And he’s looking at Pitt.

Lake Forest High School defensive lineman Scott Covert could be the first player of the coach Chuck Spagnoli era to verbally commit to a major college ahead of the season.

The coach said the 6-foot-2, 245-pounder is close to making his college intentions known.

According to the Rivals.com Web site, Covert is being recruited by Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Pittsburgh and Northern Illinois.

Covert’s father, Jimbo, was an All-American at Pitt before starring for the Chicago Bears in the 1980s.

Not to be confused with Scott Covert the artist who likes to do word maps of grave rubbings.

At least, not until the Big East Tournament.

Pitt was supposed to try and play a game at Madison Square Garden on December 17. Unfortunately, no one was available of any name recognition/gate value/TV interest.

Instead Pitt will have a home game on December 18.

The addition of Pitt finalizes Siena’s 2008-09 nonconference schedule, expected to be the most difficult in school history.

In addition to playing Pitt, Siena will face defending national champion Kansas, Cornell, Boise State, Buffalo, the University at Albany and Saint Joseph’s.

The Saints are in the MAAC. Not quite a BCS quality opponent. Man does Pitt need something else for the non-con home slate.

The first couple games of the season finally have been set. The opening game against Bowling Green is getting televised on ESPNU so it has the dreaded 12 pm start. Good to land somewhere on the WWL’s opening weekend tv slate. Bad for a noon time thing. It also doesn’t help that the Pirates have a 7:05pm start to their game at PNC Park (like anyone will be there if there isn’t a bobblehead give-a-way). Bowling Green is actually a decent challenge to open the season. They are expected to be the team to beat in the MAC East with 17 starters returning.

The following week against another MAC East team, Buffalo comes in for a 6pm start and the chance to tailgate all day. The game has no TV coverage, so that’s why there is the strange game time. No word on whether Pitt’s “All-Access” will have the rights to stream the live video.

The Iowa game is still unknown. Likely because ABC/ESPN is still deciding which channel and when they want to show it. The choices are limited because naturally the Pirates have another 7:05 pm home game. AD Pederson is admitting as much.

“We don’t get into much wiggle room. Since I got here, Frank Coonelly of the Pirates and I have gotten to be good friends, and Frank’s terrific. We’ve talked about, in the future, us meshing schedules and working to do the very best we can for both of our fan bases to make sure we don’t end up with conflicts on the same weekends.

“I think we’re both committed to try to make all of that work for both of our fans. The problem was, to some extent their schedule was already set before Frank got here and our schedule was already set before I got here, so there just wasn’t much wiggle room there.”

By next year, we should have an idea as to whether that’s just words and both sides still do their own thing, or if ex-AD Jeff Long never grasped intermediate communications and planning with the Pirates.

As annoying as an early start for the first game is, I can’t disagree with Pederson’s point.

“Noon kickoffs can be tough, but, that early in the season, there is so much excitement for our team and such a buzz for our team that it is really going to be a great day,” Pederson said. “I think the excitement surrounding our team is the reason ESPN wanted to televise our opener because let’s face it people are talking about our team.”

The early opening game will still get fans this season. It’s purely selfish reasons on my part for wishing the opener was later in the day. Beyond simply not having to leave for the ‘Burgh by 7am, on the first game I love getting on to the campus just for a little. Then there’s wanting a longer tailgate as friends I haven’t seen since the end of last season gather for the first game. Doing all of that in the second week, just doesn’t seem the same.

We already knew the Backyard Brawl was going to be noon on Friday after Thanksgiving, but I guess it’s nice to know some of the backstory.

“I thought, wouldn’t it be unbelievable if we could get our game moved to national television?” Pederson said. “History would say that the Friday after Thanksgiving is a great day to watch college football. There aren’t as many games going on, so you really can captivate the nation that day.”

It still beats having it on Thanksgiving night.

I’m not trying to put any undue pressure on Jermaine Dixon, but if he doesn’t make a decent contribution to Pitt basketball this year I am (not-so-)seriously considering establishing an online petition to convince Coach Jamie Dixon to never sign another JUCO player.

Well, Keith Benjamin likes how Jermaine Dixon has been looking on the court.

Benjamin likes the experience of sophomore Brad Wanamaker and the shooting ability of freshman Ashton Gibbs, but he sees junior-college transfer Jermaine Dixon as someone who can be an impact player when the Panthers begin the season in a few months.

“I like Jermaine a lot,” Benjamin said Monday night between games in Green Tree. “He’s a tough kid, plays great defense. He can shoot the ball. I think he might be the starting shooting guard. He’s very ready to play college basketball, not like any other junior-college player who has come through here. He’s ready to play Division I basketball. He’s always in the gym.

“Jermaine can come in and average 9 or 10 points a game. He’s very good at creating contact and getting fouled. He gets my thumbs-up. Look for him to have a great season.”

Dixon said he isn’t hung up on becoming a starter. “All I want to do is win,” he said.

But he does believe he can contribute in a big way to a team that has, if not a glaring weakness, at the very least a big question at shooting guard.

“I think I can come in and contribute right away,” he said. “Coach [Jamie] Dixon wants you to play defense and I like to play defense. Plus, they have a big hole to fill. They have great pieces around it. I just want to be another of the pieces.”

I’m happy to be here. I just want to help the team. I’ll do what ever I can, and… Sorry, started channeling Bull Durham.

It is amusing that even Benjamin seemed to acknowledge that the last three JUCO players — his teammates — have all been stiffs.

Ashton Gibbs has shown in the summer league that he can hit threes as well as he did in high school. By all accounts Bradley Wanamaker has been playing with a lot more confidence and poise. Wanamaker seems to understand how much faster the game is at college versus high school and now things are slowing down for him to see more of it.

For Wanamaker it really seems that the summer league has done a lot to make him feel more comfortable and confident about his own game.

Wanamaker has averaged 23 points over his last three games and has played in every game of the summer. That’s a tough thing to do with summer classes, but Wanamaker’s time spent in this summer league has been well worth it. He looks more confident driving to the basket, more confident with his jump shot, and looks like a natural at the point guard position. He is showing that he would be capable of giving Fields some rest while learning the position. It’s also possible he could be the Panthers’ sixth man at this point.

Even though the summer league is a far cry from next year’s Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament, a Brad Wanamaker with this kind of confidence is a good thing to have in July. Wanamaker himself is first to admit it, and he credits the competition in this summer’s league.

“I love it: you’re going up against someone different everyday,” Wanamaker said. “It’s not just about going against your teammates. You get to go against someone else every night. I’ve been playing with a lot more confidence. I’ve been working on my jump shot. It makes me feel more comfortable, to shoot in a game. It’s fun.”

Wanamaker seems to also get that he doesn’t fit as a true shooting guard and seems to be working hard at being at least a competent back-up to Levance Fields at the point. Versatility will be the way he gets more minutes.

I admit to something of a continued fascination with the football recruiting class of 2004. Not the players Pitt got, but all the ones that got away. It was the absolute culmination of a football season of complete disappointment. From the Big East breaking apart, to the on-the-field collapse, and then to have the highly ranked recruiting class lose blue-chipper after blue-chipper. The last was most painful as several went to teams that were hated — Penn State (Morelli) and Miami (Bryant and Johnson) — or to new foes — USF (Peyton).

Of course, time balanced a bit as all of them had disappointing careers, major off-the-field problems or injuries. There was one other, though, that got away. Alphonso Smith at the very last minute signed with Wake Forest. That one was lost in the shuffle of the time and relatively minor by comparison. He was a Florida kid — not local — and he wasn’t signing with a team that had won in decades.

Smith redshirted and actually has become the best of the bunch as an all-ACC, potential all-American cornerback in his senior year. So, this is what happened.

Smith committed to Pittsburgh before his mother and two Pahokee (Fla.) High School teammates talked him into changing his mind on National Signing Day.

He was about to sign the letter-of-intent with Pitt and was sitting between Pahokee classmates Antonio Wilson and Demir Boldin – two Wake Forest recruits – when his mother arrived at the high school holding a phone. Wake Forest recruiting coordinator Ray McCartney was on the other end of the line.

Smith said he intentionally had left his Wake Forest letter-of-intent at home. When he mentioned to his mom that he didn’t have the Wake Forest letter with him, she promptly reached into her purse and pulled it out. When he pointed out that he didn’t have a Wake Forest hat, she immediately gave him one.

“She’s on the phone with Coach (McCartney) saying, ‘Yeah, I think he’s going to sign,’ ” Smith recalled. “And Antonio and D.J. are on me (saying), ‘Come on, man. We’ll have fun. We’ll turn this thing around.’ ”

Smith finally gave in and signed with Wake Forest. Then he had to make one more call.

“I had to call the Pitt coach and say I signed with Wake,” Smith said. ‘He was like, ‘What?!?’ “

Given the day Harris and the rest of the coaching staff was having that was likely the cherry on top of a crap sundae.

Today Fernando Diaz picked Pitt over UConn to be commit number 6. I have to admit that this would be a more exciting get, if the player picking Pitt over UConn was in basketball. Diaz in an offensive guard, though, and building depth on the O-line is a good thing.

Diaz comes in as a 2-star recruit and also ranked #9 overall in New York by Rivals.com.

This is the 3d verbal for a likely O-line player to this point. along with Juantez Hollins and Cory King.

Right now the lines, linebacker and safety seem like the more important spots to build depth. It seems Pitt has depth and talent at QB, RB, FB, WR and CB. Especially with the number of redshirts.

The lines have remained an issue as any injury along them seems to throw everything into a mess. Forcing moves and shifts. Attempts to shore up spots.

So, Dan Jennings signed verballed to WVU. Grumble, didn’t want him anyways. Grumble, Pitt got Dante Taylor, so there. Yeah, that means Pitt will be pushing even harder to get Thomas Robinson.

Silly lists? You bet. SI.com does “Fearless predictions” with Luke Winn.

15. Under-appreciated soph most ready to become a household name, Part II: DeJuan Blair, Pitt. Local boy was quietly a beast last year in a league full of quality big men. He might be the best offensive rebounder in the country.

Taking things too seriously? How about complaining about a ridiculously early top-25 poll and maybe a 3 spot difference? A Pitt fan e-mailed Gary Parrish at CBS Sportsline about putting Pitt at #8 rather than at least #5.

So we’re essentially arguing over three spots in my Ridiculously Early But Still Kind of Fun Preseason Top 25 (and one) that was published last month, correct? If so, wow. And God bless you! Because it’s folks like you — folks who care about this sport 365 days per year and to a somewhat questionable degree — who keep me going 365 days per year (and provide potential editions of Dear Gary for every single one of them).

Anyway, back to Pitt.

You saw that I have the Panthers eighth, right?

That means we’re pretty close in our assessments, though I fully acknowledge a reasonable person could place the Panthers higher because I agree with you that Pitt is “primed for a huge year.” In fact, I’m starting to wonder when Pitt won’t be “primed for a huge year” considering Jamie Dixon’s track record and the way he’s recruiting.

Dixon is now five years in at Pitt, for those unfamiliar.

He’s made the NCAA tournament every season.

He’s won at least 20 games every season.

And now he has a Top 10 (or perhaps even a top five) team ready to compete for the Big East title, and recruiting is also going well considering Pitt just picked up a commitment from Dante Taylor, a 6-foot-8 McDonald’s All-American candidate who chose the Panthers over Syracuse, Kansas and Connecticut. In other words, Dixon has continued what Ben Howland started and made Pitt one of the more stable programs in America, and it’s comical in hindsight that the school was at least exploring the possibility of hiring anybody other than Dixon when Howland moved to UCLA in 2003.

Let’s, uh, keep the sanity somewhere near the keyboard.

Sure the basketball side has been more active this summer. With recruiting and lots of ridiculously early prognostications about top-5, -8 or -10 rankings. Football, though, actually kicks off the first Pitt game in just over 40 days. So, why the silence from the media?

Other than the occasional, look for these teams to be much better this year stories (insider subs).

From Brett in Chicago: I know you’ve been touting Notre Dame to win a lot more games because of its easier schedule as much as the team is getting older (which sounds a bit like a cop-out to me), but I won’t give you a hard time for that. What other mediocre programs are you going to go on record and tout?

Bruce Feldman: I do expect ND to win at least eight games this season, and I also believe Pittsburgh and Ole Miss will make big jumps forward in the win column. The Panthers get a lot of their key players who were injured back, and they have matured along both lines. Ole Miss gets a huge boost from QB Jevan Snead, the Rebels have a terrific D-line, and their young receivers have kept improving.

That’s easy to explain, Media Days have yet to occur. No coach interviews. No player interviews. No media guides. Let’s face it, all the pre-pre-polls have already been issued, revised, rehashed and drilled into the ground. How many ways can the same stories be spun?

Well, the Big East Media Day is set for July 29. Pitt will be bringing Scott McKillop and LeSean McCoy for the event. I’m more amused at the way the Big East treats Louisville and Cinci.

Cinci Coach Kelly gets left out. Krags ends up listed as Cinci’s coach, and Louisville appears to be bringing 3 players to media day for the future video interviews.

Well, there is one Pitt-related football story. This feature piece on LeSean McCoy.

“We knew he’d be good,” says Walker. “I didn’t think he’d been this good this soon. Really, from day one, he stepped in and showed he could compete at this level.”

McCoy says his mentors include his brother, LeRon McCoy, a third-year NFL receiver with the Houston Texans. “He’s coached me through everything. He’s been there. He knows the ropes.”

McCoy says Dorsett has counseled him that doing “all the little things right” makes a great player. “He’s a great guy … full of advice,” McCoy says.

McCoy’s development will also depend on his supporting cast.

Stull and Kinder are expected back. Pitt’s incoming recruits include 6-5 wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin of Aliquippa, Pa.

“We’re going to open up the offense so much,” McCoy says.

Wannstedt says this season’s game plans will reflect McCoy’s development. “He’s been in the system for a year. … Now you tweak another run or two, you add a couple of more passes to him,” Wannstedt says. “Maybe you can get him the ball in different ways.”

McCoy welcomes that: “You always want the ball. Not selfishly, but you want to help the team so much you’ll do anything.”

The story also recounts a bit of his recruiting including the famous checking his name off at the Pitt-Georgetown basketball game.

Pardon me, I’m climbing up on a high horse for a minute. Hmm. Uncomfortable.

I try not to kid myself. Pitt, like any school involved in 1-A athletics will have players commit crimes, make mistakes, get in academic trouble and just generally screw-up. It has happened. It will happen. Every school and program has to address this at some point or another. Whether it comes once or in waves.

The issue isn’t having it happen. It’s how the school, the program and the coaches address it. That’s where the character of the school and program really come to the forefront.

More than that, though, it also becomes an issue of how the fans face such things. Do they look at it solely in what it means in wins and losses? Do they circle the wagons and descend into lunatic-fringe paranoia –  seeing conspiracies and attempts to bring down their beloved program at every turn? Do they demand accountability from the program and their school?

My college football FanHouse colleague Adam Jacobi goes down the final path in a post that is absolutely devastating in the issues and questions raised about the University of Iowa. He’s an Iowa alum, and he loves his school. There is no hyperbole. No calls for cleaning house. That’s what makes it such a brutal post for Iowa.

It lays out the issue. It asks questions that have been avoided. The facts simply put Iowa in a bad light and there is no pretending otherwise. This is a “read it all” post.

I hope Pitt never faces this level of crisis. I also hope that if it does happen Pitt fans and I can be that honest about it.

Dismounting.

Thomas Robinson wants to play early. He wants to know his situation, and is paying attention as the attention on him increases.

Unlike a lot of prospects, Robinson also knows a lot about where he stands with each team.

“Bob Huggins called yesterday,” says Redd, “and he was telling Thomas that their was an opening for him, but Thomas asked him about (incoming freshman) Roscoe Davis. Thomas knows who everybody has.”

That may impact one of the perceived favorites for Robinson, Pitt.

“He came off the floor after the game the other day and I told him that Dante (Taylor) signed with Pittsburgh and he said ‘Well, that’s a done deal with them then,’” says Redd. “But I told him to wait and let me see what’s going on. So Jamie Dixon called this morning and I mentioned Taylor, and Dixon said that they want to play both together, with Thomas at the three, but I don’t know. It’s something Thomas will have to sit down and think about it.”

Redd says that a decision could come at the end of the summer.

“That’s the plan right now,” he says. “In August, he will sit down, take a deep breath, and see who everybody has and what kind of style they play. Then he will pick three or four schools to visit.”

I can’t say I fault him for being cautious. College sports is littered with implied promises of early playing time and slavish praise and devotion on one player as being the centerpiece only to learn otherwise.

If you want to start focusing on 2010 and 2011, NBE Basketball Report has some more on youngsters Pitt is very interested in pursuing.

Victor Olidipo – If there is a rising junior that could end up being the next Thomas Robinson – being in time one of the most highly recruited players in the East – it is Victor. Though he’s getting an early start, and has a long way to go, the 6’3”, 180 pound Olidipo always leaves onlookers shocked at some athletic play, whether it is a follow up slam, fast break move, or blocked shot. More and more, Olidipo is impacting the game down offensively, including open court patting, good spot up shooting, and always making the right play.

Providence has offered, while Pittsburgh is very interested. Joining Providence in tendering a scholarship offer are Oklahoma, Maryland, George Mason, James Madison and UNC-Greensboro, while Clemson, BC and VCU can be placed along with Pitt has expressing interest.
…
Mike Gbinije – A 6’6”, 180 pound rising sophomore, Gbinije may be a ‘golden child’ in that he can do it all, including shoot, defend, drive, and pass. Even more impressive is he does all of this in a team setting.

Not surprisingly, the heavies are starting to contact, with Georgetown and Pittsburgh (who has offered) hot in pursuit from a Big East bent, while Texas, North Carolina and Virginia Tech (another offerer) have joined the parade. Recently, Florida may have also offered.

Rivals.com already has Olidipo as a 4-star prospect, #52 in the country and #11 among shooting guards. Gbinije is merely an entry in the database right now.

Useless information that only I might find interesting: college basketball rosters for the 2008-09 season are supposed to be updated and available to the media starting on Monday. Why? Because of the preview magazine business. They have to start work in July to get them out in September and October. That means collecting the basic information, as early as they can.

It can also mean that the never-ending Mike Cook-NCAA-Eligibility saga should get a little more media attention in the next week or two. Someone will have their curiosity piqued if Pitt gives them a roster with an asterisk or a blank spot. That is unless the NCAA finally makes a decision today.

It’s also why Austin Wallace is getting his paperwork in order for a medical hardship application.

Pitt forward Austin Wallace is going through the paperwork for a medical hardship because of a serious knee injury he suffered last December practicing before Pitt’s game against Washington. The move will free up a scholarship for Pitt, yet allow Wallace to retain a scholarship to attend the school.

It’s not a surprising move since Wallace’s injury was known to require a good two-years of recovery. kind of a surprise they waited until now. His basketball career is still at risk with a fractured left patella.

Pitt’s troubles to find an opponent for Madison Square Garden continues. Maybe Stanford?

Odjakjian said it’s unlikely Pitt would play a smaller school at the Garden, even if it’s a New York-area school. The gate wouldn’t justify such a matchup at a 19,000-seat arena.

“It’s certainly up to the Garden if a lesser opponent would be acceptable,” Odjakjian said. “If the game is not going to draw a lot of people, they aren’t going to bother.”

Which is why they wanted a team from a BCS school. Even if they weren’t particularly good. As long as there was an alumni base of some size in the area to buy tickets. I’m guessing Pitt isn’t being picky at this point.

According to this report the Memphis deal fell through for more than just timing issues.

Pittsburgh Sports Insider has been told that Pitt has been trying hard to schedule Memphis, however, Tigers head coach John Calipari wants too much in return.

The obvious implication being a road game to Memphis next year and no true home game for Pitt.

If you are in Pittsburgh, have diabetes, or want to know more about diabetes there is the Diabetes Expo at the David Lawrence Convention Center this Saturday. Oh, and the Pitt men’s and women’s basketball team will be there signing autographs.

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.

Also per Andy Katz, this annoying piece of info.

Pitt wants to play a high major at Madison Square Garden in December. But no one is biting.

Looks like the Memphis rumor has fallen through.

I guess that’s the problem when you’ve had the success Pitt has had at MSG in recent years. Everyone knows and is in no hurry to go there for a loss. Even with the exposure on ESPN and recruiting in NYC area.

Seriously? Again? What more info could they possibly need (Insider subs).

Pitt was supposed to hear this week from the NCAA about whether Mike Cook would receive a sixth season of eligibility. But the NCAA asked for more information, and Pitt has still not gotten a decision. Cook tore his ACL against Duke on Dec. 20.

I did check the date on Andy Katz’s blog post on this. It is for today, so it isn’t a rerun from info of last month. This is getting beyond stupid. The other problem with the continued delays is that it screws up the system if they do turn Cook down.

The NCAA system allows for appeals and requests for reconsideration. If the NCAA takes this long to make the first decision, there will be no practical chance to make an appeal and have a decision made before the school year starts. More than just making it very difficult for Pitt to set a roster, they are keeping Mike Cook’s life on hold with this. He’s in limbo with moving on to the rest of his life.

QB Bill Stull headlines this national list of players coming back from injury this fall.

“Last year, you’re standing and watching an offense that you were in, that should have you out there,” Pitt quarterback Bill Stull said by telephone. “I can’t wait. I’ve been looking forward to this season for a whole year.”

Stull started last year’s opener against Eastern Michigan before ripping up his thumb on a third-quarter handoff. He watched freshmen understudies Pat Bostick and Kevan Smith complete a 5-7 fall, disappointing even after a season-ending upset of then-No. 2 West Virginia.

But Stull, a redshirt junior, beat incumbent starter Bostick for the No. 1 job this spring, leading a platoon of Panthers back from sickbay. Receiver Derek Kinder, back from a torn ACL (the only college football initials worse than “BCS”), figures to rank as Stull’s top target. And defensive tackle Gus Mustakas has rebounded from a knee tear, too, and might start along Pitt’s front.

All that’s left for the threesome, and all the guys returning from injury, is proving their worth come September. And don’t sleep on what a guy can do after missing a chunk of last year.

It will be closely watched how well those three plus Chris Jacobson and Dan Matha. To say nothing of Pinkston and whether Mick Williams can stay healthy. Yeesh. Heck, we have to see if Coach Wannstedt’s knee can hold up this year.