So, I feel like going upbeat. How about some basketball things.

Starting with recruiting. Dominic Cheek will visit Pitt this weekend. He’ll be joined by guard Isaiah Epps.

“I should be going out there [to Pitt] next weekend,” he said. “I don’t have any favorite schools. I’m open for anything.”

Epps said he had no other visits planned, but “I should be going to Seton Hall and Rutgers, too, on unofficial visits.”

A quick, talented combo guard, Epps said he also garnered interest over the summer from Texas, Michigan State and Virginia Tech.

Hopefully they will be staying through Sunday. Pitt kicks off the exhibition season with Seton Hill and then has a student event afterwards. I’m sure Josh (merlin) and the rest of the Oakland Zoo will have more information. Be sure to check them out, and if you are students, definitely go to the game and the event afterwards.

Durand Scott has previously visited Pitt. He’s also narrowed his choices to Pitt, UConn and Miami. UCLA and Tennessee have been eliminated.

Scott’s former Rice teammate, Kemba Walker, is a frosh at UConn, one of several built-in advantages the school may have, along with its proximity.

“Kemba is like a brother to me and that’s forever,” Scott told the Journal Inquirer after the UConn visit. “He’s going to do college a year before me, so he’s definitely a person I can get advance from and bounce ideas off of. But a person should never go to a college just because another person’s there. When you come down to it, it’s your life, not that other person’s life.”

As for the Pitt visit last month, Scott joined Pitt commits Dante Taylor of National Christian and Lamar Patterson of St. Benedict’s. During the Iowa-Pitt football game that weekend, the basketball team was honored with its rings for winning the Big East Tournament.

“It went really well,” Scott said then. “I had fun out there. I met the coaching staff. I know a couple guys out there, Travon Woodall and Ashton Gibbs and Levance Fields, so I felt very comfortable. I felt right at home.”

Scott also plays AAU ball for the New York Gauchos. Pitt’s video coordinator, Rasheen Davis, was a coach for the Gauchos U-17 team and an assistant coach at Rice High. So, there is some extra comfort there as well.

Scott may be making up his mind sometime this month for the November signing period.

Levance Fields’ foot remains heavily scrutinized.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said LeVance Fields will do five-on-zero workouts this week but will not participate in any contact drills. The plan for Fields, recovering from foot surgery and an infection that occurred after the procedure, is to go two days on, one day off for the foreseeable future. Dixon said Fields is due for X-rays to check on the healing of the foot on Monday.

I twitch a bit as I type this, but don’t rush back. I’d rather some early struggles and then have to work Fields back in — but healthy and ready for the Big East portion and the second half of the season.

If there is an excuse for people to doubt Pitt’s chances for success this year, this will be it.

7. The Levance Fields situation at Pittsburgh is going to be one worth keeping an eye on all season.

The Panthers’ coaching staff is taking it slow with the senior point guard because they realize without him, they would be reliant on a freshman floor leader and that means they are dead in the water. Sam Young didn’t deny that fact. Fields just started going through non-contact workouts, but don’t be surprised if Jamie Dixon & Co., use kid gloves with him all season.

The guard situation is the overall concern for Pitt. Travon Woodall is likely to be playing a lot of point in place of Fields. The shooting guard spot is open between sophomore Bradley Wanamaker, junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon and freshman Ashton Gibbs. Obviously on Pitt defense is expected. What will help any of the contenders’ chances will be the ability to make 3s on a consistent basis.

“One of our best 3-point shooters left, in Ronald, and … what I do is shoots 3s,” Gibbs said. “So far I’ve shot pretty well in practice. If I have an open shot, I’m going to take it.”

Junior-college transfer Jermaine Dixon had a team-high three 3-pointers in the scrimmage, although that is not his forte. He is a strong penetrator and decision maker, but as a shooting guard he is going to be asked to make more than his share of outside shots.

“Coach [Brandin] Knight has been working with me everyday on 3-pointers,” Dixon said. “When I was in junior college, I shot poorly. But I feel comfortable shooting the 3.”

Jamie Dixon acknowledges the lack of proven outside shooters on his roster, but he also believes the 3-point shot will be less of a factor in games than in previous years.

The NCAA moved the 3-point line back one foot to 20 feet, 9 inches.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Dixon said. “Obviously, we lost some [shooters], but the line goes back a foot. I think it’s going to be different. I don’t think people are going to make as many 3s. It won’t be as much of a factor. It won’t be shot as much. It won’t be made as much.

“It’s going to change a lot of things. It’s going to change how people play defense. You’re going to see a lot of zone defense. You’ll see more teams sagging in the post and helping on drives. It’s a harder shot.”

Pitt still needs to knock down some 3s, if for no other reason than to make sure the inside is opened enough for Young, Blair, Brown and a guy like Jermaine Dixon to attack from the perimeter.

Dixon, 21, has been one of the standouts during Pitt’s opening week of practice. He showed his progress Sunday afternoon when he scored a team-high 16 points in Pitt’s Blue-Gold scrimmage. Dixon was 6 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 5 from behind the new, deeper 3-point line.

Dixon’s team lost to the Gold team, 63-54, behind 22 points and 13 rebounds from sophomore center DeJuan Blair as part of Fanfest at Petersen Events Center. But Dixon, who has two years of eligibility remaining, appears ready to play a key role in Pitt’s backcourt.

“He’s gotten better,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He’s very physical, tough (and) athletic.”

Because of where he started, Jermaine Dixon takes nothing for granted. He played at Blake High in Baltimore before spending one year at prep school at Maine Central Institute.

“He’s a humble person, and he plays that way,” Herrion said. “You don’t see a lot of fanfare with him.”

For those that don’t know or remember the Dixon brothers history from when Juan Dixon was part of the 2002 Maryland team, it is still a great achievement of what they have overcome together.