Florida QB Wade Freebeck announced on twitter that he’s coming to Pitt:

Freebeck visited Pitt 2 weeks ago and was a player the coaches appeared to be very interested in. All signs pointed to the interest being mutual and it came to fruition today. The 6’4″ dual threat with a 4.6 GPA is a 3 star player on Rivals and 247. However, he’s a 4 star player on ESPN.  He had offers from USF, Marshall, Akron, and some school called “Florida.” It appears as if the Florida offer was taken away after Florida got a verbal from Will Grier, but it still says a lot about Freebeck’s potential that he’s a 4 star on ESPN and that Florida was highly interested.

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Pitt officially joins the ACC on Monday. I’ll skip the snide commentary on the pretty-boy country duo concert that Pitt has to promote the move. This past week also marked the ten year mark of Virginia Tech and Miami joining the ACC. No one disputes the success of the move financially. For Virginia Tech — much more than Miami — it has been an unprecedented period of growth and success (except for the whole basketball thing) in their athletic department.

Nothing has transpired since to counter what Hokies athletic director Jim Weaver told me in May 2008 about the move.

“The best thing that has ever happened to the university both academically and athletically is the invitation from the Atlantic Coast Conference,” he said then. “There is absolutely no downside. None.”

Indeed, ACC membership has enhanced Tech athletics financially, competitively and academically. And while the Hokies’ non-revenue sports don’t approach the elite level enjoyed by league rivals such as Virginia, Duke, North Carolina and Florida State, they have improved exponentially.

That progress is most evident in the Directors’ Cup all-sports standings. From 1994-2004, Tech’s average finish was 91st, its best 63rd. Since starting ACC competition in the 2004-05 academic year, the Hokies’ average finish is 43rd, with bests of 35th in 2011 and ’12.

Labeled as a “football school,” Tech has won four ACC championships in its marquee sport. During the same nine-season span, Florida State has won two football titles, Clemson, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech one each, the latter vacated due to NCAA sanctions.

But the Hokies’ non-revenue programs have been far more successful than anyone envisioned, earning ACC titles in men’s and women’s track, men’s cross country, softball, wrestling and men’s golf.

Obviously, the football success overshadows everything, but don’t discount the overall success that the athletic department is enjoying.

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The NBA Draft was more than a little unpredictable this year. Starting with the Cleveland Cavaliers picking Anthony Bennett out of UNLV (my pick would have been Georgetown’s Otto Porter). That set off a lot of changes up and down the draft. Plenty of trades. But at the number 12 spot, Oklahoma stood pat and took Steven Adams as many expected.

Adams, the 7-foot center who spent one season at Pitt after emigrating from New Zealand, is the fifth Pitt player to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft and the first since Vonteego Cummings in 1999. The other Panthers taken in round one were Charles Smith and Jerome Lane in 1988 and Eric Mobley in 1994. He is the first Pitt freshman to be selected in the first round.

Adams is the fifth player coached by Jamie Dixon to be selected in the draft, following DeJuan Blair and Sam Young (second round in 2009), Aaron Gray (second round in 2007) and Chris Taft (second round in 2005).

Selfishly, I would have loved for Adams to stay at Pitt another year. Yes, he would have further developed, but I’m not convinced that he would have gone much higher in the draft in 2014. (Not to mention the possibility of injuries.)

Not because of how he would be used at Pitt. Or as some want to believe that Dixon would waste him. It’s simply the numbers.

The 2014 draft already looks loaded. It will have players like Andrew Wiggins, Marcus Smart, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson, James McAdoo, the usual slew of one-and-dones from Kentucky, Euro players we know nothing about, and plenty of others. 2014 is shaping up to be one of those high talent draft years.

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I was kind of hoping that the last time I posted on Rushel Shell in 2013 would be after he found a new home. Unfortunately that was not to be. Honestly after Ron Cook says Chryst made the right call and Mark Madden continues to abuse Shell on twitter (and maybe on the air, but I don’t listen so I don’t know); I almost begin to think that Pitt should have given him another chance.

Then there was today’s article from the Shell camp. There’s stuff in there that has to be noted.

[Shell’s mother, Toni] Zuccaro, giving the family’s first public comments since Shell decided in April to transfer from Pitt, said her son’s decision to not go to UCLA was prompted by a going-away party the family threw for him on Father’s Day. Shell spent the day with his family and 16-month-old twin daughters and, the next day, came to his mother and told her he wanted to stay closer to home.

“He came home after school was over and he started spending a lot of time with his kids and stuff,” Zuccaro said Wednesday in front of her Hopewell apartment. “That’s hard.”

So, it started the previous weekend. Basically as the enormity of the move and everything it meant began to hit him.

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This is not a strong draft. If you have been following the NBA draft chatter since April, you have been hearing this. Expect to hear plenty more of it in the next 36 hours (leading up to and after the draft). As such, Steven Adams is sitting at the end of the lottery. Most projections have him going anywhere from 7 to 14. 10-12 being the most reasonable zone.

Depending on who you want to read, Adams is either undervalued or overvalued.

Overrated:

If he goes in the lottery … Steven Adams
Considering all of [Alex] Len’s flaws, how can a really poor man’s version of Len sneak into the top 14? Didn’t any scouts watch Pitt play this past season? Adams is raaaaaaaaaw. If he didn’t get stuff off the offensive glass, he barely got touches in the Panthers’ offense. He has poor hands. Even in a draft with this many question marks, the lottery is way, way too high for a long-term project like Adams.

Underrated:

Steven Adams, C, Pittsburgh — Adams is a just a perfect specimen. He can run, jump, catch and can even shoot a little, and though he struggled to break through in his only year at Pitt, some of that was due to the Panthers’ guards not sharing the ball, and the depth up front that Pitt had. Adams needs to develop, but the positive signs are there.

Yeah, that helps.

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That may or may not be of any significance for the upcoming college basketball season.

It goes without saying that the block/charge call is one of the toughest calls in basketball. For the most part, unless the action is blatant you can bet that the reaction by viewers regarding the legitimacy of the call almost entirely depends on whether the call goes for or against your team.

The NCAA announced an intent to change the way the block/charge would be called over a month ago, and yesterday the rule — along with some others — were made official.

The implementation of a charge circle was supposed to help offenses by not allowing defenders to camp underneath the rim, but it just ended up being a crutch for officials, who were forced to look at multiple things (foot placement and defensive positioning) at once, and ended up calling a lot of charges that should have been blocking fouls simply because the defender was outside the circle.

The change in the rule, which will require a defender to be established in legal defensive position prior to the offensive player beginning to raise the ball to initiate a shot attempt (rather than when he leaves the floor) should help shift that balance, and won’t reward defenses for last-second slide-ins after primary defenders are beaten off the dribble. It will be interesting to see what impact that will have on teams that teach and use help defense in that way.

This move favors offense over defense. Obviously. Will there be gaming of the system by some players who will try to go to the hoop with the ball already in a raised position to sell the call (and will some coaches try to teach this)? Yes. You can bet on that. But I still think this is a good rule change — once officials get used to making the call.

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I guess this clinches which was the final player cut to get the USA U19 roster down to 12 players. James Robinson, in a mild surprise, was not one of the final 12 players selected. But when Jerami Grant — sophomore Syracuse forward and Robinson’s former DeMatha High teammate — was diagnosed with mononucleosis, Robinson was tapped to for the spot.

The downside is that he will be with the U19 for three weeks rather than playing and being with his teammates in Pittsburgh. The upside, though, is probably greater with higher levels of competition.

This could turn out to be a critical three weeks for Robinson heading into the season. Pitt will need Robinson to be an anchor for the Panthers, who join the ACC. Having the experience of competing against some of the best players in the world in his age group should be immeasurable for Robinson.

Actual coaching (NCAA rules severely limit the amount of coaching players can receive in the summer) is another plus.

Ugh. Really? This is a thing? Getting all worked up over future bowl tie-ins for the ACC? This is one more sign of doom and gloom? That the ACC and Pitt are screwed because of exhibition games that will take on less meaning with playoffs coming?

I can’t do it. I can’t even muster the hint of angst over this.

We’ve traded Birmingham for Shreveport as the worst of the “official” bowl relationships in Pitt’s conference. The other thing, is that the ACC like just about every conference is seeking more control over the bowls and making sure the same team is not getting sent to the same bowl every time. Something Pitt fans should fully be supporting.

But since the ACC may not have a full tie-in with the Gator Bowl, it’s time to panic. Instead, what we are seeing are deals with multiple conferences. The ACC will share a bid with the Big 10 on this. They will share other bids with other conferences in other bowls. Why?

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I guess it really was not a difficult decision for Coach Paul Chryst and Pitt. Sam Werner of the Post Gazette tweeted out a short while ago that Rushel Shell will not be welcomed back to Pitt. Further, they never even gave it serious consideration.

Burned bridges cost him a lot sooner than imagined. Chryst and Pitt just could not trust him. A wee bit ironic since ostensibly Shell left because he felt he couldn’t trust the Pitt coaches. Allegedly feeling betrayed because they were less than complimentary about him behind his back.

Shell now has to make a new choice. He can look at some MAC schools that aren’t too far away. He can consider other options at lower levels. But after not following through with UCLA, you can bet other programs will be that much more wary.

The pro-am Summer League begins tonight. Full rosters are in place (PDF). The Pitt players are grouped on four different squads out of seven. The only player not listed is JUCO transfer Joseph Uchebo. Derrick Randall, the big man from Rutgers is on the roster.

PGT — Talib Zanna and James Robinson. Rest of the squad is primarily Youngstown St. and Robert Morris

UPMC — James Newkirk, Jamel Artis and Durand Johnson. Rest is RMU and a few other places.

Oliveiero Peppers — Cam Wright, Derrick Randall and Chris Jones. Six? Six WVU players on this roster.

SPK Law — Lamar Patterson, Mike Young and Mike Lecak (walk-on). RMU and YSU on this one.

Interesting to note that Duquesne and WVU are concentrated on 2 squads. Duquesne makes some sense with only 8 players. But WVU have 11 players participating. If I had to hazard a guess, they got it that way as a convenience since they have the drive to-and-from Morgantown. (And a quick look at the schedule (PDF) does show only two nights where both WVU squads are not playing.)

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Sorry everyone. It was my daughter’s birthday and part of her birthday wish was that I would take the weekend off from the computer. Well timed, little girl. Well timed.

As if the recruiting stuff wasn’t enough, there is the start of the basketball summer league tonight. But what the hell, let’s start the week weird with the Rushel Shell story.

Running back Rushel Shell has decided not to transfer to UCLA because he wants to remain close to his Pennsylvania home, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak on the subject.

Shell announced in April that he intended to come to UCLA. He had spent one season at Pittsburgh, where he gained 614 yards rushing.

But Shell, who has twin daughters living in Pennsylvania, decided the distance was too great. He hopes to rejoin the Pittsburgh team.

But does Pitt and Coach Paul Chryst want him back? Can they trust him? Could he play this season?

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To round a crazy two days, Chryst and company added three more verbals today. These are verbals eight through ten for the class of 2014. First up is Staunton, VA DT Mike Herndon. Herndon is a 3 star prospect on Rivals, unrated by Scout, and a 2 star on 247. Most importantly, we beat out Virginia Tech for his services. Mike has had a VT offer since his sophomore year. You may see that he’s listed as an OT on the recruiting sites, but the coaches envision him as a DT and you’ll see why below.

The second verbal came from Fox Chapel LB Quintin Wirginis. He’s unrated by all of the scouting sites at the moment but that will change soon. Wirginis got his Pitt offer on Monday and it didn’t take him long to think it over. After an unofficial visit on Wednesday, he called the coaches to give them his commitment.

Last but not least, as I edited, Center/DT Connor Dintino from Wallingford, Connecticut committed. Dintino is a 3 star prospect on Rivals and 247. He had offers from UConn and Buffalo. Dintino, like many recent verbals, got his offer at a recent prospect camp. He’s a consensus top 3 player in the state of Connecticut.

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Since Chas and Justin are doing such a great job with the day to day recruiting news coming out of the Southside I thought I’d chip in a bit with some background info I have picked up over the last two years…

Now that recruiting has heated up a bit and there have things to discuss here’s some info that pertains to Chryst and his 2013 & 2014 recruiting.  First off, if you didn’t already know, this staff doesn’t formally offer and/or accept a commitment unless;

1) They have seen the recruit in person in a game or in a PITT camp (preferably both) and visited with him personally;

2) They have visited the recruit’s HS and talked with his family, teachers and football staff there and;

3) Have had done a detailed and complete academic and personal background review on the recruit by coaches and members of the PITT Athletic Support Staff.

Let’s be honest here – they are looking at arrest records and asking about previous legal problems for any over 18 also.  How far they can legally go into that depends on the privacy laws of the state the recruit lives in.  All that takes some time especially with kids who might rise up on the recruiting big board after the camps.  

So this is also what Chryst said he would do right after he was hired. This is what fans who complain about “slow play” recruiting don’t understand. It is once they have seen and visited with the kid, determine they actually want him, then feel comfortable about him actually wanting to be at PITT with the standards listed above and do they start the pressure.

That “him actually wanting to be here” is a key component now and one that seems to drive fans crazy because it entails having the recruit take visits elsewhere and then making a solid decision.  The last thing Chryst wants is a disgruntled player on the roster who has second thoughts about his choice and thus will transfer later.  That screws everyone in the long run.  

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Avonte Maddox joined 738 other prospects (estimated) today when he announced his commitment to Pitt. Maddox is a 2 star player on Rivals, 3 stars on Scout, 3 stars on 247, and unrated by ESPN.  He had offers from Cincinnati, Ohio, Central Michigan, and several other schools. WVU, Michigan State, and Purdue also had interest. Maddox hails from Martin Luther King High School in Detroit. He’s 5’9″ 165 lb and possesses a common trend among the verbals so far: a high GPA (3.5).

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A couple days ago I got Chris Peak of PantherLair to put a rough over under on commits by the end of the month.

The last two days has him one shy, as Pitt added a second verbal for the day.

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