In the first 24 hours or so after the NCAA announced the sanctions on Penn State, there was a feeding frenzy expected for Penn State football players who had the freedom to transfer without sitting a year. Some top targets are almost viewed as rentals — juniors and seniors.

No surprise that PSU Coach Bill O’Brien is putting on a brave front, and talking of keeping the players together. It’s not so easy with the present recruiting class, as you would expect. But so far it seems to be working with plenty of present players saying they are not leaving.

Starting quarterback Matt McGloin, starting cornerbacks Stephon Morris and Adrian Amos, running back Bill Belton and wide receiver Allen Robinson all said they are staying at Penn State through social media.

Offensive tackle Mike Farrell, a Shady Side Academy graduate, and Fox Chapel product Miles Dieffenbach each told the Tribune-Review that they will remain at Penn State.

This shouldn’t be a big surprise. It also shouldn’t stop coaches at other schools from staying in touch with these players. This is a year-long courtship. Not a two week window.

(more…)

Pitt’s 2012 basketball signing class is probably complete — with all the requisite officialness of signed documents. Trey Zeigler sent in his official transfer paperwork, and Chris Jones sent in his Letter of Intent.

The University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball program signed Chris Jones (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck H.S.) to a National Letter of Intent, head coach Jamie Dixon announced on Wednesday. In addition, Dixon also stated that Trey Zeigler (Mount Pleasant, Mich./Central Michigan) has submitted the necessary scholarship paperwork in order to enroll at Pitt. The NCAA Division I spring men’s basketball signing period began on Wednesday, April 11.

Jones and Zeigler join Steven Adams (Rotorua, New Zealand/Notre Dame Prep, Mass.) and James Robinson (Mitchellville, Md./DeMatha Catholic H.S.) as Pitt’s four-member 2012 class. Not including Jones and Zeigler, Pitt’s 2012 class is considered a consensus top-15 nationally ranked unit. Pitt is ranked No. 13 by ESPNU, No. 10 by Rivals.com, No. 15 by Scout.com and No. 13 by CBSSports.com. Adams (top-10) and Robinson are both consensus top-50 ranked recruits.

I haven’t checked how the rankings look, but the only reason Pitt might move in the rankings will be due to other late signees and how they affect the movement. Transfers do not count for recruiting rankings, so Zeigler will not have an impact on the rankings.

(more…)

Savon Goodman has a week to make a decision about Pitt. I’d put it at about 55-45 that he picks Pitt over the others based on what tidbits I’ve noted. The issue of eligibility is completely unknown to me — so don’t rule out prep school and Pitt taking a run at him in 2013. Goodman and his family are not saying much, and he has been out of the news as most of the late recruiting news is all about speculating on where Nerlens Noel and Shabazz Muhammad choose to be one-and-dones.

Meanwhile, it may be that Coach Dixon is more determined than we realized to add a power forward to this class. Last week or so Sheldon Jeter, the senior forward from Beaver Falls, made some tweets indicating that Pitt was trying to contact him again. He dismissed Pitt as being too late. It wasn’t a big deal. Yeah, he’s “local” but he’s a mid-range prospect with some upside. And I don’t begrudge him being tired of Pitt apparently playing coy with him: showing some interest then backing off. If we, as fans, get tired of high-level recruits playing games; how do you think mid-level recruits feel about major programs appearing to do the same.

And yet…

6-5 Sheldon Jeter of Beaver Falls, PA could have a decision by early next week his father said Tuesday. Jeter will visit either Vanderbilt or Pittsburgh this weekend his father said. And on Sunday, he will have an in home visit with Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan. Jeter met last Thursday with USC coach Frank Martin while Pitt’s Jamie Dixon was in last Saturday.

So there’s that.

(more…)

I don’t know what this does for the recruitment of Savon Goodman. Whether it helps land Goodman because of the talent coming and on the roster along with the potential for big minutes early — if not starting at power forward — or if it means Pitt backs off on Goodman because it would mean either pulling the offer to Chris Jones or forcing another player off the team.

Frankly the issue is not comfortable either way. It bothered me when Pitt had to encourage Jaylen Bond to review his options after Khem Birch reclassified last year. It is one of the most unseemly thing about College basketball. Treating kids recruited and promised to be treated as family abruptly as commodities.

Some of it is simply the one-sidedness of it. Kids are locked into the program. They can have restrictions placed on them if they want to leave, along with sitting a year; while the scholarships are one-year deals with school options only. A coach can abruptly shift from “family” to “it’s nothing personal, just business” based on the performance. And yes, I know everyone does it, it’s necessary, and all of that. It doesn’t mean that it is right or okay.

But shifting back to Trey Zeigler coming to Pitt.

(more…)

Well Pitt has its first transfer of note since Mike Cook left East Carolina. One Trey Zeigler let the world know.

Big get for the shooting guard spot. That position just got a lot bigger and better.

(more…)

I think everyone knew Isiah Epps was going to transfer barely a few weeks into the season. Heck, I think there were some who thought he might go after his redshirt season. Well, now the official statement has been made.

Dixon issued a statement and said Epps is transferring for family reasons.

“We have been in constant communication with Isaiah regarding his family’s well-being,” Dixon said. “We believe that it is best for Isaiah to be close to home and we will assist him in finding the best possible situation to reach his goals — both academically and athletically.”

Epps could not be reached.

Unfortunately Epps struggled with both academic and athletic issues even before getting to Pitt.

When Epps committed he was supposed to be a really good get for Pitt. A 4-star, top-50 point guard. Extremely confident  — making an ill-fated boast that he would be a one-and-done player — that people were very high on.

(more…)

Apparently, now that the CBI is over and the final recruiting push is underway Pitt is pursuing every option and player out there:

And then followed by this:

Both are heavily pursued players.

(more…)

Sure Pitt had a bunch of high school juniors visiting spring football practice this past weekend, but the information on them is stuck behind paywalls. On the other hand, Pitt will have a couple potential late editions to the basketball recruiting class visiting.

JUCO guard Trency Jackson is visiting Pitt this weekend. Kaza Keane plans on visiting Oakland in two weeks

Both are guards, and it is somewhat curious that Pitt would be looking to get yet more guard help.Wwhile there is technically no available scholarship at the moment, it is presumed that Isiah Epps will not be part of the team going forward. Still the two possibilities are quite opposite in terms of immediate impact.

(more…)

Birch or Graham? Graham or Birch? I would much rather not have to mention either one for at least six months. Instead they both decided to spout off this week. Well, since Birch went first, I’ll start with him.

Player transfers happen. Even mid-year ones involving high-level recruits. Every year there are a handful of them for whatever reason. It’s the first time it happened to Pitt so we may be reacting like it is something bizarre, but it really isn’t so far removed from reality. No matter how much some sportswriters decry it as a plague upon the game.

For the most part, these players find their new school. Make the choice and other than a few perfunctory interviews or press releases saying mainly that they just want to look forward to the future. Saying nice things about their new school and coach. Then they lower their head and are not heard from until they actually step out on the court in a year.

This works, because, they are athletes. They ultimately get judged by their performance on the court. Do well, and the transfer was reasonable and clearly was the right choice. Flop or fail to match the hype and you are a spoiled product of the AAU culture who can’t face his own failings.

(more…)

I do believe a good bit about what Khem Birch said to CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman about leaving Pitt — well at least the part about not being particularly close to his teammates and feeling isolated. When you look at most of the places Birch cites for potential transfer destinations, they are programs that happen to have a Canadian player on the team. Pitt by the way, has released Birch to transfer to anywhere except Missouri.

Other aspects I’m not so sure about. Check out PittScript for a good running account of everything from yesterday — including the Mizzou tampering allegations. Mizzou has denied any tampering allegations, and it seems Pitt buys it — because the contact appears to have come from some of the people around Birch. And those same people are the reason Mizzou really doesn’t want much to do with Birch.

Birch also insists that he is in no rush to get to the NBA.

(more…)

Sorry. I can’t help myself.

So many topics. Khem Birch leaving still swirls. The next coach for football. Todd Graham leftovers. Oh, and there happens to be a basketball game tonight. And hey, the Beef O’Brady Bowl is tonight that features an FIU team coached by Mario Cristobal. No winter break around here.

There’s nothing about Birch’s departure that makes me feel good. Pitt will be fine, but you do have to worry about the kid. People really seem to like him, but not the people he has let surround him.

“Khem is a great kid,” Hurd said. “This situation is painting him as something he is not. The problem is he is being led down a road by so-called advisors. It’s going to end poorly for Khem, and that is sad for me because I care about the kid. This is not going to end well for him.”

…

“If you asked me last year at this time I would have told you Pitt was the perfect place for him,” Hurd said. “If you ask me today I would tell you Pitt is the perfect place for him. I don’t know that this was his decision. Khem is an emotional person. My experience with Khem is that sometimes he can paint himself into a corner, and he didn’t know how to get out of it. This isn’t a situation where Jamie doesn’t like the kid. He likes him.”

This echoes the comments Chris Dokish made when Birch was first rumored to be bailing.

(more…)

I’m sorry to see him go. I don’t agree with it, not simply because he is leaving Pitt, but because a mid-season transfer is not a particularly smart decision for any kid. He can transfer, but he will still have to sit a full year. He won’t be eligible until the winter semester of 2012-13. Still he seems gone, this time for real.

“I’m leaving,” Birch told CBSSports.com on Friday night. “I’m headed to Toronto now. I enjoyed my time at Pittsburgh, I love Coach (Jamie) Dixon, had no problems with the staff and the players. It just wasn’t the right fit for me.”

Birch informed CBSSports.com that he does not have a new list and has not decided on his next destination.

Earlier today, P-G’s Pitt basketball beat writer Ray Fittipaldo posted that there are whispers (spin?) that Khem Birch is not particularly emotionally mature and that he might have “bad” influences in his ear. My natural impulse is that this is a bit of spin from the Pitt side. The one factor that mitigates is that Birch opted to start college a year earlier than he needed to — and most expected/thought he should.

(more…)

So the Pitt basketball players started tweeting ominous news this afternoon. Finally — just as I’m supposed to be doing family time at my daughter’s holiday concert — the secret leaks that Khem Birch is at a minimum contemplating a transfer from Pitt.

ALOPEWQWVCXRLUTSFDO;ISDYOTDO[SFD!!!!!

No one is sure the exact reason. Is it playing time? Is it playing center? Is it having to earn his playing time?

I am trying not overreact. Or react at all. It could just be some frustration. It could be real. It just seems ridiculous. Napalming the kid when there isn’t enough to go on, seems a bit much.

A mid-season transfer is a dumb move for any player. It still means sitting out a full year. It means trying to get into a rotation mid-way through the following year.

So, as if there wasn’t enough to angst about with Pitt. Two straight Decembers to forget.

UPDATE: And it now appears the crisis has passed (for now). Please return to being pissed of at AD Pederson and angsting over the next football head coach and saving the recruiting class.

Manny Diaz, he of the multiple tasings, has officially transferred. He’s heading close to home with Stony Brook.

“We’re excited to get a premier player like Fernando,” said Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore. “It’s always a goal of ours to recruit quality local talent to give Stony Brook as much of a local flair as possible.”

As you would expect the Sea Wolves press release has no mention of why he is no longer at Pitt.

Diaz recently had his charges reduced to minor, summary offenses which gave him the chance to get that fresh start. Hopefully he can make it in 1-AA in the Big South conference.

It was just a small bit at the end, unrelated to the article (which I will get to in another post), but it is significant for the upcoming years.

Cornerback E.J. Banks, a 2009 Montour High School graduate, has left Notre Dame and enrolled at Pitt where he will sit out the 2011 season in compliance with NCAA transfer rules. Banks was a four-year starter at quarterback and safety at Montour. … Backup center Brandon Sacco, who would have been a redshirt freshman, has left the Pitt football team. He joined the Panthers last season from Don Bosco (N.J.) Prep.

My first impulse on seeing that Pitt was losing a very promising offensive lineman who plays at a position of definite need for Pitt and picking up yet another transfer for the secondary. Not the trade I would like to see.

(more…)