Per Chris Dokish at Pittsburgh Sports Report, Pitt will be with the heavyweights to work on getting Dominic Cheek.

As for his Division-1 bound teammates, he says Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas), Mike Rosario (Rutgers) and Travon Woodall (Pittsburgh) all will factor in his recruiting.

“All of those guys try to recruit me to their teams every day,” laughs Cheek, who says he is equally close with all three. “I have nothing against any of those dudes and I would play with them, no problem.”

Does Cheek have any interest in Pitt?

“Oh, I’m interested in them a lot,” he said. “I definitely want to visit them.”

[St. Anthony’s Coach Bob] Hurley agrees that Pitt is a major player in the Cheek sweepstakes.

“Pitt is definitely on the list,” he said.

Cheek also has offers from Texas and Florida and can be assumed to have plenty of others as a consensus top-20 national player. According to Dokish, Pitt wasn’t looking for another small forward/swingman for the 2009 class, but the interest from Cheek and his talent makes him someone they could not, not pursue.

Cheek, by the way was invited to tryout for the USA Under-18 squad.
Nasir Robinson, it seems is not yet qualified academically. Something to watch after Dodson last year. To say nothing of the fact that if Mike Cook does get a medical waiver, Pitt is over the scholarship limit.

Assuming Robinson does qualify, though, Pitt comes in with the 24th best recruiting class according to ESPN/Scouts, Inc.

The Panthers received four signatures during the early period led by ESPN 100 small forward Nasir Robinson. During the late signing period, juco point guard Jermaine Dixon joined the Panthers, providing more depth and stability in the backcourt. Pittsburgh also has talented guards Travon Woodall and Ashton Gibbs in addition to power forward Dwight Miller as members of their 2008 recruiting class.

Via NBE Basketball Report, Brian Crownover of CAA Insider looks at some players from the IS8 Semifinals. Kevin Parron is mentioned, but I’m not sure how interested Pitt is in him at this point.

Omari Lawrence

The Panthers had a rough start and the big part of that was the early struggles of their talented duo. Omari miss several jumpers and a couple drives to the hoop before he really got going. He’s always looking to push that ball and did so again in this game. Omari finally got going as the game wore on. He hit a three pointer, a floater and had a beautiful play where he drove across the lane and banked home a shot. The skilled wing stilled ended up pouring in 28 points, but it came a little too late.

The 2009 guard has St. John’s, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Pittsburgh, among others, interested in his talents.

…

Sterling Gibbs

This youngster had a couple nice plays. He hit a three pointer from the perimeter as well as another jumper. He also had a nice drive and dish play. Sterling is the younger brother of 2008 Pittsburgh commit Ashton Gibbs. The class of 2011 point guard is already on the radar of many Big East schools, especially that of the Panthers.

Sterling has been on the radar of a number of schools for at least the past year. He is, by all accounts, going to be a highly sought talent.

So Pitt and Coach Jamie Dixon are going to host a Coaches vs. Cancer event in Pittsburgh this year. Along with the American Cancer Society and UPMC it will be the first ever Hoops for Hope Basketball Gala on May 31 at the Petersen Events Center.

How’s that working out for the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament appearance?

Rich (Pittsburgh): Andy – Coaches vs Cancer or Legends Classic for Pitt? I am hearing conflicting reports on which tournament they will play in.

Andy Katz: Right now Pitt is being moved over to the Legends Classic in New Jersey. This isn’t done but that appears to be their spot.

That noise started last week. Looks like the organizers want to have better odds of a Duke-UCLA meeting. From a marketing standpoint I can see it. Michigan is a likely non-factor to challenge, but is a name school. Adding Rutgers is reasonably safe to get that Duke-UCLA match-up.

I don’t like it as a Pitt fan, and if the goal is supposed to be to raise money for Coaches vs. Cancer it’s a mistake overall.

Pitt is hosting it’s first gala in support of the charity. Hopes were being raised that the basketball team was going to be a participant in the Tournament. That kind of synergy would really help the Pittsburgh event. Now, Pitt is being pushed to a one-game neutral site. Not nearly the same.

EDITOR CORRECTION: My bad. The Legends Classic is a not a one-off game. It is a mini-tournament like the Coaches vs. Cancer. Thanks to Bethlehemjohn for the correction.

Still not particularly happy since it does at least present a perception of being shoved down a tier for the profile of the event.

UPDATE (4:36): Per Andy Katz’s blog today (Insider subs.):

Pitt is no longer a lock to go to the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament in New York with UCLA, Duke and Michigan. The Panthers are more likely to land in the Legends Classic in Newark with Texas Tech. Five schools in the mix for the four remaining spots in the two tournaments are Pitt, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Washington State and/or Southern Illinois.

Yeah. Downgraded. Definitely downgraded.