Any one know where Sam Young will be on draft night? I’m guessing with his family in Maryland, but he doesn’t advertise his plans.

Young has some interviews with the Sporting News. They had a question for various players about the perception reality of this being  a weak draft. Naturally, since these players are in the draft they disputed that. Except for Sam.

PF Sam Young, Pittsburgh: “Maybe there aren’t the five guys who you know are going to be All-Stars. They might not be great players right away. But there are a lot of good guys who can hold their own, and maybe just need a little time. That does not mean they’re not good, though.”

This is a role player, journeyman draft. The kind of draft where several years later there are conversations at a bar like this.

Guy 1: I can’t believe this stiff was the number eight pick!

Guy 2: [fiddling with his phone browser] Well… Oooh. There were slim pickings in 2009. Take a look at what was left.

Guy 1: [taking the phone] Wow! [scrolling down trying to find anything] Sheesh. Well, they should have traded out for a pick the following year.

Sam Young also does a Q&A. Yes, the poetry and piano comes up.

Q: How did spending four years in college help you?

A: Spending four years in college, and competing in the Big East for four years, you see a lot of defenses, a lot of different types of basketball. You’re able to recognize situations very quickly, because there’s really nothing you haven’t seen before. And you become a mature adult going onto the next level.

Q: But you’ll be 24 on draft day. Some scouts and GMs might think that hurts you.

A: It might help me, it might hurt me. It could possibly help me because, unlike some guys, I am mature. I am mature off the court and on the court. Some of the issues that might come up for other guys, as far as maturity goes, won’t come up for me. I think some people want to see that in the player they draft.

Young’s draft status has remained consistent as being somewhere in the 20-28 range. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a range of opinion about how he’ll do in the NBA. Some negative (Insider subs.).

Pitt’s Sam Young also graded out extremely poorly. He had the worst pure point rating of any wing player, and the other thing that hurt him is that he’s one of the oldest prospects in the pool. How old? He’s 19 days older than six-year vet Darko Milicic and a full half-decade older than Holiday.

Well, Gary Parrish and Mike DeCourcy don’t have the same problem the “Draft Rafter” did.

4. Which player are you most interested to see where he falls in the NBA draft?

DeCourcy: Easy choice: Pitt’s Sam Young. In my eyes, Young is the Josh Howard of the 2009 NBA draft. If he goes anywhere in the 20s, he will be this year’s best bargain.

Young is physically mature, has an NBA-ready perimeter game, will be able defend the shooting guard or small forward spots and has made big shots in his career. Some worry that he is 24 years old. I’d worry more if he played for someone else and was getting 20 against my team.

I also did a write-up on Young for the Atlanta Hawks blog. I don’t see him going there with the #19 pick. Simply, because they don’t have a crying need for another SF. Plus, they need a guy that is defense first.

I love Young, but his mentality is looking for offense. So, I just don’t see the fit with Atlanta at that spot.

If there’s one thing that is clear under Wanndstedt, it is that Middle Linebacker will get funneled a lot of opportunities to make tackles. The reason, in no small part, is that Coach Wannstedt loves speed on the edges and if you are a defensive end with speed, you will be given an opportunity to thrive and star on Pitt’s D-line.

New Jersey DE T.J. Clemmings appears to have recognized this and has verbaled to Pitt.

Clemmings, who is 6-feet-6, 266 pounds, chose the Panthers over a number of other scholarship offers, including most notably offers from Penn State, Notre Dame, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Miami and Rutgers.

He is the type of athlete Coach Wannstedt loves on the edge. Raw and potentially explosive. His initial interest was in basketball and was a D-1 recruit in that sport, before recently coming to realize football was his future.

Clemmings has played only one season of high school football, yet is ranked the nation’s No. 24 defensive end prospect by Scout.com and No. 31 by Rivals.com.

Scout.com puts him a t 4-stars and Rivals.com says 3-stars. Considering the number of  and names of the programs making the offers, lots of coaches are seeing huge upside and potential in Clemmings.

Coach Wannstedt can point to both Romeus and Sheard as raw, inexperienced athletes he has quickly made prominent DEs. It apparently got Clemmings attention.

That’s a disappointment that Blair did not get an invite to sit in the Green Room at MSG for the NBA Draft. Something confirmed by a local article that confirmed he would be in Pittsburgh for the draft.

His final audition is Monday with Utah, followed by a trip to ESPN headquarters in Connecticut on Wednesday for some pre-draft appearances before returning to Pittsburgh for draft day.

“I’m glad I got through it,” Blair said.

I wonder where the draft party will be. You just know that he isn’t simply sitting in his family’s home for this night.

Mildly surprising that Blair did not get an invite. The rumors have been increasing that he would not slip past the 13th spot.

We have been tracking the DeJuan Blair situation pretty heavily over the last few week. Blair apparently may have a floor and that’s the Indiana Pacers. Blair has absolutely dominated at every stop he’s been at, but concerns about his knees are still very much front and center. The Pacers not so long ago took a chance on another player with supposed bad knees in Danny Granger, which worked out pretty good for the Pacers didn’t it? If Blair is still on the board at #13, don’t be surprised if it’s him rocking the Pacers’ draft day cap.

Blair, his agent and Pitt seemed to have done some damage control on Blair’s knee worries.

A pair of MRIs making the rounds amongst NBA teams appear to be easing some concerns about DeJuan Blair’s knees, according to his agent Happy Walters. Blair was red-flagged at the NBA pre-draft camp for the ACL tears he suffered in both knees while in college. He does not appears to have an ACL in either knee now, and there were concerns that he may struggle to stay healthy as his career moves on.

In response, Blair’s camp retrieved an MRI from November of 2008 done at Pittsburgh for doctors to compare with the MRI of his knees from the pre-draft camp earlier this month. The specialists found that there had been “no deterioration in the situation of his knees whatsoever over the course of the season,” which has been conveyed to the doctors of various NBA teams that are most interested in Blair at the moment.

Te MRIs were taken was after Pitt held Blair out of the Belmont game because of some swelling.

Going to Milwaukee with the #10 pick seems unlikely because they are still in fear of Blair’s weight. They ended up with the rights to Robert “Tractor” Traylor on draft night 1998 in one of the NBA’s worst trades: Traylor from Dallas for Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity.

The Detroit Pistons website focused a piece on Blair mainly concerned with his weight.  I don’t see the weight as the big concern. In a piece I did for the Atlanta Hawks blog, the concern that is legit still remains those ACLs. I don’t think it should preclude teams from drafting him in the teens, but I could definitely understand the hesitation of teams in the top-10.

A few things to get out of the browser tabs.

Tom Herrion is definitely in the mix for the Holy Cross job. He is interested, but so is his brother,  Bill, the head coach at New Hampshire. That just seems awkward.

Jamie Dixon speaks. Just in relative fluff. He is the first guest on ESPNU’s college basketball podcast with Andy Katz so there’s no wading through the other coaches being interviewed. He talks about Blair and Young, along with the U-19 tryouts. Nothing too earthshattering. Plenty of coach speak. He does admit that Dante Taylor is already penciled in as the starting power forward. And of course, not even a question about the USC job.

Andy Katz doesn’t get specific but he liked what he saw from Taylor at the tryouts.

Pitt should be pleased with the size and strength of incoming freshman Dante Taylor. The 6-9, 235-pound Taylor will be a load for the Panthers once he’s in shape.

While on the U-19 games, the Gibbs brothers are both involved in USA Basketball. Ashton is on the U-19 team, while his younger brother Sterling is on the U-16.

Draft Express was at the tryouts, and based on the talent of the U-19 team does not like the US’ chances. They did like the way things were run, though.

While it may sound cliché, the emphasis here is clearly on “playing the right away.” The coaches are for the most part all from programs known for being extremely organized and disciplined in their approach to the game, and much of the instructions they give the players from the sidelines revolve around concepts such as playing strong defense, moving the ball around unselfishly, correct spacing and not settling for bad shots. While there are referees on the court, they are forcing the players to adjust to the physicality of international basketball by calling the games very loosely, which makes things far more educational in our eyes.

With that in mind, it should be said that the USA Basketball people have not had the easiest time filling out the rosters with the best talent available to them. While they would never publicly state as much, word trickled down from the NBA-types that as many as 19 players declined their invites to attend these tryouts, just from the Under-19 group. There are many reasons for that, mostly revolving around the fact that the schools and college coaches want their players on campus in the summer to attend summer school and get a head start on staying eligible, and thus maintaining their APR (Academic Progress Rate), which is essential for not losing future scholarships. As Jerry Colangelo told us in a wide-ranging interview that will be published in the next day or two, “they have their own agendas.”

Some players, such as Kemba Walker, decided they would rather attend Nike’s Lebron Camp instead of representing their country in international competition, which is a real shame. Ignoring the patriotic element for a moment—which is a much stronger pull in seemingly every other country in the world outside of the US– it’s tough not to feel like these players are missing out on a wonderful experience. Colangelo vowed to pay special attention to this issue and stressed the success they’ve had getting the younger and older NBA players to make sacrifices and commit to USA Basketball. He feels like it’s only a matter of time until the U-19 group is the same way.

To be fair to Kemba Walker, he was on the U-18 team last year. The LeBron Camp is an important camp especially for those players eying an NBA future possibly as early as next year.

Big East Basketball blog takes a look at the recruiting targets for Pitt and WVU. Isiah Epps is either heading to Hargrave or National Christian for a year of prep.

Chris Dokish takes a shot at picking the Big East. He puts Pitt at #7. Key quote.

Bottom line- With such an inexperienced team, it’s unlikely that even Jamie Dixon’s wizardry could make the Panthers a major contender. But anybody completely dismissing a Jamie Dixon team, though, would be foolish.

Everything seemed to indicate the issue was dead. Plenty of reports said Dixon had quietly rejected the overtures. Reggie Theus was apparently lined up for the USC interview. The page had turned.

Then it hadn’t.

Pittsburgh basketball coach Jamie Dixon remains USC’s top choice to replace Tim Floyd and has not declined overtures from the university, according to sources close to Dixon.

Despite some media reports Dixon is not interested in the job, the Southern California native and USC were in contact during the past 10 days and discussions could continue, according to sources.

Dixon, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley and attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, is 162-45 at Pitt, the most victories in NCAA history for a Division I coach in his first six seasons.

“Why wouldn’t they want Jamie?” a source close to the 43-year-old Dixon said. “And why wouldn’t he want to listen?”
…
Sources said USC is not put off that Dixon would probably command a salary of at least $2 million per year or that his Pitt contract includes a $1 million buyout.

“The timing is not perfect but it’s not impossible,” the source said.

Just for the record, the timing is just about impossible. Can you imagine the distraction that would be to preparing for the U-19 games? You think USA Basketball would be happy about that? If the squad loses, the blame goes straight on Dixon because he was coaching and put himself in a position where it appeared he lost focus because of a new gig.

We are now in a world of dueling sources. Per Gary Parrish at CBSSports.

Obviously, I was surprised by this report because it contradicts everything that’s been written.

But just to be safe, I reached out to a source close to Dixon and asked about it.

I was hit with the following response:

“He is not going there,” the source said. “Not happening.”

When you start to get these mixed signals — claimed to be from “sources close” to the coach — it is an easy step for the present fanbase to be come agitated. To blame the coach for not ending the rumors at once.

I have had no problem with Coach Jamie Dixon not commenting on the USC job. I understand the business aspect of having his name floating out there, especially when it just won’t happen. Now, though, it is starting to get annoying. Whether it was Dixon’s fault or the “source” close to Dixon and the USC sources for the LA Daily News story.

So, Coach Dixon and the Pitt athletic department might want to think hard about putting something out there to end this stuff.

UPDATE (1:08): Parrish also has a full article explaining to USC why they need to forget the pipedream of Dixon.

The other thing worth noting is that there has been absolutely no other story backing up the LA one since this morning. None of the national college b-ball writers are offering any corroboration.

UPDATE (1:53): Thank you Andy Katz.

USC made another run at Pittburgh’s Jamie Dixon, but continued to be rebuffed, a source said Friday.

The Trojans targeted Dixon to replace Tim Floyd, who resigned last week. Dixon was in Colorado Springs coaching the FIBA U-19 USA basketball team this week and turned down another overture.

Dixon leaves with the Americans next Thursday for the World Championships in New Zealand. The competition runs July 2-11.

That Dixon’s name led the speculation is not surprising, as he is from Southern California and his wife, who is from Hawaii, went to USC. But a source said there is no family pressure to go to USC. The Dixons have been extremely happy living in Pittsburgh, the source said.

So USC apparently upped the starting point of money and possibly years to see if Dixon would bite. And again, not even a nibble. Please let this be the end. Hire Theus or someone else and just prepare for the NCAA sanctions.

Doing an interview with a coach that centers around recruiting losses is not easy. Per NCAA regs, the coach can’t actually comment on recruits. He can speak vaguely, but that doesn’t do much when people are looking for answers.

So, the effort by Coach Wannstedt to talk a little about the football program as fans try to understand all the misses by the program for local players that seemed like locks for Pitt probably did not accomplish much. For all intents and purposes it was a Rorschach test for where you stand on Wannstedt and the program at this point.

Those in the concerned to panic mode over the recruiting probably found themselves pissed and frustrated because he did not give much clarity in how things will be better. He just tossed out numbers that hold little context.

Wannstedt said he’s confident the Panthers will have a great recruiting class by February. This week, the Panthers will hold two more prospect camps and he expects the total number of players to come through to be about 650, which is far more than they have had in the past.

“If you think about, we had about 50 or 60 kids at our prospect camps,” Wannstedt said.

“So we’re making a lot of progress in that area. And at this point, we are way ahead in recruiting than we have been — at this point the last few years there were probably 40 kids I was comfortable offering a scholarship to — right now, I’d say we are at about 75.

“We are further ahead with quality names at every position and more players come through here than at any point since I have been here. We’re banging heads with the top programs for kids and there will be some wins and losses. We believe we have the best program in the country, but it may not be for everyone.

“But we’re going to get our share of guys, and they are going to be great players who are going to be excited about winning and being a part of Pitt football.”

Those that are being patient to having blind faith in Wannstedt will read the same bit with optimism and the expectations that things will work themselves out by February.

As for recruiting, Wannstedt withstood the backlash of losing seven WPIAL prospects to either Penn State or Michigan, most notably after offensive linemen Miles Dieffenbach of Fox Chapel and Tom Ricketts Jr. of North Allegheny picked Penn State on consecutive days earlier this month. Their losses were prominent because Dieffenbach’s father, George, is a long-time Pitt tennis coach and Ricketts’ father played for the Panthers in the 1980s.

While NCAA rules prevent Wannstedt from speaking publicly about prospects, he was adamant that the Panthers will remain major players for the top recruits in Western Pennsylvania and beyond. Pitt has received three verbal commitments from the Class of 2010 and could add more after it hosts an individual skills camp this weekend on the South Side. He also is planning to host an additional Blue Chip Day in August.

“Nothing has changed,” Wannstedt said, repeating it for emphasis. “I will just say the last three years, at this time of the year, I’ve felt good about 40 players. Today, I’m at 75. We are further ahead with this year’s recruiting class with quality names at every position than we’ve been since I’ve been here. … We’re going to end up with not a good class, a great class.”

I maintain a fierce ambivalence about it all. It’s hard not to be at least a little edgy about recruiting to this point. The misses are a bit glaring and jarring.

At the same time, it is still a long way until February. Recruitments reopen. Decisions change. There seems little to be gained by getting too worked up over things in June.

And as I have said, I believe part of this is tied directly to Pitt’s underachievement the first 3 years of Wannstedt. A mostly good last year hardly balances the scales. There has to be more improvement even without McCoy, Kinder, McKillop and Davis to show the top recruits that progress and promise is happening.

The downside, Coach Dixon will be directly in your ear through mid-July.

Ashton Gibbs made the U-19 roster while Dante Taylor will come back to Pittsburgh to get ready for the upcoming season and bond with his teammates while playing in the Pro-Am Summer League.

The 19-and-under team, coached by Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon, will consist of Washington State’s DeAngelo Casto and Klay Thompson, Duke’s Seth Curry, Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs, Butler’s Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack, Kentucky’s Darius Miller, UTEP’s Arnett Moultrie, Northwestern’s John Shurna, Kansas’ Tyshawn Taylor, Georgia’s Howard Thompkins and Ole Miss’ Terrico White. The team will compete in the FIBA U19 World Championships in New Zealand from July 2-12.

Four players were cut from U-19 trials: West Virginia’s Darryl “Truck” Bryant, Minnesota’s Ralph Sampson III, Florida-bound high schooler Kenny Boynton, and Pitt-bound high-schooler Dante Taylor. UCLA’s Drew Gordon had already withdrawn from the trials with a patella tendon in right knee.

Boynton and Taylor seem like minor surprises. Much like Gibbs making it. I am guessing Gibbs made the squad so that the team had some more reliable perimeter shooting threats.

As for the Pittsburgh summer league, it was in jeopardy but once word got out that it was at risk things changed.

The league has grown in popularity yearly, and a small group of fans that attend the games regularly are responsible for keeping the league going.

When word leaked out a couple of weeks ago that league director John Giammarco did not have the financing in place to run the league, donations began to stream in to help defray costs such as rent and payment to officials.

“I’m stunned that a summer basketball league would bring such a call to arms,” Giammarco said. “It’s been amazing.

“These fans love basketball and didn’t want to see it go away. It’s been a labor of love for me. It’s been so well-received by fans. I didn’t want to see it die, either. We wanted to make this work.”

Fans can check the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Web site (www.pittsburghbasketballclub.com) for a complete schedule and rosters. Giammarco was hoping to have such information posted by tomorrow.

The summer league, in my view, just did not realize the interest and support it could generate. If they had gotten word out sooner that sponsorship and support was drying up, there would not necessarily have been the last minute scramble.

The summer league is vital for Pitt. It provides a chance for the players to play over the summer in Pittsburgh with some good competition with some organization. It also keeps them in Pittsburgh where they can still be with their teammates (improve chemistry) and take some more classes and keep working out with some oversight.

Coach Dixon and Pitt cannot be directly involved per NCAA restrictions, but Dixon did what he could to encourage the formation.

For Adam Gunn, apparently this was one of those times.

Gunn’s attorney, Tim Dawson, said by e-mail that his client “issued a formal apology for his conduct, and given the fact that he employed no weapons, assaulted nobody and simply attempted to flee the scene, the (Pittsburgh) Police were willing to drop all charges.”

Gunn can now be reinstated to the team (and there seems little doubt he will be).

He still has to deal with the fact that in running, he could not clear the a parking lot chain. Either very drunk or absolutely no vertical.

This also means Pitt will be losing some points in the Fulmer Cup.

One more basketball post because all of these stories seem to be coming together.

It appears as expected that Coach Dixon has quietly told USC to shove off.

USC’s search to replace Tim Floyd has moved on beyond Pitt’s Jamie Dixon and is now, for the time being, focused on coaches who have professional ties, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com.

Multiple sources confirmed that the Trojans made an attempt to woo Dixon, a native of Los Angeles, but the discussion was only on the surface in nature because Dixon wasn’t going to move from Pitt. The Trojans were willing to make Dixon a strong offer to come West, but Dixon’s comfort at Pitt made it a moot point.

Dixon has been at Pitt since 1999, the last six as a head coach, winning 163 games with the Panthers during that stretch and taking the Panthers to six NCAAs, one Elite Eight, three Sweet 16s and one Big East regular-season title and one Big East tournament championship.

This is what was presumed. There is just no way a coach in Dixon’s spot was going to take the job. I would still prefer to get some better confirmation than “sources” but it will do for now.

As for Tom Herrion and Holy Cross. The Massachusetts native is clearly on the short list.

1) Notre Dame assistant Sean Kearney – However, some have said that the Cross favors a guy with head coaching experience.

2) Pittsburgh assistant Tom Herrion – He was a successful head coach at the College of Charleston, grew up a town over from Holy Cross and has really toned down since joining Jamie Dixon’s program (that was the knock on him at Charleston).

3) Cornell coach Steve Donahue – Not really sure about the level of interest on either end, but Donahue would have scholarships to play with at Holy Cross, would receive more money and would have a job in which he could battle for the league crown every year.

4) Kansas assistant Joe Dooley – If the Crusaders do go the assistant route, it appears that Kearney and Dooley will be in the mix.

Assuming the list is accurate, it is intersting that Holy Cross is leaning towards hiring a coach looking to use them as a stepping stone. Three of the four candidates are top assistants at major D-1 programs that will hope to move up the coaching ladder.

Obviously, the concern for Pitt fans is Tom Herrion. He seems like a great fit for the program. He has head coaching experience. He’s from the state.

I would question whether Holy Cross is a good fit for him. He’s a recruiter of talent. He would have to modify his targets to get kids to Holy Cross with the program stature and academic restrictions.

For Pitt, the timing stinks. The next recruiting contact period comes in early July. Coach Dixon will be limited with his own work for the U-19 games. That means if Herrion leaves, Dixon will have to make a very quick hire — somehow shoehorned into prep for the games. Or have Brandin Knight out there recruiting alone and shorthanded.

I’ve been trying to make some time to get this posted. Most of you are probably already aware that incoming freshman Dante Taylor along with sophomore Ashton Gibbs  were added to the FIBA U-19 tryouts after Wake’s Al-Farouq Aminu and UConn’s Kemba Walker pulled out.

The tryouts are in Colorado Springs and got underway yesterday. Coach Dixon will be able to give his players a little extra work.

“It’s great for Dante and it’s great for the program,” Dixon said. “Dante and Ashton were the next two guys on the list.”

For the 12 spots on the team, Gibbs and Taylor will compete with Butler’s Shelvin Mack, Florida’s Kenny Boynton, West Virginia’s Darryl Bryant, Washington State’s Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto, Duke’s Seth Curry, UCLA’s Drew Gordon, Butler’s Gordon Hayward, Kentucky’s Darius Miller, UTEP’s Arnett Moultrie, Minnesota’s Ralph Sampson III, Northwestern’s John Shurna, Kansas’ Tyshawn Taylor, Georgia’s Howard Thompkins and Ole Miss’ Terrico White.

Dixon won’t have final say on the cuts, with a committee led by Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim controlling the roster. But he said he would like to see shooters to bust zones in the competition and quality point guard play on this roster.

Taylor was apparently already on the Pitt campus, according Coach Dixon’s tweet.

Dante is having a great summer and we are very excited to have him at Pittsburgh.

The expectations for this Pitt team are so very different from the one that just finished. Yet, I’m almost as excited about what will be. Definitely more curious.

Now here’s a good game for Pitt to be playing at Madison Square Garden for the Jimmy V Classic.

Just confirmed – through a source – that Pittsburgh will play Indiana on Tues., Dec. 8 at Madison Square Garden.

Indiana will be young, but loaded with talent. It should be a tough game for Pitt. Definitely a marquee game. Something, apparently Pitt really wanted for this game.

Pitt was approached about playing Boston College in the Jimmy V Classic in December in New York but the Panthers decided against the matchup. Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson said he wanted more of a national game. But there was another reason for his decision against the opponent. Pederson was concerned that there were stories written in Boston during the East Regional that it was Boston College — a former Big East school now in the ACC — hosting onetime Big East rivals. Pederson said he didn’t want that to be the story again in December.

Burn!

Pederson denies that there is any actual ban by Pitt or the Big East in playing BC — but at the same time it seems clear that Pitt is in no rush to bother with the Eagles.

Pederson said the Panthers and Eagles will likely inevitably play. He said if there were no other opponents he wouldn’t be against playing the Eagles.

That sounds like a real eagerness. On the one hand, it was nice to own the Eagles and to have a chance to remind them of that would be nice. On the other, I’m all for not playing BC and keeping them to have to either pay to bring in the cupcakes or spend more on their travel budget to go further away for games.

With the long dry spell of verbals for Pitt football, a second round of stories on Jeff Knox. It helps that he was from the area and is now coming home — improves the storyline.

Jeff Knox might not play in the WPIAL anymore, but the former Central Catholic star’s heart never left Pittsburgh even after he transferred to Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic last year.

That’s one of the reasons the 6-foot-2 1/2, 207-pound safety made a verbal commitment to Pitt on Sunday night, picking the Panthers over the likes of Maryland, Michigan, Penn State and Wake Forest. He also had scholarship offers from Akron, Iowa, Miami (Ohio), New Mexico and Towson.

“It’s my hometown. I’m a Pittsburgh guy,” Knox said. “I knew where my heart was at, and it was in Pittsburgh. “I have a great relationship with coach (Dave) Wannstedt. I told him I wanted to be a great player. He told me he would make me into a man, not just on the field but off the field, as well.

“That’s what got me right there.”

What got him living in Maryland, was a family that recognized that just sending him to a private school locally wasn’t keeping the problems at bay. Getting kicked out of Central Catholic for disciplinary issues was the final straw for his family. They wanted him to reset.

His family still lives in Pittsburgh and he is living with the family of one of his teammates, a major factor in his decision.

“My family wanted me to get out of the neighborhood because there were a lot of bad influences and they were worried about my grades slipping, so this was a good move for me to get my academics together and whatnot,” Knox said.

As noted, the lack of much recruiting news for Pitt has people rusty. Like a beat reporter putting something in the paper that would constitute a secondary recruiting violation. Like a coach commenting on recruiting specific players  is a no-no. It’s a relatively harmless, secondary violation, but still.

Wannstedt and his staff expect several more players to commit in the next few weeks as Pitt will be playing host to its annual summer prospect camps. Included in that group are four of Knox’s DeMatha teammates (offensive linemen Shane Johnson, Arie and Cyrus Kouandjio, and safety Mike Coley) who currently hold scholarship offers from Pitt. Wannstedt said he already has begun the recruiting process on all four.

Oops.

Well, at least the local media does. The Indiana Pacers hold the 13th pick and Blair was part of a group that was in for workouts.

A columnist calls for his drafting.

The Pacers need “mean.”

Not taking-candy-from-children mean or shooting-up-a-strip-joint-parking-lot mean, but mean, a guy with a bit of an angry edge and a Machiavellian will to dominate.

Say hello to DeJuan Blair, the University of Pittsburgh forward who joined North Carolina’s Ty Lawson, UCLA’s Jrue Holiday, Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague, Michigan State’s Goran Suton and Florida State’s Toney Douglas at the Pacers’ predraft workout Monday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

If he’s still there when the Pacers select at No. 13 nine days from now — assuming, of course, they remain at No. 13 — Blair is my pick.

The beat writer for the Pacers brings up Blair as the good citizen for another reason.

Besides possibly giving the Pacers some much needed toughness in the post, Blair is also good in the community, which would be an added bonus for the blue and gold.

I hear Blair surprised some kids at a community center in his hometown of Pittsburgh when he showed up unannounced and started reading to them recently. It wouldn’t hurt the Pacers if they got another player that enjoys being a positive influence in the community.

Interesting in a Q&A, though, that he isn’t letting go of the ‘Burgh.

Q: How important is it to be a role model?

Blair: “That’s the biggest thing besides playing basketball because there are a lot of kids that look up to NBA players. I want to be one of the successful role models in the city I go to and in Pittsburgh. I want to be an entrepreneur in Pittsburgh because I won’t always be here. I always want to be able to go back and be that person that everybody looks up to.”

The one thing that leads me to wonder if the Pacers would go with Blair is that they drafted Roy Hibbert last year. Do the Pacers really want or need another young guy in the front court with still developing/limited offensive moves?

According to DraftExpress, Blair is starting to solidify as a pick in the 12-16 range.

We’re hearing that DeJuan Blair is in pretty good shape at the moment, and he continues to have very strong workouts that are easing the concerns teams have about his knee. Blair’s draft range looks pretty steady between 12 and 16, although he will work out for teams above and below those picks. Don’t be surprised to see a team like Oklahoma City or Portland try to make a move for him on draft night, as both organizations are reportedly very high on him.

Hmm. The tough thing about the 12-16 range is it makes it less likely that he will get an invite to the Draft. I can still hope.

I’m not saying the LA Times beat reporter on USC is in the early stages of stalking Coach Dixon, but first he’s parsing his Tweets for deeper meanings (and probably getting it wrong since the reference was to the USA U-19 team). Then he managed to get Coach Dixon’s number.

Pittsburgh basketball Coach Jamie Dixon answered the phone quickly, after one ring. Upon learning it was a newspaper reporter, he responded, just as quickly, “I have a recruit on the other line. Can I get your number and call you back?”

Dixon took down the number, then upon being asked “Are you interested in the USC job,” replied, ‘I’ll have to call you back.”

More than two hours later the call came … from a sports information official, who said, “This is probably not the person you expected.” He then gave the stump speech, saying: “Jamie’s personal practice is not to discuss the coaching searches of other schools, so he will respectfully decline comment.”

When he starts camping out in front of Dixon’s house, don’t say I didn’t warn people about it.

That won’t stop the speculation. USC apparently feels it has to pursue Dixon just to placate people.

The chances of him saying anything other than “No, thanks” are still small, but according to a source with knowledge of the situation, Dixon will be given the first chance to replace Tim Floyd. USC has to go through that process first, likely through back channels and then maybe directly with Dixon, before it can move ahead. Waiting to ask permission to speak with him is just a formality and rarely happens anymore. By the time permission has been granted, the coach has either accepted or told the school he’s not interested.

USC’s move toward Dixon is akin to what Kentucky did two years ago with Florida’s Billy Donovan. Even though all indications were that Donovan would remain with the Gators, the Wildcats had to go through the process of making a run at him. He was the obvious first choice. UK’s approach was a bit more public than anything USC would likely do in the coming days. But the Trojans, according to a source, have to make the effort to look at Dixon.

Multiple sources close to Dixon in and out of Pittsburgh say he won’t leave for Los Angeles. But there is nothing wrong with listening. For example, what if USC were to throw a crazy offer at Dixon, like $2 million a year for eight years? Wouldn’t he have to at least listen? Dixon’s buyout is projected to be at least $1 million, according to sources, although Pitt doesn’t release contract details on its coaches.

Dixon, like any other elite coach in his position, doesn’t have to leave for a rebuilding situation, even one that has as many recruiting advantages as USC, with its proximity to players. Dixon is from the L.A. area, but Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson isn’t fretting over the current situation because of how much Dixon is revered in Pittsburgh and the way the Panthers view him as their version of Mike Krzyzewski, a coach who can leave a legacy for years to come. The timing isn’t great for Dixon, either, with a USC roster that seems to get smaller with every passing day and a commitment to be with USA Basketball for the next month.

Personally, I think Katz is lowballing on the kind of offer USC will need to make to Dixon. 8 years, $16 million is right for length, but it will take at least $2.5 mill per. Especially considering that penalties for USC are at least 6 months to a year away. The NCAA hasn’t even presented anything or officially finished the investigation.

And as I said right away, there just is not any time for Dixon to take the job. The U-19 duties mean not starting a new job until August.

Now if Coach Dixon or his agent wanted to manipulate this out for more money from Pitt or USC — and I am stating from the outset that I don’t believe this since Coach Dixon has not shown any indication that he plays this kind of game, I’m just having a little fun — then this scenario could occur.

A “back-channel” source would make noise to USC’s people that Coach Dixon might listen a lot closer after the 2009-10 season ended. That maybe hiring an interim would be the best way to make it happen.

An interim at USC would allow for extended speculation and create more pressure on Pitt for another extension and raise to keep Dixon. Especially useful when Pitt is likely going to be doing a bit of rebuilding this season.

Of course, that would put USC in a real bind. In their best case dreams they might see how things have worked out far better than expected for Arizona by doing the year long interim route.

The difference is that, that was Arizona. They had a core group come back. They had Lute Olson back for a while and he brought in recruits (a couple of who Sean Miller was able to get back). They also were willing to spend more money than USC would probably like.

USC is in really facing a Cinci scenario for basketball. They are in chaos, a coach departing under a cloud (slightly different), the NCAA looking at the program, talent fleeing (Cinci had transfers) and recruiting lost completely. Cinci has far more tradition and support for the basketball program and they are still trying to get it back together some 4 years later.

If USC is really going to try to get Dixon first, and he makes them wait until after the U-19 games, then USC truly doesn’t care about its basketball — only appearances. They simply don’t have time to wait a month to get a new coach and staff. They need to act now to just begin the rebuilding of the program before it keeps sinking lower.

They have not even pretended to elevate an assitant to interim. Presumably because they don’t want to pay a little more for even an empty figurehead while this is all happening.

Regardless of the fertile recruiting area and spanking new facilities, USC is showing little inclination that the Athletic Department wants to do much to help and support its basketball. It merely wants to get a name to do it all. ‘

That will be another reason why Dixon won’t go. He understands and gets that support and trust of the people in the Athletic Department is vital to help the program grow and improve — and by extension Dixon’s own reputation and bank account. He has that at Pitt.

Something of a review here. With Father’s Day coming quickly a Pitt product that should be on the list. This one was sent to me a little while back, but has been simmering for the right time.

The item in question is the University of Pittsburgh Football Vault.

This is part of the series of college football vaults from Whitman Publishing. Part history, part scrapbook, and completely engrossing.

The Pitt football Vault was put together by Sam Sciullo, Jr., a Pitt alum, former member of Pitt’s sports information office and the writer of several other Pitt-related books.

From postcard reproductions of programs to a small felt pennant circa the early-60s, to the field passes. These items help make the stories and history tangible (and can be quite the attractive nuisance to small children). The copy of Jackie Sherrill’s first contract with Pitt is an amusing extra.

The history runs from the beginnings through the 2007 season and the conclusion of the 100th Backyard Brawl. This is not a stat book. You won’t get lists of all-time numbers. That’s for media guides (if Pitt will even print one this year). This is about the love of Pitt football and its history.

If you or your dad loves Pitt, this is something to get. It sells on Amazon for around $37, and nearly the same price at B&N (w. a member discount).