injuries as a way of pointing out that things could be worse.

“We’ve got ankles, shoulders, backs and this, that and the other,” [Virginia Coach Dave] Leitao said. “If you allow it, it can be a little frustrating, but as much as I would like to complain about it, I wouldn’t want to be [Pittsburgh coach] Jamie Dixon right now with two starters being out for the year with injuries.

Ron Cook cribs my injury post and expands it for all of Pittsburgh teams.

It’s hard to think it won’t be terrible what has happened to Pitt. The huge win Dec. 20 against Duke and the even better football win Dec. 1 at poor West Virginia were tremendous, but, apparently, somebody at Pitt made a rotten deal with the devil to get them. The football team lost All-Big East Conference wide receiver Derek Kinder before the season and quarterback Bill Stull in the first game; now the basketball team has lost Cook and Fields — its treasured point guard — within a 10-day period. That’s two-fifths of the starting lineup gone, just like that. That’s not right.

It’s all about the Pitt injuries.

1. If bad news comes in threes, the worst should be over for Pitt. After looking like a Final Four-caliber team with a comeback win over Duke in Madison Square Garden, Pitt has suddenly fallen on the hardest of times. In addition to losing Mike Cook to a torn knee (all three ligaments), Pitt will be without Levance Fields for 8-12 weeks with a broken bone in his left foot, and Ronald Ramon hurt his shoulder in a collision during the Panthers’ 80-55 loss at Dayton on Saturday. The ironic thing is Pitt had escaped major injury issues during both Ben Howland’s and Jamie Dixon’s runs at Pitt. Now, with a beautifully blended team with talent, experience and spectacular youth, Pitt heads into the Big East with only one on-the-court loss but numerous questions that did not exist a mere two weeks ago.

Pitt headlined the list of teams with big injuries heading into the New Year — yippee. It also notes that Ronald Ramon has been having a poor season.

Breakdown: Pittsburgh guard Ronald Ramon‘s shooting touch. Ramon missed all eight of his shots from the field in Pitt’s 80-55 loss to Dayton and has now made just one of his last 15 field-goal attempts. It’s an uncharacteristic slump for a player who led the Big East in 3-point field goal percentage last season.

Ramon separated his shoulder in the Dayton game which could excuse that performance. His ankle issues are apparently the excuse for  everything else. Before the Dayton 0-8 shooting, Ramon was 26-68 (.382) and 17-47 (.362) on 3s. Just not good performance so far.

Ramon has probably had the biggest problem in the change of style. He benefited greatly from Gray and the slower pace. It meant, moving the ball around, passing it and throwing it in to Gray and back out to Ramon when the defense collapsed inside. He could square up, wait for the ball and take his shot. With him trying to run the point — receiving extra focus from teams — as well I’m not totally optimistic his shooting will be improving the rest of the way. Right now, he knows he needs to concentrate on the point duties.

“It’s more of a leadership thing,” Ramon said. “I have to go out there and carry the team and make sure guys are in the right spots. It’s being a team. We’re going to be the same, smart team we’ve been. Nothing is going to change with us. We’re going to play the same way we’ve been playing. We just have to go out there and execute our plays and play hard.”

Ray Fittipaldo isn’t optimistic about Pitt’s NCAA Tournament chances unless Fields comes back by the end of the regular season.

Brian Roberts of Dayton still thinks well of Pitt.

“They’re going through a tough time,” Roberts said. “But they are going to be fine. That’s a top-5, top-10 team. They have other guys ready to step up.”

Admittedly there is more than a little self-interest in puffing Pitt after beating the Panthers.

Naturally Coach Dixon isn’t saying anything but positive things.

“I have a lot of confidence in Gilbert and Bradley,” Dixon said. “I know they are going to play better than they did (against Dayton). They are going to bring different things to the table. They can bring some rebounding. … We’ll get good stuff out of them as it goes. We’re going to be fine there.”

Pitt players, unsurprisingly, aren’t packing in the season.

“Everyone else has to step up,” Benjamin said. “We just have to step it up. We’re all looking at ourselves now. That’s what you have to do. We’re a team. We have to realize what has to happen if we still want to go somewhere.

“You lose players sometimes. You lose your stars. You lose your role players. That happens. It’s unfortunate that it’s happening to us right now. But we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We just have to go play. And we have to play much better than we did [Saturday night].”

As for the idea that Pitt might pull in some football players to help, I can only imagine that they would be from the freshmen and sophomore classes. Kids that aren’t too far removed from playing basketball and haven’t bulked up as much as the upperclassmen would have. Dom DeCicco (6’3″), Brandon Lindsey (6’2″), Maurice Williams (6’1″), Cedric McGee (6’1″) and Dorin Dickerson (6’2″) all played b-ball in high school.