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.

Isn’t everyone glad, my vote didn’t count for Big East Player of the Year ( and to steal from Bill Simmons, “the answer, as always, I’m an idiot.”)?

Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet and Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair, two of the nation’s top centers, have been named BIG EAST Co-Players of the Year by a vote of the league’s head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players.

The sharing of Player of the Year honors is the first since 2001-02 when two players from the same schools, Connecticut’s Caron Butler and Pittsburgh’s Brandin Knight, were tabbed by the BIG EAST coaches.  Splitting the award between two players has occurred five times in the 30-year history of the BIG EAST.

Both players helped their respective teams to 15-3 BIG EAST records which tied for the second place in the conference.

This season, Thabeet was the defensive anchor to Connecticut’s success.  The 7-3 junior averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and a blocked shot mark of 4.5 that is second in the nation.  With 89 blocks in league games this season, Thabeet is already second on the all-time BIG EAST blocks list with 243, trailing Patrick Ewing by only five.  Thabeet has been named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year for the past two seasons.

Blair was the force in the paint for the Panthers.  The 6-7 center averaged 15.6 points and a league-leading 12.4 boards.  He shot 59.6 percent from the floor and posted 17 double-doubles.  The sophomore was the only unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team.  Last year, Blair was named BIG EAST Co-Rookie of the Year.

No tally of the final votes to see if Sam Young (arguably) took any votes from Blair. The ballot had to be in on Friday — before Sam Young overpowered UConn again.

The Pitt press release notes that Blair is the third Pitt player to get BE Player of the Year honors with Knight and Charles Smith.

Blair was also named the District II POY by the US Basketball Writers Association. District II encompasses NY, NJ, DE, DC, PA and WV. Coach Dixon took Coach of the Year honors. On their all-D-II team Blair, Sam Young and Levance Fields were all included.

Gary Parrish at CBS Sportsline lists his picks for Conference POYs and COYs. He gives the Big East awards to DeJuan Blair and Coach Dixon.

Parrish  also likes Blair enough to name him to his list of 1st-team All-Americans. And he put Sam Young on the 3d team.

The polls came out yesterday, and somewhat surprisingly Pitt came very close to being #1 in the AP Writers poll. Of the 71 voters, 33 put Pitt at #1, 35 had UNC, 2 chose Memphis and 1 went to Louisville. Gary Parrish at CBS Sports decided Pitt was #1.

The Coaches were a bit more static about not changing their #1 team.

That’s all right. I don’t think anyone really wants to be the #1 team in the polls at this point.

The only thing Pitt wants with a #1 next to itself will be the seed lines.

“I think it’s almost certain to happen,” he said. “There will be two from Pitt, UConn and Louisville.”

Lunardi, who held a national conference call last week, predicted Pitt is a lock to receive its first-ever No. 1 seed when the brackets are announced Sunday, especially with wins over Marquette and Connecticut in the past week.

But he feels there is almost no chance three Big East teams will receive three No. 1 seeds, regardless of what takes place at Madison Square Garden this week.

“Some people are trying to paint whether all three (Pitt, UConn and Louisville) should be on the top line,” he said. “I don’t see that happening. Maybe it’s political, but even if you take all that out, it’s hard for people to fathom that three of the best four teams are in the same conference.”

By location, Pitt is almost certain to be at Dayton. That would have their first round opponent be the winner from the play-in game.

As for the announced All-Big East teams, Sam Young repeats putting him in a limited company.

This is only the second time Pitt placed two players on the all-Big East first team — Charles Smith and Jerome Lane in 1986-87 were the originals — and the third time that three Pitt players received all-Big East honors in the same season.

Young becomes only the fourth Pitt player to earn all-Big East first-team honors twice. The others were Aaron Gray (2005-07), Brian Shorter (1988-90) and Smith (1986-88).

A total of 16 players received all-conference honors — six on the first team and five on the second and third teams — in voting by Big East coaches. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.

“I think it was a tough call for the coaches (to determine) which of our three to vote for,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “I’m glad they all got honored.”

Not that seeing Fields all the way down on 3d team wasn’t a shock. Even Coach Dixon — while trying to be neutral about it — seemed to be taking a shot at his fellow coaches.

The biggest surprise was that Fields was named to the third team. Fields leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.1), is second in assists (7.6 per game) and averages 10.9 points per game. His assist-to-turnover ratio is almost twice as good as Marquette’s Dominic James (2.7), his closest competitor in the Big East.

Two other point guards made second-team all-conference ahead of Fields — Connecticut senior A.J. Price and Syracuse sophomore Jonny Flynn.

“It’s not a surprise,” Dixon said. “Sometimes, I think I value what point guards do more than other coaches. I look at what they do more than the scoring. I put more value on assists than the fans, coaches and media do. His assist-to-turnover ratio should be a bigger story than it has been. But then again, he’s a senior and it’s an old story.”

Roughly translated:  they are shortsighted, clueless fools.

NBE Basketball Report gave their awards.

DeJuan Blair took POY honors. Sam Young was 1st team All-Big East, Fields was 2nd. Coach Dixon was COY and they gave Ashton Gibbs honorable mention for freshmen.

You can have that silly official list of All-Big East and POY (coming tomorrow) stuff. Made up of votes from coaches in the conference.  What do they know?

Here’s the results of a Big East Bloggers roundtable. A big thanks to the East Coast Bias for deciding to pull this together.

DeJuan Blair took home player of the year honors amongst BE Bloggers. Lots of good stuff in the polling. Including a lot of underrated/overrated things. On the all BE-team. A fun read.

Meanwhile, John Gasaway at Basketball Prospectus picks DeJuan Blair over Blake Griffin for national POY (hat tip to Joe).

Sure enough, Blair is the more efficient offensive weapon, but the magnitude of the difference here (keeping in mind that Griffin’s offensive rating is of course excellent in its own right) can’t be attributed to workload alone. Part of it is Blair’s superiority on the offensive glass. Another factor helping Blair in this comparison is that he commits fewer turnovers than Griffin does, even when adjusted for each player’s prominence in their offense. At least one part of this difference in efficiency, however, can be explained even more simply: Blair shoots fewer free throws. With these two players, that’s a good thing.

That being said, throw Griffin at any of ten recent seasons and I’d wager you’d find me supporting him for POY in six or seven of them. Alas, this year is different.

DeJuan Blair is both one of the most efficient offensive players in the nation and the second best defensive rebounder in major-conference hoops over the past five seasons. His unprecedented offensive rebounding has played a major role in making his team quite possibly the single most effective offense in the country. When he’s in foul trouble, Pitt fans get visibly nervous. When he’s not, they have the sense that their team can do anything, up to and including beating Connecticut twice. He flipped Hasheem Thabeet over his head. He wears what appear to be headbands on his biceps. He even commits steals.

It’s enough to make him my Player of the Year. Congratulations, DeJuan.

Nice.

After a couple years of being mocked for 11 player deep 1st team All-Big East squads. And a system that would have some 33 players chosen for the various levels, the Big East went to a more traditional style. Here’s the All BE-teams.

ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM
Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, C, Jr., 7-3, 263, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Terrence Williams, Louisville, F, Sr., 6-6, 210, Seattle, Wash.
Jerel McNeal, Marquette, G, Sr., 6-3, 200 Chicago, Ill.
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, F, Jr., 6-8, 251, Schererville, Ind.
DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh, C, So., 6-7, 265, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Sam Young, Pittsburgh, F, Sr., 6-6, 215, Clinton, Md.

ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM
A.J. Price, Connecticut, G, Sr., 6-2, 181, Amityville, N.Y.
Wesley Matthews, Marquette, G, Sr., 6-5, 215, Madison, Wis.
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse, G, So., 6-0, 185, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Dante Cunningham, Villanova, F, Sr., 6-8, 230, Silver Spring, Md.
Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia, F, Jr., 6-7, 225, Newark, N.J.

ALL-BIG EAST THIRD TEAM
Deonta Vaughn, Cincinnati, G, Jr., 6-1, 195, Indianapolis, Ind.
Jeff Adrien, Connecticut, F, Sr., 6-7, 243, Brookline, Mass.
Earl Clark, Louisville, G/F, Jr., 6-8, 220, Rahway, N.J.
Levance Fields, Pittsburgh, G, Sr., 5-10, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall, G, So., 6-5, 185, Bronx, N.Y.

BIG EAST HONORABLE MENTION
Weyinmi Efejuku, Providence, G, Sr., 6-5, 210, Fresh Meadows, N.Y.
Dominique Jones, USF, G, So., 6-4, 205, Lake Wales, Fla.
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova, G, Jr., 6-2, 195, Herndon, Va.
Alex Ruoff, West Virginia, G, Sr., 6-6, 220, Spring Hill, Fla.

BIG EAST ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Yancy Gates, Cincinnati, F, Fr., 6-9, 255, Cincinnati, Ohio
Kemba Walker, Connecticut, G, Fr., 6-0, 175, Bronx, N.Y.
Greg Monroe, Georgetown, C, Fr., 6-10, 240, Gretna, La.
Samardo Samuels, Louisville, F, Fr., 6-8, 240, Trelawny, Jamaica
Mike Rosario, Rutgers, G, Fr., 6-3, 180, Jersey City, N.J.
Devin Ebanks, West Virginia, F, Fr., 6-9, 205, Long Island City, N.Y.

DeJuan Blair was the only unanimous selection for the 1st team. Mildly surprising that Thabeet was not unanimous.

I’m stunned good and bad. Understand, that this was voted by the coaches and the ballots had to be in by Friday — in other words before Sam Young blew through UConn on Saturday.

I cannot believe that Levance Fields was only 3d team. That’s ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

I know Harangody’s numbers are as good as last year, but forget the fact that ND is worse. The fact is, that Harangody plays just as minimalist defense as the rest of the Irish. It’s not like he’s a force at both ends.

The East Coast Bias is in the process of putting together a bloggers All-Big East awards set.

Here’s how I voted for an All-Big East team. I opted to do it with the idea of making a complete starting five.

1. Levance Fields, PG, Pitt
   
2. Jerel McNeal, SG, Marquette
   
3. Hasheem Thabeet, C, UConn
   
4. Terrance Williams, SF, Louisville
   
5. DeJuan Blair, PF, Pitt

I agonized about leaving off Sam Young off the vote, but with only 5 spots, wanting a complete team and trying to be somewhat un-biased I had to go with this group.

Coach Dixon has continually told this team that they could be the best Pitt team ever. That doesn’t mean that he will not declare what they want to accomplish — win it all.

It realizes it has to get to the Final Four not only to have a chance to be champions, but to make this marvelous season unforgettable.

“Everybody on the team knows it’s going to come down to March for us,” point guard extraordinaire Levance Fields said.

“I love those expectations. I love that pressure. That’s why we came to the University of Pittsburgh. We want to put Pitt where it belongs.”

Everything is in place for it to happen. It’s not just that No. 1 ranking, though that helps. Because Pitt beat then-No. 1 Connecticut in Hartford last week and because No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 North Carolina lost Saturday, Pitt will get a precious No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament as long as it takes care of business in the next two weeks. If it wins the games it is supposed to win — at Providence tomorrow night, at Seton Hall Saturday night and home against Marquette March 4 before the home rematch with Connecticut March 7 — it probably won’t have to win the Big East Conference tournament to get a top seed. Its body of work for the season will be that strong.

“We’ve definitely put ourselves in a great position,” Fields said. “But we know we can still get better. That’s exciting.”

DeJuan Blair’s national emergence (and knocking off UCOnn) has made Pitt a more trendy pick to win it all. Blair, undoubtably will be the Big East player of the week this afternoon. CollegeHoopsNet already made him their national player of the week. Reporters, love writing about him as he is a great quote.

In the first half, Blair had six more rebounds (16) than the entire DePaul team (10). Blair, the top offensive rebounder in the nation, had nine offensive rebounds in the first half alone. He scored 16 points in 14 minutes despite not having plays run for him. Most of the production came off the offensive glass.

“I’ll do everything for my team to win,” Blair said. “Going after the ball. Going and getting the money. That’s what I call the ball. Money. Go get that money and we’re going to win.”

The thing that helps Pitt, is not just a player like Blair, but solid depth. Tyrell Biggs had a good outing against DePaul (who didn’t) as he scored 13 when he got a plenty of time in place of Blair.

“In practice we were talking, and I knew this was going to be his breakout game,” sophomore center DeJuan Blair said. “This is the Biggs I know. I didn’t know the Biggs the last couple of games.

“I knew it was coming. He let the game come to him. In the second half his shots went down, and he started rebounding a little bit. He started playing. He’s going to come around. I wasn’t worried about the way he was playing. He found his game. He came in before practice. He stayed and shot after practice. I wasn’t worried about him.”

Coach Dixon was happy that Biggs was going inside a lot more.

But the starting power forward’s perimeter game is only important to the Panthers when center DeJuan Blair is on the floor. Consider that on Saturday, Biggs had a pair of put backs and a mini-hook underneath. He also kept DePaul defenders off the glass with three offensive rebounds (five total).

While Blair was on the bench — he only played 23 minutes in the rout — Biggs rarely left the lane.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon wants Biggs to improve, but he also wants Biggs’ focus locked in on the interior. In last year’s Big East Tournament semifinals, Biggs was forced into 31 minutes of work, cold off the bench because he wasn’t a starter. He scored six points, had eight rebounds and blocked a shot as Blair sat quietly on the bench in foul trouble.

He didn’t just help the Panthers get to the Big East championship game, he willed them there.

And, in case Blair gets into similar problems with whistles, Dixon wants Biggs to be prepared for that possibility again, and to save the outside shots for the guards.

“What I liked (about Saturday) was when he finished around the basket,” Dixon said, as if Biggs was in the room and heeding his words. “That’s where he’s got to get his points. The threes will come, but we need to get him finishes around the basket.

“He’s making open shots, but that has to be his secondary option.”

That’s always been an issue with Biggs. He has a power forward’s body, but thinks of himself like a shooting guard. Drifting to the perimeter and putting up jumpers more than playing around or powering to the basket.

No one should expect any team other than Pitt to be ranked #1 tomorrow. Over at CBS Sports, Gary Parrish does not want to have any debate on the issue.

That’s the end result of a wild Saturday on which No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 North Carolina both lost (to unranked Texas and unranked Maryland), clearing the way for the Panthers — who beat top-ranked Connecticut last Monday — to rise to the top of the Top 25 (and one) late Sunday night, then the AP and Coaches polls on Monday. It’s the only logical move, so much so that I imagine Pitt will get all 72 first-place votes in the AP poll and all 31 in the Coaches poll. Anything short of that will be proof that somebody with a vote isn’t paying attention, and if such a person presents himself (or herself), that person will be Poll Attacked on Monday afternoon.

Here’s all you need to know:

• Pitt is 25-2 overall.
• Nobody has more wins or fewer losses.
• Pitt has compiled this record against a schedule rated 12th nationally.
• Pitt has six wins against the top 25 of CBSSports.com’s RPI rankings.
• Nobody else has more than four.
• Both of Pitt’s losses came on the road.
• The losses were to the schools ranked seventh (Louisville) and 12th (Villanova) in the latest AP poll.

So to summarize, the Panthers have more good wins (i.e., wins against the top 25 of CBSSports.com’s RPI rankings) than anybody, just as few losses as the other elite teams, and no bad losses (like Oklahoma’s loss to Arkansas, North Carolina’s loss to Boston College, Connecticut’s loss to Georgetown, etc.).

Best I can tell, that makes Jamie Dixon’s team the easy No. 1.

Any other opinion is a faulty opinion.

And a little more love for Blair in ESPN.com’s Weekly Watch.

DeJuan Blair emerged as the new front-runner for Big East player of the year with his dominating performance in the win over Connecticut.

Blair literally tossed Hasheem Thabeet around and wound up with 22 points and 23 boards in the Panthers’ 76-68 win.

Against overmatched DePaul, Blair put up a workman-like 20 points and 18 boards in a 19-point victory.

The first-team All-America spots seem to be getting crowded. Make room for Blair, next to Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and Thabeet. It would be hard to push any of these three off this perch.

You know, it’s been such a hectic week, that I never even got a post mentioning that incoming  member of the 2009 recruiting class, Dante Taylor was named a hamburger All-American.

Dante Taylor, who will be a freshman at Pitt next season, was named to the 2009 McDonald’s All-American game last night, becoming the first Pitt player in 22 years to garner the honor. He is one of 24 players on the team and one of five who will play in the Big East next season.

Taylor, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward from National Christian Academy in Maryland, is Pitt’s first McDonald’s All-American since 1987 when Brian Shorter and Bobby Martin made the team.

Taylor is the fifth player in Pitt’s history to earn the honor. Charles Smith was a McDonald’s All-American in 1984 and Jerome Lane was in ’85.

When Coach Jamie Dixon abruptly showed up in Florida for Pirate training camp. Well, he was in Florida for another reason and went for a side trip.

Jamie Dixon showed up in Florida today to check in on ’09 big man Kyryl Natyazhko. The 6’10” Ukrainian is an offensively skilled post player that Herrion has been watching a lot lately. The fact that Dixon made a point to see him shows that the Panthers interest is very strong. Word is that since Dixon was in Bradenton, he wanted to quietly sneak in and see the Pirates in spring training. But when you have one of the marquee teams in the nation, sneaking is no longer an option, and he was immediately surrounded by cameramen.

Lastly, one name that recently came up with Pitt, since Herrion was spotted watching him play, is 6’11” junior college center Jarrid Famous. But word is, Herrion was checking out local high school players in the area so he took the opportunity to see Famous, too. However, the big man would only be an option if DeJuan Blair left early for the NBA, and by the time Blair’s situation is known, it’s expected that Famous will be out of play.

Natyazhko is a 4-star recruit at the IMG Academy with offers from FSU, Miami, Kentucky, Arizona State and Xavier.

I thought Ray Fittipaldo made a great point when asked about DeJuan Blair’s chances to be the National Player of the Year instead of the de facto choice of Blake Griffin.

If I’m a Pitt fan I pray that Griffin gets national player of the year honors and then has to face Blair in the Elite Eight or Final Four. Chances are, Blair will use that as motivational material and have a monster game against Griffin. He’s done it against every big-name player he has played against this season. Georgetown’s Greg Monroe was getting tons of attention as one of the top freshmen in the country at the time Pitt played Georgetown. Blair went off on Monroe and dominated the game. When Pitt played Notre Dame, Harangody was the reigning Big East player of the year. He used that as motivation and put up 20 and 20 on him. Then he did the same to Thabeet, who had been among the favorites for Big East player of the year and was being promoted by Jim Calhoun for national player of the year.

This is what so many great players do. They look for motivation from any perceived slights and then back it up.

Still at least one writer in Utah is feeling the allure of Blair for POY.

By the way, it seems that whatever Jim Calhoun hoped to accomplish after Pitt beat UConn, plenty in the media have been unimpressed.

I was interested to hear your reaction to Jim Calhoun’s postgame press conference after the UConn-Pitt game. Do you think it was him shamelessly trying to influence how the refs call the game the next time these two teams play? Seems to me it speaks volumes about Calhoun that he’d revert to such a cheap and classless ploy when his team is already one of the most talented in the country.
— Jamie DeFrank, Washington, D.C.

I was standing in the back of the room during Calhoun’s rant, so my primary reaction was to bite my lip to keep from cracking up. I had this vision of me busting out laughing and Calhoun charging me the way John Cheney once charged at John Calipari. It is no secret that Calhoun is, shall we say, not renowned for showing excessive grace in the face of a difficult loss. (His blow-by of Gonzaga coach Mark Few during the postgame handshake following the Zags’ overtime win over UConn in Boston two years ago is a classic.) So I was more amused than surprised to hear Calhoun go off on the officiating the way he did on Monday night.

Still, Calhoun’s tirade was clearly inappropriate and more than a little unfair. Yes, it was a physical game, but it’s hard to argue either team was granted an advantage. After all, Calhoun’s own Huskies have built their success this season around the brute inside muscle provided by Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien. There’s no doubt the whistle Mike Kitts blew to give Thabeet his fourth foul was a bad call, but Thabeet had been largely ineffective in the game to that point. If that call hadn’t been made, he could have very well committed his fourth soon after. That call was a big play, but it did not decide the game.

It may be granting Calhoun a little too much credit to say he was making a calculated move to influence the way the game would be called next time around. I tend to think he was blowing off steam (and you have to at least give him credit for being honest). But you can be sure there were plenty of follow-up conversations between Calhoun and the league office, just as I’m sure there will be plenty more before the next game between these two teams. I’d caution Calhoun to be careful what he wishes for, however. If the next UConn-Pitt game is called much tighter, more than a few of those calls will go against the Huskies.

Just as long as Jim Burr isn’t officiating the game on March 7. This article while praising Blair, questions Pitt without him. It makes an interesting observation.

Keep in mind, it isn’t a particular kind of player that seems to bother Blair—Louisville has a muscular post presence in Samardo Samuels, while Villanova has more of a versatile center in Dante Cunningham. Rutgers center Hamady Ndiaye is a poor man’s Thabeet. Florida State Center Solomon Alabi has a classic center build: 7-foot-1, 241 pounds.

However, in three of these four games, Jim Burr was one of the officials. It doesn’t seem coincidental—Burr likes to keep close tabs on the inside jockeying for position.

Burr has been one of the worst refs to see when Pitt plays. He favors guard play, and hates banging inside. I didn’t realize that Burr had been reffing 3 of the 4 games. Yeesh.

Levance Fields will leave Pitt as yet another in a string of three straight excellent point guards. Perhaps the best of the three. He won’t catch Brandin Knight (785) or Sean Miller (744) in career assists, but then both were four-year starters. He will likely pass Jerry McCullough (552) tonight and will also pass Carl Krauser (568). He sits at 546 at the moment, so he also has a good chance to catch Darrelle Porter (617), especially with some deep runs in the Big East Tourney and the NCAA, to finish in the third spot.

He’s simply one of the best point guards in the country right now.

Fields, barraged with early season questions about his health, is, statistically at least, the best in the nation at a point guard’s primary duties — setting up baskets and taking care of the ball.

Fields owns an NCAA-leading assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.0-to-1 and is coming off a startling three-game stretch in which he had 36 assists and only three turnovers.

The senior point guard will be directing the Pitt offense again at 7 tonight when the No. 6 Panthers (21-2, 8-2) play rival West Virginia (5-5, 16-7) for the second time in two weeks — this time at Petersen Events Center in a nationally televised game.

“I think he’s just getting better,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We pointed to January and February for a guy that’s been out for 11 months. He’s getting a better feel for it. He’s getting more confidence. He’s finishing drives more.”

Fields was named one of 17 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s best point guard Thursday, and he certainly earned some Internet votes when he matched a 33-year-old single-game Pitt record with 16 assists in a 92-69 victory at DePaul on Saturday afternoon. He had one turnover in 31 minutes.

DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright called Fields the Big East’s “consummate leader.”

“I’m sure he’s one of those guys that, in the locker room and anywhere else, all he talks about is winning,” Wainwright said. “That’s what makes them a good team.”

Speaking of the Cousy award, the link to vote is right here.

The freshman guard who has grown more comfortable in the offense is Ashton Gibbs. He knows his role is primarily to stretch the defense with the 3-ball, and he is fine with that.

“I like it,” Gibbs said of his new role. “Levance is a pass-first point guard. Any shooter would love to play with a pass-first point guard who is always going to look for you as a shooter.”

Gibbs showed off his 3-point touch against the Colonials. In a 31/2-minute stretch in the first half when the score was still close, he made all three of his 3-pointers during a 16-7 Pitt run that boosted the lead from 10 to 19 points.

Dixon had been slow to play Gibbs early in the season because Gibbs was lagging defensively and had not been demonstrating great shooting accuracy in practice. But those two aspects have changed, and Gibbs is earning more time in the rotation.

“Ashton is shooting the ball well,” Dixon said. “He obviously can shoot the ball. He’s given us some versatility. We can play smaller at times. And we’ve seen some zones.”

Gibbs is the type of player who can come in handy when teams attempt to slow the Panthers down by playing zone. With the top 3-point shooting percentage in the Big East, he can make teams go back to man-to-man quickly with his accurate outside shooting.

Gibbs is shooting 50% (25-50) on threes this season. Most important is he’s been consistent. He’s 15-30 in the non-con and 10-20 in Big East games. His defense still needs plenty of work, but that is not surprising.

I don’t expect any Pitt player to take home the Wooden Award. Still, it’s nice that Pitt actually has two of the thirty remaining candidates in Sam Young and DeJuan Blair.

There are four teams that have two candidates on the midseason cutdown list: Pitt, UConn (Adrien and Thabeet), Marquette (Matthews and McNeal), UNC (Hansbrough and Lawson).

The Big East placed 1/3 of the players: Young, Blair, Adrien, Thabeet, Matthews, McNeal, Flynn (‘Cuse), Harangody (ND), Monroe (G-town), Williams (L-ville).

Levance Fields is a finalist for the Cousy Award — best point guard. There are 13 D-1 finalists.

Jonny Flynn, Dominic James (Marquette) and A.J. Price (UConn) are the other Big East PG Finalists.

Sam Young also is a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. There are ten finalists. Sam Young could use some help in the fan vote. And he has more planned in his off-the court community service.

Pitt stayed at #7 in Luke Winn’s SI.com power poll. He notes Ashton Gibbs’ emergence on the perimeter and Jermaine Dixon knocking down 3s of late to make the team more complete on offense.

The ESPN.com power poll has Pitt at #4.

I haven’t posted much on the Sun Bowl stuff. Simply a matter of prioritizing. All the stuff in the offline world, other responsibilities and the more immediacy of basketball games actually being played. So, to breathlessly post on things relating to football and the Sun Bowl when it only now reaches a week away was difficult.

In that respect Pitt fans are lucky. We have basketball, and it is worth discussing.

But moving back to football. If you are lucky enough to be heading to El Paso, my colleague at FanHouse, Will Brinson, has a short travel guide for your visit. Plus, the Village People are the halftime entertainment.

Going back more than a week, there was the team banquet. Players getting team awards. As the team gets ready for the Sun Bowl they can get advice from Norv Turner’s son.

First-year Pitt graduate assistant Scott Turner worked at Oregon State under Riley during the 2005 season, which was his first year as a coach.

Turner had graduated from UNLV, where he was a three-year varsity letterman in football, earlier that season and Riley offered him his first opportunity to get into coaching in June of that year and Turner worked at Oregon State until the following May.

…

Turner said he doesn’t know how much scouting intelligence or insider information he can give the Panthers’ coaching staff because many of the players have changed since he worked at Oregon State. The Beavers have different stars they scheme for and rely on to make plays.

Again, more importantly was in the notes that redshirting freshman Shayne Hale was being moved from linebacker to defensive end. On its face, that is a little surprising since he was a HS All-American as a linebacker, but tempered with Coach Wannstedt’s love to create speed and mismatches and it was even cited as a good possibility in this ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. evaluation (insider subs). The one concern is that linebacker is an area where Pitt will have a lot of question marks — and need — next year.

Regarding the Beavers, Jacquizz Rodgers is still “very doubtful” so it looks like we have to get to know Ryan McCants.

After going almost the entire regular season without a starter going down, the Beavers are going bowling with a big part of their lineup in street clothes.

Freshman sensation Jacquizz Rodgers has not officially been ruled out of the Dec. 31 game, but Riley hasn’t changed his “very doubtful” prognosis. And really, all of that is just for the Sun Bowl folks to hang onto this Quizz vs. LeSean McCoy angle for a few more days.

Sophomore wide receiver James Rodgers, meanwhile, is out with a broken collarbone sustained in the Civil War game against Oregon.

Of course, Oregon State has had a lot of time to prepare for the Sun Bowl without the Rodgers boys, so there is that.

Scott McKillop gets puffed in an Oregon paper.

“This is real big for the team,” McKillop said. “I was fortunate enough to be here when we played Utah in the Fiesta Bowl (in 2004), and the next three years, we were unsuccessful in getting back to a bowl game. That left a sour taste in our mouths, and in my senior year, I want to go out with a bang.”

He’s already made a splash on the postseason awards circuit.

The one-time wrestler from Kiski Area High School east of Pittsburgh, who accepted the only football scholarship he was offered, is the 2008 Big East defensive player of the year after leading the conference in tackles for the second straight season.

McKillop also earned All-America recognition from The Associated Press and the Football Writers Association of America.

But it hasn’t been a meteoric rise for McKillop.

So is everyone else finding the Trib site to be hit or miss as to whether it will actually function lately? Given all the doom and gloom over media business the past few weeks, that can’t be a good sign.

The AP All-American team was announced and they somehow thinks there are six running backs in the country better than LeSean McCoy. Scott McKillop made 2nd team.

Sports Illustrated had McCoy and McKillop as 2nd team All-Americans.

Last week was the Sun Bowl press conference — where the coaches fly down there and talk about how excited they are for the bowl and to play each other. Lots of friendly coachspeak.

Riley and Wannstedt were in town to tour the place they will call home from their arrival — Christmas Day for Oregon State, Dec. 26 for Pitt — through game day on New Year’s Eve.

For Riley, this is a refresher. He and the Beavers beat Missouri two years ago in the Sun Bowl.

“That’s why they are two-touchdown favorites,” Wannstedt joked.

“Three points,” Riley corrected.

Wannstedt, too, is familiar with the Sun Bowl, though his experience is dated. His first professional job was as a graduate assistant at his alma matter Pitt in 1975, when the Panthers beat Kansas, 33-19, in the Sun Bowl. Pitt and star running back Tony Dorsett used that as a springboard to win the national championship the next season.

“I remember the great hospitality,” Wannstedt said of his last trip. “I was young and all wide-eyed. I remember saying, ‘I’m going to like this coaching part.’ It seems like nothing has changed.”

Despite both teams being ranked, and the limited amount of tickets they have to sell, there are concerns because of the economy and other factors.

Pitt Athletic Director Steve Peterson and Oregon State Athletic Director Bob Escaroles both think our troubled economy will be a factor in how many people travel for this year’s game but are optimistic.

“Our ticket manager has mentioned that he thinks we might hit 2,500,” said Decarolis.

“I think we’ll bring a very nice-sized group,” said Peterson. “It would be hard to guess after three days of selling tickets exactly how many we’ll end up bringing.”

Olivas wouldn’t offer any estimates, but knows the bottom line on economic impact is heads in beds and overnight stays.

Time will tell and factors are not encouraging.

Traditionally, Pitt fans have not traveled well and Oregon State fans will have to come to El Paso for the second time in three years. This year, the Sun Bowl was a small consolation prize after the Beavers missed out on a trip to the Rose Bowl with a season-ending loss.

The hotel and restaurant business are going to be the big question marks. More than simply getting people to come for the game, it’s getting people to get out in El Paso and spend money. It’s the same sort of thing that goes into pro-convention center arguments.

I’m sure many of you have received the e-mail from the alumni association trying to gauge interest in a 2-night charter, rather than a 3-night. While it is good to know the 3-day charter is sold out, it is telling that the hotel was already opening up rooms for only 2 night packages rather than keeping them blocked off for 3-night stays.

Back to the non-economic aspects of the Sun Bowl. Have you heard? The coaches claim friendship and history. Another big theme that was cited from the moment the pairing was made: good running backs.

Two of the nation’s best will add their names to that list on the final day of 2008, when Oregon State and Pittsburgh bang bodies.

Pitt will bring LeSean McCoy, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound sophomore who has run for 1,403 yards this season. Oregon State will bring Jaquizz Rodgers, a 5-7, 193-pound freshman who has run for 1,253 yards. Rodgers, who is from Richmond, Texas, recently was named the Pac 10 Offensive Player of the Year — the first time a freshman has ever taken home that honor.

The two talented young backs have almost identical statistics. McCoy averages 4.9 yards a carry and 116.9 yards a game. Rodgers averages 4.8 yards a carry and 113.9 yards a game.

Rodgers, though, is dealing with a shoulder separation, and is still in question for the game. Actually, it might be worse. It seems he has a broken bone in his shoulder blade. That definitely puts his availability into question.

Scott McKillop and LeSean McCoy did a teleconference interview with other media. An Oregon State beat writer blogs it and his impressions. First McKillop.

On the phone, McKillop comes off as thoughtful, articulate, and oozing with a the competitive fire that all great LBs must possess.

McKillop said he likes to take the responsibility of the defense on his shoulders, including the kind of criticism that rained down on the Panthers after their season-opening loss to Bowling Green.

Asked what kind of challenge Pitt faces in stopping Oregon State, he mentioned the Rodgers brothers and said the Panthers know all about Jacquizz Rodgers, the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year.

“They play a lot bigger than what they are,” he said. “They make a lot of people look silly.”

McKillop said he is aware that James Rodgers will miss the game with a broken collarbone, and that Quizz is not 100 percent certain to play yet (so says coach Riley) because of a sore left shoulder.

But Pitt players expect Quizz to play. “He’s a warrior,” said McKillop, making a very good read from long distance. “We’re preparing as if he will be out there.”

Taking pains to say something nice about anything in an OSU jersey, McKillop said that OSU offensive tackle Andy Levitre stands out on film, and QB Lyle Moevao impresses him.

Then McCoy.

But the player who has been nicknamed “Shady” since childhood re-iterated Monday that he’s planning on being a Panther again in 2009, and that hopefully Pitt will win more games, go to a better bowl, and maybe even contend for a national title. … that last time that happened, 1976, Dorsett was Pitt’s star player and a guy named Wannstedt was one of TD’s blockers.

McCoy praised Oregon State’s defense and said he has been watching video of the Beavers in action.

I asked him if he has seen the Oregon game yet, and he said no. “We haven’t broken that one down yet,” he said.

It was suggested that maybe Pitt coaches are keeping that one from McCoy, because if he sees what UO’s Jeremiah Johnson did (219 yards rushing) and what Oregon as a team did (385 rushing) he might get over-confident. .. .McCoy laughed at that. “I didn’t know it was that crazy (nearly 400 yards),” he said.

“I think (OSU) is still a good defense. … every team has their day. I’m sure (OSU) just made some mental errors.

“You can’t go in thinking the same thing is going to happen.”

No. Especially when you know a defense will do all it can do to force Pitt to throw the ball rather than let McCoy run.

Punter Dave Brytus has a unique distinction.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Brytus said. “I’ll probably be the only college football player to start on two different teams and play in the same bowl game, at least since the (NCAA) transfer rules came into effect.”

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound fifth-year senior, a West Allegheny graduate, averaged 48.9 yards on eight punts in a 27-23 loss to Arizona State in the ’04 Sun Bowl. He recalls dropping five inside the 20-yard line, but best remembers the difference of kicking at 3,740 feet above sea level.

“It was a good day all around for punting,” said Brytus, who had a long of 58 yards. “For us kickers, it’s nice because it has high elevation so the ball stays up there longer. You get more hang time, more distance on it.

“It’s a huge difference. At Heinz Field, it gets real windy. It doesn’t go in one direction. It swirls. You can’t tell which way it’s going. The air is real thick. You feel like you kill the ball and it just dies. When you go to Texas, you don’t think about the elevation. I wasn’t even hitting the ball hard and it was just flying off my foot.”

He took home an award for best special teams player at the 2004 Sun Bowl.

Even though, MLB Scott McKillop was excluded from being even a finalist for the various defensive player awards, he did take home the Big East Defensive Player of the Year Award along with being named as a 1st team All-American.

McKillop, a native of Export, Pa., and graduate of Kiski Area, is the second Pitt linebacker in the past three seasons to be selected to the prestigious FWAA All-America Team. H.B. Blades, now with the Washington Redskins, was honored following his senior season in 2006.

For more than six decades the FWAA has selected an All-America team with the help of its members and an All-America Committee which represents all the regions in the country.

“On the field and off, Scott McKillop exemplifies what it means to be an All-American,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “He will leave a tremendous legacy at Pitt, not only because of how many tackles he made, but more importantly because of the type of leader and person he has been. Our entire program is incredibly proud of Scott. He is very deserving of this recognition.”
…
Heading into the 2008 bowl season, he ranks second nationally in solo stops (tied, 6.50 solos/game), 11th in total tackles (tied, 10.50 tackles/game) and 20th in tackles for loss (tied, 1.38 TFLs/game). He leads the Big East in each of those categories.

Overall this year, McKillop has compiled 126 tackles, 16.5 TFLs, four sacks and one interception (returned 18 yards for a TD vs. Louisville).

In 2007, his first season as a starter, McKillop led the entire country in tackles (12.58 tackles/game). He has compiled an astonishing 277 tackles over his junior and senior seasons.

The only one who isn’t surprised by McKillop’s accomplishments seems to have been H.B. Blades.

McKillop said Blades taught him to play the position and he’s proud to share the honor with him as well as his current teammates.

“It is an unbelievable honor to be in the same category with guys like Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, Larry Fitzgerald, Bill Fralic in Pitt history,” McKillop said. “But when I look back the thing that I’ll cherish most is that I’m there with H.B. because of how much he meant to my career and his friendship.”

Blades, unlike a lot of others, had no doubt that McKillop would have a chance to be a good player because, unlike a lot of the other younger players Blades encountered, McKillop was a better listener than talker.

“I’m not surprised at all by what he’s accomplished. Scott has one of the strongest work ethics of any player I’ve been around,” Blades said.

And like his predecssor, Blades, there will be a big question as to who will fill the spot and how effectively next year? Heck, that goes for all 3 LB spots, but that’s definitely an issue for off-season debate.

LeSean McCoy took home Big East Offensive Player of the Year Honors. I’m a little surprised that Donald Brown didn’t grab it.

Both McCoy and McKillop were unanimous selections to the All-Big East team. Also on the squad were K Conor Lee, TE Nate Byham and OG C.J. Davis. On the second team it was DE Greg Romeus and CB Aaron Berry. The latter had everyone scratching their head a bit.

SDWC: Hi Paul, Do you really think that Aaron Berry is deserving of 2nd team all Big East recognition?

Paul Zeise: Based on his ability — yes. Based on the way he played this year — no, not at all. He didn’t have a very good year on so many levels but he did play well in the final two games when they needed him too.

I’d say “competently,” not “well.” But that’s just me. I guess the question is, who got snubbed by the pick?

It’s not the official Big East All-Conference team. Instead it is the Big East media version as voted upon by beat writers for the various BE teams. Pitt didn’t have the most players selected. That would be Cinci with 8 players selected. Pitt and with WVU each had 4 players selected. Two of Pitt’s players were unanimous selections. I’m pretty sure you can guess which from the list of players: Nate Byham, LeSean McCoy, Scott McKillop and Conor Lee.

Byham missed by one vote being unanimous, suggesting that it wasn’t the greatest year in the BE for TEs — not that Byham isn’t a very good player, but his numbers are 18 catches for 250 yards and 1 TD. Not exactly eye-popping.

McCoy and McKillop also were voted the Big East Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year by the BE media.

Jerry Carino sums up my feelings.

It hurts to say this, especially as a certified hoop-head, but college basketball season starts to early. For decades the schedule tipped off Dec. 1, after college football’s regular season. Then it was Thanksgiving week for special tournaments, like the Preseason NIT and the Great Alaska Shootout. Now, for the last couple of years, it’s been mid-November. Does any major sport start its season with so little fanfare? You can’t put the genie back in the bottle, but hopefully it won’t spill over into October.

It really seems that starting the season this week is incredibly stupid. It’s hard enough for college basketball to get any attention at the start of the season with the sheer volume of meaningless games, the NFL, NBA and NHL seasons underway. But to start now, as college football has all the college fans attention in most places? It makes it near impossible to be promoted.

ESPN is the 800-pound gorilla in this, but it has college football games right now that still get far better ratings — even a MAC battle. So any college basketball game gets relegated to ESPN-U and mostly ignored on SportsCenter. I can’t blame them for it.

On the one positive, by getting a slew of warm-up/patsy games that no one really cares about cleared now, by the time the beginning of December rolls around some actual good games are available and can be promoted when there’s an opening.

Still, the haphazard way the season is launched really prevents a lot of initial excitement over the season.

This week is also the early signing period that concludes on November 19. While not announced by the school yet, Chris Dokish says all four of the verbals to Pitt have signed and it’s just a matter of finishing the paperwork.

Dante Taylor, 6’9″ forward from National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, MD, 6’4 wing Lamar Patterson of St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, NJ, 6’7″ forward J.J. Richardson of Hightower HS in Missouri City, TX, and 6’9″ Talib Zanna of Bishop McNamara HS in Forestville, MD have all signed their National Letter of Intent, but only Richardson also has the required signature of his parents. The other three prospects will become official tomorrow when their parents sign the document.

What stands out is that none of these players are actually from the NY/NJ area. Patterson is from Central PA and is attending St. Benedict’s for this season — after he had already verballed to Pitt. Pitt has built on its success and continued to expand its recruiting region.

Mike DeCourcy has some lists as this weeks action starts the season. There’s certain team categories. Pitt didn’t rank at the top in offense or defense, but he does like this about Pitt.

Best chemistry

1. Pitt. No program does a better job of keeping agendas out of the locker room.

Which plays right into the Tyrell Biggs puff piece as the senior gets ready to start the season as a starter.

The unselfish, do-it-all reserve power forward is assuming a bigger piece of the action for his senior season at nationally ranked Pitt.

“I feel like my role is the same,” Biggs said, “it’s just a lot more time on the floor.”

Biggs will join small forward Sam Young and center DeJuan Blair in what is considered one of the top five frontcourts in the nation by multiple preseason publications.

For at least the first few games, there is no reason not to start Biggs. As the article notes, it would continue the trend of a somewhat maligned reserve player (Keith Benjamin and Antonio Graves) stepping up in his senior year to be a reliable and occasional sparkplug player.

The primary senior in the frontcourt — Sam Young — had the first of what will hopefully many puff pieces for this season.

He also made DeCourcy’s list of top small forwards.

A half-century has passed since Pitt produced a consensus first-team All-America selection: guard Don Hennon, who averaged 26 points a game. Panthers basketball hasn’t been empty since. There’ve been some exceptional players — Billy Knight, Charles Smith, Brandin Knight among them — and, lately, some extraordinary teams that were based more on mutual commitment than individual skill.

What if the Panthers have both this season? What if they’ve got the best small forward in the country and still the same devotion to team play?

This could become the year the Sweet 16 is not a destination, but a checkpoint.

1. Sam Young, Pitt. It’s possible Young is the most underrated player in the country, and it is time for that to change. How much more quietly can a guy average 18.1 points? On a championship team, no less. Young carried the Panthers to the Big East Tournament title with a 20-point average in four victories over four days. This is a slight positional move for Young, from power forward on an undersized team to small forward in a bigger frontcourt. He has built for three years toward this, however. He has grown in his understanding of the game and his confidence level. He shoots well from 3-point range and uses his extraordinary athleticism to finish plays at the rim. It’s time the basketball world remembers his name.

Speaking of optimism, Smizik gives some of his own.

Dixon is proud of what the Pitt program has accomplished the past seven years. He was an assistant for the first two and head coach for the past five. During that span, Pitt has the fourth-best winning percentage in college basketball, behind only Memphis, Kansas and Duke.

Dixon’s winning percentage of .767 is fourth among active coaches. He’s behind Roy Williams, Mark Few and Bo Ryan and ahead of Mike Krzyzewski and Rick Pitino.

But he understands major success in the NCAA tournament, the ultimate test, is missing.

“I don’t feel we’ve accomplished all we can,” he said.

This is the season they can do it.

Injuries, have been a big storyline all preseason. So, the issue is adaptability.

But for the Pitt Panthers, the traditional roles on the team are less clearly defined. Coach Jamie Dixon has compiled a team of players who have the potential to create mismatch problems for opponents because of the variety of positions they can play.

Almost every player on Pitt’s team can handle two positions and a few can manage three. Pitt has had versatile teams under Dixon before, but this team has so much flexibility that it stands apart.

“Now we have guys who can play different positions because of their versatility, their height, their size, things like that,” senior Sam Young said. “Once we are comfortable with each position that we can play we’ll be a much better team than in the past.”

Playing multiple positions has been something Coach Dixon has been working towards since being the head coach. Remember that a couple years prior, Pitt was already trying to get Sam Young at small forward. He’s (hopefully) reached that point now. But, other players are in that spot as well. Blair will play the 4 or the 5. Gilbert Brown can play in the front or backcourt and as a versatile wing player. Just a lot more flexibility.

Of course, talking about players everyone has seen is old hat. The big obsession is with all the freshmen and a JUCO.

“If we do start,” freshman point guard Ashton Gibbs said, “it’s a tremendous honor.”

Gibbs, out of Seton Hall (N.J.) Prep, is listed as the probable starter at point guard, and junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon is the likely shooting guard in a backcourt possibly still without Levance Fields.

“I’m definitely excited,” said Dixon, who played the past two seasons at Tallahassee (Fla.) Junior College. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole career. I’m definitely ready.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said he probably won’t know Fields’ status until Friday’s shootaround. The senior point guard, rehabbing after foot surgery, practiced Tuesday and Wednesday and will sit out today’s workout, as scheduled.

And indeed, Gibbs will get the start tonight.

Finally freshman forward Nasir Robinson gets his first puff piece.

“I watched Pitt games for a long time,” Robinson said. “When they recruited me, I liked the style of play. Coming out of Chester I was used to playing in front of big crowds every night, the competition. I’m used to the atmosphere. The difference is the physical play. There are bigger and better players.”

Dixon is not counting on Robinson to be a major contributor this season because he has a number of veteran forwards on his depth chart, but Robinson will get more of an opportunity in the short-term because Gilbert Brown is out of the lineup for another week with a stress fracture in his left foot.

With seniors Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs holding down the starting small forward and power forward positions, Robinson will be the first forward off the bench in place of Brown when the Panthers play La Roche today in the final exhibition game before Friday’s season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Dixon said he will use Robinson mostly at power forward this season, but he sees him developing into a small forward as his skill level rises.

The game tonight will feature a banner raising of Pitt’s Big East Tournament Championship.