4-star center/power forward recruit Greg Echenique has been taking in a lot of schools in the past week or so. The native Venezuelan is a junior who plays at St. Benedict’s Prep (Newark, NJ).

On Wednesday he hopes to get to Miami for the Miami-Boston College game that will be shown on ESPNU. Then he plans to return for classes at St. Ben’s on Thursday and Friday before departing for the North Carolina at Duke game on Saturday. Then he would drive or fly to Pittsburgh for the Panthers’ Sunday’s noon game with DePaul.

This past Sunday he had been in College Park to see Maryland implode against Clemson. He holds an offer and has interest in Pitt.

There’s no sense as to when he will be making a decision, but Rutgers is considered a favorite because they have been to every one of his games and recruited him hard this whole season. Notre Dame, Duke, Maryland and Memphis all have offers for his service as well.

Sorry to be away for a couple days. With the conference tournaments and then the NCAA Tournament looming, I’ve been working on a bunch of things for FanHouse at AOL. Trying to get things ready on that end — and I’m not. Add in the usual offline chaos, and it’s been hard to get back to the mothership.

Media-wise, it doesn’t appear that there’s much new. There’s the recaps from the loss in Morgantown talking about the lack of defense, rebounding and players searching for answers.

There’s the sky is falling/no it isn’t stories regarding the NCAA Tournament.

There’s wondering about the bench struggles. Wondering why the team is suddenly just not playing well. And simply, what’s next?

When a team is struggling, I do understand the questioning of the coach and if he’s the right guy. I think the people now coming out 5 years later saying “we should have gotten Calipari,” have been waiting a while for another chance to complain about this. I find it kind of silly, since I think Calipari was mainly interested in using Pitt for another raise — as he usually does. It’s also worth noting the resentment many seem to have towards Dixon for being courted by Arizona State a couple years ago leading to a raise. Given how Calipari plays that game annually and often goes one better by getting his name floated for other gigs — I can’t even begin to guess the animosity he would have built as his salary is over $1.8 million these days.
Judging by the chat transcript, I’d say P-G beat reporter Ray Fittipaldo has gotten a bit sick of getting e-mails of how Pitt is on a downward spiral.

Ray Fittipaldo: I think people have become spoiled. Making the NCAA tournament is no longer a thrill. People expect it at the very least. The way things have gone the Sweet 16 has sort of become a run-of-the-mill occurrence. Like it or not, Pittsburgh is a city that has celebrated championships with all of its major sports teams. Pitt lives in the shadow of the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates (they’re still major, right?). People want to see Pitt take that next step. Dixon is charged with that responsibility. It’s not easy, but he and Ben Howland are the ones who created the expectations. I’m not saying it’s fair, but I think he realizes that coaching in a sports town like Pittsburgh there are certain expectations that fans have. It’s not a bad thing.

A program doesn’t just go up every year even when it is improving. There are steps back, and bumps (and injuries, can’t forget injuries). There were plenty who believed the program was going to go to seed after the 2004-05 season ended with a thud. The returning talent didn’t appear to measure up, and things were a mess.
The good news for Pitt is they have a needed break before the final home game — and senior day — against DePaul. Then a few more days before the BET. The team needs it (and I think we fans needed it as well).