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May 7, 2014

Basketball Notes, 5/7

Filed under: Basketball — Chas @ 7:32 am

Just a couple things today.

Detrick Mostella couldn’t get qualified last year. He struggled even with a year of prep school to get qualified. In fact his status as far as academics is still unknown. So, the one time Oklahoma State commit, followed by Pitt commit is now rumored to be a commit to Tennessee.

I had essentially given up on Mostella being in the Blue and Gold by the start of the late signing period. So, despite his talent, I am not exactly angsting over this one. Hell, Tennessee fans should caution their optimism. His eligibility is going to still be a question. Not to mention actually showing up on the campus.

Jamie Dixon will be part of a USA Basketball tie-in with the NBA and US Dept. of Defense.

Pitt basketball coach Jamie Dixon is one of seven college basketball coaches selected to lead a panel discussion on leadership with approximately 400 service members at the Pentagon on Wednesday. As part of the NBA Cares Hoops for Troops “Commitment To Service” program, the panel discussion is being sponsored by a partnership between the National Basketball Association, USA Basketball and the United States Department of Defense.

Dixon will join Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, Connecticut women’s coach Geno Auriemma, Connecticut men’s coach Kevin Ollie, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Texas Tech’s Tubby Smith and Villanova’s Jay Wright on the panel.

Prior to the panel discussion, the seven coaches will have lunch with Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, to discuss leadership and other issues. Dempsey is the principal military advisor to the President and Secretary of Defense.

“These preeminent coaches lead their own world-class teams in USA Basketball and the NCAA,” said Dempsey. “We’ll discuss the importance of dynamic leadership to building winning teams and also expose these coaches to what our world-class military team brings to the nation.”

Moderated by ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas, the panel discussion will be televised live on The Pentagon Channel and webcast at www.pentagonchannel.mil/livestream.aspx starting at 1:30 p.m. ET.

So this isn’t going to be like those Dove for Men commercials they air during the NCAA Tournament, right?





Off topic but Pitt never had a chance with Sterling Jenkins, he only looked at Big Ten Schools.

First big time O-lineman we have missed on in a while. Priority should now be on Big time D-linemen now.

Comment by gc 05.07.14 @ 8:11 am

Regarding Mostella, maybe sour grapes but do we really need a one and done who does not have the discipline or smarts to get into college. Do you really think he will go to class while on any campus? Just reeks of trouble for team culture.

I’d rather see the NBA go back to taking these guys right out of High School. Hockey and Baseball do it. Football requires three years. One and done is a joke and makes a mockery of the “student athlete”

Comment by gc 05.07.14 @ 8:18 am

Mostella was to graduate from high school a year ago. Then attended a prep school (or whatever) this past fall and left, and at this time, has not passed the NCAA clearinghouse to be eligible.

On the other hand, if memory serves, freshmen Young, Artis and Newkirk all made the ACC list of academic achievement with GPAs over 3.0 in the fall term.

Comment by wbb 05.07.14 @ 8:58 am

Is there a point in time when Mostella could skip college and go straight into the NBA draft or D-League? To me, he sounds like a good example for why there should be a college league AND an NBA minor league similar to MLB.

Comment by CalvinHobbes 05.07.14 @ 9:13 am

Calvin, I was thinking the same thing. For example, both Larry Fitz and Shady left after playing 2 years here because their high school graduating class was eligible and they were old enough .. you would think there would be something similar for BB.

Comment by wbb 05.07.14 @ 9:19 am

From. Wikipedia:

– All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft.[10] To determine whether a player is eligible for a given year’s draft, subtract 19 from the year of the draft. If the player was born during or before that year, he is eligible.

– Any player who is not an “international player”, as defined in the CBA, must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.[10]

By those criteria, Mostella could have declared himself for the draft, but he missed the window, 60 days prior to draft.

Now that said, it would have been a huge mistake for him to enter the draft this year. The kid is crazy talented, but only a 4 star recruit, and only 6’2″ 165, not ideal size for NBA two guard and not likely to be drafted.

Even a kid, like Mostella, with limited academic skills would benefit from at least a year or two at college.

Further, Tennessee might be a better fit for him to showcase his talents for the NBA. Their new coach is going to run an uptempo, high scoring offense.

Comment by Boubacar Aw 05.07.14 @ 10:40 am

remember about a month ago when we were told that the Pitt assistant BB coaches were being paid as much or more than the Kentucky assistants? Well, apparently that was true ….. but that appears to be changing

link to cbssports.com

Comment by wbb 05.07.14 @ 10:46 am

Forget Mostella.

How about RECRUITING a SLICE REPLACEMENT?

Comment by PittofDreams 05.07.14 @ 10:48 am

I think most of us forgot Mostella when he flunked out of Notre Dame Prep.

Really surprised he didn’t contract WVCC.

He’d have no problem getting in that dump.

I guess Tennesshee (Dr. Loudo) isn’t much better.

Comment by Emel 05.07.14 @ 12:18 pm

It’s beginning to look like we forget about Chick Diallo too.

As Calipari and Slice offered him after watching him play in some tourney out in CA.

RT @ChrisFisher247: John Calipari & Slice Rohrssen watched Cheick Diallo at the Nike EYBL in Sacramento where he averaged 17.2 pts, 7.5 reb

Comment by Emel 05.07.14 @ 12:26 pm

well, apparently my post above @ 8:58 spurred the P-G to write this article

link to post-gazette.com

Comment by wbb 05.07.14 @ 12:38 pm

Have fun with my conspiracy hypothesis. Note “hypothesis,” not “fact.”

Hypothesis: Slice never actually received a Bachelor’s degree from St. Francis.

Evidence:

His UK bio excludes reference to his college experience

KY state universities accept relevant coaching experience as a degree proxy

Barry is NOT in the St. Francis athletics hall o’ fame

Comment by steve1 05.07.14 @ 12:52 pm

Not too worried about Mostella. If by some miracle he becomes eligible in the fall he would likely flunk the fall semester, be put on academic suspension, & be in eligible for the conference season.

Comment by Nick 05.07.14 @ 1:22 pm

steve1, according to Slice’s Pitt bio, he received a bachelor’s of sciene in business management in 1983

link to pittsburghpanthers.com

Comment by wbb 05.07.14 @ 1:40 pm

Congrats to Jamie and the MBB squad for their accomplishments in the classroom as well as on the court. Top 10 mention with Duke and ND is always good publicity! Proud of their efforts. Hail to Pitt! UPone

Comment by UPone 05.07.14 @ 3:06 pm

Wbb, who knows if Pitt adequately vetted slice?

Comment by Steve1 05.07.14 @ 3:27 pm

Nick – Tennessee is in the SEC (S E C S E C). They will find a way to keep him eligible once he is enrolled. I believe most SEC schools have a lower eligibility for athletes then normal students.

Actually, I was surprised over SoCar’s revoking our new JUCO center scholarship. I know Spurrier threw a fit when a few of his recruits were not ruled academically eligible. Spurrier had a meeting with the admin and what do you know – lower academic admission standards for athletes. This happenned about 5 years ago.

Comment by PITT-cocks fan 05.07.14 @ 6:09 pm

I was a little hard on the SEC.

Look at NoCar (UNC) and the academic problems with athletes that they are having.

Comment by PITT-cocks fan 05.07.14 @ 6:23 pm

Pens are looking good.

Comment by steve1 05.07.14 @ 7:08 pm

Here’s a tweet for you

James Conner ?@JamesConner_ ยท 1h
Crazy excited to play both ways this season! pic.twitter.com/Gs0h6MM92P

Comment by wbb 05.07.14 @ 8:20 pm

@Steve – Pens are looking amazing. Much faster than the Rangers (sigh) and whatever defensive weaknesses they may have aren’t showing. And the Rangers are making Fleury look like a world class goalie.

Comment by Pitt Dad 05.08.14 @ 7:38 am

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