They may never meet, but given that they essentially chose Pitt within a day of the other, they will get linked in my mind for quite some times.

Chase Adams bids farewell to Centenary. Not that the beat writer down in Louisiana can blame him.

The exodus begins.

Senior Chase Adams on Monday became the highest profile athlete to announce he is leaving Centenary College due to the board of trustee’s recent ill-conceived vote to drop the school from Division I to Division III.

Adams, a fan favorite and the team’s second leading scorer from last season, will transfer to the University of Pittsburgh and play for coach Jamie Dixon in his final season.

Also departing the men’s basketball scene is Gary Redus II, who is headed to South Alabama after finishing third on the team in scoring at 12 points a game. With Nick Stallings and Lance Hill graduating, the Gents will be without their top four scorers from last season.

Adams was also the Summit Leagues Defensive Player of the Year. The beat writer covering Centenary has to be bitter. There’s a good chance his job is done and/or he faces reassignment. It’s one thing to cover a lower mid-major. At least there are the games against really good teams as fodder. The rare rising to the NCAA Tournament points. There are the other teams and their moments. It justifies having a beat writer. Now? Pfft. It’s D-III. No one will care. If anything good happens, the copy desk will just rewrite the press release from Centenary’s SID.

Of course, that’s their problem.

Pitt is getting a solid player for a year that can help.

Adams said he thought about transferring to a bigger Division I school after his sophomore season, but was more serious about it this summer because Centenary went on NCAA probation in May and cannot play in any postseason games this season.

“I felt like it was a good decision for me to go to a small Division I school coming out of high school,” Adams said. “But I kept getting better and better. If I play with better players I felt like I would have a better opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament. Looking at Pitt, I like the team chemistry. I felt like it was a good fit for me. I saw them play on TV a lot and I liked the coaching style.”

Adams is a Baltimore native and played on an AAU team with Pitt senior shooting guard Jermaine Dixon during their high school days.

Of course, the day before it became clear that Adams was definitely coming to Pitt, there was the commitment of Cameron Wright to Pitt.

“I like everything about the program,” he said. “The coaching staff was great. They seemed to be real. I got a great vibe and so did my parents. The coaches seemed to be honest, and that’s what we were looking for.”

Considering he feels he wasn’t getting the honesty from the OSU coaches, that would become a major factor. His defensive potential is especially promising.

ESPN.com recruiting coordinator John Stovall describes Wright as a slashing wing.

“He needs to be more assertive because he has a tendency to disappear at times in games. But no one has ever doubted his talent,” Stovall said. “He can be a good rebounder for his position, with his athletic ability being a great asset. Defensively, he should be a lockdown defender with his length, size and athletic ability.”

Chris Dokish had the story on Adams before anyone else did. He expects Adams to fit right in.

Bottom line, Herrion would not go all the way to Shreveport, LA in the middle of very important summer evaluations just to bring in fodder for practice. If Adams commits, and the chances are that will happen, then he has a very legitimate chance of winning the starting job.

He also has info on Pitt looking at the Canadian prep center, Cameron Wright’s potential and Isiah Epps is still a major talent.

Very, very interesting. According to the always plugged in Chris Dokish at NBE Basketball Report, the Pitt coaching staff may pull a rabbit out of their hat for point guard insurance in 2009-10.

Enter Chase Adams. The 5?10? Baltimore native who is currently visiting the Pittsburgh campus with his Mom. Adams has spent the last three seasons at Centenary College in Louisiana where last season he averaged 14.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 4.5 apg, while making 39.8% of his three point shots and 70.3% of his free throws as a junior last season. He was also named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year thanks to his 83 steals (2.7.game). He has averaged 2.3 spg over his three year career.

Despite playing for a very poor team, Adams showed that he could also play against major Division 1-A programs. As a junior, against Mississippi State, Adams had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, and nailed 4 out of 8 from three point land. Against LSU, he had 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals, and against Texas Tech, Adams had 23 points and 6 rebounds, while making 4 out of 5 of his three pointers. For the season, Adams scored 20 or more points eight times, had 5 or more rebounds ten times, and four or more steals nine times.

Adams, who is an excellent student, would be eligible immediately because Centenary is on probation. He will only be eligible to play this season, which would give the Panthers the opportunity to still continue to fill their scholarship limit for the 2010 class.

There will be questions about whether at 5-10, 175 pounds, Chase Adams can handle playing in the Big East for the full year. The thing to remember is that there is no guarantee he would be the starter. He would add some vital depth at the point guard position, and most importantly still allows Pitt to use the scholarship for the 2010 class.

The only risk, if you can call it that, is to the chemistry. If Travon Woodall or Ashton Gibbs take this negatively it could be an impact. Both kids, however, have been team players from HS to college. Woodall volunteered to come off the bench in his senior year of HS. More likely, both would take it as another challenge to be met if they want to get playing time.

Just a couple little things.

He never saw the field because he couldn’t get out of bed and did not even get to El Paso, but Ronald Hobby is trying to start fresh at Liberty. Good luck with that.

The countdown clock to the first game is running. Why they don’t have a simple little widget of this for people to grab, post and promote is beyond me.

Panther Rants is back to posting.

The Pitt Consortium section of the blogroll has been updated to add The First Church of Fitzgerald and Eye of a Panther.

Do not confuse recent Pitt verbal Dan Schneider with this Dan Schneider.

The iCarly movie stars Miranda Cosgrove as Carly, Jennette McCurdy as Sam, Nathan Kress as Freddie and Jerry Trainor as Spencer. Victoria Justice guest stars as Shelby Marx and Reed Alexander guest stars as Nevel. “iFight Shelby Marx” is written by Dan Schneider and directed by Steve Hoefer. iCarly is from creator and executive producer Dan Schneider (Zoey 101, Drake & Josh).

There was a Big East Bloggers Pre-Season Poll, and somehow I got left out.  Simply more shenanigans from Rutgers folk.

Sorry, offline matters and family traveling has been brutal for the last week.

Andrew Devlin makes it official that he’s transferring to Pitt.

Devlin left the Cavaliers because coach Al Groh fired his offensive coaching staff and brought in a new set of coaches who implemented the spread offense. Tight ends do not have a big role in spread offenses.

The coaches switched Devlin to defensive end and he tried out his new position for a month during spring drills. Giving away 50-plus pounds against offensive tackles was an eye-opening experience for Devlin. He knew it would be a struggle to add the necessary weight to compete for playing time on the defense next season, so he decided to transfer to a school where he could play tight end in a traditional pro-style offense.

“I want to stress that I really liked my time at Virginia,” Devlin said. “I loved my coaches. My teammates were great. But I couldn’t be unhappy on the football field for three more years. Virginia runs the 3-4 [defense]. The two defensive ends who played last year were 290 and 285 pounds. I was playing a full 30 pounds lighter at the position. If you’re light and you’re going up against 330-pound tackles, it’s not good.

“They tried to find a place for me to fit in, but I wanted to be happy playing football. I probably wouldn’t have seen the field next season because of my weight. It didn’t bother me to transfer because if I went somewhere else, I’d be sitting out anyway.”

Devlin’s mom will be happy. The article does a bit more than suggest that she was still giving him a hard time about choosing UVa.

As expected, he sees the opportunity to compete for the TE position after sitting out this year. Pitt keeps stockpiling some talented and highly sought TEs. Hopefully they will be used a lot more than just for blocking.

Tony Clemons, a WR from the area, who left Michigan’s program is heading to Colorado. It appears by the list of teams he also considered that Pitt never really entered the picture. I’m assuming it was his lack of interest in Pitt or wanting to leave the ‘Burgh, but who really knows for sure.

I had to go back and check about the name. Andrew Devlin — once a local top TE recruit Pitt wanted but chose Virgina — is apparently desirous of transferring to Pitt (behind subs. paywall).

Devlin would be a redshirt sophomore at Virginia. While he played in all 12 games last year, he had a total of only 3 catches. Ultimately, UVa moved him to defensive end.

If he is actually transferring to Pitt, I’m assuming it will be to play TE. Pitt seems rather set at DE, plus he doesn’t strike me as the kind of athlete Coach Wannstedt wants at that spot. At TE, there would be opportunities after sitting out as a transfer. With Dickerson and Byham graduating, the main competition would be Mike Cruz and Brock DeCicco.

Well, Tommie Duhart does not have to worry about being in Coach Dave Wannstedt’s doghouse any longer.  The senior is joined by another senior, in T.J. Porter who has had two DUI in less than a year. Both have been dismissed from the team.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt has dismissed two seniors — defensive tackle Tommie Duhart and receiver T.J. Porter — from the Panthers’ football program.

Both players will transfer, according to a statement released by the university’s athletic department. A Pitt spokesman said Wannstedt will have no further comment on the issue.

As the brief story from the P-G notes, “this announcement is not a surprise.”

Both Porter and Duhart were suspended from spring practice. The fate of two other late spring suspendees — Wayne Jones and Aaron Berry — remain unresolved at this time.

A bunch of things to get out of the browser tabs.

Starting with the actual incoming kids. Another write-up from the Reebok All-American Game last weekend.  Dante Taylor was viewed as the most impressive player in the national game.

Taylor finished with 26 points and 9 rebounds en route to being named a game MVP for the second game, playing with Team Finish. The big man consistently showed the ability to play on the blocks and from the wing, run the break and start it with outlet passes. Additionally, his rebounding and defense were outstanding, and the kid really never stopped hustling. He was clearly the best player on the court. After the game, Taylor said he doesn’t view himself as a true post player, but he should be a big help to Jamie Dixon in replacing DeJuan Blair.

The thing with Taylor coming in this fall, will be managing expectations of fans. There’s been a lot of good stuff written about him.

As for Talib Zanna, who played in the local game.

The stand out star of the preview game, Zanna finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Yes, that’s right – Pittsburgh has drawn the top player in each game. Zanna looks to have the ability to complete a nice four year career for the Panthers and maybe play high level European ball. Zanna made his living around the basket, grabbing rebounds, getting put backs, and scoring in the post. He should compliment Taylor nicely.

As for the future, one of the big targets for the 2011 recruiting class is a shooting guard named Mike Taylor.

The 6-foot-3 sophomore shooting guard out of Brooklyn Boys & Girls is a star on the rise and picked up a slew of major offers after an open gym Friday at his school.

“Jamie Dixon absolutely loved him and told me to tell Mike he has an offer [from Pitt],” Boys & Girls assistant Elmer Anderson said. “Maryland, Indiana, Villanova, St. John’s and Providence also offered.” Rutgers has also offered, Anderson said.

“And at one point he hit nine straight 3’s from deep all over the place,” he added.

“Twenty-three Division 1 schools were in attendance, including UNLV, Rhode Island, UMBC, Stonybrook and New Hampshire. Mike will certainly be one of the most highly recruited players in New York City the next two years,” Anderson said.

You can’t put a real leader out there for a sophomore, but it is promising that Coach Dixon and Pitt keep getting mentioned with Taylor’s future.

“I can’t remember them all,” he admits. “It’s crazy.”

Life is good these days for the 6-foot-3 Taylor, Boys & Girls’ sophomore guard. Of the 30 major Division I schools who attended the Kangaroos’ recent open gyms, most of the coaches were there to watch Taylor’s sweet jump shot, including Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon.

He is a dying breed – a pure shooter. Where others may goof around by dunking the ball in between breaks, Taylor, who Boys & Girls coach Ruth Lovelace has said is already the most recruited player in her tenure, steps behind the 3-point line. During water breaks, he practices his follow through. When teammates want to organize a game of pick-up, he makes sure to get up a certain amount of jumpers beforehand.

“Shooting remains basketball’s EZ Pass, and there are few really good shooters left in the game, especially good shooters coming from New York City,” talent evaluator Tom Konchalski said. “He’s a throwback.”

The evaluations look very promising.

A superb scoring, combo guard that has the always attacking mentality that big time New York guards have. He can score in a variety of ways. Michael is a great 3 point shooter that has a extremely quick release and has great elevation on his jumper that allows him to get a shot off even with a hand in his face. He shoots it off the dribble or coming off screens. He is a shooter that you can run sets for. Michael is a pressure defender that is tough and plays very hard.

It will be a battle to get this kid.

Of course, that is for 2011. There is still a scholarship that could be used now. Would Pitt take a transfer from Florida? Even if it was yet another forward? Allan Chaney is looking for a new home.

The 6-foot-8, 231-pound Chaney arrived in Gainesville highly touted after averaging 26 points and 15 rebounds as the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year his senior season [in Connecticut]. He expected to play facing the basket at small forward and power forward, but he said Donovan played him mostly inside and Chaney felt the coaching staff never focused on his ball-handling skills or outside shooting.

“They talked about all the good things I can do, but they never used me that way,” Chaney said.

…

Thus far, Providence and Virginia Tech “are my two top schools, off the top of my head,” Allan said. At Providence, he said he can see himself playing a similar role as versatile forward Geoff McDermott. He also likes Virginia Tech’s style of play and has a good friend there in guard Malcolm Delaney.

Arthur Chaney said he’s also spoken with Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon and Ohio State’s Thad Matta. Miami, Penn State, Temple, Indiana and Rhode Island have also called. Arthur Chaney said the only major conference to not have a school show interest is the SEC, of which Florida is a member.

“We’re stressing to programs that he prefers to play face to the basket,” said New London coach Craig Parker, who speaks with Chaney regularly. “And if they don’t plan on using him that way, then that’s not the one for him.”

Chaney was a top-100, 4-star recruit. Chaney fancies himself as more of a wing forward, and apparently has some good range with his shot. At 6-8, he would be a tough match-up defensively, but needs some work at that end.

Chaney has decent, but not great athleticism and explosion. If he plays on the perimeter in college, he will have to increase his foot speed and lateral quickness. He has a habit of playing to the level of his competition, which can be good against high-level players, but bad when he opposes players that are not of a comparable skill level.

His energy and motor need work. It seems like something of a longshot that he would come to Pitt. As much as he says he’s willing to play some inside, he does not have the enthusiasm to do that. Reads a bit like Tyrell Biggs, and that never quite worked out well.

Finally, make sure you read through the reviews in Part 1 and Part 2 of players from the Pittsburgh Jam Fest. Isiaha Epps (Pitt verbal for 2010) along with other possible Pitt targets for 2010 and 11 include Tom Droney, Ronald Roberts, Kyrie Irving and Trey Ziegler.

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

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

We now believe we know the reason why.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How desperate is Bobby Gonzalez at Seton Hall? This desperate.

Herb Pope has been granted a release from New Mexico State and is considering a transfer.

I think I’ll have more thoughts on this subject later, like on Friday.

But either way, it’s gonna be tough on second-year coach Marvin Menzies if he loses his most-talented player less than three months before the season. Pope averaged 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a freshman in 2007-08. But the most telling stat was that New Mexico State went 9-10 before Pope joined the team and 12-4 with him in the lineup.

For what it’s worth, Pope has already visited Seton Hall.

That will be fun for Seton Hall fans to spin. Talent, but a lot — a hell of a lot – of baggage.

UPDATE: Should this be a shock? Pope isn’t going anywhere. Apparently he wanted to get the NCAA to give him a waiver to play right away before any transfer. The NCAA doesn’t do that. You have to transfer first, then apply for the waiver. So, rather than risk denial, he’s staying (apparently and for now). Duquesne was also considered by Pope.

Well, Josh Marks had his second visit to Pitt’s practice this morning.

Josh Marks, the former Southern Columbia star who left the Penn State team last week, watched practice from the sidelines for the second time in a week. He has been released from his scholarship at Penn State and appears set to transfer to Pitt, although nothing is official.

I’ve heard through the grapevine that Marks was making nice progress but apparently couldn’t get out of Joe Paterno’s doghouse despite being on the second-team at right guard (behind Central Catholic graduate Stefen Wisniewski) as a redshirt freshman.

By this afternoon there was something official.

Former Penn State offensive lineman Josh Marks has enrolled at Pitt and will join the Panthers next week when classes begin as a walk-on.

He will be able to play for Pitt next season since he is enrolled at Pitt for the fall, but begin practicing next week.

The controversy at Penn State was over his conditioning. There is little dispute he was overweight. With a year of only practicing and Buddy Morris working with him, we’ll find out whether it was the something more that was bothering him at Penn State.

I’m cautiously optimistic about this. At the very least, this is a low-risk gamble. Marks was a top OL recruit, that Pitt really wanted. His work ethic had never been questioned before. Again, the reports — even before his departure — were that he had struggled with conditioning from the spring onward.

If it was a short term slump on his part he will get over it and Pitt greatly benefits. If it really is his attitude, then the team will probably figure it out before the end of this year.

Will Clarke out of Allderdice has apparently given a verbal to Pitt.

According to Allderdice coach Don Schmidt, Clarke, 6 feet 6, 245-pounds, will choose Pitt after also considering scholarship offers from West Virginia and several Mid-American Conference schools.

Also a tight end at Allderidice, Clarke is seen as a tremendously raw recruit with the potential improve exponentially. He helped lead the Dragons to the City League title game last season.

Clarke comes from great athletic bloodlines — he is the son of Bill Clarke, who started on the fabled 1976 Fifth Avenue High School basketball team before going on to play at Duquesne.

Colin Dunlap at the P-G — who broke the story — seems to love this guy. Going so far as to say he’s got Greg Romeus potential. The star-ratings are not so kind. Scout.com puts him at 1-star. Rivals.com gives him 2 and says he’s the 40th best prospect in the commonwealth.

Obviously he is a complete project who likely won’t be seen on the field for a bit. A redshirt will definitely be in his future.

Then there is Darrin Walls, the cornerback who went to ND. There are lots of rumors swirling about Walls who would be a junior. The one that most care about is that he plans to transfer to Pitt. It’s hard to say anything definite at this point, so here’s the background to date.

Walls, it was announced by Notre Dame, would not be enrolled this fall. Instead coming back to Pittsburgh for personal reasons. ND Coach Weis stated that he expected/hoped that Walls would be able to return in the spring semester. Other coaches for ND have echoed that they expect him back. The persistent rumor is that he has some academic problems that led to his not playing this year. What doesn’t quite make sense in that is why he went home to Pittsburgh for the year.

Now, if Walls does indeed want to/plans to transfer to Pitt or any 1-A program he has to sit out 2 semesters (one year). So it would behoove him to enroll before the fall semester would get underway. That would allow him to play next year.

The other thing to consider is getting released from his scholarship at ND. I don’t know ND’s decisionmaking on this sort of thing, but it would not at all surprise me if they don’t release him this year. Especially to Pitt considering the two schools will be meeting over the next six years. That would require Walls to enroll and pay his own way (think Joe Flacco or Luke Getsy).

There’s what is posted in a media day transcript, then there is the information that gets left out or is supplemented by the athletic department in the form of handouts. Case in point, Maurice Williams is gone from Pitt for good.

Enrolled at Edinboro: Former Strong Vincent High star Maurice Williams is enrolled at Edinboro, coach Scott Browning confirmed Monday.

“He enrolled last week,” said Browning, who declined further comment.

At Pittsburgh’s media day Monday, coach Dave Wannstedt confirmed that Williams is in the process of transferring.

A quarterback in high school, Williams played wide receiver at Pitt as a true freshman in 2007 before becoming academically ineligible for the upcoming 2008 season.

Williams was initially expected to redshirt this season and resume play for the Panthers in 2009. Then Pitt gave Williams permission to talk with Edinboro earlier this summer.

If academically eligible, Williams can play this season. If not, he’ll have to sit out until next season. Edinboro opens practice Thursday.

Well, that’s that. Good luck to Williams. If he really has NFL dreams like his talent suggested, he’s made it that much harder on himself to get there.

Kevin Gorman blogged lots of goodies. Players who are gone besides Williams also include Shane Brooks (academics), Dan Loheyde (medical hardship), Sherod Murdock (suspended indefinitely then left team) and Dustin Walters (quit).

Just when it seemed the transfer stuff was over, there is the possibility of a Mizzou transfer. Keon Lawrence, a sophomore shooting guard from New Jersey seems to really want to be back east — specifically in the Big East.

“The reason why he’s leaving Missouri is he kind of wants to come home, family things and stuff,” said Lawrence’s skills trainer Mike Rodgers. “We’re going to concentrate on the Big East as far as his recruitment. We are concentrating on Villanova, Seton Hall, Rutgers and St. John’s, and moving along to looking into Providence, Pittsburgh and Marquette. We have a timetable on how we’re going to do it. I’ve had conversations with a number of Big East coaches.”

Lawrence was a 3-star recruit in the 2006 class. Rivals.com had him ranked 101st in their overall-150 and the 23d best SG. He was not among the slew of Mizzou players that ended up suspended for fighting at a club..

Lawrence slipped a bit in his sophomore year. Despite averaging more minutes, his scoring only increased slightly to 11 ppg (from 9.7) as his shooting percentages from the perimeter and the FT line fell — though, he did see a slight rise in 2PT FG%.

I just don’t see a lot of interest on either side, but it is worth taking note.