It should also go without saying that with Khem Birch apparently, really and truly leaving Pitt there needs to be another player in the front court.
Malcolm Gilbert, who was clearly heading for a redshirt (technically it would have been medical) will be having that status changed. Pitt can’t just have Talib Zanna playing behind both Nas and Taylor.
Guess we will get to see the big guy get worked into things tomorrow. He should move into the back-up role at center. Good news, he actually wants to be a center. Not a power forward.
For all the questions about Pitt’s weak non-con, it sure seems to be a good thing right now. Need a lot of cushion before Big East play begins.
I’m sorry to see him go. I don’t agree with it, not simply because he is leaving Pitt, but because a mid-season transfer is not a particularly smart decision for any kid. He can transfer, but he will still have to sit a full year. He won’t be eligible until the winter semester of 2012-13. Still he seems gone, this time for real.
“I’m leaving,” Birch told CBSSports.com on Friday night. “I’m headed to Toronto now. I enjoyed my time at Pittsburgh, I love Coach (Jamie) Dixon, had no problems with the staff and the players. It just wasn’t the right fit for me.”
Birch informed CBSSports.com that he does not have a new list and has not decided on his next destination.
Earlier today, P-G’s Pitt basketball beat writer Ray Fittipaldo posted that there are whispers (spin?) that Khem Birch is not particularly emotionally mature and that he might have “bad” influences in his ear. My natural impulse is that this is a bit of spin from the Pitt side. The one factor that mitigates is that Birch opted to start college a year earlier than he needed to — and most expected/thought he should.
I feel bad for a fair amount of Arizona State fans. They are in a tough spot. It seems more than a few are less than enamored with the hiring of Todd Graham and how Graham bolted Pitt. But here’s the thing. ASU is their school. It’s their team. They can’t really root for Graham to fail. They want their team to win. Graham is the guy that is now in charge of making it happen. He’s their guy. Now they have to talk themselves into it. And the majority will.
They will swallow the spin that Graham really does want to be in Arizona. That he is a good person who loves his family, players and god. That it is his “dream job.” Just as Rice and Tulsa were. That it really was just a timing conflict that had him not face the players. Or that he was stopped by Pitt from meeting with them. That the Graham’s really were never truly happy in Pittsburgh.
Graham wouldn’t go into details but said his family had a terrible time in Pittsburgh. And maybe Graham’s personality and high-octane salesmanship will make him the perfect solution for the complex competitive landscape in Tempe.
Details can be difficult when you are making shit up. Or in the alternative, lying — both Todd and Penni Graham — the entire time. Your choice, which way to go.
