Two years ago, the Iona Gaels were in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, they started the season 0-22 and finished out 2-28. They played mostly all freshmen, but they were still shocked by the amazing drop off from one year to the next. Enter new head coach Kevin Willard.

Kevin Willard was hired yesterday as the basketball coach at Iona, which hopes the former Rick Pitino assistant can revive a team that began the season 0-22 and finished with the worst record in the program’s 62-year history.

Willard spent the past six seasons at Louisville as an assistant and is a head coach for the first time. He succeeds Jeff Ruland, who was bought out of the final two years of his contract.

Willard is a former Pitt player (1995-97), having played for his father, Ralph Willard.

“Last year doesn’t concern me,” Willard said at a campus news conference. “I know they went through a hard time, but this is a clean slate.”

So now the older and younger Willard’s take their Pitt connection to different schools in NCAA hoops as head coaches.

(OK so that sentence didn’t completely make sense but hey, it’s only 5:00 in the morning. Cut me a little break…)

It seems like I’ve been out of the house so much the last few days that I forget how to use the computer. Thankfully it’s during a slower time in Pitt athletics, but there are still a few bits of info to be passed along.

First, it starts up in New York City back on Thursday night. I won’t even lie, I was rooting for West Virginia in the NIT Finals because it’s nice to see Big East teams do well. I wasn’t aware, however, that they decided to change the school’s name to “West Virgina“.

Continuing the theme of Pitt rivals, Penn State has a new policy at Beaver Stadium. It’s almost as bad as not wanting to play Pitt in a fair one-for-one deal. They won’t let you bring your own little seatback into the place — instead you have to pay to lease one from them. The best quote comes from Black Shoe Diaries about the policy.

Forty bucks for this?!?! I can buy one of those at McLanahan’s for $20, and I get to own the friggin thing. Is this thing going to be mounted in my seat permanently all year? Through the sun, rain, and snow as well? But I can’t bring my own dry seat that has been sitting in my vehicle all day. No, I have to sit on your soaking wet one? And pay you $40 to do so?

Back to our Panthers though in a few Pitt related notes.

We brought you info on Blue Chip day. According to PSI, a few of the big names who were in attendance were Terrelle Pryor, David Posluszny, Christian Wilson, Andrew Sweat, Jonathan Baldwin, Mike Zordich, Shayne Hale, Leon Green, Cameron Saddler, Ed Tinker and Lucas Nix.

Former Panther (kind of sounds weird saying that) Tyler Palko was selected to the Coca-Cola Community All-American team.

As this year’s honoree, Palko (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) is able to select a charitable cause to be the recipient of a $5,000 donation by the Coca-Cola Company. The donation will go to the TC House Foundation, an organization Palko helped establish to raise funds for the construction of a group home for individuals with Down Syndrome in his hometown of Imperial, Pa.

You’ve probably heard of Palko’s friend Chris McGough who has Down Syndrome, who Tyler has become a very good friend with and who has made appearences at a few Pitt football games. Congrats to Tyler Palko on this honor.

A few months back, Chas posted about the Cinci-Xavier game and who to root for. In the comments, a few people said they think Miller will coach at Pitt someday, to which I said won’t happen. I don’t want to get into that argument again, especially since his name will be in the hat for the gig at Michigan.

Various reports are linking Xavier head coach Sean Miller to the vacant head coaching position at the University of Michigan. Xavier finished this season with a 21-11 record, an A-10 Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In two season at Xavier, Miller has a overall record of 38-23. Miller’s strength is his ability to recruit, in fact, Ohio State coach Thad Matta told the Cincinnati Post that Miller “taught me everything I know about recruiting.”

He’s also on the list compiled by Michigan Sports Center.

In all seriousness, Miller would be a great choice. As I hinted, just look at what the last Xavier coach is doing now. Imagine if that type of thing could happen to Michigan. Bring in a new coach from Xavier and quickly become an elite program. The only thing is would he want to come to the Big Ten to coach against a friend in Thad Matta. That could work for or against Michigan.

Other names include John Beilein, Lon Kruger, and Steve Lavin, among many others.

Be excited — under 14 hours to tipoff.

Okay football fixated, here’s the one post you will see today on spring practices and/or anything related to football. After that, expect nothing but basketball. Really not too much.

H.B. Blades gets a nice piece in USA Today. Focused mainly on his relationship with his late Uncle Al Blades.

Blades plays a tenacious style reminiscent of another undersized overachieving linebacker who played under current Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt when he was the Miami Dolphins head coach from 2000 to 2004. Blades is projected as an early second-day prospect similar to the Dolphins’ 1996 fifth-round choice, 5-11, 230 Zach Thomas, a six-time Pro Bowler.

“When you watch Blades on tape, you see a tough, relentless football player,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock says.

“The problem is he’s somewhat limited athletically. When you talk about inside linebackers, there’s a premium on guys who can play all three downs.

“He’ll have an opportunity to be a core special-teams player initially. And that will be his chance to work into linebacker reps as a between-the-tackles thumper because he’s so tough and the game really matters to him.”

Blades apparently ran the 40 at Pitt’s pro-day better than expected so that should help.

I’m starting to think of LaRod Stephens-Howling as the Antonio Graves of the football team. Underrecruited, questionable as to the impact and almost a last-minute throw-in when recruited. Yet, he keeps working harder. Keeps working to be in better shape and becoming an impact player. Looks like another hard, off-season conditioning regimen has him looking stronger then before. And last year he looked stronger and bigger then the year before.

The Panthers had to work out in shorts the first two days, per NCAA regulations, but they get a chance to see how things go when the action heats up at Tuesday afternoon’s practice. Then, they’ll be able to tell how much a vigorous offseason under new strength and conditioning coach Buddy Morris has paid off.

“I just pretty much went all out,” Stephens-Howling said. “I figured that since it’s my junior year, it’s time for me to get as big as I can. So, I went all out in the weight room. Buddy’s really on us. He’s really changed the program around, so I think I really changed my mind-set.

“I know I have to work more in the weight room, to get bigger and stronger, so that’s what I’ve been doing. And I feel a lot stronger in my legs, but that’s what I needed, because I came here with little legs and a bigger body. So, I feel more powerful in my legs now.”

Stephens-Howling also noted that his conditioning has improved under Morris’ tutelage. When he returns to the huddle after a long run or pass route, he doesn’t have tired legs. This should keep him healthier during the season as well.

There should be real depth at the running back (whether there will be an O-line to block for them…) and hopefully the coaches will use that depth to wear teams down and keep them off-balance. I’m hoping that with the pro influences, they’ll jump on the present trend in the NFL to look to have more than one back all the time. Still, an issue because Wannstedt seems to treasure the idea of an every down back, even as that traditional approach is on the wane.

Down in Washington, PA there are a couple linebackers being recruited by Pitt and plenty of others.

Trinity junior Andrew Sweat will visit Gainesville, Fla. this weekend when he gets a chance to check out the University of Florida and its national championship football team.

Florida is one of several schools to offer a scholarship to Sweat, an all-state linebacker. Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Syracuse, Connecticut and Pitt are among the others.

Teammate and fellow linebacker Michael Yancich has offers from Connecticut, Duke, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Miami (Ohio) and Pitt.

It’s too soon for the major recruiting sites to have evaluation and star rankings up for players. Safe to observe from the offers that Sweat will is definitely the bigger star. Yancich appears to be a decent player with very good grades and SATs.

From Chris Dokish at Panther Rants, we get an update on how former CB Darelle Revis ran his 40 yard dash. I’m never been a huge fan of so much being made on fractions of a second but perhaps that’s why I’m blogging and not scouting for an NFL team.

Former Pitt cornerback Darrelle Revis may have solidified his spot in the 1st round today as he reportedly ran a sub-4.40 40 yard dash today in Pittsburgh. There is no exact official time since many different NFL personnel time him at the same time, but times ranged from 4.36 to 4.40, with most timing him at 4.38.

Obviously he did not lose any speed while waiting for weeks during the season for an opposing QB to throw the ball his way.

Andy Lee could continue his career at Heinz Field with the Steelers.

The Steelers have signed free agent punter Andy Lee to an offer sheet, agent Eddie Edwards confirmed today.

Lee, who played collegiately at Pitt, was a sixth-round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers in 2004. Last season he averaged 44.8 yards per punt (gross) to rank sixth in the NFC and seventh in the NFL.

First off, I’m not fully sure what an offer sheet is. Pro sports financial type terms confuse me. I can barely explain Restricted Free Agency so “offer sheet” is way out of my range. Thankfully none of that has infiltrated college athletics.

Lee’s average is fairly better than what the Steelers have seen from Chris Gardocki. Gardocki has never had a punt blocked in his career but I might be able to pull that off too if I didn’t spend time trying to actually get a good punt off. I wouldn’t mind seeing Lee compete for the job in training camp against Gardocki and Mike Barr who probably should have got the punting spot in 2006.

Sorry for not posting for a little bit (thanks for picking up the slack Dennis). I’m trying to get as much done as possible in the 3-dimensional world before the weekend and all of next week. So many games to watch, so much to write. I’m really just trying to get as much done, and stockpile the essential supplies while I spend a lot of time watching basketball. Really, it starts tomorrow afternoon with the semis of the MVC Tournament.

The Tuesday telecast had Sanders and Wenzel mention that Charles Smith was in the Pete, but there wasn’t even a pan shot to him in the game. Seems that it was a spur of the moment thing.

A last-minute offer afforded Charles Smith a private plane to Pittsburgh and a courtside seat at Petersen Events Center for the Pitt-West Virginia game Tuesday.

It was fitting that the former Pitt All-American arrived just as Aaron Gray was standing at center court, where he was presented with a framed jersey on Senior Night.

After all, Smith advised the 7-foot center to return for his senior season, a decision Smith himself had to make 19 years ago and one that ultimately paid great dividends.

…

Now Northeast regional director for the NBA Players Association, Smith’s main assignment is running its rookie transition program. He counseled Gray during the NBA’s week-long, pre-draft camp in Orlando last year.

…

“When making one of my decisions to come back here for my senior year, I don’t regret it all,” said Gray, who is averaging 13.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game this season. “This is my family now and they are going to be my family forever. I’m just so glad that I could spend this whole year and this whole experience with them.”

I have to be honest, I have no problem rooting for UConn over G-town. I don’t see it happening, but why not? I’d rather Pitt be the #1 seed. Besides I have enough bad memories of the Hoyas against Pitt in the 80s and early 90s to carry me past any distaste.

I don’t know what to say about free throw shooting. It’s not like the team doesn’t work on it. Everyone says they do, but Pitt simply has half of their players — Gray, Graves, Biggs, Young and Benjamin — who shoot poorly. The coaches can only do so much in teaching them and helping them — I’m assuming Brandin Knight is not in charge of that. It comes down to just executing them in the game. You don’t think UConn and Jim Calhoun or Jim Boeheim and Syracuse don’t work on FTs with their players? It doesn’t change things that guys from Thabeet (freshman) to Roberts (senior) just don’t shoot free throws well.
Hopefully, this will be the last week for power polls. The ESPN.com power poll puts Pitt at #9.

If healthy, this team has Elite Eight-type possibilities with the right draw. I like the Panthers’ overall offensive balance better than Georgetown’s as far as Big East heavies go.

Individual votes are here. Almost all had Pitt either 9 or 10.

I really can’t follow the logic of Luke Winn at SI.com. I don’t think he has anything personal against Pitt. I just think he doubts the Panthers in the Tournament.

Georgetown at home beats Pitt that has a hobbled Aaron Gray and then gets blown out in Syracuse — by a bubble team. He moves them up from 9 to 8. Pitt rebounds from the loss to beat bubble team and a rivalry game with WVU. He moves Pitt down to 15 from 12. Well, it’s really too late in the season to get too fired up about the “disrespect.”

Well, as you would expect. The Pitt-Georgetown game has some attention considering the implications. Of course, the prestige takes a hit when one team is lacking its star player.

2. Gray area: One nagging question dominates discussion of Saturday’s first-place Big East showdown featuring No. 8 Pittsburgh at No. 12 Georgetown, and that is the availability of Panthers center Aaron Gray. If his sprained ankle keeps him on the bench, Pitt might have major problems containing the Hoyas’ Roy Hibbert. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon hopes the day off from practice he gave his team Wednesday helps.

Seth Davis at SI.com goes with Georgetown, which is no surprise. Even with Gray, they are the home team and very hot.

I was going to skip the power ranking stuff this week, but Luke Winn’s commentary as he puts Pitt at #12 was the partial answer to something I had been wondering about since Monday night.

Panthers fans: Have you ever said to yourself, I want to dress exactly like the injured Aaron Gray? Well, now you can. The Power Rankings’ fashion consultants have tracked down a store selling the exact track suit — the Adidas velour Vegas 07 model — that A-Gray wore like a sideline pimp during Pitt’s win at Seton Hall on Monday (boot sold separately). According to the product description, the suit is “loaded with Vegas-inspired details, including side-welt pockets to hold your chips.”

I know Adidas is Pitt’s supplier, but it still doesn’t answer why he wasn’t wearing Pitt sweats rather than that thing.

Orlando Antigua gets some love in the New York Post.

“It was an easy call,” Dixon said. “Orlando knows Pitt, he knows the Big East, he’s great with the players, and we wanted to continue our New York connection.”

So far, so good. Antigua, 33, has slid seamlessly into his new role in one of the nation’s premier programs. He’s become a student of Pitt’s rough-and-tumble defensive scheme, which has trickled down to the players, as evidenced by their 24-4 record and No. 10 ranking. They connect with Antigua on many fronts. And vice versa.

“I feel fortunate, first of all, to be at my alma mater, but to be there at a time of such success,” Antigua said. “To contribute is such a great feeling. To be in the background like I was, to watch Barry – and how he conducted himself – helped. I had the knowledge, I just had to go out and apply it.”

Now — and this is kind of fun to type — the talent level in NYC kids has be high enough to match Pitt’s level.

First off, how about all of the Steelers fans out there take a moment and thank the scheduling gods that this game is not during an AFC Championship game that we happen to be playing in. Last year I missed the Pitt game to watch the Stillers. Luckily my choice is between Pitt-UL and the Texas-Oklahoma women’s game–a bit of an easier choice.

Next is an update on where former kicker David Abdul is at right now. The answer: kicking in an indoor football league. Commenter B.B. left the link to the Pittsburgh River Rats (who I didn’t know existed until about 15 minutes ago), and it’s good to see he’s in good shape after some health issues.

Now looking to a possible future Pitt Panther, Terrelle Pryor gets an article on SI.com which speaks of a comparison to NFL QB Vince Young. As Mondesi’s House mentions, though, Young was never a top football and basketball recruit.

Jeannette, Pa., quarterback Terrelle Pryor has been compared to Young because of his 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame, his ability to glide past players at top speed and his ability to simply dominate football games.

….

“I leave it up to people to make their own comparisons when they watch me play,” he said. “It’s a very nice comparison, but I haven’t done anything yet. I like to watch Vince Young and Troy Smith and the quarterbacks that can move around and do things, but I don’t compare myself to them.”

Pryor is so good he could be the next (and first) Terrelle Pryor. He still looks skinny on his 6-foot-6 frame, he’s getting faster and he’s learning how to play quarterback. The same raw athletic ability also comes out in basketball, where Pryor is ranked as a national top-25 player.

And finally, I leave you with how the Big East Tournament would look if the season ended right now, compliments of Card Chronicle.

It wouldn’t be right not to note Ruben Brown being at the Superbowl. Granted it might not have happened if he hadn’t gotten a little pissed at his offfensive coordinator in Buffalo in 2003.

Another would be to say he nearly killed Kevin Gilbride, the team’s pass-happy offensive coordinator for whom Brown had developed a distaste for as the team spiraled to another losing season and Gilbride refused to emphasize the run the way a team that was turning the ball over far too often to win probably should have. At a team meeting following another defeat, Brown finally snapped, coming over a table at Gilbride after he began to upbraid Brown for a lack of leadership. The 300-pound Brown’s path was blocked by several teammates and he soon left the building, never to return. Brown understood he would be seeking employment elsewhere that winter.

With apologies to my step-father-in-law (and Buffalo native), when hasn’t leaving Buffalo been a good move for a pro player (or anyone else)?

Brown will be the oldest player on the field for the game, but still expects to keep playing after this year. Of course, Brown would never have become an offensive lineman if he had had his way at Pitt.

It all goes back to Aug. 14, 1991, when Brown was a redshirt freshman at Pitt playing on the defensive line. He was a star, one of the most highly recruited players in the nation, a Parade All-American. But Pitt had future pros, Keith Hamilton and Sean Gilbert, on the defensive line and needed help on offense. Five days into preseason camp at Johnstown, coach Paul Hackett finally agreed to the pleas of offensive line coach Bill Meyers and switched Brown to offensive tackle.

“I was very disappointed,” Brown recalled this week. “But I was behind two outstanding defensive linemen. I was upset, but there was a good reason for it, and I was fortunate. I wanted to get on the field, and I knew I had a good chance to start.”

Brown excelled at his new position. He started for four years, was an All-American and was a first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills, the 14th player selected.

A Pitt player on the O-line often means success in the superbowl.

Yep, it’s a slow day week. If you need some Friday fun, here it is. The first 10 seconds or so of the video link below show Sun Ming Ming, a 7′ 9″ player in the USBL, against former Pitt Panther and current USBL player Mark McCarroll. McCarroll sort of attempts to post him up but ends up getting a jump ball called. Uhhh, very entertaining stuff…I guess.
Sun Ming Ming: A Very, Very Tall Man…Mark McCarroll: Not So Much

By the way, Toree Morris also plays for the Brooklyn Kings.

One of the great walk-ons for Pitt football in recent years. He started his post-college career looking to the media and then moved to the coaching side with USC. Now Yogi Roth faces a tough choice.

Lane Kiffin, USC’s former offensive coordinator and the Oakland Raiders new head coach, made an offer to Roth to become the assistant receivers coach with the Raiders. On Friday, USC made a counterproposal.

Now comes a big decision for the 25-year-old. Be sure of this: Roth will attack whatever job he has with a vigor that is unmatched.

“The philosophy at SC is to do whatever you do better than it’s ever been done before,” Roth said. “Hopefully, I did my job better than anybody before me. What’s crazy is you buy into that. Be the best in the world at it.”

For all the things that Roth has done successfully in his life — walking on at Pitt and becoming a starting wide receiver, going overseas and earning his keep by teaching children English, starting at the bottom of SC’s coaching staff and working his way up — I have to disagree that it’s something he learned at SC.

Maybe it was cemented there, but Roth always had a drive from inside. Saw it in that first football game, and you could tell it from how seriously he took his job bussing tables at J.J. Bridges. What Roth has achieved, he’s earned. So that he now has the choice of two or three cherries on top is no surprise. Nor is the fact is that he’s remembered everyone along the way.
…

“The nice thing is (Carroll) has been a friend to me first,” Roth said. “That’s not going to change. I’d love to stay here forever. This has been the coolest two years of my life. They’ve instilled a philosophy, a belief system, a vision that I live. It’s very critical to me. His son is my best friend. It’s a difficult thing to leave but what an exciting thing to do.”

Whether Roth stays or goes, it probably will be about which he perceives to be the greatest challenge. That’s how he lives, never afraid to fall flat on his face, and get back up and start scaling the mountain.

It’s that drive that will push Roth to the top of his profession. So, don’t be surprised six or seven years from now when he’s the guy wearing the headset on the sideline and calling all the shots. And maybe coming back to haunt Pete Carroll.

He’d be an assistant. Unlike Kiffin in the big role, it can’t hurt Roth to be an assistant at any level in the NFL. Still, his offer at USC is to be the Wide Receivers Coach. Not sure which is really the better offer. Honestly, if it was not for the whole Reggie Bush cloud, I’d lean to USC. But if the Trojans get nailed because of the Bush issues…

Still, Yogi Roth is in good shape if that’s his worst concern.

I’m sure most of you don’t care, but tonight is the Crosstown Shootout between Cinci and Xavier. Even though the wife is a Cinci alum, I’m struggling with who to support.

On the one hand, it’s Cinci, a BE team and it’s good for the conference and ultimately Pitt for them to win. In terms of out-of-conference record, conference strength and of course the RPI — direct benefits to Pitt for Cinci to win. Plus Bob Huggins is no longer there to hate.

On the other side, Xavier is coached by former Pitt PG, Sean Miller. And I always like to see the alum doing well. Especially a guy who played while I was at Pitt.

A Q&A with former Pitt RB Brandon Miree, now a fullback with the Green Bay Packers.

Question: You played college football at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Alabama. Can you talk about the differences between the places?

Answer: Pitt was like New York City compared to Alabama. Alabama was real rural and pretty much a campus town. It was an awesome experience, but at Pitt, you really felt like you were in the big city. We had bigger buildings on campus than they had in the entire city of Tuscaloosa. There’s not much there.

In a shock to few, yet another pro athlete tabs “Scarface” as his favorite movie.

Okay, I think this is a pretty good honoree for homecoming. John Woodruff who won the 800 meter in the 1936 Berlin Olympics is coming.

Woodruff will travel from Fountain Hills, Ariz., with his wife, Rose, to attend the event as well as other homecoming festivities, including the Oct. 21 Pitt-Rutgers football game. (During the game, Pitt will recognize Woodruff’s presence and the 70th anniversary of his Olympic victory.) The world premiere of the short film Footsteps of a Giant: The John Woodruff Story (Sugar Camp Productions) will take place during the AAAC reception.

A 1935 graduate of Connellsville Area Senior High School in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Woodruff earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology in 1939 at Pitt and went on to receive a master’s degree in sociology from New York University.

Back in August, Woodruff wasn’t expected to be able to make the trip because of his health and age. This is great to read.

As for the game itself. Both Pitt and Rutgers have their game notes (PDF).