I would have preferred a tepid “no comment” or the obvious lie of, “I’m not even thinking about that right now.” Instead, DeJuan Blair had to be too honest, too emotional, and provide too much to parse after accepting his co-Big East POY award.

“I want to stay at Pitt, just so everybody can say, ‘We loved him,'” Blair said. “It’s up in the air. It depends on this year. But I want to stay.”

Blair is a projected first-round draft pick, but he said his heart remains in the Steel City.

The 6-foot-7 sophomore center said the ceremony last week to retire Brandin Knight’s jersey got him thinking about his legacy at Pitt. Knight, a Pitt assistant coach and former All-America point guard, is one of only four Pitt players to have his number retired.

“I want my jersey to be retired like Brandin,” Blair said. “That’s an inspiration to look up and see your jersey every day. Just to stay and be loved in Pittsburgh. … I’m always going to come back. I’m always going to be here.

“We’re going to see how it goes.”

As I said when McCoy made his declarations of coming back, I’m not holding him to it. There’s nothing to hold him to.

I have no doubt he loves it at Pitt. I have no doubt he knows all about the possibilities of legacies and all those things. I also know the money is out there and that the NBA is another league heading for a major economic shake-up.

My hope is that he leaves, because he can stand up at a press conference and declare that he has accomplished everything he wanted at Pitt — including that trip to the White House.

At the very least, he will be going through the draft evaluation this year.

As for the co-Big East POY award and sharing it with Hasheem Thabeet.

Not that Blair believes it should be that way.

When asked if he was OK sharing the award, Blair said: “What do y’all think?”

His smile said the rest.

Few people seem to get how Thabeet got as many votes. All BE Commish Mike Tranghese has said is that it was one of the closest votes ever, and that five players received 1st place votes.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players and had to submit their ballots Friday, the day before Pitt beat Connecticut for the second time this season.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon declined to reveal his ballot but said he factored in which player led the regular-season champion.

“I always try to pick a guy from the team that won it,” he said. “I had (Louisville senior Terrence) Williams up there.”

For Blair, it was probably best, that the voting had to be in early. Sam Young and Terrence Williams both came up with big games for their teams.

Coach Wannstedt did a Q&A with Brian Bennett at ESPN.com. Most of the conversation centered around the offense.

Let’s talk about your quarterback situation. Is Bill Stull still your starter, or will there be an open competition this spring?

DW: Billy is going to be our starter. We went 9-3 in the regular season with Bill Stull. It was the best record that Pitt’s had since Dan Marino was here. So people have a tendency to lose sight of that a little bit, too, because of the bowl game. Now, did Billy play at a level that we need him to play at to win a championship? No. Can he get better? Yes. He understands that.

Pat Bostick is looking for an opportunity, Tino Sunseri is looking for an opportunity and we have Greg Cross on our team, he’s looking for an opportunity. So I think that with a new quarterback coach coming in, a new offensive coordinator, it’s going to create a real natural sense of urgency on offense in addition to the quarterback position, which I think will be healthy.

All three quarterbacks will get equal opportunities in practice and scrimmage situations and we’ll see how it unfolds. I think we know these kids well enough that we can expect someone to surface and we can hang our hat on someone and say, “OK, this is the way we’re going into the fall.”

So Stull is the starter, but the other three quarterbacks will get equal opportunities — to be the back-up? Whee.

I can’t say I’m really surprised by this. Coach Wannstedt is not going to open up the QB competition. Like a starter doesn’t lose his job to injury, a position doesn’t re-open just because the OC is new.

Wannstedt seems very high on Dan Mason, even suggesting he could make the two-deep as a freshman. Not too surprising, I suppose given the depth issues at linebacker.

He also talks a little about LeSean McCoy going pro. According to Mel Kiper (Insider subs), he sees McCoy falling to the start of the second round (but the 3d back taken).

No one in this group comes remotely close to the talent and depth we had at this spot last year. I expect only two running backs, Ohio State’s Chris “Beanie” Wells and Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno, to go off the board in the first round. They probably won’t be selected until the mid-to-late portion of that round.

Pitt’s LeSean McCoy has first-round ability but more than likely won’t come off the board until the second round. That’s the same scenario I see for Connecticut’s Donald Brown, who could end up being one of the more productive rookie running backs in the NFL because of his all-around skills and tremendous character.

He puts Conredge Collins at the top of the fullback list.

Although this position basically has been phased out in the NFL, I like several prospects, beginning with Pitt’s versatile Conredge Collins and LSU’s experienced and highly skilled lead blocker Quinn Johnson.

Over on defense, he sees Scott McKillop going sometime in day two.

Lots that I have neglected on the football side (and from a time crunch POV, I am absolutely dreading when spring practice begins as I hope the basketball team will be taking up most of my focus). I’m just going to take care of some things that are worth noting.

The combine has taken place. LeSean McCoy had limited impact/attention as he had the flu and did very little there except probably spread the virus.

The interview process is dead, long-live the ambush questions.

“I’m loving it,” Rutgers receiver Kenny Britt said at Lucas Oil Stadium. “They all come with their own crazy ideas.” The strangest question, Britt said, was, “If you die, what kind of animal would you like to come back as: a cat or a dog?”

Rey Maualuga, a linebacker from Southern California with long, thick, dark hair, said a coach had asked him if he would “flip out” if he were told to cut his hair.

Scott McKillop, a linebacker from Pittsburgh, said he was discussing his mother when a scout suddenly blurted, “Have you ever smoked marijuana?”

Blue! No, ye—–llllloooooooowwwwww!!!!!!!!!

Strangely, the article never told us what the answers given to these questions were.

Scott McKillop didn’t create a lot of buzz, but that wasn’t surprising. He didn’t hurt his status either.

C.J. Davis was there to be considered as a Center. Again, a very quiet time for Davis. That’s not a bad thing. Most of the time, the news is usually for those that hurt their status than the few that jumped.

On the flip side, is the recruiting for 2010. There was the junior day stuff, but most of it is behind pay firewalls of the recruiting sites or on the message boards.

Pitt has one early verbal as the sibling thing paid off. Derrick Burns — Redshirt freshman RB Chris Burns’ little brother — gave his verbal.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Burns gave a verbal commitment to Pitt, becoming its first recruit from the Class of 2010 less than two weeks after Signing Day.

“I feel pretty honored that they would accept me,” said Burns, who was recruited by running backs coach David Walker. “I was shocked that they called me so soon. I just stood there. I had no reaction. I didn’t expect them to offer me that soon. I didn’t know that they were going to offer at all.”

A three-year starter at fullback and inside linebacker for the PIAA Class AA champion Greyhounds, he projects as a tailback, safety or outside linebacker in college.

Call it a hunch, but I’m guessing the plans are to put him on defense.

Coach Wannstedt loves to stockpile running backs, though. He also offered a RB from Virginia.

Broad Run junior running back T.J. Peeler picked up his first scholarship offer from the University of Pittsburgh after attending Pitt’s Junior Day.

Peeler, a 6-foot, 175-pound versatile back, rushed for 1,145 yards and scored 18 touchdowns despite playing in just 11 games — he missed three due to a small bone chip in his elbow — helped lead the Spartans to a perfect 14-0 season and the Virginia AA Division 4 state championship, the school’s first ever football title. Under the radar until the Spartans started to make their playoff push, Peeler has also drawn interest from Maryland and several other D-I programs.

“The coaches were all nice and I just felt really comfortable there,” Peeler said. “They were showing me around the whole city, the school, facilities, everything was nice. I talked to Coach Dave Wannstedt and he was telling me he was really interested in me and liked my tape and I don’t know, I just felt really comfortable.”

Peeler also managed to create an anti-highlight reel moment that will be hard to ever live down. Now, to be fair, he lives in Virginia and there was snow on the field. Something that most Virginians don’t quite know how to handle. Still at least it wasn’t grandstanding. Just not being able to see where the endzone actually was.

This was inevitable with DeJuan Blair. It started getting beyond speculation and mock drafts after this past Monday’s intimindation and domination over Thabeet. With more NBA scouts in attendance at the DePaul-Pitt game, a couple stories on whether Blair might be gone after this year.

Blair said Pitt’s success in March will play a big role in his decision. He hinted if Pitt wins its first NCAA title, he would almost certainly turn pro.

“Of course,” he said. “You’ve done everything you wanted to do. Of course that would (have an impact).”

Blair, along with Marquette senior guard Jerel McNeal, last year’s winner; junior forward Luke Harangody of Notre Dame; and Thabeet, is considered a leading candidate for the Big East Player of the Year. Blair also could be playing his way onto an All-America team.

“I think he’s one of the top 15 players in the country,” said ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who called the UConn game and worked with Blair at the Amare Stoudemire’s Big Man camp this summer in Phoenix. “He’s relentless. He’s an energetic player that never stops and that counts for a lot.”

Dom Berardinelli, a regional scout for the Court Report, an NBA scouting service, has mixed emotions. A former Pitt player and regular at all home games, Berardinelli wants to see Blair play for his alma mater for one more season. The scout in him, however, isn’t so optimistic.

Anyone have any problem with that trade? A big run in the NCAA Tournament meaning Blair would go pro? I don’t. I could live with a major rebuilding year with that trade.

Blair isn’t committing to anything one way or another. Coach Dixon has tought him the cliches well.

“That’s something for everyone else to talk about, not us,” Dixon said, making it clear a Blair-to-the-NBA discussion isn’t high on his priority list with Pitt so close to a Big East regular-season championship and No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

“It’s only speculation that’s based on inaccurate and incomplete information at this point. The decisions are made in April, May and June about who’s going to go and where they’re going to be picked. Right now, there probably are 200 guys going to the NBA. There are more guys going in the first round than there are spots. It’s not worth even talking about at this point.”

Dixon is a coach, right?

The last thing any coach wants now is a distraction.

But Dixon is lucky. Blair is more mature and sensible than many college sophomores. He has handled the NBA questions with the same ease he grabs a rebound. Asked about the draft in Connecticut last week, he said, “The NBA is somewhere over there. We’re here.” Asked about it two weeks ago, he said, “Not even thinking about that. I’ll worry about the future when it gets here, whenever that is. All I’m thinking about now is winning the Big East regular-season championship and the national championship.”

I’m with Blair and Dixon. This is something for other people to discuss if they want now. To me, it is not something I even care about at this point. It’s speculation, though, I expect he will turn pro. Especially if Pitt has a deep run. There is nothing like the shine of a big stage and winning to enhance prospects.

What helps Blair is that he already has the mentality of proving people wrong and always improving.

He was always too big or too small or too clumsy or too young.

DeJuan Blair never listened to any of it. That’s one of the reasons he works so hard to prove his doubters wrong.

“Whatever he uses as a personal motivating factor,” former Pitt star Charles Smith said, “it’s working.”

I’m just glad he’s here right now.

So former Pitt player, former Pitt coach and father of a Pitt player getting lots of irrational hope pinned on him has re-upped with Nick Saban.

After several days of specula­tion, Saban finally confirmed the hiring of Carolina Panthers defensive line coach Sal Sunseri as well. Willis and Sunseri will replace inside linebackers coach Kevin Steele and outside linebackers coach Lance Thompson, but Saban did not specify which assistant will coach which position.

“I’m extremely happy to add a coach the caliber of Sal Sunse­ri to our staff,” Saban said. “From his playing days at Pitt, to coaching in college football and the NFL, Sal has been suc­cessful at every level of the game.”

This is Sunseri’s second stint with Saban. He coached line­backers at LSU in 2000 under Sa­ban. In making the announce­ment in 2000, Saban said Sunseri was an excellent re­cruiter.

“When you talk about college football tradition and national prestige, it doesn’t get any better than the University of Alaba­ma,” Sunseri said. “This is a championship program with a championship coach in Nick Sa­ban and I feel fortunate to be a part of that.”

Not sure if there was any actual speculation, but Sunseri, the elder swears that Tino isn’t going to transfer to join him.

Before that led to any speculation of whether Tino Sunseri would transfer to Alabama, I contacted the Sunseri family. Here was the response: “Tino is a Pitt Panther and will stay one.”

Glad that was cleared up.

Drew Rosenhaus will rep LeSean McCoy. Actually might be the right fit for McCoy. He needs a hard-nosed agent. McCoy has from all reports tended to be deferential to coaches and authority. Not good for negotiating a contract. Hey, at least it isn’t Scott Boras.

Another verbal earlier in the week. This time a defensive end from New Jersey, Bernardo Nunez. This one was expected for at least a week. He’s a solid 3-star recruit. Plus, he has upside (Insider subs).

He is a solid tackler who wraps up, but will drop his head some at times. He has the initial burst to get a good up-field charge in passing situations. He will use his hands to try and push a blocker by when he gets to quarterback depth. Does a good job of getting his hands up when he can not get to the quarterback. Displays the tools to be a disruptive pass rusher, but needs to keep working on developing an arsenal of pass rush moves. Nunez is a promising prospect. Displays good natural tools and flashes some good ability.

Broken record time, but I still wish Pitt would recruit a real center. So far efforts to convert young O-linemen have not yielded much more than frustration and spring and summer fumbled snaps.

Well, it’s official.

“When I signed with Pitt out of prep school, I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew in my heart that God had given me a second chance. As a result of a season-ending injury my senior year, I learned a humbling lesson. Nothing is promised to us and it can all be taken away in a moment.

“During my two years at Pitt, I have received an overwhelming amount of love and acceptance, starting from my first visit to the university all the way through the end of this season. I have been treated with respect, class and consideration. For that I am incredibly grateful.

“Recently there has been a lot of speculation regarding my decision to either stay in school or enter the NFL Draft. I have frequently played both choices in my mind. I have considered my alternatives — and I have prayed. I have made my final decision and will forego my junior season at the University of Pittsburgh to enter the NFL Draft.

“I will always cherish the opportunity Pitt has given me. I wore number 25 with pride and tried to represent my coaches, teammates, staff and Panther fans with class. I would like to thank everyone involved with the Pitt football program for a wonderful two years in Pittsburgh.

“On a personal note to Coach Wannstedt: Thank you for your support, guidance and counsel. I take a part of you with me. Although I will be wearing a new jersey next season, I will forever be a Pitt Panther.

“One of my goals in coming here was to help my teammates and coaches bring Pitt back to its rightful place among the prominent teams in college football. We made big strides in that journey, and I believe Coach Wannstedt, the coaching staff and my teammates will continue that upward climb next season and into the future.

“Hail to Pitt!”

Good luck to LeSean McCoy. Please don’t get drafted by the Patriots.

It’s worth noting that over the two years at Pitt, he carried the ball 584 times. No other back in the country carried the ball more over those two years. I hope he is at peace with the decision.

I also hope he eventually takes advantage of the chance to finish his education. Pitt does allow its former players who leave for professional sports the opportunity to come back and finish their undergraduate education at no cost.

The only comparisons for this sort of thing are in basketball. And those tended to be long drawn out things. Odd that this is really not even a week since it started leaking that McCoy was going pro. It feels like it’s been at least two weeks of angst. Of course, two weeks roughly corresponds to the Sun Bowl, so that might explain things.

Here’s the one thing that is absolute. No decision has been made.

Pitt athletics spokesman E.J. Borghetti released this statement last night: “LeSean McCoy spoke to (Pitt coach) Dave Wannstedt (Monday) afternoon and said he is not ready to make a final decision on the NFL Draft. Coach Wannstedt encouraged LeSean to take the time he needs to make such an important decision.”

After that it is rumors, speculation and leaks.

Lots of sources saying all sorts of things.

Still, a source close to the situation said that Pitt’s chances of keeping McCoy are “very slim” at best — if they are even that good — and that he is not likely to change his mind and return to school.

And those around the program don’t expect McCoy to change his mind, either, and have begun to prepare as if he is not going to return.

He has not been on campus since before the Christmas break and he has not been in classes even though Pitt’s spring semester began last Monday. He also missed a postseason team meeting on Thursday and that fueled speculation about his departure.

This report from his local tv station put McCoy down in Florida preparing for the draft, then sort of backtracking, with his HS coach indicating it is very undecided.

“He’s torn,” Weachter said then. “He loves Pitt. He loves playing for Coach Wannstedt.”

Then there is the juicy stuff.

Very close sources to this story are 100% confident that Shady McCoy wants to return to Pitt. He does not want to turn professional and leave Pitt. He loves being “Shady” McCoy and the big man on campus at Pitt. That is not meant as a criticism. He loves the fans at Pitt and loves college life. However, he is being pressured to turn pro. LeSean doesn’t want to cause friction within his family. On the other hand, he doesn’t want to leave Pitt and be unhappy “going to work” in the NFL. From what I’m told, McCoy is “an emotional wreck” and my source told me that “he really feels sorry for McCoy.”

What is reality? What are the ulterior motives of those being a source? Those are the questions that do have to be asked. Information isn’t just “leaked” without a reason. Sure there are natural gossips, and those that like to show off how connected they are. Still, take everything with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Everyone has an agenda. Any “soruce” always risks discovery and a loss of those connections. There generally has to be another reason to give things away like this.

All I’m doing is keeping a jaundiced eye on this and will not go much further in speculation. There’s still two more days before the clock runs out and the decision is made for him.

It looks like it will be at least until Monday before there is an official word.

McCoy’s parents, Ron and Daphne, and brother, LeRon, accompanied him to the meeting at Pitt’s Duratz Athletic Complex on the South Side. Afterward, LeRon McCoy said his brother was overwhelmed by the gravity of the decision and will wait until next week to make up his mind.

“We had a great meeting, and coach Wannstedt put the options on the table,” said LeRon McCoy, who has spent three seasons in the NFL as a wide receiver. “LeSean is going to take some time to think about what he wants to do. It’s a very hard decision.”

…

“Coach Wannstedt is very supportive of LeSean in everything he does,” LeRon McCoy said. “It’s more about what he thinks is the best option for him. LeSean wants to make sure his decision is the right one.

“He’s going to use the time available to do that.”

It’s good that McCoy is taking his time. He does have that choice, but it really seems that he is still leaving.

McCoy still is expected to declare for the NFL draft. But the meeting gave Wannstedt the opportunity to sit with him, and the two were able to hear each other’s thoughts.

And while Wannstedt is hoping for McCoy to have a change of heart and return, it is clear those within the program already have begun moving forward as if McCoy, who has two years of eligibility remaining, is not going to be back. The most telling sign is that McCoy has not been on campus all week despite the fact classes began Monday.

Wannstedt spent the week recruiting in New York and New Jersey and said yesterday was the first time he and McCoy and his family had a good chance to have an open discussion about the subject. This weekend is a big weekend for recruiting, and the team is playing host to 14 recruits on their official visits.

“We had a lengthy meeting and tried to talk through the pros and cons of staying and leaving, and I tried to present him with some facts and truth, more than anything else,” Wannstedt said. “He is going to go home and sleep on it over the weekend, and I think he’ll have a definite decision the first of next week.”

[Emphasis added.]

Missing the first week of class to think about it  isn’t a killer, but it doesn’t help.

It’s no surprise that Coach Wannstedt was completely neutral on the issue other than to be supportive of whatever he does. There’s no other way to handle it. All you can do is present the facts and back the player.

“My role as the head coach is that I make a commitment to these kids that I want to see everyone of them graduate and I want to see everyone of them get in the NFL if they have the ability. That is the commitment I made to him, and I stand by it.”

Wannstedt said he hopes that McCoy comes back, but he is not going to let McCoy’s decision change the way the Panthers prepare for next season.

“To continue on here, our focus is to win a Big East championship,” Wannstedt said. “I made that very clear. I told him ‘I love you and as much as I want you back, we’re moving forward, and [if you decide to stay], you better be ready to go to work.’ It is about the team.”

Not that anyone was or is questioning McCoy’s work ethic. It’s not just about how many underclassmen are coming out, and how deep the draft is at running back. It’s about what McCoy wants to do. Is he ready to make football the full-time job? Does he want to go play in the NFL now? Or does he want to stay at Pitt for a little longer, playing college football and still have a little time for a life?

These are just my opinions. Don’t take them as the gospel or as heresy.

That McCoy is going really doesn’t surprise me. I know what he said, but plenty — like Larry Fitzgerald — have said similar in the past. No one should have been surprised.

El_Diablo: Colt McCoy and Michael Crabtree have announced they are returning next year as has another Heisman trophy hopeful , shady McCoy. When are you and your buddy bendel knock off the Shady will change his mind mantra.He loves Pitt, He loves Wanny and he loves the college life. Why is this so hard for you media guys to accept?

Paul Zeise: I’ll say it one more time — when his own coach has reservations about it, why shouldn’t we? I hope the kid comes back- it will make a more interesting team to cover that’s for sure. But again, when his own coach is telling people to hold off before they declare him back and when people around the program are still not completely sold, the responsible thing as a “media guy and a media guy buddy” is to report the fact that it is a long way between now and declaration day. We don’t make up stories, we don’t guess at things, we report what we know as has been told to us by people in the know. That’s what we do here.

Donald Brown told everyone he was coming back to UConn, but as soon as the International Bowl was over he admitted that he lied. I don’t think McCoy had his mind made up, and was necessarily lying. He was just trying to end speculation while the season was still happening. It’s what college players do, the same way college coaches try to deny interest in another job.

Now, I have to admit, that McCoy’s departure has me worried about the prospects for Pitt for next year. I know there’s a lot of optimism and enthusiasm for Chris Burns and even Shariff Harris. I know there a slew of other running backs coming in this recruiting class. McCoy, though, was a special player at the position and it isn’t some plug-and-play simplicity. McCoy accounted for 1793 yards (1488 rushing, 305 receiving) and 21 TDs. The rest of the offense produced 2659 total yards and 18 TDs.

Beyond that, the entire backfield is being replaced with Stephens-Howling and Collins both graduating. Whether you are of the opinion that the talent that will take over for them is superior or not, it also has to be acknowledged that Coach Wannstedt is not a big fan of inexperience and will be looking for ways to ease the players into the spots.

That may mean, gulp, actually trying to use the passing game. The place where the veterans and experience is located. Anyone feeling really confident about that, beyond falling back on — “well, it can’t get much worse”? From the subpar QB play to less than impressive route running by the receivers.

Beyond that, it can’t be glossed over that the O-line remains a big question mark. The team’s best lineman, C.J. Davis is gone. How well will Robb Houser come back from his leg injury and exactly who is going to be the back-up center? So far, there has been a distinct and noticeable inability to develop a center from the recruited offensive linemen. Jason Pinkston has not finished a season healthy yet and both times with the shoulders. How good the O-line is or can be is a huge unknown.

Then it comes to Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh. Whether it’s calling the game or developing QBs.

It keeps coming round to the chicken-egg thing with QB development. The supporters say he’s never had much to work with. Whether it was Chris Redmond and Kyle Boller with the Ravens or Stull, Bostick, Smith and Cross at Pitt. Detractors point to the fact that there was little improvement even with that material and he played a role at both spots in helping to evaluate the players to draft or recruit.

I’ve found myself increasingly siding with the detractors on Cavanaugh. He’s fine with QBs that all ready know what they are doing, but there aren’t any of those veterans available to him at Pitt. Palko graduated a couple years ago. I think he knows much about offense and what should be done. He does not do a good job teaching it. When it comes to calling the offense, he just doesn’t seem to have any feel for the game or what the players are or can do. There’s an absurd level of inconsistency.

We were very lucky to have McCoy, and have him healthy the entire time. That is just not easily replaced.

Both papers are reporting that LeSean McCoy will announce tomorrow that he is going to enter the NFL Draft.

Daphne McCoy, the running back’s mother, said Monday the family was awaiting a report from the NFL Draft advisory board, which graded McCoy a first-round pick. Fear of injury appears to be a key factor in the decision. A fractured leg ended McCoy’s high school senior season early.

He’s gotten advice from outside sources including Larry Fitzgerald.

I have no problem with this. A running back has a limited tread life. McCoy sustained a major injury in high school. At Pitt he is/was in a very run heavy offense that almost necessitates going pro as soon as possible to better maximize the time to make the money off the abilities he possesses.

I will miss him, and obviously this is a blow to Pitt for next year. I’m sure there will be more tomorrow.

Nothing confirmed or proven. And honestly a little strange, but take this one for what it is worth.

On New Year’s Day we reported that Pittsburgh running back LeSean McCoy was leaning towards entering the draft despite public statements to the contrary. Yesterday Panthers head coach Dave Wannstedt said he believed McCoy would return.

We now believe we know the reason why.

Sources from inside the league have told us McCoy received his evaluation from the league today and was told by the advisory committee he would not be selected in the first three rounds of April’s draft if he enters the event. It will be shocking to some yet not others who feel McCoy really does not have the makings of a feature runner at this time.

I have no sense as to the voracity of this. I’m too biased to be fair, but I have a hard time believing McCoy would not be a first or at worst early-second round pick. This is not some RB in a spread or running in the MAC.

Then there is this one, via Jon from Bleed Scarlet on USC WR Vidal Hazelton looking to transfer.

Hazelton’s current list of schools includes Pittsburgh and several Football Championship Subdivision schools (Western Michigan, Florida International, Georgia Southern).

If he transfers to a lower-division school, Hazelton will be granted instant eligibility.

“The option is whether he wants to play immediately or sit out for one year,” said Hazelton’s father, Dexter Hazelton. “I’d like him to stay closer to home.”

Two weeks ago, Hazelton narrowed his choices to Missouri and Rutgers but his father said they decided to reconsider their options. “I think (Missouri and Rutgers) are out,” Dexter Hazelton said.

Two other possibilities are Syracuse and Delaware. Hazelton is friends with former Penn State quarterback Pat Devlin, who recently transferred to Delaware.

“He’s contemplating hard about going I-AA,” Dexter Hazelton said. “He probably make a decision by end of the this week.”

Hazelton — who is from New York — recently learned that his grandfather has been diagnosed with cancer. The junior has been rumored to be a possible transfer since early this season. He suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him for several weeks and was actually interested in redshirting. He was not, but also found himself buried on the depth chart. He basically said he was transferring because of a combination of reasons which included a rift with Hazelton and the OC.

He seems more likely in my mind to go to Delaware and play right away. I just don’t see him coming to Pitt. I mean, has he seen Pitt’s passing offense? He’s got the talent to move to the top of Pitt’s depth chart — so I doubt the depth at the position would bother him.

I just don’t see it, and frankly Pitt has other needs than taking another WR who would have to sit next year and would only have one year of eligibility.

As I said in the earlier post, lots of unfinished loose-ends. I touched on one issue — Matt Cavanaugh. A “negative” issue. So, let’s go positive. Coach Wannstedt is saying that LeSean McCoy really is coming back.

After speaking with McCoy, McCoy’s family, and a number of NFL talent evaluators, all agreed, Wannstedt said, that it is in McCoy’s best interest — and it is his desire — to return to school for at least one more season.

“I had a good talk with his parents and several talks with LeSean,” Wannstedt said. “LeSean believes, and his mom and dad believe, that he’s excited about being here and we all believe that this next year will do nothing but enhance his opportunities for the National Football League.”

Or is it that simple? Not if you ask mom.

But McCoy’s mother said Monday that the family is awaiting a report from the NFL Draft Advisory Board before making a final decision.

“LeSean does love being there. He loves Pitt and loves the football team. I know he wants to be there,” Daphne McCoy said. “But he’s 20. At 20 years old, you don’t always know what’s good for you.

“For right now, it looks like he’ll be back next year. If the report tells us anything different, we’ll see if he should come out at this time.”

I side with mom, on this. Do I want McCoy back? You bet. Should he get all information before making a final decision and take a lot of that into account, especially the financial aspects? Oh, hell yes. Do I believe McCoy wants to come back? Yes. Should he? I think reasonable minds can differ on that.

Until I hear it from McCoy himself after he gets the NFL evaluation, it is not a done deal. I’d put it 80-20 that he stays, though.

A couple days later and not much has changed.

I found it amusing that on the day before the draft, the Delaware paper wrote about how Otah’s family was hoping he might go with pick #19.

So, even though they know it probably won’t happen, the Otah family will dream about Jeff playing just a half-hour drive up Interstate 95.

“That would be such a thrill for all of us, to have Jeffrey play for the Eagles,” Patricia Otah said. “We’re not getting our hopes up, but if we could pick any place, it would be someplace close to home. And Philadelphia is as close to home as he can get.”

Well, they got it half right with Otah going #19.

The latest pride of Delaware is the 5th Delaware high schooler taken in the first round.

…joining Randy White of McKean High (by Dallas with the second pick in 1975), Joe Campbell of Salesianum (New Orleans, seventh in 1977), Luke Petitgout of Sussex Central (New York Giants, 19th in 1999) and Kwame Harris of Newark (San Francisco, 26th in 2003).

As the NFL is a well-oiled publicity machine, they had quick Q&As with all first round picks on the teams’ respective sites that night.

On playing for Dave Wannstedt at the University of Pittsburgh: He just told me to be a man, and it’s a job now. Everyone playing is a grown man and you have to take care of your family. That is how he treated me when I was there, like a man. He let you make your own decisions, and if you couldn’t abide by that then you wouldn’t be playing.

They also had Otah on a plane to Charlotte that evening to be introduced to the local media.

Otah was puzzled, not knowing Carolina had only minutes before traded up with the Eagles for that 19th pick — and had chosen him.

“I thought it was a prank call,” Otah said.

But it wasn’t, although Otah wasn’t fully convinced until another call came. This time it was Panthers coach John Fox, whose voice Otah recognized from a meeting they had at his workout day for NFL teams.

Otah, as it turned out, was heading where he hoped he would be.

“This is where I envisioned myself going,” Otah said Sunday at Bank of America Stadium, where he had just finished taking a tour of the facility with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson.

Given that Carolina traded a good deal to get back into the first round to get Otah, there is probably more pressure on Otah to perform right away than on #13 Jonathan Stewart (who at least has DeAngelo Williams to share carries).

Despite the increase in the level of competition at the Division I level, Otah held his own. By the time he graduated Wannstedt was calling him “the best offensive lineman I’ve ever coached.”

Coach John Fox hopes he can say the same at some point down the road.

He’d better hope so.

The Panthers gave up a king’s ransom – a second- and a fourth-round pick this year and a first-round pick in 2009 – to get Otah with the 19th pick in the first round, so there will be plenty of inherent added pressure on him to play at a high level.

On the second day, Mike McGlynn and Kennard Cox got drafted.

McGlynn was a fourth-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles as the 109th overall pick, while Cox was selected in the seventh round [251st] by the Buffalo Bills as a compensatory selection.

Cox was the third CB taken by the Bills in this draft. It’s a safe bet as the second last pick in the NFL draft that Cox’s survival on the roster will be dictated by how well he performs on special teams.

As for McGlynn, Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid likes his versatility.

“In the fourth round, we took Mike McGlynn. He’s an offensive tackle from Pittsburgh, however he did play some guard and also some center. That’s where my interest came in, that he can play all three. He’s very much of the same mode as [RT] Jon Runyan. He’s got a nasty streak to him and he’ll fit in nice with our group of guys here.”

McGlynn, of course, is just ready to play.

On whether he spoke to the Eagles coaches about what position he would be playing: “I think (offensive line) coach (Juan) Castillo likes me inside, playing guard or possibly even center. I really don’t know. We really have not gotten into that to see where they want me to play. I will play anywhere, tackle, guard or center. It doesn’t matter. I am excited.”

On the free agent signings. Chris McKillop, Jameel Brady, Mike Phillips and Lowell Robinson are unsigned.

Joe Clermond signed with the Bears.  Darrell Strong with the Raiders. I’m mildly surprised neither got drafted. Strong’s physical characteristics and Clermond’s production just seemed like someone would take a 6th or 7th round flier on them.

The Carolina Panthers gambled by not taking Otah at the #13 spot. Instead reaching (in my opinion) for Jonathan Stewart of Oregon at Running Back. They then traded with Philly to move in to the #19 spot to grab Jeff Otah.

Otah was expected to go in the #12-20 range. He slid a touch further than expected. I really expected the Bears to grab him at #14 when he was there.

Congrats to Otah.

I admit to being surprised by this.

University of Pittsburgh junior forward Sam Young announced on Friday that he will return to Pitt for his senior season. Young, who will not declare for the NBA Draft, announced his decision two days before the NBA Draft Early Entry declaration deadline on Sunday, April 27.

“In discussing my options the last couple of weeks with Coach Dixon and my family, I feel that it is in my best interest to return to Pitt for my senior year,” Young said. “With the players we have returning to the team, we have an opportunity to accomplish something special next year. I can’t wait to get the season started.”

Not the part about Young coming back for his senior year. I’m just stunned he didn’t go to the Orlando pre-draft camp and workouts.

It was a no risk exploration to find out about his draft status for 2009 and to learn more about what they want to see from him. It’s why so many juniors who stand no chance of being drafted and clearly will return do declare for the NBA Draft. They just want to know where they stand.

That said, this is excellent news. Lots of expectations, but plenty of optimism as well.