In football, no question. But in basketball, I’m not so sure.

There’s a growing concern that Pitt is going to lack a center after Gary McGhee is done. (Yes, even after last year it is still mildly strange to type that.)

After all, the present roster has no true center. Dante Taylor wants to play and his future is at the 4. Plus, at 6-8 to 6-9, there is concern about whether he is big enough (or perhaps, better phrased as whether he plays big enough). J.J. Richardson is definitely undersized to play the spot at 6-7, but did show energy and enthusiasm. Talib Zanna at 6-9, will be a redshirt freshman and is certainly a candidate to play the spot more — especially if he has bulked up a bit. But no one seems enthused by that idea.

Now, I imagine most want the center to be someone who is 6-10 or bigger. A guy in the tradition of Aaron Gray, Toree Morris or McGhee. A big guy inside to defend the paint, get rebounds and some easy putbacks. The fact is, finding a true big man is not easy.

There’s a reason why Pitt stuck it out with Gary McGhee and he actually had some decent offers despite how raw he was. There was a reason Pitt tried for quite a while to figure a way to make it happen with Maurice Walker despite the lack of scholarship — and other teams came so hard  for him late — even though, everyone acknowledges he is a project.

There’s a reason the top two or three center prospects are one-and-dones almost without fail.

There aren’t that many truly big men, and more often than not, it takes a couple of years to find out if you have a good one.

According to Scout.com, these are the Center prospects Pitt is looking at for the 2011 class: Mikael Hopkins, Desmond Hubert, and Joey De La Rosa.

Want to know what jumps out at me about them?

It isn’t that Hopkins is the highest ranked prospect of them, a consensus 4-star listed as center or power forward (Insider subs.). Or that Hubert is another consensus 4-star center with lots of promise (Insider subs.). Nor is it that De La Rosa is a very raw 2-star to unranked at this time, but againwith lots of potential (Insider subs).

No, what stands out to me is that Hopkins and Hubert are both listed at 6-8 on all recruiting sites. De La Rosa is listed at 6-8 on ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc., while Rivals.com says 6-11 and Scout.com says 6-10.

In other words, the two best center prospects (and perhaps three) Pitt may be pursuing are similar in size to Zanna and Taylor. The (presumably) tallest prospect they are pursuing will be a project.

DeJuan Blair thrived at the 5 spot despite being 6-6 to 6-7 because of a freakish wingspan and a body that could bang inside, but just as importantly: desire. He outworked and outplayed bigger men. He thrived on the contact and beating them.

I’m not hung up on where the player Pitt gets with the 3d scholarship plays. There’s a pretty good balance between frontcourt and backcourt players right now.

I think Pitt and Coach Dixon will stick with getting the best player they can. Whether it is an undersized center, another wing guard or perhaps even a shooting guard that is deadly from the perimeter.