After a couple less than positive stories, let’s end with something really good.
Travon Woodall hasn’t been seen much at Greentree this summer. While some haven’t noticed because of the shiny new baubles of Johnson, Johnson, Birch and Gilbert. To say nothing of all the other guys who have been there playing. Apparently he got some grief about it. Turns out there’s a really good reason:
For everyone who doesn’t know, I have a STAT class that I am taking in order for me to graduate in December.
These are still college students, and part of the the reason they are staying in the ‘Burgh in the summer is to take the summer classes. Sometimes they conflict with other activities, but they still take precedence.
That’ is fantastic that Woodall will be graduating a semester early. He is heading into his redshirt junior year, but has tracked academically a bit ahead of schedule. Anyone who has seen “The Street Stops Here” or knows Woodall’s back story has to be excited for the young man.
While I haven’t seen the latest Greentree video, it’s good to read that Sleepy played well last night. He’s also working through nagging injuries.
Good to see Sleepy awake.
sreve, great video, thanx
It’s good to hear players not only graduating but putting in the time to do so early. Good for you Woodall. Most of these kids won’t ever see the NBA but even if they end up playing overseas, it’s always good to have a solid university degree to fall back on. I am a huge sports fan, but I suck at playing them. Having a Pitt education/degree has made me able to provide for my family despite the current economy.
First of all, John Johnson reminds me of a more athletic Levance Fields — he gets to the basket to score, and he can drain the step back 3 regularly. He also plays tenacious D, which is a big bonus.
I’m also really looking forward to seeing Dante Taylor’s progress. He looks ready to make a big leap forward. His ability to get up and down the court quickly is going to cause lots of match up problems.
Last, our front court depth is huge. Literally. Malcolm Gilbert and Khem Birch are shot blocking machines. This will add a new dynamic to Pitt’s D which hasn’t been seen for quite a while.
Is it Fall yet? I’m amped for this season and the future of Pitt basketball!
However, I have seen many people go into being a school counselor because they feel it is an easier job than teaching. Or they are completely out of touch with either the needs of students or the economic needs of society. In most smaller schools the guidance counselor has simply become a number cruncher and a test administrator. Why? Because that’s what Big Brother Government wants…
Every year some classmate or classmates got killed in an automobile accident. We didn’t have “grief counselors” walking the school corridors, making themselves available to anyone who needed their services. We dealt with the tragedy. In my judgment, we did fine without any counselors, academic, grief or otherwise.
Today in our school system, every student must review their proposed curriculum with a guidance counselor before they are permitted to sign up for a course. The counselors give the students advice. For instance, my daughter’s counselor advised my daughter to take Math Course B because it was easier, she would likely get a better grade and the colleges would give Math Course B the same weight as Math Course A when in came to admissions. Math Course A was more difficult. The fact that Math Course A might teach her more academically never entered into the counselor’s equation (pardon the pun). The counselor’s job: get as many students into college as she or he can. What takes place after the students enter college is someone else’s concern. If having a counselor was optional there may be fewer of them in a school. The teachers’ unions could never support that!
By the way, fortunately, this isn’t the 1950s.
When Taylor was a Freshman he wasn’t in Big East Shape, maybe A-10 shape. We saw flashes during his Sophomore year. Now he looks like a Big East PF/C. Senior year Taylor and Sophomore year Birch will be beastly. I just don’t think we see the real deal sex appeal front court from them this year. It could happen though. Let’s hope that Zanna and Gilbert push them both to all hell.
In 2012 our front court could be Taylor, Birch, Zanna, Gilbert and Adams. I don’t think Pitt has ever had a collection of monsters like this before.
Yeah, when does the season start? I’m shaking again.
And while I do think that some guidance counselors seek the position to get into what is viewed as an easier job, most went to school with the express desire to help students. Unfortunately, due to restricted budgets, very often the “intangible” elements in education are not financially supported, and counselors are then relegated to “pushing paper”, test administration, and other “tangible” activities. When this happens, the students who can really benefit are (unintentially) neglected, and they may go away thinking that their counselor was useless. But trust me, in many cases, it does make a huge difference for students–whether that difference is educationally measurable or not.
Don’t be surprised if Gilbert is worth more to the Panthers this year than Birch is. You can’t teach size.
Gilbert is WAY ahead of where McGhee or Gray were before their freshman years. He doesn’t have much offensively (more than Birch) but he is a legit 6’11” shot blocker. Mostly, though, he is very competitive/aggressive. Put 20/30 lbs on him, refine his post moves, and he’s a NBA player. And he’s the only “true” center on the team. Both Taylor and Birch can/will play center, but they’re both undersized and better suited to the power forward spot. That said, I do think Taylor will be more than an adequate center this season and could be an all big east performer if he stays healthy.
As far as Birch goes, I won’t be surprised by anything he does next year. He is a FREAK athletically. He runs like a gazelle and jumps very high, very quickly. BUT, he is really skinny and weak. He has no offense. And he showed no real competitiveness in Greentree, for what that’s worth.
I wouldn’t be shocked if Jamie redshirts him and equally wouldn’t be shocked if he were starting by year end. I think both of those scenario’s are unlikely, but they are certainly not out of the question. Will be fascinating to see how Jamie handles him and how Birch develops.
For the less conspiracy theory oriented among us, having a Stats class that takes place from say 5:00 – 7:00 pm or 6:00 – 8:00 pm would be a logical reason Woodall can’t play in the summer league.
My HS coaches freaked when I missed a summer league season due to a long family trip between my junior and senior year, so let’s just say I’m surprised that a Stats class takes precedence over summer league participation for a Big East basketball player. I’m not saying that’s wrong, just saying it’s surprising in this day and age of college sports.
And the Greentree league hasn’t changed much in the last few years in terms of when it runs and on what nights it runs, so I’m not sure the schedule-not-published argument matters much.
are we to believe we’re witnessing a scholar-athlete moment? call me a cynic, but I thought those days were over.
What could this motive be? Is he indeed injured? Or maybe he is just too lazy, or haa shied away from competition? How about that he now values an education over sports? My guess is that he has a new girlfriend who doesn’t allow him to play thisummer and spend more time with her.
