With Coach Jamie Dixon along with Ashton Gibbs down in New Zealand for the U-19 games, the theme is apparently a rerun.

Let’s call them the Junior Redeem Team. The USA Under-19s, much like Kobe Bryant and co at last year’s Olympics, say they’re in New Zealand for the world championships on a mission to restore some honour for the home of hoops.

Somehow, I don’t think it’s quite the same thing, but hey if it works for motivation.

Team USA, coached by former New Zealand NBL star Jamie Dixon, haven’t won the world under-19 title since 1991 – and where they come from that’s simply not good enough. So the gold medal is their singular focus at this Auckland event which tips off on Thursday and runs through until July 12.

“We have a good group,” said Dixon who was a standout guard for Hawkes Bay in the NBL in 1989-90. “All of our guys have played one year of college so far, so they have some experience playing at the college level. I think we’re really coming together.

“It’s a very unselfish group, we shoot the ball well, and again, I think they’re taking pride in it. We know we haven’t won this tournament since 1991 and so we’ve made that a goal for us. We understand what we’re up against.”

Dixon said the fact that the USA had been denied for so long at these championships made this a “special” tournament for his players.

“When you haven’t won something in 20 years or so, then that means it’s special. Our guys understand that this is something we haven’t done in a while, so we have a goal set.

“This is a tough tournament,” added Dixon, who is now head coach of the University of Pittsburgh. “You’ve got the best teams in the world, the best players. This is important to other teams, and they’ve been together longer than we have.”

New Zealand is not exactly hopeful for their team called — and (with all apologies to Dave Barry) I swear I am not making this up — the Junior Tall Blacks. The name is apparently rugby related.

Not sure on what airline the team flew to get there, but if they did take Air New Zealand I hope they did not get this crew.

I find myself pondering the question that if Sam Young had gone pro after his junior year and been drafted in the same spot he was this year, everyone would have said he made a mistake by going pro early. That he fell for some mocks and pundits that had him listed late in the first round (like he was last year).

There would have been talk about how he needed another year to refine his game further. Show he could consistently hit from the perimeter. That if he came back and led Pitt to a great season, then his stock would have risen.  Of course he did all that, and then got slammed for being a 24-year old senior.

If DeJuan Blair had stayed another year or even all four and was still subsequently drafted in the second. There would be the observation of how he was listed in the teens of the mock drafts this year and should have gone when he was hotter and had less wear on his knees. That surely he would have gone higher because teams and scouts would have had less chance to pick apart his game.

Ultimately, no matter how many whispers there are in the ear. It is still the person’s decision. I hope DeJuan Blair still takes advantage of Pitt’s policies and at some point in the future finishes his education.

Even though Sam Young was taken one spot ahead of DeJuan Blair, there is not a lot of ink about him. Part of that stems from his being a senior so there is no “should he have stayed or gone” debate. Also, his slide out of the first round was really not as precipitous. He was holding steady in the twenties, so a slide to the early second round is not nearly as vast.

Also, since Sam went into a brief seclusion away from family and Pittsburgh, there was no media to really sit with him.

The other reason stems from the team that drafted him. They had the 2nd pick of the draft so that’s where the attention goes. Finally, it is Memphis. A wasteland of a franchise so there just isn’t going to be a lot on a bad team’s second round pick.

(more…)

T.J. Clemmings may or may not have committed to Pitt last week. The confusion continues.

“I just told them I liked them but no commitment,” the 6-6, 263-pound Clemmings said by phone.

“I’m going to take my other visits first and if Pitt is supposed to be where it is, then I’ll be there.”

Clemmings said he plans to take his five officials in the fall, including possibly visiting Florida and Ohio State.

Okay, that seems to be rather clear. It’s right from Clemmings as opposed to from his HS coach like last time.

Or is it?

The story of Paterson (NJ) Paterson Catholic defensive end T.J. Clemmings‘s commitment to Pitt continued Monday when Clemmings was quoted online as saying that he did not commit to Pitt. But PantherLair.com spoke to Clemmings’ head coach, and he told a different story.

Unfortunately after that teaser and a headline that says he Clemmings is a Pitt commit, the story goes behind a paywall.

O000-kay. So now we have the coach who said he wasn’t committed maybe saying he’s committed (depending on what the story actually says), but the player is quoted as saying he’s uncommitted.

Right now, I don’t really care. It’s only the end of June. It’s not like teams interested in him aren’t still recruiting him. It’s nice to have him in the checked box of commits, but none of it is binding.

Still, it is a bit ridiculous.

Well, to be fair, Coach Wannstedt did say commits were a-comin’. We just didn’t know they would flood in one weekend.

There were a couple commits this the weekend. Now as the weekend is just about over and four more join the fold.

Brandon Sacco, 6-foot-3, 250 pounds and Bryan Murphy, 6-2, 230, are teammates at Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco High School. They made their pledges only 90 minutes after Clairton wide receiver Kevin Weatherspoon said he will attend Pitt.

Sacco, an offensive lineman, chose Pitt over Big East rival Rutgers. Murphy, who was recruited as a defensive end, had offers from several schools, including Boston College, Colorado, Louisville, Maryland and Michigan State.

Weatherspoon had 57 receptions for 1,470 yards and 20 touchdowns while helping to lead Clairton to the WPIAL Class A championship and the PIAA title game. He is a member of the Tribune-Review Terrific 25.

Also, T.J. Peeler of Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Va., committed to Pitt. Peeler, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound running back, had offers from West Virginia and North Carolina State. He missed three games with an injury last season, but rushed for 1,145 yards and 18 touchdowns on 129 carries with an 8.9 yard average.

Pitt had 7-on-7 camps this weekend that Coach Wannstedt termed a success.

(more…)

The Holy Cross job search has been expected to be completed by the beginning of July. That means that by Wednesday, Pitt could be looking for a new assistant coach. Herrion is one of the last two standing in the Crusdader coach search.

Holy Cross athletic director Regan has said that he wants someone with head coaching experience and that would clearly favor Herrion – who grew up in nearby Oxford and won an average of 20 games per season over his four-year career at the College of Charleston.

However, [Notre Dame associate head coach] Kearney, according to numerous sources, has the support of former Crusaders coach Ralph Willard, has the Notre Dame pedigree and his father also played at the school for one season before being called into military duty.

Kearney is supposed to interview again on Monday, and Herrion on Tuesday.

Hope Coach Dixon has a short list of possibilities and can get them to fly to New Zealand for the interview. Otherwise, it could just be Brandin Knight on the recruiting trail for the first half of July.

It’s a safe bet that with a 4-man recruiting class that is one of Pitt’s best in 20+ years, and 2 players that redshirted last year, that Pitt will be playing a lot of freshmen.

• Travon Woodall (redshirt freshman guard)
• Dwight Miller (redshirt freshman forward/center)
• Dante Taylor (freshman forward/center)
• Talib Zanna (freshman forward/center)
• J.J. Richardson (freshman forward)
• Lamar Patterson (freshman forward/guard)

Whether they start or are in the bench rotation, the freshmen will see a lot of action. Pitt has 6 freshmen (redshirt and true) and 6 other scholarship players:

• Jermaine Dixon (senior guard),
• Gilbert Brown (redshirts junior guard/forward),
• Gary McGhee (junior center),
• Brad Wanamaker (junior guard),
• Ashton Gibbs (sophomore guard) and
• Nasir Robinson (sophomore forward).

No matter how you slice it, this is a young and inexperienced team heading for the 2009-10 season.

I mean, good lord, this is inexperienced and young. Until I just put it down on the computer, I don’t think it truly hit me. This Pitt team is going to take some lumps.

Jermaine Dixon is the senior, but this is only his second year with Pitt. Brown will be in his 4th season, but he has had no luck staying healthy for a season which has limited his minutes and tantalized with his athletic potential. Gary McGhee, you just somehow hope the big lug can get to serviceable and not averge a foul every other minute. Gary Wanamaker has shown big improvement from his freshman to sophomore year, but seemed to wear down late in the season. Ashton Gibbs hopefully will get a lot out of extra coaching and high competition in the U-19 games — not to mention maybe realizing the team will need him to be one of the leaders. Hopefully Nasir Robinson will have a jump like Wanamaker did from freshman to sophomore year.

So, summer league takes on even more importance for building chemistry and getting the players ready for this year.

“We have to come in and be ready to play,” said Taylor, Pitt’s highest-rated recruit of the Dixon era. “That’s not asking too much. We all knew what we were coming into. We all knew who was leaving. Now we just have to prove what we have to do on the court.”

Taylor, a 6-foot-9 forward/center, is Pitt’s first McDonald’s All-American since Brian Shorter and Bobby Martin in 1987. He is a candidate to step into the starting center position that DeJuan Blair vacated when he decided to turn professional after his sophomore season.

At 6-9, Taylor is not the ideal size to play center in the Big East, but he and Zanna are the tallest players on the roster after 6-10 junior Gary McGhee, who is the only Panther with experience in the frontcourt.

“I think my best position will be [power forward],” Taylor said. “But right now we’re in the weight room, so by the beginning of the season I’ll put on a little weight and get stronger, so I’ll probably play [center].”

Taylor’s reputation took a small hit when he was cut from the USA Basketball under-19 team that Dixon is coaching this summer. Taylor admitted he was out of shape for the tryout but said that was the result of being inactive for two weeks while he tended to his sick mother.

Taylor, who labored through summer league games last week, said he is now focused on getting in shape for the start of the season.

In a way, the challenge of getting this team ready for the upcoming year makes Coach Dixon’s decision to take the U-19 responsibilities something of a gamble. Under most seasons, that would be spreading a coach thin. This level of inexperience makes it a real challenge. Of course, with NCAA rules prohibiting much work with the players in the offseason, it isn’t that bad. Still, while this team may have the most potential in a year or two of any team under Coach Dixon, there is no questioning that it is also his most inexperienced.

Then there is that still available scholarship. Everything says Pitt is just holding it for the 2010 recruiting class, rather than just tossing it to another player that may not be talented enough.

But what if he is. And he is a likely one-and-done? Cue the return of Lance Stephenson rumors.

Lance Stephenson is currently on a visit to the University of Cincinnati, a program that up until this point has not been involved in his recruiting process.

“He got here yesterday [Friday],” said a player on the team. “We just got through playing open gym. [He played] with the whole team and a couple old players.”

…

Memphis and Arizona may still be involved, but no visits have been set, as far as we know.

Other potential schools in the mix include Missouri, Pittsburgh and UNC-Charlotte, according to a source.

Stephenson briefly expresed an interest in Pitt but neither side seemed serious.

Stephenson is a McDonald’s All-American guard. The most talented kid not signed. He’s also got a boatload of baggage and question marks. Some writers have referred to him as a potential “cancer” and “coach-killer.”

My feeling has been that he would not work for Pitt. For Pitt’s system and the culture that has been established at Pitt. Stephenson is a pure one-and-done player. He would have declared for the draft if he could have. It is where he wants to be. College is a way-station for him.

And yet, I find that I can rationalize/talk myself into it. It would only be for one year… Coach Dixon is in a position now, where he can come down on the kid if he can’t play nice with others… Pitt is in a good shape with its APR so the program could stand the hit when Stephenson never even finishes his second semester… The NCAA investigation that comes with Stephenson is for stuff before he gets to school, and if he never gets to suit up it is not a big deal…

Nahh. This would still be a mistake and just ugly.

In the football side of things, there have been some new verbals.

On Thursday/Friday — just slightly overshadowed by other things related to Pitt and in the world of pop culure — Pitt got a verbal from a WR from Bishop-McDevitt in Harrisburg.

Bishop McDevitt wide receiver Salath Williams had more than 20 scholarship offers but as the recruiting process unfolded he realized the first one he received was the one which interested him the most.

That is why Williams announced yesterday he had made a verbal commitment to play at Pitt. Williams, who caught 49 passes for 899 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, chose the Panthers over Michigan, Michigan State, West Virginia, Purdue and Iowa.

The 6-4 WR, not surprisingly doesn’t lack for confidence.

“They’re going to give me an opportunity to catch a lot of passes,” said Williams, who was recruited by Pitt tight ends coach Brian Angelichio. “I’m a playmaker. I’m a deep threat. They can throw it up and I’ll go get it.”

Williams had 49 receptions for 899 yards and 11 touchdowns last fall despite playing in a spread offense with a pair of Division I prospects in Jeremy Cornelius – who committed to Purdue yesterday – and Aaron Sye.

It helped that former players at his school spoke well of Pitt to him and his coach thinks other teams were late in realizing his talent.

Williams will follow recent McDevitt players LeSean McCoy and Aaron Berry to Pittsburgh, where both have enjoyed strong careers (McCoy left after his sophomore season to go to the NFL), and Williams acknowledged that those two played a small role in his decision.

“Aaron and Shady [McCoy] both told me how nice it was, so that helped,” Williams said. “I could see myself living in Pittsburgh. It’s a nice city, a nice school. And they run a pro-style offense, which I prefer.”

Williams caught 47 passes for 873 yards and 11 touchdowns despite suffering an early season ankle injury that literally slowed him down last season.

“Some of the people that were recruiting him didn’t even know how fast he was because of that injury,” Bishop McDevitt head coach Jeff Weachter.

“Then we had some workouts here in May, and they went, ‘Wow.'”

Scout.com has him as a 3-star while Rivals.com does not have him ranked. His size and speed obviously makes him intriguing and a WR with some potential.

Size, does not matter as much for Pitt when it comes to recruiting defensive backs. While Pitt keeps getting 6-foot + WRs, the d-backs have seemed to be in the sub-6 category. No reason to change, it seems as K’Wuan Williams out of New Jersey jumps at his first offer.

The Pitt football team picked up its sixth recruit for the 2010 class today as St. Joseph’s (Montvale, NJ) defensive back K’Wuan Williams made an oral commitment to the Panthers.

The Panthers were the first team to offer a scholarshhip to Williams, who is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 178 pounds. But he was receiving interest from Rutgers, Syracuse and a number of other Division I schools as well.

He’s unranked by Rivals.com and has a single star from Scout.com — which also indicates that Rutgers had made an offer. Interest in Williams, though, may have been picking up.

“I was hearing from Notre Dame, Boston College, Syracuse, and North Carolina,” he said. “I was at Rutgers today and they were really interested. They were trying to talk to me but it was too late.”

First this:

Naturally, when Blair started slipping, some Pitt fans ripped his decision to leave school early. Why? Because that’s what fans do. They love you when you play for their favorite team. But if you ever leave early they mock you if the decision doesn’t go as planned.

Happens every year.

It happened this year.

I changed two words in that passage. Instead of “Blair” and “Pitt,” it really reads “Brown” as in Derrick Brown and “Xavier.”

(Derrick Brown was another potential 1st round guy who slipped to #40. His old teammate Stanley Burrell was backing him on Twitter and getting pissed at the negativity. He also got off a mad rant on Sean Miller. Well worth reading the whole post from Gary Parrish.)

Back to DeJuan Blair. It isn’t just some Pitt fans talking about how Blair made a big mistake going pro and as the Liveblog last night brought up the specter of Chris Taft.

In the history of mock draft mockery, Pittsburgh C DeJuan Blair will join former Panther Chris Taft and former N.C. State F Josh Powell on an ignominious list. All three were convinced by Internet speculation that they would be NBA lottery picks. Taft dropped deep into the second round in 2005. Powell wasn’t even picked in 2003. As of Thursday afternoon, NBADraft.net had Blair going No. 13 overall to the Pacers. He went in the second round, at No. 37 to San Antonio. Remember this declaration from Blair at the press conference when he announced for the draft? “I’m an Internet freak and I go on all the draft boards, and nobody’s got me going second round. That’s almost guaranteed to me.” Whom does Blair see to get his money back?

That seems to be the source of a lot of the second-guessing of Blair. His declaration of relying on the mocks. No question, that haunts him in terms of a quote being thrown back in his face.

When you view the mocks in terms of buzz and a player’s status — which is really the way to treat them it is different. Most other mocks have had him slipping and moving for the last couple weeks. While none had him falling out of the 1st round, he was definitely not a lock in the teens.

All because of his knees.

The burly Pitt star was viewed as a lottery pick until teams got wind of his medical exam. Blair underwent ACL surgery on both knees in high school, and many teams said his long-term prognosis was not good.

Though he went undrafted in the first round, his landing site could not have worked out better for Blair. He’ll join the Spurs and help them as a rookie while playing limited minutes, which should set him up for a contract in three years.

Many executives in the league didn’t like seeing Blair fall this far, but there was little they could do to stop it. Most team doctors red-flagged him, which prevented the GMs from taking Blair in the first round.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen as far as doctors unwilling to put their butts on the line,” said a senior executive of an Eastern conference team. “If there’s any kind of gray area, they’re going to flunk the player.”

Because of the sophisticated testing of MRIs and other high-tech devices, team doctors “know things they never used to know,” the executive went on. “They never used to flunk players, and now they flunk them all the time. And a lot of the time it’s to cover their [butts].”

Unlike Chris Taft, which because he was a Pitt guy and has admitted that he watched the mocks today Blair is being compared, Blair did not start falling in the mocks immediately after leaving Pitt.

No revisionism. Taft started sliding when he showed up to workouts and bombed. When his conditioning stunk. When he was acting like he was already getting paid. By draft night he had already fallen from any top-10. For Pitt fans and some scouts, he started sliding before the season ended and he was clearly not giving a full effort. He was still expected to be in the first round, and his deep slide was surprising, but his stock had been falling because of his performance in workouts and attitude — not medical reasons.

Blair killed in the workouts. He aced interviews. He was rising on the draftboards. Teams picking in the 8-12 range were bringing him in for one-on-one interviews. Then came the medical reports on his knees.

Damage control was run, but if team doctors ultimately wouldn’t sign off on the pick, then no team was going to risk a guaranteed contract. It also means that his coming back to Pitt for another year would have made no difference. The knee issues would still be waiting next year or even if he stayed all four years.

(more…)

I’m guessing there are going to be a ton of these tonight. Of course, this will be the only one with Pitt bias at the forefront.

YouTube clips of DeJuan Blair abusing Hasheem Thabeet will be re-posted around the same time Thabeet goes in the top-5.

Video links of Jonny Flynn being worn down by Pitt’s defense will be appreciated as well.

And of course, Sam Young highlights.

The fun starts around 7pm. Join in, here.

Barring anything really breaking that significantly effects the fate of DeJuan Blair or Sam Young, this should be the final post regarding the NBA Draft before tonight’s liveblog.

DeJuan Blair will be at a hotel in Pittsburgh with friends and family for the draft. No doubt with a camera that feeds to ESPN so they can show the reaction when drafted.

Sam Young, on the other hand will be in a cave away from the world. Or something close to that. Hiding in Atlanta.

The reclusive Young flew south on Wednesday from Washington, D.C., where he had been staying with family since leaving Pitt as the No. 4 all-time leading scorer in Panthers history.

The 24-year-old Young wanted to distance himself from the hectic pre-draft process – the workouts, agents, PR reps, handlers and media – and focus on his future in basketball.

“I just want to get away and be by myself,” Young said. “My family wanted to be around me and be in my corner. But I kind of wanted to be alone and reflect on basketball and how it works. It was my decision.”

Young seems placcid and is just patiently awaiting this. DeJuan Blair on the other hand…

“I’m starting to get nervous,” said Blair, a first-team All-American as a sophomore last season. “I’m getting anxious waiting. I just want to know what NBA team I’ll be with.”

It has been an eventful two months for Blair, the Schenley High School graduate who left Pitt in April with two seasons of eligibility remaining. He has demonstrated a commitment to becoming a professional, changing his physique from lumpy to lean.

Blair, who stands 6 feet 6, lost 30 pounds in the past two months and has been impressive in workouts for NBA teams. Scouts and general managers love his competitiveness, his ability to rebound and his leadership qualities.

The main concerns are his two surgically repaired knees. Blair tore anterior cruciate ligaments in both knees while at Schenley, and even though he only missed one game in his two-year collegiate career, there seems to be some question about the long-term durability of those knees. There have been some reports that there might not be any ligaments remaining in the knees.

“I don’t have any ligaments, so what can I tear?” Blair joked. “What I’m saying to the teams is my knees are fine. I feel great. I’ve been playing on them for the last three or four years at Pitt and Schenley.”

Because there are some issues with his knees, Blair can potentially be drafted anywhere from the middle to later in the first round.

It also doesn’t help his nerves to see in the last minute mocks, he keeps slipping into the low 20s — including yet another ESPN mock.

The potential slide is purely about his knees. He’s answered most other questions. There’s really nothing he can do about this. He’s shown medical evidence of no deterioration.

Teams appear legitimately nervous, though, that they are going to blow a pick in the teens on a player that could blow out either knee. Yes, it can happen to any player at any time. Still, it seems more likely to happen to a player with a prior history.

As Luke Winn notes, Blair’s rebounding prowess alone should make him worth the risk.

Blair is as good a defensive rebounder as Love and Beasley, both top-five picks from last year’s loaded draft. Only Millsap, who turned out to be a huge second-round score for the Jazz, came close to Blair’s numbers on the offensive glass — and Millsap was playing in the WAC, not the Big East. Blair may be a bit one-dimensional, as his offensive game away from the basket is extremely limited, but he’s a lock to be a high-volume rebounder as a pro. In this year’s talent pool, that’s more than worth a pick in the 10-15 range.

For Pitt fans, the only reason to keep watching into the second round, is Tyrell Biggs’ longshot.

Tyrell Biggs returned home to Nanuet late Tuesday night, jet-lagged and groggy from yet another day this month spent trekking through an airport.

“I was coming from Portland,” Biggs said before catching himself. “No wait, I was actually in Memphis.”

Forgive Biggs for not remembering for a moment. June has just been that kind of month.

Since graduating from Pitt this spring, the power forward has worked out for six NBA teams, most recently with the Grizzlies on Tuesday, in an attempt to draw last-minute interest before tonight’s NBA draft. And yesterday, Biggs finally found time to relax.

“It’s been tiring and there’s been a lot of training,” said Biggs, who spent time at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., preparing for the workouts. “Overall, it’s been strenuous, but I’m hoping it will all be worth it.”

But Biggs is realistic and perfectly willing to go overseas to play.

For the Pitt program and Coach Jamie Dixon the good thing about this is putting Pit players in the NBA and getting their names called on draft night.

“It’s all positive,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was saying this week over the telephone from Colorado Springs, Colo., where he’s coaching USA Basketball’s under-19 team and preparing for the world championship tournament July 2-12 in Auckland, New Zealand.

“There are no negatives when your players are going to the NBA. It doesn’t matter if they go as seniors or juniors or sophomores.”

Should be a good night for Pitt.

First things, first. DeJuan Blair is Tweeting. Something to fill the void until his website is fully operational.

I honestly have no idea where Blair will go in the draft. I’m not sure the draftniks do either at this point. He could go to Indiana at #13 as it seemed last week or the Bulls at #16.

Other things suggest he could slide into the 20s, as the latest  SI.com and Draft Express mock drafts have him doing. Which suggests that rumors, reports, potential misinformation and off-the-record things are implying a possible slide as teams just can’t pull the trigger with his knees.

But the rumors and reports keep things jumping (10:35 pm update).

-Sacramento has reportedly offered Detroit the #23 and #31 picks in exchange for the #15. The Kings may target DeJuan Blair at 15 if he’s available, while the Pistons like Toney Douglas and possibly DaJuan Summers.

-Does Atlanta unloading Acie Law for Jamal Crawford change their priorities in this draft? GM Rick Sund has supposedly told people that he will surely target a point guard, possibly Eric Maynor or Jeff Teague (assuming Lawson is gone at 13 or 17), but this might change things for him. Tyler Hansbrough and DeJuan Blair appear to be firmly in the mix here as well.

At least it won’t be a Chris Taft-esque shocking slide.

On the bright side, this sort of thing sets up the team that picks Sam Young with getting designated as grabbing a draft “steal” or “sleeper.”

[Dan] Dakich said his NBA sources have Pittsburgh 6-6 forward Sam Young as the player scouts love but are reticent to take with a top-20 pick.

Two little tidbits from different places that just points out part of why the NBA wanted to eliminate high school kids from the draft. Not simply to improve the product, but to help protect the NBA teams from their own herd mentality of stupidty. The belief that it is better to fail drafting on potential and upside than to grab a guy that can help right away.

Sam Young may be about to pay for being experienced. The Pittsburgh small forward is athletic and aggressive and made noticeable improvements in college, but he’s also 24. As much as teams might appreciate the maturity level, they also want someone with more years to develop and stick, especially if they spend a first-round pick to get him.

And the absurdity of that is that few players last that long, and even when they do they usually end up on some other team that reaps the reward when they finally develop enough to contribute.

Just ask the Lakers about Trevor Ariza — drafted by the Knicks in 2004, then with the Magic who give up on him and send him for practically nothing to the Lakers. Ariza turns 24 at the end of June.

Then teams and the fans complain about the draft busts, because the players aren’t ready in the first year or two. Of course the players that are ready to contribute quickly are downgraded in the draft because they don’t have as much upside and room to grow — because they are already better than the projects.

Talib Zanna got a profile that went out on the AP wire. As he left his family and came here almost exclusively because of his raw potential as a basketball player.

It was in Lagos, at a big man camp run former Georgetown player Godwin Owinje, that Zanna met Keithline, who was part of a contingent of high school and junior college coaches invited to run drills for the 75 or so Nigerian youngsters.

“We talked extensively for about five months after I went over there,” Keithline said, “trying to get him a visa, trying to get everything settled with immigration and making sure the paperwork was straight.”

Zanna’s talent was never in question. He posted 17 points and 16 rebounds in his first game on U.S. soil. He averaged 14.6 points and 11.8 rebounds as a senior. He added about 30 pounds of muscle in his 2.5 years at Bishop McNamara, benefiting from a better diet and the school’s weightlifting program.

“When I came over to America, all I do is block shots, rebound, that’s all I want to do,” Zanna said. “But coach Keithline worked hard with me and he made him an offensive player, defensive player, good rebounder.”

Zanna has developed a reliable outside shot, which he demonstrated in a drill with Keithline after an interview at the school’s gym.

“I need to work on my shooting more and my ball-handling because I love to get a 3, yeah,” he said, flashing a smile.

His family back home was not dirt poor, but they are not wealthy elites either. They seem to be part of the very limited middle class in Nigeria. So, when Zanna’s father passed away, he had to remain in the US. He does have a visit planned to see his family over the summer.

Zanna is seen as part of a continent-wide explosion of kids coming from Africa to play. Zanna, as a Nigerian, is part of the group that was inspired by countryman Hakeem Olajuwon.

Of course, this explosion and exporting of talent from Africa has been predicted for the better part of 20 years, and even resulted in a 90s Kevin Bacon movie.

Zanna will have an opportunity to start — or at least play significant minutes in the frontcourt rotation. Dante Taylor has been penciled into the rotation as the starting power forward, but Pitt fans had the right to feel panicked after this little bit came from DraftExpress.

Dante Taylor was a big time disappointment considering his McDonald’s All-American status, looking extremely out of shape and almost disinterested in the proceedings for the most part. One scout went as far as to compare him with fellow Pitt alum Chris Taft. Jamie Dixon is either going to get him playing hard or run him out fairly quickly we imagine. Taylor was not surprisingly cut from the roster after two and a half days.

Well, looking at the roster, no one from the U-19 got on the team without at least a year of college. Still, a Chris Taft comparison seemed ridiculous. Not to mention, there had never before been any question of Taylor’s motor or being that poorly conditioned. Not necessarily peak conditioning, but never “extremely out of shape.”

Chris Dokish addressed this, though, stating that Pitt’s staff was not worried.

Taylor was in poor condition at the tryouts and it showed in his play. To be blunt, it cost him a spot on the team. But the staff is not worried. For players at Taylor’s level, there is virtually no offseason and sometimes they don’t work as hard as they should to stay in shape twelve months out of the year. That’s what happened to Taylor and it cost him. The Pitt staff does not expect it to be an ongoing problem, and certainly don’t see him as a Chris Taft-like bad apple, as was mentioned in the Draft Express article. In fact, the staff notes that Taylor has previously kept himself well-conditioned.

Taylor is also, apparently still growing a bit and now has a wingspan measuring 7′ 1″.

As for future recruiting, it looks like Pitt seems to be leaning towards adding another guard for 2010 to go with point guard commit Isiah Epps.

A coach’s son from the NBA Top 100 Camp was a focus of Pitt in Trey Zeigler.

The 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of Mt. Pleasant (MI) informed NBE on Saturday that he has offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Miami, Michigan State, Michigan, Providence, UCLA, LSU and Dayton.

Lately, Pittsburgh has also been showing strong interest and Zeigler definitely plans to visit Pitt later this summer, likely in August. He has already visited Michigan, Michigan State and UCLA and also would like to visit Arizona State and LSU this summer. A top five list would likely be created following the summer visits.

Trey is the son of Ernie Zeigler, the current head basketball coach at Central Michigan. Prior to the job at CMU, Ernie was an assistant under Ben Howland at UCLA and Pittsburgh, where he was on the staff with Jamie Dixon.

Another guard Pitt likes for 2011 is Myles Davis. From the Rumble in the Bronx competition.

Myles was dominant in the contest for the Playaz we watched on Saturday. He had his shot really working from the outside. He knocked down three from beyond the arc, including one of the pull up variety. He followed that up with a runner in the lane before hitting another three-pointer. Myles is good at attacking off the dribble too. He finished or drew fouls on several occasions. He is quite the talented young guard.

In recruiting, Davis likes Virginia, Marist, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Louisville, Wake Forest, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Arizona. He informed NBE he hopes to visit UVA and Pitt soon.

Just a couple days away from the NBA Draft. I will be doing a liveblog of the NBA Draft. I just haven’t decided which telecast to use. I’m leaning towards going with NBA TV. A little obscure, but on the plus side certain personalities will be out. No Stuart Scott, no Dick Vitale, no Steven A. Smith and while Jay Bilas is a good college basketball analyst I can’t stand him getting preachy about the college experience and his weak-ass defense of the one-and-done rule. It’s sad to think that my choice will come down to who is not on the air.

I still miss the NBA Draft on TNT. There was just more fun to it. Less taking itself way too seriously.

Onto the drafting stuff. Nice piece the other day on Biggs and Fields. Both are going to be undrafted. Both will be in the NBA Summer League. There seems to be some belief that Biggs might end up on a NBA roster in time. Both, though, are going to be earning their living playing basketball in Europe.

DeJuan Blair has become a mystery man in the draft. Not in the way of people trying to know him or get him for workouts. Not at all. He’s been back on request to plenty of teams for more. He is likely headed back to Chicago for a call back.

No one seems to know what team will grab him.

Blair’s final workout was with Utah, and it seems that the Jazz, choosing No. 20, are as low as Blair could go. Walters said Blair is unlikely to go to New York and be in the green room, even though he could land in the lottery. There was talk that Milwaukee, at No. 10, was interested in Blair, but the Bucks seem to have decided to go for a point guard. The first logical landing spot for Blair, then, is Charlotte at No. 12, though the Bobcats are rumored to be looking for a good perimeter defender.

There has been some sentiment in Indiana that Blair should be their guy, especially with the team short on toughness. But the Pacers might go with a guard. Phoenix and Detroit will likely pass on Blair, but the Bulls — still not sold on Tyrus Thomas — are certainly considering him at No. 16.

The knees seem to be the biggest issue. Not the height. Not the weight. The knees.

There is legitimate concern among NBA personnel about the long-term health of DeJuan Blair’s knees. He had ACL surgery in both knees in high school. To what extent he needs any kind of future work on his knees is up for debate. The one thing that is certain, according to the Pitt coaching staff, is that Blair never missed a practice or a game in his two seasons with the Panthers.

No one ever fact checks. Blair missed the Belmont game as a precaution. The knee swelled but there was no pain or damage.

But then Chad Ford writes this in a 3am update from yesterday.

By the way, Blair seems to be back in favor with more GMs. Over the weekend his agent, Happy Walters, had a couple of teams talk to Blair’s physician, James Bradley, who did Blair’s ACL surgeries in high school.

I’m not privy to the conversations, but I do think this latest development has put him back in the mix with the Pacers at No. 13 and the Bulls at 16.

He also floats the rumor that Portland may look to move up to grab him if he slips past Indiana.

Sam Young on the other hand has been steady on draft boards in the low-20s.

Pittsburgh’s Young has been holding steady throughout the workout season after a strong season for the Panthers en route to the Elite Eight. A little older than most college players coming out (24), Young’s hops and strength make him a first-round lock. A no-nonsense player like Young would be right up Jerry Sloan’s alley at 20 when the Jazz pick, and if he somehow slipped a little, the Thunder could be scoping him at 25, where Young would back up Kevin Durant and bring his scoring and athletic ability off the bench.

“He had some huge games for Pitt this year,” says an admiring Northwest Division personnel man. “And he went up after the workout in Toronto and got hurt (Young cut his elbow while he was performing a vertical leap test for the Raptors), and he showed up at the [Chicago] combine and worked out hard. He went up in a lot of people’s eyes.”

An Atlantic Division executive concurs: “He’s a tough sonofagun.”

The Cavs keep popping up as a team that might try to get Sam Young, even if they are scheduled to pick last in the round.

Which brings us to Sam Young, the 6-foot-6, 210-pound small forward from Pittsburgh. Some scouts have compared him to Twinsburg’s James Posey, but his outside shooting (37 percent on 3s) will have to improve for that to happen. But virtually every scout agrees that Young can defend. As the Orlando series showed, the Cavs really need an athlete in the 6-6 range who can guard someone. Some stats have Young shooting 44 percent on “catch-and-shoot” situations, according to draftexpress.com, a fun Web site. That means Young makes medium-range jumpers reasonably well when catching a pass and shooting it quickly. The Cavs do like him.

Apparently Young, while in Sac-town with other players for a workout was most noticeable for snickering at media for the way they hung outside the Kings practice facility  for every little Ricky Rubio tidbit. Not that the media was feeling defensive.

Now the on-floor action wasn’t the only relevant part, as Rubio spent more than two hours inside the facility after the workout was over. We were told he was having lunch at one point (not sure who was at the table), and then informed that he was taking a shower. At one point, some of the prospects from the morning’s workout with Pitt’s Sam Young left the building to head for the airport and couldn’t help but chuckle at the media absurdity on display (again, the shame thing). Yet with all due respect to Sam – who has a great name and could be a great pick at No. 23 – he’s just not the guy fans are curious about right now.

And the media will do what it takes to shout random questions at the 18-year old as he ignores them walking past.

Looks like that commit by T.J. Clemmings yesterday is something less than a soft verbal.

“He went out there and made a hasty decision [to commit] without any input from his parents or me,” [Patterson Catholic Coach Benjie] Wimberly said Monday night. “He’s going to rethink it and continue the recruiting process.”

His coach is indicating that Clemmings will be taking all his visits and taking his time. Pitt may still be the leader for his services, but it is not a commit.

Telling, is that both stories in today’s papers have no quotes or comments from the kid about his decision.

Neither Clemmings nor Paterson Catholic coach Benjie Wimberly returned phone calls and text messages seeking comment Monday.

Verbal commitments are non-binding, and recruits can’t sign a binding national letter of intent until February.

The 6-foot-6, 265-pound Clemmings has only played one season of high school football — he recorded 20 tackles for losses and seven sacks last fall — but is ranked the nation’s No. 24 defensive end prospect by Scout.com and No. 31 by Rivals.com.

Prior to his junior year, Clemmings concentrated on basketball, where he is considered a Division I prospect and had scholarship offers from Massachusetts, Providence and Seton Hall.

Clemmings has been timed in the 40-yard at 4.7 seconds — an outstanding time for an athlete his size — and major-college programs are likely to continue pursuing him.

If I’m going to hazard a guess, the kid got a little caught up in things and made an impulsive verbal without talking to anyone. Once home, and after telling his parents and coaches, they had him pull back and look a little more at the whole picture.

That’s what the adults are supposed to do. Killing the coach over this, looking for darker meanings or anti-Pitt messages is a bit much. I can’t get too worked up over this change

I’d prefer Clemmings to be a solid verbal, but I’m not going to insist he is bonded to a verbal based on reports that seems to lack direct quotes or confirmation from the kid himself.