How many freshman started for Dixon at Pitt?
- Thread starter PittPoker
- Start date
Was Ben or Dixon coaching when Taft was a FR? I forget.
I can’t remember if Taylor “started” but if I recall he got an extremely healthy share of minutes.
Chris Taft (24 games)
Antonio Graves (4)
Ron Ramon (4)
Sam Young (3)
Levance Fields (4)
DeJuan Blair (36)
Gilbert Brown (redshirt freshman -- 15)
Tray Woodall (redshirt freshman -- 11)
Talib Zanna (redshirt freshman -- 13)
Khem Birch (6)
Steven Adams (32)
James Robinson (32)
Mike Young (36)
Cam Johnson (redshirt freshman - 1)
I put the whole list in a post below. (Or above ... or somewhere in this thread).
I saw Khem Birch play a few minutes vs Penn in Philly the 1 year at the palestra nd left thinking he was going to be a complete superstar...boy was I wrong
He was and still is a good player. It just didn’t occur at Pitt.
I'm pretty sure Taft committed to Ben but he took off to UCLA. Taft stayed with the commitment to Pitt.
Slice recruited Taft, and he wanted to play for Dixon once it was made public that Howland was leaving.
How nice would it be to be able to redshirt players in these days of instant gratification.
If you could somehow convince players especially big men how much they would benefit from a year of strength and conditioning.
This is how some of our past teams were able to get old and stay old.
If you could somehow convince players especially big men how much they would benefit from a year of strength and conditioning.
This is how some of our past teams were able to get old and stay old.
Too many players think they are one and done and redshirted will waste a year for them. In reality, most are not even 4 and done players.
It’s a testament to his athletic ability and work ethic that he’s already managed to get 3 full seasons in on an NBA roster, as he still has very little offensive game and his low post defense isn’t great.
It's also a testament to how short the supply of coordinated 6'9 men is.
I believe it is equally the fault of coaches who aren't interested in investing in player development for 2-3 years and "wasting" a scholarship on a 5th year. As long as a guy like Capel thinks he can recruit 4* and 5* players, he probably doesn't have motivation to RS anyone.
Likewise, he needs to believe that his staff can actually build a guy up, and thus far we have no evidence of that.
The increase of transfers and grad transfers could also have a suppressing effect on redshirting. A given player is less likely to stay at one school for 4 or 5 years, compared to 15 years ago. Pitt redshirted Cam Johnson only to see UNC become the beneficiary of his upperclassman maturity. And I'm less bitter toward Johnson than many Pitt fans. And I realize his circumstances were a little unusual. But who were the last Pitt redshirts that stuck around for the full five years? Patterson and Zanna?
Years ago QBs came into the NFL would sit 3-5 yrs learning the game behind a veteran . Today any high draft pick ( esp QBs) is worked into the starting lineup ASAP . With the salary cap and movement of players via free agency teams need to get what they can out of them now . College hoops isn’t much different , kids don’t want to sit for 3 yrs waiting for their chance to play so red shirting a guy ( unless do to injury ) isn’t in a schools interest . If the limitations on scholarships was lifted combined with tougher ( not easier ) transfer rules then sitting and developing guys would work .
I agree with you, but Pitt and Dixon were certainly successful with that formula not all that long ago. There's nothing to say a coach who could identify the right talent to develop couldn't still be successful like that today.
For Pitt, it was easier for JC to go out and get Hamilton than try to turn Samson George into something productive.
Yep. And in other words, all the ones he deemed ready to play as FR at a level needed to help the team win games.
