On the heels of Dante Taylor’s verbal, was the off-the-record comments by assistant coach Tom Herrion that made it into print in the Trib. Even if removed from the web article. Again, this is a secondary violation likely to be self-reported by Pitt.

Coaches or staff members are not allowed to talk about recruits — other than to say they are being recruited — until they have signed a national letter of intent, according to NCAA rule 13.10.2.

The NCAA refers to this as an institutional violation, meaning the school usually reports it to the NCAA and handles the punishment.

“The institution usually would self-report it, and the NCAA would look at it,” said Big East director of communications Chuck Sullivan. “That would include a follow up to see what the school did to rectify it.”

That process usually includes reiterating to the recruit that he or she is not bound to the verbal commitment and a re-education on NCAA rules for the coach in question, Sullivan said.

“That is usually suffice for the NCAA,” Sullivan said.

Pitt associate director of media relations Greg Hotchkiss said the school may report the incident, but added it was a minor violation that will be handled by the school and members of the athletic department.

It’s a little glitch for Assistant Tom Herrion, but a very annoying one — especially since he will be a candidate for open jobs come next March/April. And (from what I understand) a mistake by Trib beat reporter John Grupp in incorporating it in the story. The comments were supposed to be off-the-record (OTR), not meant to be given publicly.

Here’s the actual NCAA Rule:

Before the signing of a prospective student-athlete to a National Letter of Intent or an institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid, a member institution may comment publicly only to the extent of confirming its recruitment of the prospective student-athlete.

Any writer covering college sports has to know this rule. Why? Because they want to be trusted by the coaches and athletic department and get access. That means if you are talking to a coach, they need to know the writer knows what is allowed for public comment and what is not.

I don’t know if Herrion mentioned the OTR requirement or assumed Grupp knew how this worked since Grupp has spent the past year as the basketball beat writer. Either way Grupp had to know and simply forgot. A big goof and one that likely cost Grupp some goodwill with the coaches.

Andy Katz at ESPN.com noted the Dante Taylor signing and viewed it a little differently.

Pitt secured its highest-rated recruit for the Class of 2009 when 6-9 New York native Dante Taylor of National Christian Academy verbally committed on Monday. Taylor is ranked No. 24 in ESPN’s Top 100. Memphis and Kansas were also pursuing him.

While Pitt fans can celebrate getting a top recruit there, they should also remember some perspective. Jamie Dixon and his predecessor Ben Howland have done quite fine without needing to get a highly rated player. The rankings are good for fan fodder, but the Panthers have always had good fits for their program.

For Pitt, the significance of getting yet another New York City talent, despite the change in Northeast-native assistants over the years from Barry Rohrssen and Orlando Antigua to Tom Herrion, shows that the program and Dixon are the consistent presences that maintain the pipeline to NYC.

Which is why it has to be frustrating for Dixon and Pitt not to be able to get an opponent at MSG. It’s a good point about still recruiting NYC. I think the other thing, though, is that they still recruited a player that will fit Pitt’s system. He just happens to be a much higher rated player.

Taylor spoke a little, down in Morgantown (Ed. note: this was apparently published originally by the Dominion Post — which is firewalled and ignored because of it yet the McClatchy group then reprinted it in TradingMarkets.com which I don’t entirely follow.

“I always wanted to play in the Big East,” Taylor said. “I like the coaching staff. I developed a good relationship with them. I like how the players stayed together off the court.”

The 6-foot-9, 230-pound power forward said he plays hard up and down the floor and doesn’t quit on any possession. He said once he gets to Pittsburgh, he will be “willing to help the team in any way that he can” and become a leader.

During National Christian’s firstround game against Shining Star Sports (Ky.), Taylor showed why he is highly regarded and received multiple scholarship offers from major college basketball programs. He scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, en route to his team’s 70-60 win.

Besides scoring and rebounding, Taylor demonstrated his passing ability by dishing out several assists to his teammates.

Defensively, Taylor was a force underneath the basket. On many occasions when the opposition entered the lane, Taylor was there to block shots or at least alter them. He had active hands and grabbed many loose balls, then threw outlet passes to streaking teammates triggering the fastbreak.

Pitt coaches this past weekend were down in Virginia for the Agent Zero to Hero Invitational. Why? Because Thomas Robinson was there.

Now he has offers from Pittsburgh, Providence, Marquette, Seton Hall, West Virginia and South Florida from a Big East perspective. Outside of that league, the likes of Georgia, UMass, Virginia, Boston College, plus Maryland previously offered, while Memphis, Oklahoma State, the Big East’s Louisville and a few others recently did so.

Their interest is little wonder, as Robinson, who at 6’8” and just under 220 pounds is a rugged player who relishes battling down low, attacking the tin, and defending. He’s a ‘beast’ to say the least, and will likely take his show to Brewster academy for his senior year after previously attending Riverdale Baptist.

It will be interesting with Taylor already committed. If it’s true that Pitt would like to add Robinson or Dan Jennings to the class, it may become a question of which will give a verbal first. The Taylor verbal changed the dynamic for Pitt. Arguably the pressure to decide is on Robinson and Jennings.