Sorry. Last week, well, last week was not one of the better ones. With the Boston Marathon bombing, the fertilizer plant in West Texas among other things; it just seemed the best thing to do was to sit back and just listen a little more. What do you say, that everyone else hasn’t said? Is it better to just repeat what others have said, and likely more eloquently? Or just maintain a respectful silence as you listen? This time, I opted to just listen.

But, now to awkwardly transition to other things.

Lots to catch-up on in the news.

Clear some story links first.

Good article on Mike Young by Josh Verlin (who has in the past, helped out this site with some liveblog moderation).

“I’m a Pittsburgh guy, man,” he told CoBL on Tuesday night. “I always wanted to go to Pitt. I grew up watching Pitt, I didn’t watch any other team. Only college games I went to.”

Recent Pitt commit and now signee of his NLI, Jamel Artis was merely waiting for the right time to give Pitt his commitment.

The right time came last weekend, when Artis — who recently achieved a qualifying SAT score — pledged to the Panthers during his official visit. Artis picked Pittsburgh over Connecticut, La Salle and South Carolina, among others.

“They liked me a lot. They didn’t care how long it took,” Artis said. “They just wanted the right time, and the right time came. I passed all my tests. It came back.”

This is going to happen more for many players who are good — but not great — recruits. Recent changes to the NCAA minimum qualifications standards are getting phased in over the next few years. Teams are going to have to maintain interest and show love, but won’t be able to take verbals (let alone signed NLIs) too early due to the risk of academically not qualifying.

But as for Artis’ game, it is exactly what Coach Jamie Dixon loves — versatility:

Artis has been described by scouts over the years as a point forward, but [Notre Dame Prep Coach Ryan] Hurd thinks it does “a disservice” to the future Panther to put a label on him.

“We kind of made a hybrid spot for him,” Hurd said. “He defended everyone from the 3 to the 5. Offensively, I tell people he’s a pick-and-pop 3. It depends on what we needed. He had the opportunity to break someone down in isolation or take a guy into the post. He has a tremendous array of offensive moves.”

Then there is shooting guard Jon Severe. He has his list cut down to Pitt, West Virginia, Wake Forest and Fordham. He has also moved up his time to decide to April 24.

Jon Severe will announce his college decision at 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon in the Christ The King gym, coach Joe Arbitellotold SNY.tv.

“He hasn’t decided yet,” he said. “It’s between Fordham, West Virginia, Pitt and Wake Forest.”

The 6-foot-2 Severe initially planned to announce in late May, after the late signing period ends, but opted to move it up.

The bad news for this decision is that he never took a visit to Pitt. So, it’s hard to imagine that he’s going to choose Pitt without setting foot on the campus.

One of the other targets for Pitt, graduate transfer from Tulane Josh Davis still hasn’t made a decision. Pitt is either hedging or doesn’t think they will get him because they have picked up their recruiting on another power forward, Lennard Freeman.

Plenty of questions.