Both papers are reporting that LeSean McCoy will announce tomorrow that he is going to enter the NFL Draft.

Daphne McCoy, the running back’s mother, said Monday the family was awaiting a report from the NFL Draft advisory board, which graded McCoy a first-round pick. Fear of injury appears to be a key factor in the decision. A fractured leg ended McCoy’s high school senior season early.

He’s gotten advice from outside sources including Larry Fitzgerald.

I have no problem with this. A running back has a limited tread life. McCoy sustained a major injury in high school. At Pitt he is/was in a very run heavy offense that almost necessitates going pro as soon as possible to better maximize the time to make the money off the abilities he possesses.

I will miss him, and obviously this is a blow to Pitt for next year. I’m sure there will be more tomorrow.

Nothing confirmed or proven. And honestly a little strange, but take this one for what it is worth.

On New Year’s Day we reported that Pittsburgh running back LeSean McCoy was leaning towards entering the draft despite public statements to the contrary. Yesterday Panthers head coach Dave Wannstedt said he believed McCoy would return.

We now believe we know the reason why.

Sources from inside the league have told us McCoy received his evaluation from the league today and was told by the advisory committee he would not be selected in the first three rounds of April’s draft if he enters the event. It will be shocking to some yet not others who feel McCoy really does not have the makings of a feature runner at this time.

I have no sense as to the voracity of this. I’m too biased to be fair, but I have a hard time believing McCoy would not be a first or at worst early-second round pick. This is not some RB in a spread or running in the MAC.

Then there is this one, via Jon from Bleed Scarlet on USC WR Vidal Hazelton looking to transfer.

Hazelton’s current list of schools includes Pittsburgh and several Football Championship Subdivision schools (Western Michigan, Florida International, Georgia Southern).

If he transfers to a lower-division school, Hazelton will be granted instant eligibility.

“The option is whether he wants to play immediately or sit out for one year,” said Hazelton’s father, Dexter Hazelton. “I’d like him to stay closer to home.”

Two weeks ago, Hazelton narrowed his choices to Missouri and Rutgers but his father said they decided to reconsider their options. “I think (Missouri and Rutgers) are out,” Dexter Hazelton said.

Two other possibilities are Syracuse and Delaware. Hazelton is friends with former Penn State quarterback Pat Devlin, who recently transferred to Delaware.

“He’s contemplating hard about going I-AA,” Dexter Hazelton said. “He probably make a decision by end of the this week.”

Hazelton — who is from New York — recently learned that his grandfather has been diagnosed with cancer. The junior has been rumored to be a possible transfer since early this season. He suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him for several weeks and was actually interested in redshirting. He was not, but also found himself buried on the depth chart. He basically said he was transferring because of a combination of reasons which included a rift with Hazelton and the OC.

He seems more likely in my mind to go to Delaware and play right away. I just don’t see him coming to Pitt. I mean, has he seen Pitt’s passing offense? He’s got the talent to move to the top of Pitt’s depth chart — so I doubt the depth at the position would bother him.

I just don’t see it, and frankly Pitt has other needs than taking another WR who would have to sit next year and would only have one year of eligibility.

You may have heard something about it.

Like the rest of us, several of players were not even watching the UNC game.

Several members of the Pitt basketball team gathered inside an Oakland apartment Sunday evening to watch the Philadelphia Eagles NFC Wild Card game at Minnesota.

That’s when the text messages started to flood the players’ cell phones.

North Carolina, the unanimous No. 1 team in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls, trailed at home to Boston College.

“We saw (Boston College) was up 15,” senior point guard Levance Fields said. “That’s when we were like, ‘Whoa.'”

Which is essentially what everyone else said when they found out.

The players have been saying and doing all the right things.

When it became clear Pitt would be atop today’s The Associated Press Top 25 poll, the players gathered late Sunday night for a shootaround at Petersen Events Center.

Many of them returned to the gym early Monday morning.

“We could look at it two ways,” senior forward Tyrell Biggs said. “It could be a distraction, or it could be motivation. We want to look toward the motivation.”

Pitt is taking its newly minted No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll in stride. The coaches and players say it won’t inflate their egos or alter their underdog approach.

“Nothing has changed at all,” senior forward Sam Young said. “We’ve just got more people believing in us now.”

And recognizing there is now a bulls-eye.

“People are gunning for us now,” senior point guard Levance Fields said. “We’re the top dogs in the country. We have to play that way and practice that way.

…

“It’s something every basketball player dreams of, being No. 1 as an individual and as a team,” senior forward Sam Young said. “That’s what we work for. Now that we have it, we have to keep it. We’re here now, but we’re not done. We’re going to try to keep it as long as we can.”

Ron Cook embraced the moment.  Assistant coach Brandin Knight deflected the silly questions of comparing this team to his teams.

“To try to rank this team with the other ones … I say the same thing every year,” Knight said. “Let these guys be them. It’s not 2002, 2003 or 2004. This is a new era. This is Levance Fields, Sam Young, DeJuan Blair. This is their era. Let them shine as they may.

“We make comparisons in the locker room, and it’s fun to joke around. But, at the same time, I don’t talk about it with Levance. People always say talk about what you used to do. I say for what? I’m not playing anymore. I want them to do greater things than we did.

“Right now, it’s not something we can judge, is this team better? The [No. 1 ranking] doesn’t make this team great or better than ours. What makes them great is that they continue to compete and play well throughout the season.”

Comparisons come after the season. Hopefully, this team will rank at the top.