No, he’s not trying to get out of going to Pitt. Turns out Steven Adams did not pull out of the Jordan Brand Classic and will be playing Saturday night on ESPN at 7pm down in Charlotte. Another chance to see the 6’10 to 7′-er (depending on where you get your measurements) before he comes to Pitt. He will get another matchup against the No. 1 player in the 2012 recruiting class, Kentucky-bound Nerlens Noel.

Obviously he is one of the players to watch (Insider subs):

Adams is the most physically imposing player in the game, thanks to his unique combination of strength and athleticism. He will attack the rim and score with his excellent mobility, huge hands and soft touch inside 15 feet. Defensively, he is very difficult to score over and Noel has said he is the hardest guy he’s ever tried to score on.

He’s also the subject of a feature article from ESPN.

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First off, I’m sorry to say that I will not be making it to the Blue-Gold game this year. My wife’s uncle passed away last month and the interment is being held on Saturday. Apparently no one thought to consult with me as to what weekend would be best to do this. Naturally since this is the first spring game I will miss in a few years, the weather is supposed to be close to pleasant. Temps in the mid-to-upper-60s and a less than 50% chance of any rain. Please try and track down Reed and his group in one of the Park-and-Ride lots where they are tailgating and have a beer with them.

Hopefully some of you will be heading to the Dessert Tasting for a Cause event. A charitable event put together by Torrie Cox, Kris Wilson and Lousaka Polite. Three Panthers from the Walt Harris era that stay close to Pitt. It’s impressive when you take into account that Cox and Wilson are not from Pittsburgh and don’t make their home in the ‘Burgh — and while Polite is from the area, he now lives in Florida. But they keep coming back. Staying part of Pitt’s family.  Sam Clancy, Ruben Brown and Scott McKillop will also be attending. Looks like a pretty good menu (PDF).

I don’t care if the coach is in his first year or has been there as long as Frank Beamer, every head coach will tell you that spring practice went too quick and not enough was accomplished. Isn’t that right, Coach Chryst?

“It went too fast,” Chryst said of spring drills, which will end Saturday with the Blue-Gold scrimmage at North Hills` Martorelli Stadium. “Achieve everything? Probably no, but it`s been good. I just wish we had more (time).”

Of course you do.

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Just for fun and on the day before the Spring Game I’d like to, again, throw out a few “Mic’d Up” links for you guys to watch while you are screwing around at work on a Friday afternoon.  These come off the PITT Spring Football Insider website and they are shot and recorded in 720p HD.

These are great slice of life looks at our new staff and how they go about relating to and coaching their unit’s players.  I’ll list them from latest to earliest but they are all interesting and informative.

4/12:    (3:40m)     WR Coach Bobby Engram.  You have to laugh a little at the 2:35 mark when he pulls Devin Street and tells him that he should get with Sunseri and practice the deep ball.  You just know there was a massive steam buildup about to explode from Street’s ears right then.  At the 2:48 mark Engram mentions someone named “Jules” and I can’t figure out who that is.

4/5:      (2:40m)     OC Joe Rudolph.  You can see from this clip that Rudolph like teaching the fundamentals and is a stickler for the smallest details.  Watch at the 1:08 mark when he’s running the TEs through blocking drills, then his work with the offensive lineman right afterward.

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