Mustapha Heron is still a Pitt verbal.

“I’m able to focus on my game, working on my game to fit into Pitt’s system,” Heron said at the NBPA Top 100 camp. “I don’t have to worry about who’s watching me, what type of letters are coming in, what type of calls are coming in. I can just play freely.”

With that said, the departure of assistant coach and ace recruiter Barry “Slice” Rohrssen to Kentucky has had the rumor mill whirling once again. In fact, all six predictions in the 247 Sports Crystal Ball have Heron going somewhere besides Pittsburgh.

In Virginia, Heron addressed the rumors.

“I don’t pay much attention to it,” he said. “Right now I’m just working on building a relationship with coach [Jamie] Dixon, and that’s going really well.”

Is it possible he could decommit at some point?

“That’s just something I would have to talk to my family about,” Heron said. “But as of now, no.”

That’s really all he can say. He could make absolute declarations of fealty and they would still be taken with the same meaning. The fact is he has not decommitted. He has not reopened the decision and he has not gone around on even unofficial visits to other schools.

He’s heading into his junior year of high school. He cannot sign a NLI until November 2015 at the earliest. I’m not saying he won’t change his mind. I’m just not going to spend the next year plus angsting over it.

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I’m thrilled to be wrong. Lamar Patterson got drafted a bit earlier in the second round than even the few mock drafts that still had him listed.

University of Pittsburgh senior forward Lamar Patterson (Lancaster, Pa./St. Benedict’s Prep, N.J.) was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 48 pick in Thursday evening’s 2014 NBA Draft. Seconds later, ESPN announced that Milwaukee traded Patterson to the Atlanta Hawks.

Patterson is the second Pitt player drafted in the last two seasons as Steven Adams was taken by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the No. 12 overall pick last June. Patterson becomes the sixth Pitt player selected in the NBA Draft in the last 10 years: Chris Taft (2005), Aaron Gray (2007), Sam Young (2009), DeJuan Blair (2009), Steven Adams (2013) and Lamar Patterson (2014).

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Patterson helped guide Pitt to three NCAA Tournament appearances, a 122-49 combined record, five consecutive 20-win seasons and a 78-17 record at the Petersen Events Center. An all-around player, Patterson became just the third player in school history to surpass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists in a career (the other two players were Carl Krauser, 2002-06 and Brad Wanamaker, 2007-11). He set a school-record for most career games played (148), started 106 games, scored 1,410 points, grabbed 588 rebounds, dished out 427 assists and hit 171 3-pointers over his five-year career.

In Pitt’s basketball history, Patterson is just the 29th player drafted to the NBA or ABA.

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Talib Zanna is not going to hear his name called tonight. He will get a chance in the NBA summer league with the possibility of a free agent signing, but he is likely heading overseas.

Lamar Patterson has a shot at the end of the second round.

What do the mock drafts say?: For what it’s worth, Patterson’s stock seems to have dropped a bit by this standard. In April, NBAdraft.net had Patterson going to Miami with the 57th pick. Draftexpress.com had him 59th to Toronto and CBS Sports’ Matt Moore, 45th to Minnesota.

Patterson did not show up on any of the current mocks of those three as of Wednesday night. He does show up on two of the four “final” mocks at BasketballInsiders.com, Steve Kennedy’s (to Indiana, No. 57) and Steve Kyler’s (Denver, No. 56).

The NBA Draft has very, very few sure things — even in the first round. Here’s a quick review of the last 19 drafts. So many of those picks weren’t mistakes. They just never translated.

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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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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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So, Steven Adams had a good first day at the NBA Combine in Chicago. There’s speculation — early and idle though it may be — that Adams might be working his way into the 1st Round. Perhaps even the lottery portion.

This is good. Pitt hasn’t had a player go in the first round since Vonteego Cummngs. There hasn’t been a high first round Pitt player selected since Charles Smith.

You would think this would be a good thing. That Pitt is not just turning out good college players, but NBA talent.

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So, hey, Steven Adams says that NBA Draft Lottery looks good.

After insisting that he would return for his sophomore season at Pitt, Steven Adams is declaring for the NBA Draft and will sign with an agent, thereby forfeiting his final three seasons of eligibility.

The 7-foot center from New Zealand announced his intentions Tuesday night in a statement released by Pitt’s athletic department. A Pitt spokesman said that Adams is out of the country.

“In discussing options with my family and Coach Dixon, I feel that it is in my best interest to declare for the NBA Draft,” Adams said. “I want to thank everyone at Pitt, including my teammates, coaching staff, the administration and the fans who have all supported me over the last year.”

I’ll never, ever begrudge a kid for turning pro. Especially when he is a potential lottery pick. Yes, he could have come back. Potentially improved and been a top-5 pick. Thus upping the potential earning potential. But he is already a top-20 pick. Likely top-14, lottery. This is a weak draft. Especially for centers.

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It’s the July recruiting period. That means Coach Dixon and assistants Brandin Knight and Bill Barton are out watching kids at tournaments all over the place. Twitter updates when sited by the various media folks also watching. Right now, so many players that Pitt is potentially pursuing for 2012 (2 scholarships), 2013 (2 scholarships) and 2014 (3 scholarships).

It’s nice seeing Pitt listed in the mix with players that have big name interest, but at this point in the recruiting cycle it is hard to be sure how realistic some are — especially for 2014 recruits. There are actually some good recruits from Pittsburgh on the radar. Granted, James Young, is going to HS in NJ, but he is a kid from the Pittsburgh area.

Still, some of it are from the kids themselves just rattling off names of schools they heard from. Not even always with confirmed offers. The compliment is seeing Pitt listed among the top teams at least looking at the kids.

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This week my boss is off from work, so I am covering her stuff. Logged a 15 hour day, but the promise of sleeping in a bit today was a good carrot. This morning the wife gets me up because her car had a flat. If anyone needs me I’ll be under the table clutching some Scotch.

I’ll get to some second-hand Greentree summer league stuff a bit later. From what I’m reading, the kids look good. But at the same time, this is far different from what they’ll be doing come the fall, and the talent level is much more varied. Encouraging, but it has to be treated a lot like spring practices in football.

Not that it is that relevant, but the USA Basketball U-19 team is off to a poor start. In exhibition games against the Lithuanians U-20 and U-19 teams, the team has lost by 29 and 33 points, and allowed more than 100 points in both games. Exhibition games, yes. Disturbing nonetheless. Some might argue it’s the talent disparity. That this squad lacks the good U-19 talent, because those players didn’t play. At the same time they said similar things about the 2009 squad. Remember the head scratching over Ashton Gibbs being on the squad?

The biggest difference seems to be the coaching.

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Gary McGhee, Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown continue to travel the country for workouts to see if they can entice and NBA team to spend a draft pick on them or sign them for the summer league and perhaps beyond.

McGhee is in NYC today to workout with a group of players for the Knicks.

Brad Wanamaker was in San Antonio yesterday for his Spurs workout. A Spurs blogger considers him a longshot pick, but always possible.

Pitt’s Wanamaker is likely destined for the end of the second round, but he’s capable of playing in the NBA. He may need some time in the D-League to add to his game, but he may be an attractive player to the Spurs for many reasons. Wanamaker, who is represented by DeJuan Blair’s agent, Happy Walters, can create offense, drive and dish and while not very fast or athletic at his position, Wanamaker loves finishing at the basket. He’ll attack and finish or get fouled. Wanamaker is also used to playing unselfish basketball, which is preached at Pittsburgh.

Wanamaker also got a pleasantly puffing piece on his odds of making the NBA in the P-G last week.

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No, it isn’t likely to hear Gil Brown, Brad Wanamaker or Gary McGhee’s names called on the night of the NBA Draft. More likely is the chance for playing in the summer league and a non-guaranteed free agent deal. Followed by signing in Europe. I think we are all reasonably realistic on that issue.

That doesn’t mean that they aren’t practicing, working out for teams and doing all that they can do to merit consideration by teams. To say nothing of their representation making sure they promote them.

Wanamaker signed with IMG. They also represent DeJuan Blair.

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I hate the trend especially in football to control information. Usually in the Parcells/Belichek “one voice” mantra that has increasingly spilled into college football. The stated reason is that it prevents mixed messages to the media/fans and keeps the assistants focused on their jobs. The reality is it chokes off a lot of information fans crave and makes programs and franchises joyless operations creating unnecessary tensions.

That said, maybe the Gibbs family should at least conference call to coordinate what the hell the plan actually is. Really. Temple and his son Ashton Gibbs keeps putting conflicting/unclarified information out to whoever gets in touch with them. I will say, though, they have created more buzz and conversation for a borderline, possible 2d round pick than you would expect.

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Well, so much for getting back to posting by focusing on Saturday’s spring game.

There’s still almost 3 weeks for him to change his mind, but the news is leaking that Ashton Gibbs will keep his name in the NBA Draft.

…Gibbs, however, has been interviewing agents and told at least one that he was “100 percent” certain to stay in the draft, according to the source. Gibbs has been training in Atlanta this month.

So there’s that. It is still rumor and unconfirmed at this point, but still a surprise that this is even happening. More in a bit.

Last week when Pat Skerry became the guy for Towson and Khem Birch was having his Twitter moment (and panicking the easily panicked), there was some questioning why Assistant Coach Brandin Knight was planning a meeting later that week with Birch to reassure him, but not Coach Jamie Dixon.

As usual, there is a decent reason. Coach Dixon made advanced plans to be elsewhere — and was. In this case New Zealand.

Instead, University of Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon is in Wellington barking out instructions to young Kiwi hopefuls at a two-day camp at Newtown’s Southwest Stadium.

Judging by the picture at the top of the article, that includes a future Panther that Coach Dixon obviously wanted to pay a visit.

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Some more items to pass along.

If you worry/wonder/never had it cross your mind that perhaps since Birch is a Pitt commit you might be viewing his performance last night through Blue and Gold glasses, the final note at ‘Cuse blog TNIAAM on the game should be reassuring.

And as for Pitt-bound Khem Birch…yikes, you guys. One-and-done that guy…

No.

Either it was shyness, or something else, but the difference between the Khem Birch during practices and the one that showed up during the game continues to be the thing that most observers noticed.

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