Basketball season is getting much closer. One exhibition down. One more on Sunday. The season starts next Friday.

From playing in Greece to Cyprus to Israel to Canton? Interesting travelog for Tyrell Biggs, the 15th overall selection in the NBA D-League draft by the Canton Charge.

Biggs wore thick, black-rimmed glasses Thursday, looking like an imposing Steve Urkel. But there is nothing Urkel about his game.

The broad-shouldered Biggs can play the 3 or 4 position and is not shy about contact. He’s got range out to 20 feet, a back-to-the-basket repertoire, long arms and a good feel for the overall game.

Jensen loves the fact that Biggs played at Pitt for head coach Jamie Dixon and went through Big East battles.

“I always talk about my mindset being the same as the Cavaliers,” [Charge Head Coach Alex] Jensen said, referring to the organization’s emphasis on defense. “Tyrell is the same way, playing for Coach Dixon, one of the most successful college coaches in the last decade.

“So when he comes in, he already has that mindset and understands it.”

Best of luck to Biggs, and when the NBA returns I hope he can find  a spot.

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A dominating nationally televised effort on Thursday night earned Ray Graham a national offensive player of the week honor.

University of Pittsburgh junior running back Ray Graham has been named the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s National Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Panthers’ 44-17 victory over USF this past Thursday.

Graham (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) rushed for 226 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries (8.7 avg.) against previously unbeaten USF. He added four receptions for 42 yards.

The Walter Camp National Players of the Week are selected by a panel of national media members and administered by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

A cool honor. I would assume that Graham will also be given his second Big East offensive player of the week honor tomorrow. The only competition is WVU RB Dustin Garrison who ran for 291 yards and 2 TDs on 32 carries, but it came against Bowling Green.

Can I get that Big East office paranoia out there now by wondering if the Providence offices would bypass Graham in favor of Garrison out of petulance towards Pitt? Too soon?

Big Pitt event the other night. Athletics at Pitt: The Forefront of a Century of Change.

Many former Panther greats were in attendance, including Tony Dorsett (Pitt’s only Heisman Trophy winner), Larry Fitzgerald (first sophomore to win the Walter Camp Award and a unanimous first team All American selection), and track star Trecia-Kaye Smith (15-time NCAA Champion).

Individuals such as Bobby Grier (first African-American ever to play in the Sugar Bowl) and Hugh Green (three-time All American; winner of the Maxwell Award) shared the red carpet walk from the dais to the main stage with more recent Panthers such as women’s basketball standouts Lorri Johnson (all-time leading scorer) and Jennifer Bruce Scott (second leading scorer in history).

Short films narrated by broadcast pioneer Jack Whitaker and CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield – who was in attendance – and former Panther star Mark May brought to light the path of African-Americans in sport at Pitt. Costas conducted a question and answer with several former athletes, including all-time leading men’s basketball scorer and shot blocker Charles Smith and two-time Olympic gold medalist Roger Kingdom.

All former athletes in attendance were asked to sign a commemorative banner which will be placed on display in the Petersen Events Center.

The event culminated a dream for dinner chair Herb Douglas. The 89-year old, the oldest living former Panther athlete, had a vision of gathering as many generations together for one evening to celebrate the past 100 years and embrace the future. Douglas was the 1948 Olympic bronze medal winner in the long jump.

There’s a list of some of the former greats of Pitt athletics who attended the event. The collection of photographs could stand to have some captions, but I’m sure you can recognize plenty of people in the images.

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In case you somehow missed it, Khem Birch, part of Pitt’s 2011 recruiting class was named a McDonald’s All-American. The Canadian native who plays in Massachusetts was placed on the West squad.

From ESPN.com’s evaluation of each player:

Biancardi’s breakdown: He is a terrific, young athlete and tremendous shot-blocker. Defensively, Birch can cover a lot of ground and is one of the few prospects who can influence the game without leaving the paint.
Telep’s take: The 2010 LeBron James Academy was the setting, and Derrick Favors comparisons were ringing out from the crowd. Months later, Birch would switch from the class of 2012 back into the 2011 class. He played beat the buzzer, then inked with Pittsburgh giving Jamie Dixon his highest-rated recruit ever as Panthers head coach.

If Coach Dixon can get a few more in the next few years, there is a 20% chance that pundits will stop talking about how Pitt doesn’t recruit big name, top recruits.

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Merry Post-Christmas. Been down at the in-laws and it’s enough of a rural area that the local Starbucks was actually closed on Christmas Day. Caught me off-guard as I figured on at least having the early morning to glom on the wifi.

Obviously Pitt won before Christmas, knocking off American to give Coach Dixon his 200th win. Pitt’s offense was meh, but the defense did a good job on all but Vlad Molodveanu who had 23 of American’s 46 points. It has to be noted that Moldoveanu has done this in just about every game this season according to the announcers. Just going off in the second half, and hitting shots regardless of the defense. That’s what he did against Pitt.

Dante Taylor was aggressive on the boards, going after rebounds. He’s really embraced going for rebounds. Realizing it is the key to staying on the court and being a part of the offense. The scary was that the big guys  (McGhee and Taylor)  continue to be a purely random adventure at the FT line. This time 2-8. Coupled with Zanna and Robinson also being 50-60% FT shooters on most nights, and I wouldn’t be completely surprised to see a 4-guard lineup out there late in some games if Pitt is clinging to a lead.

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Pretty self explanatory. Bowl challenge by confidence. Rules are on the site if you are unsure as to how it works.

You rank your picks 1-34. If your pick wins, you get those points. Whoever finishes with the most points at the end of the Bowl Season will receive a prize that Chas will announce shortly.

Click here to create your entry. The password is pittblather

Over the past ten years or so, it has become a little more noticeable that the talent level of high school football in Western PA has started to drop. It’s not a slam. It isn’t that there isn’t still plenty of solid players being produced and even stars. But there is definitely less big name talent than in the past.

Some of it is simply the population trends that has the area (and the whole state) losing population. Some of it is simply cyclical as there is a down time in the talent.

Still nothing drove the drop-off home like the P-G’s strange piece on the offensive talent in the region and its impact on college football. The players it hyped were Pitt’s Dion Lewis and Jon Baldwin, WVU’s Noel Devine, PSU’s Evan Royster and Terrelle Pryor of OSU. Of those players, only Baldwin and Pryor are actually from the area. Devine is from Florida, Lewis — New York and Royster is from Virginia.

If one of these players wins the Heisman, it would mark a return to a day when this part of the country turned out the best offensive skill players college football had to offer.

Between 1973-76, this region had a firm stranglehold on the Heisman

Penn State running back John Cappelletti won it in 1973, Ohio State running back Archie Griffin grabbed it in 1974 and ’75, and Pitt running back Tony Dorsett claimed it in 1976.

So, um, Western PA is now claiming Columbus and Morgantown?

There’s some excellent talent on the teams the P-G covers, and of course there is plenty of interest in Pryor because of his local ties. Yes, there’s a possibility of seeing the Heisman be tied in to the area this year. Still, couldn’t there have been a less awkward way to shoehorn them into a preview piece?

One of the really good things announced by Coach Wannstedt at the start of camp was this.

The final grades from summer school are beginning to come in.

I do have great news. We have nine scholarship seniors: Dan Hutchins and Tyler Tkach have already graduated. Greg Romeus, Greg Cross and Ricky Gary will all be graduating this week as well, so five of our nine scholarship seniors on the entire team will have their degrees going into their senior year. Jabaal Sheard and Dom DeCicco were not redshirted, so they’re progressing and will need the full four years to finish up.

That’s outstanding that some seniors have or will already have graduated before the season has started. It’s so easy to gloss over the educational part of this. No, that isn’t why they were recruited, and most of the time it has little to do with what school they chose. But to make it to their senior year and be on track or already with enough credits to graduate, that is a credit to them for taking the student aspect serious enough.

Then there are the top players at Pitt with their own websites and attention, getting some more.

Three Pitt football players have been selected preseason candidates for the Maxwell Football Club’s most prestigious awards, it was announced today.

Pitt junior receiver Jon Baldwin (JonBaldwin82.com) and sophomore running back Dion Lewis (DionLewis28.com) have been named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, annually presented to the “outstanding collegiate football player in America,” while senior defensive end Greg Romeus (GregRomeus91.com) has been named a candidate for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which honors the nation’s top defensive player.

The Maxwell Award has been presented since 1937 and is named in honor of sportswriter Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell. The Chuck Bednarik Award, named after the College and Pro Football Hall of Famer, has been presented since 1995.

Not surprising that they are on the lists.

Just realized I missed a few tabs in the browsers and a couple other things I came across to toss into the mix.

The Austin American Statesman is doing its own top-25 and put Pitt at #21.

Pitt is an experienced team, but it has only nine seniors on scholarship. Pinkston is the only senior who starts on offense. Romeus is one of three seniors starting on defense.

Well, the only seniors who are set at the positions. Alex Karabin is a 5th year senior that could be the starting Center by the time of the Utah game.

Karabin worked with quarterback Tino Sunseri last year on the second team and has a natural chemistry with this year’s starting signal-caller.

“We kind of know what the other one’s going to say before he says it,” he said.

And Karabin is the team’s greybeard, thanks to his year in prep school and a redshirt season. He’ll turn 24 this fall.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the oldest guy on the team,” he said. “I’m always telling the freshmen and the young guys on the line what they have to do and what’s expected.”

Karabin is expected to make all the calls and anchor an O-line that was arguably the best in the Big East last year. And to do so while still paying his own tuition. He said earning a scholarship would be great “but that it’s more important to win games.”

Odds are if Pitt has an available scholarship, Karabin will get it.

Speaking of seniors, SI.com published some of TFYDraft.com’s grades for top seniors. Greg Romeus graded out 6th and Jabaal Sheard also placed among top seniors.

Greg Romeus/DE/Pittbugh/6.8: Romeus has been a force for the Panthers defense since his freshman season. He’s a terrific athlete with an NFL body (6-5, 267).

…

Jabaal Sheard/DE/Pittsburgh/6.2: Sheard is a terrific player and a solid pass rushing end yet can be overlooked playing on the same line as Greg Romeus.

As has become seemingly common — especially at the skill positions — the juniors (not graded in that list) are going to be high on the actual draft list next winter.

The low grades for senior wide receivers won’t matter next April since the elite pass-catchers have been leaving early for the NFL. Georgia’s A.J. Green, Alabama’s Julio Jones, Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd and Pittsburgh’s Jon Baldwin, all juniors, should make a splash in next year’s draft.

Not sure which is really the best WR of the bunch. Should be quite a debate.

Brandon Ifill — incoming freshman defensive back — was named the male athlete of the year by the Post-Gazette for the East region.

“He’s a high-character young man, the type of kid who held the team together through adversity,” [Penn Hills Head Coach Ron] Graham said. “Some of the things that came as far as what we faced this year, he was the one who held it all together.”

In addition to his football skills, Ifill is also a standout in track and field, winning the WPIAL 200-meter dash title.

For his leadership as much as for his 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash, Ifill has been selected as the PG East Male High School Athlete of the Year.

A Pitt football recruit, Ifill was chosen over candidates at high schools throughout the PG East circulation area.

“When things changed or became challenging for us, he was one of the kids who maintained discipline,” Graham said. “He just was a real leader on and off the field.

“He’s a good student who was well-respected on the team and within the school. He’s just one of those kids you like to have in your program. He’s really just an excellent student-athlete.”

Nicely done.

The preview mags are coming. The preview mags are coming.

• Athlon — May 27
• Sporting News — June 1
• Phil Steele (chorus of angels singing) — June 8

Usually dropping about the same time as Athlon is Lindy’s. They have their preseason rankings and put Pitt at #14 — and winning the Big East. WVU clocks in at 19th and Cinci at 22d. Very kind to the Big East.

Lindy’s also likes Pitt for their All-American preseason team.

Individually, three Panthers were named to the Lindy’s All-America Team. Sophomore running back Dion Lewis and senior defensive end Greg Romeus were named first team All-Americans, while junior receiver Jon Baldwin was a second-team selection.

Lewis is 1st team RB with returning Heisman winner, Alabama’s Mark Ingram. Behind them are Jacquizz Rodgers of Oregon State and Noel Devine of WVU.

Baldwin was beaten for 1st team honors by Michael Floyd of ND (who actually should have a big year with Brian Kelly’s offense) and Georgia’s A.J. Green.

That’s kind of what it feels like. Even as a fan, I was feeling a little of the grind of the season. No chance to sit back and look at things. Always having to look for the next bit of news and hint as to what is next.

Now, Pitt with several days off, and really just Big East accolades as the primary storylines. The other teams can start playing and I can just enjoy them for the most part.

Well, that and the status of Jermaine Dixon’s ankle. No news on that yet.

While, as expected, Pitt placed only 1 player in 18 spots for various levels of All-Big East, Pitt is in the running for some individual accolades.

Since the conference instituted the Most Improved Player award in 1997, five Pitt players have won — Sam Young, Aaron Gray, Carl Krauser, Brandin Knight and Ricardo Greer. During that span, only one other school has won the award more than once (Syracuse, three).

It is the postseason award that Dixon and his staff hold most dear.

Gibbs, a Scotch Plains, N.J., native, is averaging a team-best 16.2 points and enhanced his case with a 25-footer at the buzzer to beat Providence, 73-71, on Thursday at Petersen Events Center. Gibbs averaged 4.3 points per game off the bench as a freshman.

Other top candidates for the award are Providence junior Jamine Peterson (19.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg) and Notre Dame sophomore Tim Abromaitis (17.2 ppg), both of whom redshirted last season, along with Marquette’s Jimmy Butler, Georgetown’s Austin Freeman and West Virginia’s Kevin Jones.

Pitt also is in the running for other awards — all based on coaches’ voting — that will be announced today. Senior guard Jermaine Dixon is a possibility for Defensive Player of the Year and the Sportsmanship Award, and junior forward Gilbert Brown is a factor for the Sixth Man of the Year award.

Dixon will have to beat out players such as Rutgers center Hamady Ndiaye (4.5 blocks per game), Andy Rautins of Syracuse and Jerome Dyson of Connecticut to give Pitt its first Defensive Player of the Year trophy since the award began in 1982.

Syracuse sophomore forward Kris Joseph (11.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg) is a heavy favorite for the Sixth Man Award, ahead of Gavin Edwards of Connecticut, Dwight Hardy of St. John’s and Brown.

Well, the news is tweeted. Congrats to Ashton Gibbs.

Pittsburgh’s Ashton Gibbs was named the BIG EAST Most Improved Player.

Keepeing the streak of every other year for MIP going.

I figured Most Improved would be between Gibbs and Abromaitis. Peterson is hurt by how bad the Friars are and the skewing of offensive numbers. The edge for Gibbs is the extra exposure he has gotten. Abromaitis has spent most of the season in the shadow of Harnagody. Also, Gibbs has had to do a lot more in running the team.

Really don’t see Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown winning Defensive Player and Sixth Man awards. Not sure that he will get it with all the games he has missed. As for Brown, well that one is almost certainly going to Joseph of Syracuse.

And yes it did. Also Hamady Ndiaye of Rutgers took defensive player of the year.

Then there is BE Coach of the Year. Again, have to expect Boeheim to take that one. I’m okay with it, but a tie would be nice.

For all of the well-deserved criticism the Big East gets for generally copping out when it comes to league awards — there’s a six-man all-conference first-team and a co-something almost every year — this is one time when co-Coach of the Year may be the only way to go. Boeheim took a Syracuse team tabbed for sixth in the coaches’ pre-season poll and led the Orange to the outright league title and a certain No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But Dixon took a Pitt team ravaged by personnel losses and picked for ninth in the pre-season to a tie for second — and the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament. Villanova and West Virginia have lower Big East Tournament seeds but will have higher NCAA Tournament seeds than the Panthers.

Basketball Prospectus breaks down the Big East Tournament in Log5 style to say Pitt is a distant 4th in best chance to win it. Seems about right to me.

Finally, while this has nothing to do with Pitt, recommended read is the NY Times examination of Seton Hall’s Bobby Gonzalez.

“He has a tremendous skill for being able to alienate himself from everyone,” said Emanuel Richardson, an assistant at the University of Arizona who has known Gonzalez since his days as a high school assistant 20 years ago. “He uses that as a mechanism to act the way he does. It’s his gift and curse. When I’d recruit against him he’d tell me, ‘You’re a shark, but I’m a great white.'”

In a side story talking about his time at Manhattan, it sums it up.

…Athletic Director Bob Byrnes told a story about the bus company Manhattan used to travel to games.

“The guy who runs the bus company called me and said something to the effect of: ‘I have 131 drivers that drive for us. But we’re down to one guy that will drive for Bobby Gonzalez,'” Byrnes said.

I still cringe at the thought that Sonny Vaccarro — then at Adidas, the supplier of Pitt gear —  once pushed for him to get the Pitt job after Howland left.

I’m sure if I actually went back and reviewed some past liveblogs, I could find one that had less complaints and was more distracted by peripheral items than the actual game. But, I can’t remember one.

Pit never was threatened in this game. Other than a brief 5-3 RU lead, this one was never in doubt. From7 minutes into the game, Pitt held a double-digit lead. 33 of the 40 minutes.  As dominate as Pitt was, Rutgers completely rolled over.

The game ended. The regular season over, Coach Dixon got properly effusive about the team’s accomplishments — and that it isn’t over yet.

“It says a lot about this group and the character they have to finish in second place,” coach Jamie Dixon said.

“They weren’t picked second by anybody. But they’re a good group of kids, and I’m proud of them. This team has improved all year, and I don’t think we want to stop improving now. This team has improved more than any team in the country, more than any team, probably, ever has from November to March.

“Why stop now?”

Why, indeed?

Jermaine Dixon echoed those thoughts.

“I’m really proud,” senior guard Jermaine Dixon, the team’s lone returning starter. “I knew we could do it. We accomplished a lot this year, but we’re not done.”

Dixon hurt his ankle, but everyone seems to suggest that it was precautionary that he was kept out and he will be fine. Hope so. We have seen this year, how different Pitt is without him. Even without being able to have him practice with the team.

Now, with a few days before the BET begins, the usual argument will reign as to whether Pitt should put as much emphasis on the Big East Tournament. Whether it will risk leaving them drained or worse, injured for the NCAA Tournament.

My thought is simply that with a team like Pitt, they have to play hard and with the goal of winning the BET. They are not mature enough to be able to “turn it on or off.” Coach Dixon has to emphasize the goal of winning each and every game. If they fall at some point in the BET, then you can revise and say things like the NCAA is what matters. But right now, the team has to think about winning at Madison Square Garden.

For the record, I am totally in agreement with Gil Brown.

Pitt could play one of three different teams in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals — Notre Dame, Seton Hall or Providence — but Gilbert Brown wants another shot at the Fighting Irish.

Pitt lost to Notre Dame, 68-53, in South Bend two weeks ago. It’s the Panthers’ only loss in their past nine games.

“It would be good to play Notre Dame again, seeing how they handled us pretty well at their place,” Brown said. “It would be a great rematch at the Garden, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The way the bracket is set, those are the three teams Pitt could possibly face. My feeling is Pitt under Coach Dixon just knows how to adjust when they get in a rematch with teams — Villanova last year being the exception. So as good as ND has been playing, I want to see Pitt with another shot at MSG.

Meanwhile Dante Taylor is looking and feeling a lot better these days.

“It felt real good,” Taylor said. “I got some confidence back, and I was trying to be aggressive.”

Taylor said he lost some confidence after going scoreless in four consecutive games in mid-season and totaling two points in a six-game span from Jan. 24-Feb. 8.

“I tried to not let it get to me,” he said. “I still came out and played hard.”

He finished with 11 ponts and 7 rebounds and definitely looked more comfortable out there. Granted it was against Rutgers, but to use Herm Edwards’ lesser used quotes: We can build on this.

The Big East announced its All-Big East teams. The good news, the 11 player All-Big East teams are done. That does mean that only Ashton Gibbs made it  as a 2d team All-Big East player. No one else in the 3 teams or even honorable mention. Actually, though, that doesn’t surprise me.

It’s a reflection of how good Pitt has been as a team — and how shockingly well they have played. Realistically, the only players you could consider besides Gibbs on the All-Big East would have been Wanamaker and Jermaine Dixon. Dixon, though, missed most of the non-con with his injuries to make his stats smaller.

Figure this argument will just heat up further over the next week.

Forget on the national level, the Big East is tough enough. The debate seems to be between Jamie Dixon and Jim Boeheim, with some darkhorse momentum for Buzz Williams. All three have their teams significantly overachieving from expectations. All three saw talent departing for the NBA, NBDL or Europe.

Syracuse was picked to finish 6th and will finish with the Big East regular season title outright and untied unless they blow their final 2 and Nova recovers.

Pitt was picked for 9th and could finish tied for 3d or take it outright (it’s possible Pitt could end up in 2d, but that would take a Villanova collapse and Pitt sweeping).

For those who want to make it a simple math problem based on projections to finish and Pitt finishing 6 spots higher trumps finishing 5 spots higher by Syracuse. Don’t. Then you have to acknowledge that Marquette if they finish 5th beat their 12th place projection by 7.

Is it talent? I know we are used to presuming that Syracuse has the talent. If you look in their rotation, though, they don’t have a true blue-chipper. No 5-star players.

Player  — Rivals.com — Scout.com

Syracuse

Jackson —-4 ————— 4

Jardine —- 4 ————— 4

Onuaku —-3 ————— 3

Joseph —- 3 ————— 4

Triche —– 3 ————– 3

Rautins —- NR ———– 1

Johnson — 2 ————– 2

Pitt

Brown ——- 4 ———– 4

Wanamaker — 4 ———- 4

McGhee —— 3 ———- 3

Gibbs ——— 3 ———- 3

Robinson —- 3 ———- 3

Woodall —— 3 ———- 3

Dixon ——— NR ——- 2

Taylor ——– 5 ———- 5

Obviously Rautins has developed and may have been overlooked in Canada. Wesley Johnson was another clear miss from being missed in Texas and transferring out of Iowa State. But it is still 3- and 4-star guys that make up their team. Just like Pitt. Heck if you just look at the “stars” without context, it looks like Pitt has the better overall squad.

Syracuse plays 2 seniors, 2 juniors 2 sophomores and 1 freshman.

Pitt plays 1 senior, 3 juniors, 2 sophomores and 2 freshman.

Pitt had to play early without senior Jermaine Dixon and even had him out for a game later in the Big East season. Plus, Pitt played the non-con without junior Gilbert Brown. Naturally Pitt had more struggles. Pitt had a spell of losing 4 of 5.

Syracuse hasn’t had significant injuries, but they have been excellent all season. Only 2 losses. They have big wins out of conference — to further buttress the argument of how good they have been from the start (LeMoyne may still be funny, but it was exhibition and doesn’t count).

Sean at Nunes has no answer to the issue, because he doesn’t know how to define the question.

Does Coach Dixon get the nod because he took a team that was going to be a bubble team and have them in contention for a #4 or #3 seed? Is it Boeheim with a squad expected to make the tournament, but maybe in the 6-8 seed range and instead has them locked for a #1 seed?

A tie almost seems like the right call, but I have to say the more I look at this, the more I won’t get too worked up if Boeheim or Dixon gets it.

It seems to me that either one has a legitimate claim to the honor. I really can’t that bent out of shape if Coach Dixon doesn’t get it this time.

If you feel strongly one way or another make the case. Just spare me the issue of whether Boeheim has underachieved with more talent in the past. That has nothing to do with a Coach of the Year award.  It is a single season snapshot. Not rewards or penalties for the past.

You know this really annoyed me. I was thinking after the Pitt win yesterday how Gary McGhee could very well be Pitt’s most improved player and be in play for the Big East’s award. Unfortunately, Bob Smizik beat me to it and went to hyperbolic extremes in extolling McGhee’s virtues.

If McGhee doesn’t win the award, there should be an investigation. In fact, if he doesn’t win it unanimously there should be an investigation.

Furthermore, after this season they should name it the Gary McGhee Award.

McGhee, a 6-foot-10 junior from Anderson, Ind., was the proverbial guy who couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time during his first two seasons at Pitt.

What were those first two years like? Here’s what the Pitt media guide says about McGhee‘s career prior to this season:

“. . . his most memorable contest was a six-point, four-rebound performance at South Florida.’’

In his first two season, McGhee played in 52 games, averaged six minutes, 1.5 rebounds and 1.3 points.

Anyone who expected to see significant changes in those numbers this season simply isn’t telling the truth. McGhee looked to have no future at Pitt other than sitting on the bench.

But look what’s happened to Gary McGhee.

He can shoot, he can pass, he can rebound and, brother, he can defend.

I’m not arguing with it. Not only has McGhee vastly improved from his first two years, his improvements from the start of the season to this point have been incredible. Or have they?

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Dion Lewis’ name came up a whole lot after the college football season ended. It’s quite a resume the freshman has already accumulated.

There are the multiple “Freshman of the year” awards from the Sporting News, CBS Sportsline, ECAC and CollegeFootballNews.com.

He couldn’t crack a 1st team All-American ballot with Heisman winner Mark Ingram and finalist Toby Gerhart ahead of him, but was on numerous second-teams.

He was a second-team All-America selection by the AP as well as by Sporting News, CBSSports.com, SI.com, Rivals.com and Scout.com.

So, cue the stories on how he handles it all.

In fact, beyond a little bit of a grin or perhaps a little chuckle, Lewis, who was the Big East Conference offensive player and rookie of the year and the only true freshman to be named Tuesday to The Associated Press All-America college football team, doesn’t let on that he understands the magnitude of what he has been able to do.

That aspect, however, is not surprising to his coaches and teammates because Lewis, 19, is described by them as focused, driven and mature beyond his years.

“You always worry about players of any age handling the hype, the attention, the accolades, but especially freshmen because it is all new to them,” said Pitt running backs coach David Walker. “But not Dion, he’s not changed one bit, not even a little. He’s the same guy he was when nobody outside of the team knew who he was. He’s humble, he’s very well grounded and he just wants to be the best player he can be.”

What? You were expecting a “I’m Rick  James, bitch!” moment? Everything this whole season with Dion Lewis has been low key and humble. And the advice he keeps getting is to do more of the same.

[Tony] Dorsett could feel Lewis’ pain. He embraced Lewis afterward and encouraged him to keep running — even if it means erasing his name from the record book.

“(Dorsett) told me he enjoys watching me play,” said Lewis, who has only seen Dorsett highlights on YouTube videos. “He told me to stay humble.”

Humility is hardly a problem for Lewis. Even at 19, he readily shares the spotlight with his teammates.

“Dion is always like that,” said sophomore receiver Jonathan Baldwin, who along with Lewis is among 10 Panthers to earn All-Big East first-team honors. “After the game, he was talking about how bad it felt not being able to give the seniors a Big East championship.”

He seems a near lock to get the 47 yards needed to pass Tony Dorsett’s freshman rushing record — though Dorsett set it with one less game.

While on the subject of Dion Lewis and Pitt’s running game. Anyone else think that RB Coach David Walker should be up a raise or at least a bonus? He keeps coaching the running game to better than expected results. Yes the talent is key, but he has some sort of touch when it comes to getting results year-in-year-out where ever he is.

Yes, the O-line was a huge factor in helping Lewis, which will make it very likely that next year could see Lewis in a “sophomore slump” as much because of a new O-line as anything else.