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December 13, 2015

4pm ESPN3.

So much that needed to be completed today. Out of the house early. Just got back, so sorry about the lack of timeliness.

Pitt will probably have a very light crowd as the semester comes to its end and the Steelers were playing at 1pm.

 





Steeler game just ended….go Pitt!

Comment by Jackagain 12.13.15 @ 4:25 pm

I was never as optimistic as some people on this subject. Surprised, though, that Chaney was such a determining factor in whether or not Sanders was going to flip.

Mike White ?@mwhiteburgh
Woodland Hills RB Miles Sanders tells @BREAL412 he is sticking with Penn St. No more visits. Said Jim Chaney leaving “made choice easier.”

Comment by Mailman 12.13.15 @ 4:52 pm

Morehead St. Who is next Dixon? Penn State Fayette or Point Park?

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 5:02 pm

Playing garbage teams to try to get to 20 wins fools no one except Steve Peterson and his lifetime contracts.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 5:03 pm

We’re set at RB anyway….Saunders will just have to endure a couple losses when we play them then.

Comment by Jackagain 12.13.15 @ 5:06 pm

Jack – Please list our depth at RB. Hall and Ollison is all I know. Connor won’t be expected to play unless a miracle and I hope he beats his cancer foremost.

link to espn.go.com

We are getting our ass kicked recruiting PA. Narduzzi step up and get 4 stars signed. Enough talking! Get results.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 5:12 pm

This ain’t a bad program. Been to tournament several times in past. Located in basketball crazy Kentucky.

Cuse, Louisville, and NC all look beatable. Pitt plays Cuse and Louisville twice, NC once. This team’s ability to shoot and especially shoot free throws will help them tremendously.

Comment by Pap76 12.13.15 @ 5:15 pm

Pap – Dixon’s salary vs his performance are out of whack. He is paid to go beat in the tourney not barely make it or not at all. Watched 5 games this week and 1 coach stood for more than 2 mins. Dixon looks like he belongs at weatern pysch screaming and yelling and the kids don’t even pay attention. His Jucos look like they are in the shape of a 45 year old substitute teacher.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 5:19 pm

Upitt:

Agree with you about recruiting. I don’t know where all the optimism is coming from on this board.

Pitt has low recruiting rankings.

Comment by Tony77019 12.13.15 @ 5:38 pm

Let’s see: UConn played Ohio State yesterday. I think Texas and North Carolina had big games. Miami had a standing room only crowd. UH is playing LSU in Houston today.

And Pitt is playing???Give me a freakin break.

Comment by Tony77019 12.13.15 @ 5:39 pm

Tony – He just buys his way to 20 wins against scrubs and no one cares. Genuis of Dixon really. Play no bodies then the team is never prepared for a dogfight in Feb and March because the toughest oppenent is Eastern North Dakota.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 5:47 pm

you are absolutely correct upitt!

Comment by goalie44 12.13.15 @ 5:50 pm

but we ALMOST went to a final four one year….

Comment by goalie44 12.13.15 @ 5:51 pm

i thought the last 2 games were part of a tournament. Next game at MSG vs Davidson on Sunday.

Comment by Frank MD 12.13.15 @ 5:57 pm

Artis and Young are legit all ACC type players. Robinson is playing as good as he ever has and he has and has always taken care of the ball well. Smith and Jeter both can score. Wilson is a future star. Jones and Johnson streaky, but when on can shoot it Still suspect at the 5. Maia can rebound and has looked better.

They played Gonzaga and Purdue. Non conference still not great but they play plenty of games in ACC that will have them battle tested.

Manigault coming in next year has been a double double machine so far this year.

Comment by Pap76 12.13.15 @ 6:04 pm

This was part of the Gotham tournament. Morehead looks decent – they’ve already beaten Marshall and St. Louis, and those are not slouches. Also lost at Illinois St. by 1.

The Parkway is closed again this weekend, so add that to the Steeler game and the crowd was miniscule.

Comment by KeyboardKev 12.13.15 @ 6:05 pm

Pretty soon we’re going to have to start asking the question as to “Why isn’t Narduzzi & Co. reeling them in?”

This puts the whole “Chryst can’t recruit” thing in a WHOLE different light.

Comment by PittofDreams 12.13.15 @ 6:18 pm

UPitt. We will get Conner & Ibrahim back too for next year. Narduzzi will step up recruiting in the next 2 years. He just finished his first season and we need to beat Navy, then we’ll have 9 wins.

Pitt is RBU and recruits know this.

link to scout.com

Comment by Jackagain 12.13.15 @ 6:26 pm

I don’t care if it is part of some tourney. Sign up for legit tourney’s not dogshit Gotham Garbage tourney.

He plays scrub teams and buys 14 of his 20 wins.

Chryst – Who was a potato chip slouch absolutley is a better recruiter result wise than Narduzzi. He is all about created buzz (Pat Signals and 4th quarter bush league water bottle display) Pat – Show us some results with 4 Stars in front of them. Thank God Franklin is an atrocious Game day coach because recruiting wise he is destroying Narduzzi.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 6:29 pm

Young may be all ACC, but not Artis IMO.

Dixon lost his 20 wins every year streak last year, so hopefully he’ll give that quest up and play some decent early games in the coming years.

I hope Barnes observes the low attendance of these crap games and goes for the decent teams to come in and fill the Pete.

Comment by Jackagain 12.13.15 @ 6:31 pm

@@@@@

Uppitt

You know very little about sports.

Comment by JR 12.13.15 @ 6:31 pm

Jack – Ibrahim tore a achilles and we all know about Connor. You serioulsy can’t think either will be expected to add value RB wise. An achilles ends most careers and my hope for James has nothing to do with football. We need RB’s. Hall stinks and Ollison is avg. smash type runner.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 6:34 pm

JR – Teach me wise master.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 6:35 pm

Jack – Your link shows what we always see. 3 Stars with modest offer sheets.

Again, IF Potato Sack was able to grab 4 Stars why does Narduzzi get a pass on delivering 0. And, Chryst got Whitehead.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 6:38 pm

link to 247sports.com

Find us on the list. Must have to go to second page.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 6:40 pm

For what it’s worth our current BBall SOS is 19th.

Comment by JoeKnew 12.13.15 @ 6:48 pm

Oops, it’s 27th, I got columns confused and was looking at RPI

Comment by JoeKnew 12.13.15 @ 6:50 pm

I think if you do just a little research you will see a lot of big time programs who have a far, far, inferior non con than us, and that’s simply a fact! It’s cupcake time! See where Duke, Ky., and Kansas, just to name a few fall.

Comment by JoeKnew 12.13.15 @ 6:56 pm

If you look at Rivals average star rating rather than points – which is probably a slightly better measure because the point system factors in total number of recruits – Pitt currently ranks 32nd. Not bad, but yeah not crushing it.

Pitt’s average Rivals star ranking the last 4 classes:

15 – 50th
14 – 31st
13 – 53rd
12 – 26th (thanks to 5 star Rushel Shell)

After the top 8-10 programs, it really is a crap shoot, especially considering the majority of rated recruits are 3-stars. And also considering that most of the guys rating these kids know as much about football as my dog, well…

If Pitt gets Hamlin and Hudson, I’ll be satisfied. It’s a start. If they get neither, then Narduzzi still has a lot of work to do to keep a fence around the 412. Hamlin cancelled his home visit with the Pitt staff tonight, said he will reschedule for after the quiet period.

I never really thought we had a shot at Sanders. I would like to see another RB. Agree that Ibrahim and Conner cannot be counted on.

Comment by Iron Duke 12.13.15 @ 6:57 pm

Actually Shell was only a 4 star in Rivals. Four 4-stars in 2012: Shell, Voytik, Biz, and Desean Rippy.

Comment by Iron Duke 12.13.15 @ 7:03 pm

I think you all are missing the point. I don’t want to point fingers, but I will. Mark Stoops is 12-24 at Kentucky. Several on here wrote after he was hired that the Stoops was going to clean our clock in all things football. Umm, not really. 12-24.

He had highly ranked recruiting classes because he had high numbers of bodies, not because he had a lot of 4 and 5 stars. So let’s temper down a bit and watch how Duzzi finishes off this class. He already has a strong start to 2017.

Our numbers are low, but are quality is strong. Also, Duzzi is getting rid of the weak minded and replacing them with ball players.

Sanders will make the right decision when the time is right. They have a new OC and we are getting a new OC, so not much has changed in that regard. I wish him well sitting behind Barclay or sharing carries as a true freshman with Hall. I don’t think Conner should play until game 4 next year as his body recovers from the treatment. Ibrahim is a maybe. LEaves alot of playing time for george hill or miles sanders.

As far as Hamlin is concerned, same thing. OSU is about Ohio, not PA. Learn from the other locals that went there. The dairy college will be turned upside down if they finish 7-5 again. The franklin leash is short. Administration demanded a new OC or a new coach. The coach canned the OC. If they don’t win big, the coach is next. That is how things work in this business.

Trust Narduzzi. He is strategic and is still changing the culture one player at a time. Man, Robert Foster has had a string of bad luck. Should have stayed home!

Comment by dhuffdaddy 12.13.15 @ 7:22 pm

The negativity is beyond tiring.

Comment by panther94 12.13.15 @ 7:24 pm

Upitt I’m reading your post to my girl and laughing my ass off, glad to see your brutal honesty back. Teach me wise master!!! Your not far off in what your saying but I think this could be Dixon’s best team in quite some time. If Maia can play like a really great accountant in a Wednesday rec league and they can get something other than garbage from the 2 spot they might surprise a few people. How do we get Chris Jones to transfer?

Comment by Steve h 12.13.15 @ 7:40 pm

Tony, lmao, big games?? Let’s see, Houston’s SOS is 321 out of 353, LSU. Is 220 or so,. Check OSU or UConn, really bad SOS. Some of you guys just crack me up!

Comment by JoeKnew 12.13.15 @ 7:48 pm

Point is, there are many so called big name programs who play much,much worse OOC than Pitt! When it was bad in the past I too bitched, but just because a team has a name or was good in the past spare me this. Check out Shawn Millers teams SOS, then tell me who is racking up shitty wins!

Comment by JoeKnew 12.13.15 @ 7:54 pm

Find it really interesting that Sanders mentions Chaney, but Donavan laving is OK. Seems like his mind has been made up and he has an excuse. You can’t win them all.

Unfortunately for Pitt I think Sanders may be one of those rare program changers, like Dorsett or Marino. Sure you have to surround him with the right guys, but this kid is special, on a level with Whitehead.

I am not down on Narduzzi and think recruiting is OK, but Sanders, Hudson, and Hamlin are the top guys. Losing all of them hurts.

We do have Pugh, whose is in the same league, so not a total wash. But if Franklin gets all three of the other guys, it is a pretty clear-cut victory in the WPIAL.

Comment by gc 12.13.15 @ 7:56 pm

Really sorry that we couldn’t close Winfree today, but he may be hard to handle considering his history. I think getting Campbell is big though and does take some of the pressure off in getting Hamlin. The kid is a tackling machine, just like Whitehead.

Comment by gc 12.13.15 @ 7:59 pm

@ DHuff, George Hill is being recruited as a CB not a RB, by Coach Duzz. Yep a cornerback.

Comment by pd 12.13.15 @ 8:02 pm

BBall is in exhibition right now. That is not an issue. That is why the games against Purdue and Gonzaga mean so much. When it comes down to selection Sunday, those are the games that carry the weight and get you in or keep you out. Jamie was criticized for weak out of conference and weak top 50 wins. That’s been the problem.

Top 25 and top 50 wins are the measuring stick. Personally, the manufactured 20 game win streak by JD is good for recruiting, but needs to be kept in perspective. Tournament and conference wins are the measuring stick in the P5 conferences.

Comment by dhuffdaddy 12.13.15 @ 8:02 pm

I can’t judge Narduzzi on this class either way since he didn’t have an early start on the class. His next class will be a better barometer on his ability to recruit.

But he has the excitement factor needed to sell a product. Give him time. If we lose to Navy there’s no reason to expect a top 30 recruiting class coming in. Either way I think we’ll get Hamlin.

Comment by Jackagain 12.13.15 @ 8:03 pm

JoeKnew:

It’s good you know so much. Apparently, you need to share your knowledge with Pitt fans who chose, and have been choosing, to stay clear of the Pete.

Hopefully, Barnes is working on Dixon’s scheduling.

Fans vote with their choices of where to spent their time.

Comment by Tony77019 12.13.15 @ 8:07 pm

All these late DB offers and going back after Robert Washington pretty much signaled that they weren’t going to land Hudson, Hamlin & Sanders. IMO

Comment by pd 12.13.15 @ 8:10 pm

dhuffdaddy – Jamie has said several times that the reason he scheduled the way he did was because of SP. He had to have a certain amount of OOC home games for budgetary reasons and it restricted who he could get to come to the Pete. No one of inkling would come to Pitt without a return home game in the future. I think that will change and there are rumors of renewing some old BE rivalries. I’d expect WVU to be one with Georgetown and possibly St. Johns and NOVA rotating in. Another hard part about scheduling is that Pitt is not great for recruiting so there isn’t much of a vested interest to come to town. It makes since for Pitt to go to Philly for NOVA or NYC for St. Johns or DC for Georgetown BUT what motivation do those teams have to come to Pittsburgh?

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 12.13.15 @ 8:11 pm

Not at all worried about the OOC. It is actually what is needed to get ready for the ACC. This team is far superior to last year. The OOC is giving our new and young guys the playing time that is needed to grow up and get ready.

We are still weakest at the five, but better than last year and with more upside. Maia looks to be playing himself into shape, has some moves, pretty good hands and positioning. He looks for the outlet pass instead of making a hand off. I think Lett is going to help our centers be better.

Our interior passing is reminiscent of Patterson and Zanna.

I still think Jamie needs to recruit better, but give him credit for finding these transfers, and molding them into a team in short order.

Luther and Johnson look a little lost at times as does Odoba, but everyone else has meshed. Smith looks like he has been here for years and Maia is getting there.

Jones and Jeter are Jekyl and Hyde and at any given time they can look smooth and silky or just the opposite.

I also think JR is going to have the season that we hoped he would when he was a freshman.

Comment by gc 12.13.15 @ 8:16 pm

pd, i think its just as much about having the depth of a piece of paper in the secondary. Plus the only corner thats proved anything is maddox and what he proved is he will make some great plays and get torched on others. Im not saying those kids are coming to pitt, just that theres no doubt more quality players are needed.

Comment by pk 12.13.15 @ 8:26 pm

And I didn’t mention Wilson who has the most upside of any of them. He benefits most from the OOC. Because when he goes up against ACC guards it will be a whole new story.

Comment by gc 12.13.15 @ 8:27 pm

I watched Hill’s hudl film, and he just didn’t impress me with his athleticism. Still he was a tOSU recruit and MSU wants him so he is a worthy guy.

The thing to remember about all of these recruits is that most won’t be playing for 1-3 years unless you are talking about the elite guys. I think Sanders starts right away (at Pitt) and Hudson and Hamlin play some as freshmen, but most make no difference next year. Sanders may be the #2 guy at PSU for the next 2-3 years.

Comment by gc 12.13.15 @ 8:37 pm

Of our current verbals, Ruben Flowers is probably the only one that does not redshirt, unless they need Pugh as a running back, if there is a rash of injuries.

Comment by gc 12.13.15 @ 8:41 pm

Steve H – Haha.

I go on tomorrow at 8pm. See you and the Mrs. At the show. Haha.

Comment by Upittbaseball 12.13.15 @ 8:44 pm

I counted only 1 possession we played zone.

Jamie pushed them to improve their man-to-man.

Comment by steve1 12.13.15 @ 8:45 pm

motivation?

recruits see that you can beat a good team.

matter not if Pitt isnt a hotbed for recruits

recruits in the city, dc and philly watch on

you dont play pitt, you look scared

Comment by TX Panther 12.13.15 @ 9:13 pm

Tony, all I know is I don’t shoot my mouth off without checking a few facts. Don’t bring up teams who play schedules who make ours look good! There isn’t a team around that plays all tough OOC games. People been making fun, but when you check it out you have no arguement,unless it’s to shift the arguement from SOS to attendence, which is a bullshit debate tactic!
The only thing I really know is Joe Knew it all along!!

Comment by JoeKnew 12.13.15 @ 9:13 pm

gc, I think Saquon Barkley may cause Mr Sanders to wait a couple years before he gets to any program changing at PSU

Comment by HbgFrank 12.13.15 @ 9:58 pm

I agree HbgFrank, I was talking about his prospects at Pitt.

Comment by gc 12.13.15 @ 10:12 pm

link to hudl.com

The newest Panther is a player!

Comment by gc 12.13.15 @ 10:36 pm

A couple of thoughts…
* Pitt will beat Navy rather easily..and it won’t affect recruiting one bit

* this is a much better basketball team than last year

* Duzz will announce the new OC tomorrow, Tuesday at latest

* Dixons sideline behavior is inexcusable and hurts the team and Pitts image and recruiting

* running back will be the least of Pitt’s problems next year…difficult schedule will be the most

* Franklinstein must be terrified of Pitt under Duzz to hire an OC who’s best achievement is that he’s from the Burgh

* a recruit who says he is not going to Pitt because Chaney is leaving and then goes to PSU after they fired theirs ..is an idiot!

* I like our football recruiting class so far and to expect it to improve immensely starting tomorrow.

Comment by Dan 72 12.13.15 @ 10:41 pm

Come on guys! One decent football season with 8 wins and you expect the bad tempered coach to out recruit the rest of college football?

Do you remember what the program has been put through the last four years?

People don’t forget that quickly (unless you are a PITT fan).

Wait 3 or 4 years of a winning record before you start counting 4-5 star recruits

Comment by Old Pitt Grad 12.13.15 @ 11:53 pm

One more thing, this blog heavily highlights local recruits only. We need to branch out and check guys available anywhere and maybe spotlight transfer/grad players more.

Comment by Old Pitt Grad 12.13.15 @ 11:58 pm

I’m a little taken back by the negative on here today over our recruits. Yes it’s not a top 10 class but it is solid. I suspect if we have anothebgood year next year we will have a stellar class next year. Miles Sanders isn’t coming and I haven’t felt like Tamar Hamlin or Hudson was going to commit to us in the end but we will be fine. I am really looking forward to see who the next OC will be.

Comment by shawn 12.14.15 @ 1:58 am

Damar damn auto correct

Comment by shawn 12.14.15 @ 1:59 am

I’m prepared to wait to see the results on the field for this years Pitt recruits. One NJ newspaper called Cambell their top defensive player and Ffrench their top offensive player for this year. IMO there is way too much focus on the success or lack there of on just the western pa players.

Comment by jrnpitt 12.14.15 @ 4:47 am

Pitt is a wrestling school
link to cardiachill.com

Comment by wbb 12.14.15 @ 7:18 am

Rivals has Pitt’s recruiting class ranked 54th with an average of the 15 recruits of 3.07 stars. 22 teams they have ranked ahead of Pitt have a lower average star rating than Pitt. It’s not the quality of the recruits they use but the quantity. Those of you who are anti Narduzzi can make the numbers look anyway you want.

Comment by Chick 12.14.15 @ 7:24 am

Last year, Pitt was the youngest team in the NCAA; this year they are among the youngest teams. Even with the recent transfer-outs, Pitt will not come close to signing 25 commits like many other schools.

If they can get a few more quality commits and maintain the current ones, they will be fine

Comment by wbb 12.14.15 @ 7:44 am

I look at the recruiting a little differently, go figure. Many times, players take on the persona of their coach. For this reason, I see the transfer out of some of our current players brought in by a different coach more as a result of the different mentality between Paul Chryst and Pat Narduzzi.

Chryst was more cerebral and not outwardly/mentally competitive. He was a quiet competitor, which is not terrible, just a little different than what you typically see in a football coach. The result can be more of a soft mentality in the approach to the game for the players. Narduzzi is more into the emotional and hard nosed athlete. More football player than mentally soft. Narduzzi will continue to recruit his type of player, in his likeness, regardless of stars. I like that approach.

We have a nice class going with MacPitt, Kaezon and Flowers leading the way. It is solid! You are starting to see a class that falls in line with our coaches personality and style of coaching. If you don’t like it, it’s too bad. I think 2017 is the first class that will be more in line with expectations going forward. I can’t complain about what we have right now. Typically, we would have about 5-6 two stars already.

Comment by dhuffdaddy 12.14.15 @ 8:11 am

Got to give PSU credit all their recruits were before the football season and when Narduzzi was brand new.

Rutgers is easy picking now and we should to take advantage. Patrice Rene CB, Isaiah Wright WR, Rashawn Battle OLB, and Nick Krimin OT plus a few others could help us out.

Comment by Old Pitt Grad 12.14.15 @ 2:47 pm

I know this is a fairly dead thread but checked the NCAAM lineup for TV tonight and wanted UTard, who remains stubbornly critical of Pitt’s OOC schedule, to see the lineup for the Top 25.

Mighty Duke is hosting Georgia Southern
Ranked Cincinnati is hosting Norfolk
Legendary UCLA is hosting Lousiana-Lafayette

So far Duke and Cincy have played exactly one ranked team. UCLA has played 3 ranked teams and is 2-1.

The other evening our ranked,former rivals down I-79 hosted Lousiana-Monroe. They also lost last week by 16 to the only ranked team (UVA) that they have played.

Pitt will get a crack at UVA down the road.

Comment by Barvo 12.15.15 @ 7:51 pm

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