Daddy, why am I late for school?
Because school drop-off is at 8 am. As much as your education matters, it falls short of daddy’s unhealthy obsession with the decisions made by teenage boys.
….Oh.
Yeah, Russel Shell makes his decision early today.
The WPIAL’s all-time leading rusher said he will announce where he’ll play his collegiate career during an 8 a.m. press conference at Hopewell High School.
…
Several reports have the hometown Pitt Panthers as the favorite to land Shell’s services.
Alabama is also rumored to be a contender.
When asked about Alabama on Thursday afternoon, Shell told Meyer that he “didn’t get the chance to go down there” for a visit.
When asked if that meant he was leaning towards Pitt, Shell cautioned, “Just because I haven’t been there doesn’t mean I don’t think it would be a good fit for myself.”
I get why he is doing it now rather than right before or after his school’s nationally televised game on ESPNU. Avoid the crap all day long of being asked and bothered. Just get it out of the way. But dammit, this is just inconvenient.
All signs point to Shell verballing to Pitt. Signing day is still almost 4 months away.
Great related read from Chris Harlan at the Trib on the thoughts of all of this by Andrew Johnson. The first time I’ve ever read a story on Johnson where he expresses anything close to regrets over changing his commitment from Pitt to Miami.
Here’s an interview with Shell from earlier in the week with ESPN-HS.
People knock Taylor for his supposed lack of work ethic and sleepy look, but I’ve always heard Jamie refer to him otherwise. And I keep going back in my mind to the fact that he won the skills competition at the McDonald’s All American pregame festivities. Would love to see THAT guy break out this year.
Like I said a week ago, local rumor said it was a lock. For once, the rumor mill was correct. My sources just earned a +1 on the trust factor.
Now we just have to get him to sign and pass the eligibility requirements.
Hail to PITT!
As for Shell .. he has a good chance to vie for a startin position because I would expect Graham to go to NFL. RB is the one position that depends more on natural talent than assignment
Nonetheless, Voytik and Shell bring in 2 major talent to the program
You have big shoes to fill.
Regardless of the recent past seasons of under achievement by the Pitt Panthers, one thing we have gotten right is production out of the RB position.
Hopefully you’ll continue that legacy! I get a feeling that we will be watching Ray Graham playing on Sunday next year if his season this year continues the way it has started, so get your head screwed on right, get your body ready for some BCS football and Hail to Pitt!
Robinson’s injury also presents an opportunity for Pitt’s three centers to get some playing time at power forward in the preseason. Junior Dante Taylor, who is expected to start at center, and freshmen Khem Birch and Malcolm Gilbert will get an opportunity to play until Robinson returns.
“I’m going to do both,” said Birch, a 6-9 McDonald’s All-American who is expected to contribute immediately. “Coach told me to take advantage of him being out. Now it’s time to learn. It is exciting. That is my future position.”
In the past, Dixon has allowed freshmen to concentrate on one position so they were not overwhelmed from a mental standpoint. He hinted that might be the case again, although he did tweak his offensive system over the summer which will allow more flexibility than seasons past.
“Khem, Dante and Malcolm can all play together,” Dixon said. “We’ve been working on that. We try to keep those spots a little more similar in what they can do. We had been looking at that in the offseason for situations just like this.
“All of those guys always played center their entire basketball career. Playing more on the perimeter will be an adjustment. Usually the older guys handle it better. With younger guys, it’s a huge adjustment.”
That’s why, if Robinson’s injury forces him to miss games, Dixon is likely to turn to versatile sophomore Lamar Patterson to move down into the frontcourt. Patterson has played power forward previously and with success.