We need to lighten up a little — let’s have some fun.

Solid.

[The Mosh Pitt]

Meaningless, other than the fact that Pitt signees are not exactly getting overshadowed at the defense-free all-star games. Down in Florida, Travon Woodall took home MVP honors.

But the smallest guy on the floor, 6-foot point guard Travon Woodall of consensus high school national poll champion Jersey City, N.J. St. Anthony’s, walked away with Most Valuable Player honors for Team USA.

Woodall, a Pittsburgh signee, had 22 points and several key plays in the comeback.

Another NJ guard signed with Pitt, Ashton Gibbs, took home NJ all-star game MVP honors.

The Pittsburgh-bound guard made the most of his opportunity, totaling 15 points — all on 3-point baskets — and earning Most Valuable Player honors when his North team defeated the South, 137-120.

“It was weird having the season end early,” Gibbs said. “I didn’t know what to do. I watched some games and started working out to get ready for Pitt.”

Gibbs was hot in the early going, hitting four 3-pointers in the first five minutes to boost the North to a 22-11 lead.

“It was great to play with some of the best players in the state,” Gibbs said. “I wanted to show what I could do against that kind of competition.”

All-star games are fun, but not vital. The nice thing out of this to me was that Gibbs also won the 3-point shooting competition. The 3-point shooting will be something Pitt needs from another guard next season.

Nasir Robinson was part of the Philadelphia Inquirer All-area team.

Another member of the 1st team was Aaric Murray who Pitt is looking at for 2009. He’s 6’9 -6’10, and a raw project. He has been in trouble for missing school. Lots of school.

When he was a youngster growing up at 20th and Susquehanna, he thought otherwise. He once skipped 150 days of class in a single school year. He repeated the eighth grade twice. And despite standing 6-foot-91/2 in his socks, basketball was something he watched only on television.

Today, after making a commitment to the hardwood and making dramatic academic improvements, he is a college-prep-course-taking, can’t-miss college prospect.

He is Aaric Murray, a junior center at Glen Mills, a residential school in Delaware County for court-adjudicated young men.

“Coming here was a blessing,” said Murray, sent to Glen Mills for years of truancy. “That’s why I thank God every night. It was definitely a blessing.”

So much of a blessing that he will remain at Glen Mills even after his 14-month sentence concludes next month.

Craig Mellinger, the Bulls’ longtime basketball coach, marvels at Murray’s transformation.

“Two of the biggest things that he has had in growth the last year is, No. 1, maturity,” Mellinger said. “And along with that maturity has come the confidence to interact and ask questions. He’ll tell you that a year ago, you couldn’t pull five words out of him.”

He also hasn’t played a lot of basketball. But he has potential.

“I only saw him one time,” said Dave Telep, Scout.com’s national basketball recruiting analyst.

As a result, Murray isn’t ranked nationally by the Web site. But. . . .

“The one time I saw Aaric, he showed the ability to be a major Division I player,” Telep continued. “I really had a positive impression of him.”

SLAM had him on their radar last January, listing him at #13.

Mixed feelings. He seems to have a lot of potential, but he is a definite project. The kind that will need a redshirt and some time. As long as he isn’t planning to decide until after the summer, Pitt might be best served by seeing how McGhee is coming along over the summer and if Austin Wallace will ever be able to comeback. Not sure Pitt can afford to have too many big men projects at once.

I hate to waste time on this sort of thing, but Bob Smizik’s usual column about how unimportant the Big East Tournament is, has come out. Honestly, I have a hard time getting worked up about most of what Smizik writes. Recycling the same columns, themes and just changing names has been his M.O. for years at this point.

Let’s give Smizik props for sticking with the position he has advocated before. At least he isn’t always a weather vane. He may have not said a damn word if Pitt had gone further, but that’s just human nature. Apparently playing well in the Big East Tournament is only bad for Pitt. G-town went to the Final Four last year after winning the BET. UConn won national champs in two of the three times it won the BET.

For Pitt, though, it is overemphasized because they had nothing left for the NCAA Tournament. Really, if Smizik was going to recycle a column, I would have expected his 2006 complaint about Pitt not being a good shooting team. You know, because they were too focused on defense and rebounding. He couldn’t complain about it in 2005, because Pitt lost in the first round of the BET. Don’t worry, he doubled it up in 2004, with focus on the unimportance of the BET and the regular season title, but then complained about how flawed Pitt was after losing the BET.

His theme this time, was that Pitt should have not played the 7-man rotation so much in the BET, even if it meant losing.

Gary McGhee, for example, did not get on the floor in the Big East tournament. That’s ridiculous. McGhee, a 6 foot 10 freshman, should have been part of the rotation, giving a rest to either Sam Young or DeJuan Blair so those two valuable players would be at their best for NCAA play and not possibly fatigued. Not only does it help Young and Blair, it gives McGhee valuable playing experience.

Brad Wanamaker, a player who might be starting next season, played a total of 16 minutes in the Big East tournament and did not get on the floor in the final two games. Wanamaker should have been used to spell Ronald Ramon and Levance Fields to keep them fresh for the more important games ahead.

As it was, Ramon and Young averaged 38 minutes and Fields 36 in the four Big East tournament games. Allocating those kind of minutes to a secondary tournament is poor coaching.

No one can be certain fatigue was the reason Ramon and Fields shot a combined 1 for 9 from 3-point range against Michigan State or that Young was 4 for 12 from the field. But it might have been, and that possibility should have been enough for Dixon to keep his players fresh instead of overextending them.

So, let’s say McGhee and Wanamaker got 10 minutes in each of those two games. Here’s the problem with that idea — I mean beyond the minimal actual impact on minutes.

It assumes the substitution is an individual occurrence. That the team doesn’t make adjustments to the rotation on hand. Like, having to help more inside with McGhee who is a step slow and not as sure inside. Or the other players having to work harder on offense because there is more pressure on the other 4 while McGhee is out there. The same can be argued for Wanamaker. He’s a solid defender, but his offense has been a non-factor and turnover risk in his freshman year.

I have high hopes for both. I think both will show marked improvement next season. That doesn’t mean you put them out there in these situations, and put these games at risk. To say nothing of the possibility of damaging their confidence if they make big mistakes in these situations.

Well Pitt’s pro-day for the NFL scouts was Monday. The main attraction, Jeff Otah, was unable to go because of a lingering high ankle sprain.

There were other seniors who worked out — Mike McGlynn, Joe Clermond, Darrell Strong and Kennard Cox.

McGlynn (6-4, 310), a four-year starter, started two games at right guard and nine at right tackle last season for the Panthers. But he is being projected as a guard by NFL scouts and coaches because of his height and arm length. However, what makes him an attractive mid-round prospect is that he has what Tomlin called “position flexibility.”

“That’s the good thing about him — he can play three positions,” said Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach/assistant head coach Russ Grimm, a former Steelers assistant who attended the workout. “He was a center before he played guard and tackle.”

Strong is an intriguing prospect because of his size (6-4, 268), athleticism and big hands, yet he is not ranked among the top tight end prospects in the draft. Part of the reason is that Strong began his college career as a quarterback, was switched to wide receiver and has only been a tight end for three years.

“It went good,” Strong said of his workout. “I think I did good in all the drills. I improved on all the things I did at the combine.”

Size likely will be a deterrent for defensive tackle Joe Clermond (6-3, 250), who was a productive player at Pitt and led the team last season with 10.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss and was second team All-Big East. Colbert said Clermond would be an outside linebacker in the 3-4 style of defense the Steelers employ, but he could play end for a 4-3 team.

The more Pitt players drafted, the better.
Today is the start of spring practice. As is usual, there is a sense of optimism and excitement. This despite a slew of questions and upheaval.

Pitt opens spring football drills Tuesday with a four-way competition at quarterback, an overhaul on the offensive line and a coaching staff that features five new assistants.

That would be cause for alarm at some schools, but the Panthers’ 13-9 victory at No. 2 West Virginia in the season finale and 100th Backyard Brawl has provided optimism.

The challenge for Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is to build on the momentum of that monumental victory, when the Panthers finally played the way he had long envisioned.

“We’ve got to get coaches and players feeling that confidence that we finished the year with,” said Wannstedt, whose Panthers are a preseason top-25 team in some polls.

The biggest issue will be the position battles. QB, Center, all along the O-line, Linebacker spots outside of McKillop still look open, CB, depth chart issues at WR.

There’s nothing like the spring practices to challenge the cynicism. There’s the anticipated — almost standardized — stories of off-season workouts; new coaches and new perspectives; position changes; players ready to step up; blind optimism; players coming back from injury and so on.

God help me, every year I get sucked into it and believe this year will be different. Can’t wait.

Why wait? Scott McKillop gets the first national puff-piece in the week before spring practice.

It’s a defender’s version of nature vs. nurture. Are good tacklers born or are they made? Good tackling may be all about technique. Ask any safety who has to listen to a coach berate him for lunging at a tailback. But if the player doesn’t have “a nose for the ball,” as coaches are wont to say, it doesn’t matter how good his technique is.

Take the case of Scott McKillop, the Pittsburgh senior linebacker who, in his first season as a starter, led his team in tackling. He led every other team in tackling, too. McKillop made more tackles per game than any player in the nation last season. His 12.58 stops per game is more than 1½ tackles higher than any other returning player averaged in 2007. That adds up to 151 tackles, or 91 more — that’s right, 91 — than Pitt’s runner-up, linebacker Shane Murray.

Let the unbridled optimism flow.