The open secret, about where Bethel Park offensive tackle, Mike Grimm will announce his verbal commitment got a bit of a leak was revealed early. Quietly.

The Trib website is already posting an article by Kevin Gorman on Mike Grimm making his verbal to Pitt (so we will see how long until it gets pulled).

In the meantime…

He is Pitt’s first of two WPIAL recruits and fifth overall from the Class of 2014.

“All the Pitt coaches made me feel comfortable,” Grimm said. “They respected me as a player and made sure everything was OK. They were grown-up about the situation and made me see that I could really grow as a person and as a football player from being there with them.”
…
A three-year starter for the Black Hawks, Grimm switched from left tackle to strong-side last season because Bethel Park’s quarterback, Levi Metheny, is left-handed. Grimm projects as a right tackle in college.

Grimm is excited about playing alongside former prep All-Americans Adam Bisnowaty of Fox Chapel and Dorian Johnson of Belle Vernon on Pitt’s offensive line in the future.

“It made me feel more comfortable, meeting those guys and talking to them at games this year,” Grimm said. “It made me feel like it was a good place to be because everybody is at the same caliber, and we can succeed the same way. We can make each other better.”

Being close to home was an obvious factor in his decision.

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QB Adam Bertke from Maria Stein, Ohio has given his verbal to Pitt. Rivals.com does not have a rating on him yet but Scout.com, ESPN and 247 have him as a 3* prospect and Scout lists him as the #50 overall QB. He’s 6’5 210 and had offers from Illinois, Bowling Green, Toledo, Kent State. This is a big pickup because this is the QB the coaches want other than Keller Chryst. They let Chandler Kincade decommit because they weren’t high on him. However it would have been poor form to take his offer away so the coaches honored it. (Kincade was a Pitt verbal at QB until a few months ago. He recently gave his verbal to Akron). When Kincade left the picture, the coaches could pursue other options openly and Bertke appears to be the guy they coveted.

The big downside with Bertke is that he plays in the lowest level of high school football in Ohio. He did lead his team to a 10-2 record last year and has had some sniffs from the big boys like Ohio State and Michigan. The good news is that he’s obviously not expected to start right away or anything, so he’ll have time to adjust to the college game. The QB position is one where you can never have enough options. Tony Pike was the 3rd option in Cinci after Ben Mauk couldn’t get a 6th season of eligibility and Dustin Grutza broke his ankle. Anything will be better than what we’ve had behind Tino Sunseri the past 2 seasons.

Hopefully we have another verbal tomorrow. 4* OT Mike Grimm may be announcing tomorrow afternoon. The Bethel Park standout worked out on campus this past Friday. All signs point to a Pitt verbal if he does announce tomorrow. This recruiting class could look a lot better over the course of 24 hours.

*edit*

Chris Peak from Rivals is reporting that Dennis Briggs from Shady Side Academy has also given us a verbal. He’s a 5’11 190lb RB/DB From Pittsburgh. He had offers from us, Toledo, and Yale.

It was somewhat surprising to see James Robinson not make the final cut for the USA Basketball U19 squad. After all, Robinson was a member of the gold-medal winning U18 squad from last year. The U19 coaching staff was the same from the U18 squad. Yet Robinson was essentially beaten out for a roster spot by Elfrid Payton of Lousiana-Lafayette.

The U19 squad is only bringing four true guards. Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State was a lock. Nearly as much of a lock, Rasheed Sulaimon from Duke and Michael Frazier. Frazier just happens to be on Billy Donovan’s –the U19 head coach — Florida squad.

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Well, Pitt has essentially traded J.J. Moore to Rutgers for Derrick Randall.

“It felt like a new home and a new start and I need to get away and start clean.”

The 6-foot-8, 240-pound Randall also considered Iona and Minnesota. He visited Pittsburgh last Thursday.

Randall, a Bronx native who played at South Kent (Conn.) and Paterson (N.J.) Catholic, averaged 2.1 points and 1.5 rebounds as a sophomore at Rutgers.

He opted to transfer in the wake of the Mike Rice scandal and could obtain a waiver to play immediately.

Randall was a 3-star center coming out of prep/high school. He’s got two years of eligibility remaining.

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Jalen Williams became verbal #2 yesterday when he committed to Coach Chryst and company. Williams is a Safety from Newburgh, New York (maybe the h after the burg closed the deal) and a 3 star prospect on both Rivals and Scout. Rivals also has him ranked as the 6th best prospect in New York. While New York isn’t exactly a football hotbed, it’s still impressive to be a top 10 prospect in the state. One quote from an interview with PantherLair jumped out at me and really affirms the recruiting philosophy:

When they were recruiting me, they weren’t arrogant about anything, they weren’t lying to me; they were being honest with me. They’re just a good staff.

Williams is listed at 6’2 180 and had offers from Syracuse, Temple, Buffalo, and a few others. He was on an unofficial visit and was here to participate in an invite only workout with 10 or 11 other players.  His primary recruiter was DE/LB coach John Palermo.

I know a lot of people aren’t pleased with the lack of results thus far and a few of the players we haven’t landed, but as I mentioned on the Optimistic portion of my OvP column on recruiting: it’s an end game. It’s not over a player chisels his name into stone faxes over his Herbie Hancock. Sorry, I forgot which antiquated method of communication is used to submit a verbal.

One chiseled stone we’re eager to get is Washington, PA RB Shai McKenzie. McKenzie released his top 5 in order of preference yesterday. Right now, the list is Florida State, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Arkansas. Local paper the Observer Reporter had an interview with Shai and he told Jason Mackey how he narrowed his list down.

“Who was honest,” McKenzie answered. “Relationships. What did I like about a lot of these schools. Which coaches kept in contact with me and showed their interest. If I was a priority or not.”

That seems to bode well for us. If we aren’t showing McKenzie that he’s a top priority something is very wrong. Given that we’re #2 on his list it’s safe to assume he knows how desperately he’s wanted. If Chryst and company land McKenzie and Keller Chryst, no one will complain about recruiting for a few months.

Who the hell am I kidding? Yinz will always find something to complain about; it’s Pitt sports. There’s always a reason. On a personal note, sorry for the lack of posts from me lately. I’ve been busy and had some personal issues to deal with (sorry for the twitter whining, followers) but hopefully things will ease up a little bit soon.

Shocked. Shocked to find out that a system rigged against the student athlete came down on the side of the school and coach.

Former Vanderbilt basketball player Sheldon Jeter, embroiled in a transfer dispute with Commodores basketball coach Kevin Stallings, said Thursday his appeal to Commodores officials to be released to Pitt has been denied.

Jeter, from Beaver Falls High School, announced in May his intentions to transfer to another school closer to home. Stallings informed Jeter, as is his right under NCAA scholarship bylaws, that he could transfer to any school in the country with the exception of Pitt.

The rules for appealing a denial of transfer are stacked against the student. They can file an appeal, but it is filed with the school that employs the coach and from where the kid wants to depart. If anyone can find some examples where an appeal went against the coach I’d love to know.

The other detail is that we at least have confirmation of one piece of previously unclear information. Only Pitt was blocked by Vanderbilt and Kevin Stallings.

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Last week the ACC put out its match-ups for the next twelve years. Predictably there was some teeth-gnashing by fans of programs in the ACC over the infrequency of many of the opponents from the other division. It’s one thing to know that it would be like that with an 8-game schedule and 14 teams. It’s something else to see it laid out in an official release.

The Virginia Tech blog, The Key Play has a proposal on the scheduling that does away with fixed cross-over games in favor of priority partner scheduling.

A priority partner would be chosen for each team every two years, and result in a home-and-home series. Priority partners would be determined by closely matching teams according to total number of regular season ACC wins in the previous two years, while avoiding permanent crossover pairings. The following example uses 2011 and 2012 ACC wins to set the schedule in 2014-2015 (because 2013 games haven’t happened yet).

It’s an interesting idea because it is a bit like the approach taken in the Big East with basketball scheduling. Unbalanced schedules in Big East basketball set to maximize competition and make TV partners happy with marquee games.

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Okay, this seems to be a procedural snafu, but it put a scare into me when I saw the headline screaming of failing to appear for a hearing.

Two men who were members of the University of Pittsburgh football team when police said they were caught with drug paraphernalia failed to appear in court for their preliminary hearings this morning.

One of them, Khanyin Mosley-Smith, 21, came to city court later this afternoon with a letter confirming that he had performed community service and will have his charge dismissed, according to Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County district attorney’s office.

The other, Eric Williams, 20, did not show and was held for trial in Common Pleas Court, Mr. Manko said.

So missing the hearing, not a big deal since the matter was all resolved. No real harm or foul there.

Whether he gets back on the squad this year — or next — is still an open question. He is still suspended indefinitely.

Every year, we here how the player transfers are so bad for college basketball. How that’s the problem. The overall transfer rate in the 351 D-1 programs is around 10-12 percent. What about coaching turnover? Firings? Taking a different job? How does that compare?

In a fantastic compilation of coaching tenure in college basketball head coaches, would it surprise anyone to know that the coaching turnover in Division 1 basketball coaches these days is worse? This past offseason, there have been 43 coaching changes. That’s 12.25% of all the jobs. In 2012, 46 (13.1%). And 2011 was a whopper at 55 changes (15.67%).

In just the last four years, 193 coaching changes have taken place. There has been a huge spike in coaching turnover.

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Got a bunch of them and more seem to be piling up every day.

If you can’t find good beer these days, you aren’t trying.

North Carolina keeps telling everyone it wasn’t an athletic scandal, but an academic scandal that just happened to involve some athletics. Yet, they can’t seem to put it behind them. Perhaps because every drip, drip, drip of information they finally, tortuously release when forced to suggests something else.

Julius Nyang’oro, the former UNC African studies chairman at the heart of an academic fraud scandal, had a cozy relationship with the program that tutored athletes, according to newly released emails.

Members of the academic support staff offered Nyang’oro football tickets and the chance to watch a game from the sidelines. One counselor offered to discuss athletes’ coursework over drinks, and another negotiated with Nyang’oro to schedule a no-show class.

UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp and other officials have said the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes did not collaborate with Nyang’oro or his department manager, Debbie Crowder, to create the classes to help keep athletes eligible to play sports.

The university, in its own investigation and in a probe helmed by former Gov. Jim Martin, had concluded the fraud was not intended to benefit athletes because nonathletes were also enrolled and received the same high grades. They have pinned the blame solely on Nyang’oro and Crowder.

The emails were released to The News & Observer this month as part of a public records request filed nearly a year earlier. None of the details within the correspondence had shown up in the numerous investigations conducted since the university confirmed the existence of the fraudulent courses in May 2012.

Is it a pure smoking gun? Not really, but once again it shows that this is not simply an “academic scandal.” It’s yet another piece that gets added to the pile of evidence. And once again it raises some more questions about the investigations if these e-mails never made it into any of the reports.

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Apparently the tryout with the Baltimore Ravens didn’t work out for Tino Sunseri. That won’t deter him from following his dream. Even it it takes him to the Great White North. Cue it up:

Can’t believe there was never an actual video made.

Sunseri is trying to make the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. Credit for noting this to Cardiac Hill.

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Well, I’m sure the comments will be measured and calm in response to the news.

University of Pittsburgh athletic director Steve Pederson has been signed to a new five-year contract that will keep him at Pitt through at least 2018, Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg has announced.

“With the University of Pittsburgh set to officially join the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, our athletic programs never have been better positioned for future success,” Nordenberg said. “That is a real tribute to the hard work and effective leadership provided by>Steve Pederson as Pitt’s athletic director.

“Just two years ago, during a period of significant conference instability, Steve was a driving force in helping us to find the best possible conference home. When we received an invitation to join the ACC, Pitt not only had the chance to move to an outstanding athletic conference but also became aligned with some of the nation’s most prestigious academic institutions. The ACC is a perfect fit for the University of Pittsburgh, and our receipt of their invitation reflects well on both our overall institutional strength and on the tremendous progress made in Pitt athletics under Steve’s guidance.

“As we begin this exciting new era of ACC competition, we all have high aspirations for each of our programs. The creativity, strength and stability of Steve’s continued leadership will be an important asset as we pursue those lofty goals.”

In addition to the coming ACC money, the fundraising has been fine.

Pederson also has been instrumental in raising funds for the Panthers Club that subsidizes scholarships for student-athletes. The university reported a record total of $14 million in donations from 2010-2012.

Nordenberg likes Pederson. He has a good relationship with him. As long as Nordenberg remains the Chancellor — and there is little reason to think he is leaving anytime soon — Pederson’s job is safe.

I’ve seen this pop up periodically during the offseason. This whole, let’s find a rival now that teams have switched conferences. The Pitt Athletics blog got into it last week. The choices — despite technically being 13 choices in the ACC is really only limited to seven. The opponents in the Coastal Division plus annual game with Syracuse. In almost every instance, Virginia Tech comes out on top for Pitt fans.

I get why VT has been chosen. Geographically they are within the distance. There’s history from the old Big East. And Pitt has had their number, despite them lapping Pitt in the past twenty years in terms of success.

But a rivalry has to go both ways, and this one doesn’t come close right now. Heck, at best maybe third or fourth on the list for VT fans just in the ACC.

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In case you weren’t already aware of this, there won’t be an ACC Network for at least 3 or 4 years. There are some issues to overcome. There is a whole infrastructure to set up. Even the SEC Network that has been announced was more than two years in the works.

For the ACC, there are some added layers that complicate thing. Such as their deal with Raycom.

The Sports Business Daily did a fine — if somewhat pessimistic piece — detailing the hurdles to a ACC Network.

The main roadblock is rights. When it signed its ACC deal in 2010, ESPN and Charlotte-based Raycom Sports cut a deal that grants Raycom the ACC’s digital and corporate sponsorship rights, plus a heavy dose of live football and basketball games. Through a sublicensing agreement, Raycom owns the rights to 31 live football games and 60 live men’s basketball games.

Even if the conference is able to buy back those rights from Raycom, a second roadblock remains. Raycom sublicensed 17 of those football games and 25 of those basketball games to Fox, which carries the games on its regional sports networks throughout the ACC footprint. Live local sports programming is important to Fox’s RSNs, and they are not likely to give up those games cheaply.

The games that stay with Raycom make up the ACC’s long-running syndicated package that is distributed to more than 50 million households on over-the-air networks, and reaches 25 of the top 50 U.S. TV markets.

Those deals extend through 2027.

It’s unlikely that ESPN will try to launch a channel without those rights. ESPN brought all of those rights — TV, digital, sponsorship — together as it formed the SEC Network, which launches in August 2014.

That’s because a syndicated model that the ACC follows (and the SEC had been operating) really doesn’t work when you want your own channel.

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Pitt was already scheduled to play in Brooklyn on November 25 and 26 as part of the Legends Classic. Now Pitt will add a trip to Madison Square Garden.

The University of Pittsburgh basketball team will play Cincinnati as part of the 2013 Jimmy V Classic doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday, December 17 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, ESPN announced on Wednesday. The Pitt-Cincinnati contest will be played at 7 p.m. ET as part of a doubleheader that will be followed by a Florida-Memphis matchup at 9 p.m. ET. Both contests will be televised on ESPN.

In a way it is something of a coup for the newly named American to stick two teams in this situation. Especially in Madison Square Garden where the basketball-centric Big East still considers it their Tournament home.

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