Welcome back to In The Pitt, PantherLair.com’s new weekly discourse featuring a roundup of everything that’s happened in the past week, with insight and inside information thrown in for good measure.
July 25, 2008
Top of The Pitt
The biggest news in Pitt sports over the last week came on Monday with Juantez Hollins.
Pitt’s offensive line recruiting in this class has some versatility, as King could potentially play either guard or tackle, and Hollins has the size and athleticism to shift to the defensive line if the situation merits such a move. Diaz has versatility of his own: at a strong 6’2” 285, he could be a guard or a center. It seems unlikely that Pitt will recruit a “natural” center either this year or in the coming years, so the Panthers’ future centers will probably all be offensive line prospects (or possibly even defensive line prospects) who get moved into the position. Diaz could be a candidate for such a move.
Diaz chose Pitt over offers from Connecticut, Army, and Smithfield, Rhode Island-based Bryant University. Naturally, the knee-jerk reaction to that offer sheet is to question the coaching staff’s decision to offer Diaz. Since who gave us the following quote:
“Fernando went to the camps and worked out in front of these guys, and that's what they're judging to decide whether or not to offer. A lot of colleges seem to want to hear who else offered before they offer; my thing is, don't you trust your own evaluation? Sometimes a school will ask who else offered, and I say 'I'm not telling; decide for yourself.' Shouldn't you be proactive?”
After watching Diaz work out at their summer camp in June, the Pitt coaches got proactive and offered him.
I think the best story I heard about Diaz was one he told me when we spoke the night before he committed. He talked about going to a camp at Rutgers and hearing a number of their coaches say that he just wasn’t tall enough and that if he were a few inches taller, he would have an offer from the Scarlet Knights.
Since that was their opinion, he told me that he was anxiously looking forward lining up on the field against Rutgers some day in the future. For that game, he planned to ask his coaches if he could switch to defensive tackle, so that when he blew up the Rutgers offensive linemen he could walk to the Rutgers sideline and apologize to the Scarlet Knights’ coaches:
“Sorry for knocking out your offensive linemen, Coach; I guess they’re just too tall.”
When he told me that story/plan, he still hadn’t committed yet, but he knew that he would be picking between Pitt and UConn, and he was excited to be playing in the Big East, because that meant he’d get to face Rutgers.
Next on the list
When looking forward for the next likely football commitments, there are a couple names to throw out, although none of them are really new. Last we heard, Montvale (NJ) St. Joseph’s running back/safety down to Pitt and Syracuse, and he said last week that the two schools were even. I think that bodes well for Pitt, considering that he has visited Syracuse but has never been to Pitt. So if he’s never visited one school but that school is still even, you’d have to like that school’s chances if his visit goes well.
- I thought the same would be the case for Maryland safety Carl Fleming, but when I spoke to him on Thursday, he told me that his Pitt visit, which had been planned for July 26th, has been moved back to August 9th. He said the visit was moved because Dave Wannstedt won’t be in town this weekend; right now I think it’s a wait-and-see on whether or not that August visit happens. I’ve been hearing that training camp visits are going to be kept to a minimum this year, and August 9th is the first practice in full pads.
Fleming has been seeing some new interest from Connecticut lately and now he’s talking about making a decision either mid-season or post-season since he feels like he’s got more offers coming. Right now his only offers are from Pitt and Delaware, but I wonder if this one might be shifting away from Pitt.
- Things still seem to be on the same course as last week with Brock DeCicco: visits to Iowa and possibly Wisconsin on the 1st and 2nd of August, respectively, and then a decision after that (finally). We still say Pitt is the one he’ll choose.
More football recruiting
- Also, we told you last week that New Jersey offensive guard Nyshier Oliver (who is committed to Tennessee) with him. We’re still hearing that’s the tentative plan, although no date has been set for the visit yet. We’ve been hearing for awhile that Wilkes will probably come down to Pitt, Stanford, and Wake Forest.
- We had a write-up this week on Penn Hills linebacker told us the same thing. Ever since he attended four days of Pitt camps in June (two days of prospect camps; two days of 7-on-7 camps), he has said Pitt was his leader. When I talked to him this week, he downplayed that a little bit. I wouldn’t say he backed off, but he wanted to make it clear that Pitt is his leader because he knows more about them than anybody else. That being said, he did emphasize he likes a lot of stuff about Pitt, and I’d have to guess that even after he sees other colleges on official visits, he’ll still know the most about Pitt and, most importantly, he’ll feel the closest connection with the coaching staff at Pitt.
I still think Mason is Pitt all the way, but we might have to wait until January to hear it.
- After In the Pitt was published last week, father did in June, when he named Pitt, Rutgers, and Tennessee, the coach did tell Tony that he could see a decision coming as soon as August 15th.
- Mike Farrell checked in with Aliquippa cornerback he’s got a verbal offer from Pitt. We have heard that it’s only a verbal because Patrick has some serious work to do in the classroom, work that may not be accomplish-able by the end of the 2008-09 school year. He might be a prep school project, in which case you could end up seeing him at Pitt two years from now.
- We also caught up with Maryland running back Caleb Porzel earlier this month.
Speaking of running backs
We’ve all from time to time this summer hypothesized about the possible impact a less than stellar season could have on Rutgers’ early recruiting success this year. Turns out we don’t have to wait that long, as Durham (NC) running back Tom Savage; sure, there are other fish in the sea, but his decommitment hurts the Scarlet Knights, to be sure.
With Scott out of the fold, the Big East recruiting looks like this:
Cincinnati - 20 commits
Rutgers - 18 commits
West Virginia - 12 commits
South Florida - 11 commits
Connecticut - 9 commits
Pitt - 6 commits
Louisville - 4 commits
Syracuse - 3 commits
Remember, you can always keep up to date on Big East commitments with our Big East commitment sheethttp://pittsburgh.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=551&mid=114642909&sid=996&tid=114642909&style=1, which is also pinned at the top of this message board.
Speaking of things that are pinned at the top of this board
With training camp knocking on the door, we’re going to be doing some housecleaning on this message board. Anyone who has been around for the past few years and followed our coverage of training camp knows that almost all of the action happens on this board, so we’re going to be dropping some of the pinned links over the next week. Primarily this will affect the Archive of Get to Know articleshttp://pittsburgh.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=551&mid=111434197&sid=996&tid=111434197&style=1, so if you want to refresh on spring camp stuff or take a look back at the guys who will be coming in as freshmen, check out those posts now; after next week they’ll be gone forever.
Dates to remember
Since we’re talking training camp stuff, here are some of the key dates that will define the next month in Pitt football:
August 4th - Pre-camp media day
August 5th - Training camp starts with four sets of split-team two-a-days
August 9th - First full gear practice
August 12th - First scrimmage
August 16th - Second scrimmage
August 21st - Fan Fest at Heinz Field (6-9:15 PM)
August 22nd - Final practice of training camp
August 25th - First in-season Dave Wannstedt press conference
August 30th - Season opener: Pitt vs. Bowling Green at Heinz Field
Schedules
Pitt released a few more 2008 home start times this week. So far, here are the known kickoff times:
August 30th - Bowling Green: Noon
September 6th - Buffalo: 6 p.m.
October 2nd - at South Florida: 7:30 p.m.
October 18th - at Navy: 3:30 p.m.
November 1st - at Notre Dame: 2:30 p.m.
November 28th - West Virginia: Noon
Still undetermined are the home games against Iowa, Rutgers, and Louisville, as well as road games at Cincinnati, Syracuse, and Connecticut. The Iowa game falls on the same day as a Pirates’ night game, so that one is a definite for an early afternoon start; the question is whether or not the game will be broadcast. If it is broadcast, it will be a noon kick; if it is not televised, then it could be as late as 1:30 p.m., but not later. The rest of the games are conference matchups, and therefore subject to the potential of being Big East Game of the Week, which would lead to a noon start.
On the hoops front
While the football team is building up some considerable hype for the coming season, the Pitt men’s basketball team is coming off a run of consecutive success and is looking straight down the barrel of another very successful season in 2008-09. As any poster on the Basketball Board can tell you, hoops-starved fans got a little taste over the past four weeks thanks to the Pittsburgh Pro Am summer basketball league held in Green Tree.
The league concluded on Wednesday night with a championship game between No. 6 seed (out of 6) P&W against No. 1 seed UPMC Cancer Institute. From the sounds of things, P&W was the little engine that could in the league’s three-day playoffs: having won exactly zero games through the first seven contests, P&W first upset No. 3 seed Aliquippa GE and then No. 2 seed SSS.
Here’s a breakdown of the league, according to the final statistical tally that we received:
Field Goal Pct. (minimum 50 shots attempted)
1. Sam Young - 81/139; 58.3%
3. DeJuan Blair - 89/161; 55.3%
Three-point FG Pct. (minimum 12 made)
1. Ashton Gibbs - 20/36; 55.6%
4. Levance Fields - 26/56; 46.4%
5. Brad Wanamaker - 13/29; 44.8%
Points
1. DeJuan Blair - 31.4 ppg
2. Sam Young - 31.2 ppg
3. Levance Fields - 25.5 ppg
Rebounds
1. DeJuan Blair - 11.6 rpg
2. Dwight Miller - 9 rpg
4. Sam Young - 8.2 rpg
Assists
1. Levance Fields - 6.5 apg
2. Travon Woodall - 4.3 apg
5. Ashton Gibbs - 2.8 apg
Steals
1. Brad Wanamaker - 1.3 spg
2. Levance Fields - 1.5 spg
4. Ashton Gibbs - 1.1 spg
Blocks
1. Sam Young - 1.3 bpg
2. Gary McGhee - 1.1 bpg
3. Dwight Miller - 1.0 bpg
If you missed any of the action, PantherLair.com Senior Writer Tony Greco was at every game:
Game One
Game Two
Game Three
Game Four
Game Five
Game Six
Game Seven
Playoffs: Round One
Playoffs: Semifinals
Playoffs: Championshipshttp://pittsburgh.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=829890
Plus, PantherLair.com photographer Pete Madia was at a number of games, too, and he provided us with 85 exclusive photos:
Photos: Group One
Photos: Group Two
Photos: Group Three
A quick aside
Before we move on, I’ve got to go through this upgrade stuff again. I know you guys have heard it from me a bunch of times, but here’s the problem:
I checked the numbers, and only about half of the PantherLair.com premium subscribers are currently holding annual subscriptions. That means half of you are paying month-to-month when you could be saving cash and getting a year of Sports Illustrated.
Let’s review: you know you’re not cancelling your subscription to PantherLair.com in the next month, not when the absolute best training camp coverage anywhere will be right here on this message board. So you know you’re in through at least August. Then the season starts, and if Pitt does what we all think they will, you’re definitely not jumping off the ship when things get good on the field. So you’re on board through December. And by that point, football recruiting will be hitting fevered pitch and basketball will be gearing up for the conference schedule. Then, before you know it, Letter of Intent day is right around the corner, so you’re definitely sticking around for that.
After LOI day, it’s less than a month before spring camp starts and we bring non-stop coverage once again. That takes you into April, when March Madness is hitting its stride and maybe, just maybe, the Pitt basketball team is on a stage with only three other teams. After that, you get into May and June and the prospect camps and the big early summer recruiting push, and where does that leave you?
Exactly where you are today.
As you can see, if you’re a Pitt fan you’re probably going to be subscribed for the next year anyway, so why pay month-to-month when an annual sub saves you money and gets you a year of Sports Illustrated?
For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would stay on a monthly plan.
Here’s the link to upgrade: UPGRADE HERE
Thanks for listening.
The Clark situation
Stepping back into football recruiting, the Missouri site reported this week on Allentown (PA) Parkland wide receiver the article, Clark says he had a good visit and puts Missouri at the top of his list. That much isn’t too surprising; kids often put a school on top in the aftermath of a good visit. What is a bit surprising is this quote at the end of the article:
“Right now, Missouri’s basically at the top,” Clark said. “I’d love to see other schools, but after today, it may not even be necessary. I loved my time here and definitely think that it could be the place for me.”
That notion of not needing to see other schools runs contrary to what Clark himself told PantherLair.com at the beginning of July:
"The colleges all want me to come out and visit and check out the campus, so I'm planning to visit Pitt soon and fly out to Missouri soon," Clark said. "I'm looking at going to Missouri in the end of July. I was going to go to Pitt in mid-July, but I have a basketball tournament coming up, so I'll probably go there at the end of July, too.
"Right now, Pitt and Missouri are my favorites because those are the two schools I am mostly talking to. I visited Penn State and that was a great school, but I haven't been talking to them that much. Mostly I just talk to Pitt and Missouri.”
So what to make of it? I’m inclined to think that this was an interview given one day after a visit, so Clark was clearly excited about his experience; the result is that, for a few days, he’s thinking that he might be done with recruiting. But I think Pitt is still pursuing him, and I think they’ll convince him to take that visit to Pittsburgh.
The day that article came out, a friend text messaged me and asked “Why would a kid from Allentown go to Missouri?” For me, that’s the essential question here: how could a kid from Allentown decide to go a thousand miles away (give or take a few hundred) when he could play a couple hundred miles away?
So I looked back to the recruiting class of 2002 (which is as far back as the current Rivals database goes), and I can’t find a single Pennsylvania prospect who went to Missouri. In fact, other than Clark, I can’t even find any Pa. prospects in the last five recruiting classes who held offers from Missouri (although I’m sure there have been a few more). The point is, if Clark actually does go to Missouri, it would almost be an anomaly.
But I guess that’s why recruiting is fun.
On a serious note
We have to close out this week’s In the Pitt on a more somber note. By now most of you have probably heard about Bob Junko’s recent health concerns. The specifics of Coach Junko’s health matters are not necessarily important; what is important is that the man fell ill and was hospitalized. Junko’s official title is “Director of Football Relations,” and I really can’t think of a better description of what he does, whether it’s with recruits, coaches, or anyone who wants a tour of the Panthers’ facilities.
Greg Gattuso said on the radio Wednesday that, when visiting a recruit on an in-home visit, Dave Wannstedt always seems to know someone who the recruit’s family knows. I’d have to guess that, in western Pennsylvania, Bob Junko might know more people than even Wannstedt himself.
Over the next few days, keep the Junko’s in your thoughts. The man is an asset to the Pitt program, and he’s a pretty damn good guy.
Thanks for joining this week’s edition of In The Pitt. Since this feature is still in its early stages, feel free to e-mail chrispeak1@comcast.net with any suggestions, feedback, or other input.
This post was edited on 7/25 9:33 AM by Chris Peak
July 25, 2008
Top of The Pitt
The biggest news in Pitt sports over the last week came on Monday with Juantez Hollins.
Pitt’s offensive line recruiting in this class has some versatility, as King could potentially play either guard or tackle, and Hollins has the size and athleticism to shift to the defensive line if the situation merits such a move. Diaz has versatility of his own: at a strong 6’2” 285, he could be a guard or a center. It seems unlikely that Pitt will recruit a “natural” center either this year or in the coming years, so the Panthers’ future centers will probably all be offensive line prospects (or possibly even defensive line prospects) who get moved into the position. Diaz could be a candidate for such a move.
Diaz chose Pitt over offers from Connecticut, Army, and Smithfield, Rhode Island-based Bryant University. Naturally, the knee-jerk reaction to that offer sheet is to question the coaching staff’s decision to offer Diaz. Since who gave us the following quote:
“Fernando went to the camps and worked out in front of these guys, and that's what they're judging to decide whether or not to offer. A lot of colleges seem to want to hear who else offered before they offer; my thing is, don't you trust your own evaluation? Sometimes a school will ask who else offered, and I say 'I'm not telling; decide for yourself.' Shouldn't you be proactive?”
After watching Diaz work out at their summer camp in June, the Pitt coaches got proactive and offered him.
I think the best story I heard about Diaz was one he told me when we spoke the night before he committed. He talked about going to a camp at Rutgers and hearing a number of their coaches say that he just wasn’t tall enough and that if he were a few inches taller, he would have an offer from the Scarlet Knights.
Since that was their opinion, he told me that he was anxiously looking forward lining up on the field against Rutgers some day in the future. For that game, he planned to ask his coaches if he could switch to defensive tackle, so that when he blew up the Rutgers offensive linemen he could walk to the Rutgers sideline and apologize to the Scarlet Knights’ coaches:
“Sorry for knocking out your offensive linemen, Coach; I guess they’re just too tall.”
When he told me that story/plan, he still hadn’t committed yet, but he knew that he would be picking between Pitt and UConn, and he was excited to be playing in the Big East, because that meant he’d get to face Rutgers.
Next on the list
When looking forward for the next likely football commitments, there are a couple names to throw out, although none of them are really new. Last we heard, Montvale (NJ) St. Joseph’s running back/safety down to Pitt and Syracuse, and he said last week that the two schools were even. I think that bodes well for Pitt, considering that he has visited Syracuse but has never been to Pitt. So if he’s never visited one school but that school is still even, you’d have to like that school’s chances if his visit goes well.
- I thought the same would be the case for Maryland safety Carl Fleming, but when I spoke to him on Thursday, he told me that his Pitt visit, which had been planned for July 26th, has been moved back to August 9th. He said the visit was moved because Dave Wannstedt won’t be in town this weekend; right now I think it’s a wait-and-see on whether or not that August visit happens. I’ve been hearing that training camp visits are going to be kept to a minimum this year, and August 9th is the first practice in full pads.
Fleming has been seeing some new interest from Connecticut lately and now he’s talking about making a decision either mid-season or post-season since he feels like he’s got more offers coming. Right now his only offers are from Pitt and Delaware, but I wonder if this one might be shifting away from Pitt.
- Things still seem to be on the same course as last week with Brock DeCicco: visits to Iowa and possibly Wisconsin on the 1st and 2nd of August, respectively, and then a decision after that (finally). We still say Pitt is the one he’ll choose.
More football recruiting
- Also, we told you last week that New Jersey offensive guard Nyshier Oliver (who is committed to Tennessee) with him. We’re still hearing that’s the tentative plan, although no date has been set for the visit yet. We’ve been hearing for awhile that Wilkes will probably come down to Pitt, Stanford, and Wake Forest.
- We had a write-up this week on Penn Hills linebacker told us the same thing. Ever since he attended four days of Pitt camps in June (two days of prospect camps; two days of 7-on-7 camps), he has said Pitt was his leader. When I talked to him this week, he downplayed that a little bit. I wouldn’t say he backed off, but he wanted to make it clear that Pitt is his leader because he knows more about them than anybody else. That being said, he did emphasize he likes a lot of stuff about Pitt, and I’d have to guess that even after he sees other colleges on official visits, he’ll still know the most about Pitt and, most importantly, he’ll feel the closest connection with the coaching staff at Pitt.
I still think Mason is Pitt all the way, but we might have to wait until January to hear it.
- After In the Pitt was published last week, father did in June, when he named Pitt, Rutgers, and Tennessee, the coach did tell Tony that he could see a decision coming as soon as August 15th.
- Mike Farrell checked in with Aliquippa cornerback he’s got a verbal offer from Pitt. We have heard that it’s only a verbal because Patrick has some serious work to do in the classroom, work that may not be accomplish-able by the end of the 2008-09 school year. He might be a prep school project, in which case you could end up seeing him at Pitt two years from now.
- We also caught up with Maryland running back Caleb Porzel earlier this month.
Speaking of running backs
We’ve all from time to time this summer hypothesized about the possible impact a less than stellar season could have on Rutgers’ early recruiting success this year. Turns out we don’t have to wait that long, as Durham (NC) running back Tom Savage; sure, there are other fish in the sea, but his decommitment hurts the Scarlet Knights, to be sure.
With Scott out of the fold, the Big East recruiting looks like this:
Cincinnati - 20 commits
Rutgers - 18 commits
West Virginia - 12 commits
South Florida - 11 commits
Connecticut - 9 commits
Pitt - 6 commits
Louisville - 4 commits
Syracuse - 3 commits
Remember, you can always keep up to date on Big East commitments with our Big East commitment sheethttp://pittsburgh.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=551&mid=114642909&sid=996&tid=114642909&style=1, which is also pinned at the top of this message board.
Speaking of things that are pinned at the top of this board
With training camp knocking on the door, we’re going to be doing some housecleaning on this message board. Anyone who has been around for the past few years and followed our coverage of training camp knows that almost all of the action happens on this board, so we’re going to be dropping some of the pinned links over the next week. Primarily this will affect the Archive of Get to Know articleshttp://pittsburgh.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=551&mid=111434197&sid=996&tid=111434197&style=1, so if you want to refresh on spring camp stuff or take a look back at the guys who will be coming in as freshmen, check out those posts now; after next week they’ll be gone forever.
Dates to remember
Since we’re talking training camp stuff, here are some of the key dates that will define the next month in Pitt football:
August 4th - Pre-camp media day
August 5th - Training camp starts with four sets of split-team two-a-days
August 9th - First full gear practice
August 12th - First scrimmage
August 16th - Second scrimmage
August 21st - Fan Fest at Heinz Field (6-9:15 PM)
August 22nd - Final practice of training camp
August 25th - First in-season Dave Wannstedt press conference
August 30th - Season opener: Pitt vs. Bowling Green at Heinz Field
Schedules
Pitt released a few more 2008 home start times this week. So far, here are the known kickoff times:
August 30th - Bowling Green: Noon
September 6th - Buffalo: 6 p.m.
October 2nd - at South Florida: 7:30 p.m.
October 18th - at Navy: 3:30 p.m.
November 1st - at Notre Dame: 2:30 p.m.
November 28th - West Virginia: Noon
Still undetermined are the home games against Iowa, Rutgers, and Louisville, as well as road games at Cincinnati, Syracuse, and Connecticut. The Iowa game falls on the same day as a Pirates’ night game, so that one is a definite for an early afternoon start; the question is whether or not the game will be broadcast. If it is broadcast, it will be a noon kick; if it is not televised, then it could be as late as 1:30 p.m., but not later. The rest of the games are conference matchups, and therefore subject to the potential of being Big East Game of the Week, which would lead to a noon start.
On the hoops front
While the football team is building up some considerable hype for the coming season, the Pitt men’s basketball team is coming off a run of consecutive success and is looking straight down the barrel of another very successful season in 2008-09. As any poster on the Basketball Board can tell you, hoops-starved fans got a little taste over the past four weeks thanks to the Pittsburgh Pro Am summer basketball league held in Green Tree.
The league concluded on Wednesday night with a championship game between No. 6 seed (out of 6) P&W against No. 1 seed UPMC Cancer Institute. From the sounds of things, P&W was the little engine that could in the league’s three-day playoffs: having won exactly zero games through the first seven contests, P&W first upset No. 3 seed Aliquippa GE and then No. 2 seed SSS.
Here’s a breakdown of the league, according to the final statistical tally that we received:
Field Goal Pct. (minimum 50 shots attempted)
1. Sam Young - 81/139; 58.3%
3. DeJuan Blair - 89/161; 55.3%
Three-point FG Pct. (minimum 12 made)
1. Ashton Gibbs - 20/36; 55.6%
4. Levance Fields - 26/56; 46.4%
5. Brad Wanamaker - 13/29; 44.8%
Points
1. DeJuan Blair - 31.4 ppg
2. Sam Young - 31.2 ppg
3. Levance Fields - 25.5 ppg
Rebounds
1. DeJuan Blair - 11.6 rpg
2. Dwight Miller - 9 rpg
4. Sam Young - 8.2 rpg
Assists
1. Levance Fields - 6.5 apg
2. Travon Woodall - 4.3 apg
5. Ashton Gibbs - 2.8 apg
Steals
1. Brad Wanamaker - 1.3 spg
2. Levance Fields - 1.5 spg
4. Ashton Gibbs - 1.1 spg
Blocks
1. Sam Young - 1.3 bpg
2. Gary McGhee - 1.1 bpg
3. Dwight Miller - 1.0 bpg
If you missed any of the action, PantherLair.com Senior Writer Tony Greco was at every game:
Game One
Game Two
Game Three
Game Four
Game Five
Game Six
Game Seven
Playoffs: Round One
Playoffs: Semifinals
Playoffs: Championshipshttp://pittsburgh.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=829890
Plus, PantherLair.com photographer Pete Madia was at a number of games, too, and he provided us with 85 exclusive photos:
Photos: Group One
Photos: Group Two
Photos: Group Three
A quick aside
Before we move on, I’ve got to go through this upgrade stuff again. I know you guys have heard it from me a bunch of times, but here’s the problem:
I checked the numbers, and only about half of the PantherLair.com premium subscribers are currently holding annual subscriptions. That means half of you are paying month-to-month when you could be saving cash and getting a year of Sports Illustrated.
Let’s review: you know you’re not cancelling your subscription to PantherLair.com in the next month, not when the absolute best training camp coverage anywhere will be right here on this message board. So you know you’re in through at least August. Then the season starts, and if Pitt does what we all think they will, you’re definitely not jumping off the ship when things get good on the field. So you’re on board through December. And by that point, football recruiting will be hitting fevered pitch and basketball will be gearing up for the conference schedule. Then, before you know it, Letter of Intent day is right around the corner, so you’re definitely sticking around for that.
After LOI day, it’s less than a month before spring camp starts and we bring non-stop coverage once again. That takes you into April, when March Madness is hitting its stride and maybe, just maybe, the Pitt basketball team is on a stage with only three other teams. After that, you get into May and June and the prospect camps and the big early summer recruiting push, and where does that leave you?
Exactly where you are today.
As you can see, if you’re a Pitt fan you’re probably going to be subscribed for the next year anyway, so why pay month-to-month when an annual sub saves you money and gets you a year of Sports Illustrated?
For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would stay on a monthly plan.
Here’s the link to upgrade: UPGRADE HERE
Thanks for listening.
The Clark situation
Stepping back into football recruiting, the Missouri site reported this week on Allentown (PA) Parkland wide receiver the article, Clark says he had a good visit and puts Missouri at the top of his list. That much isn’t too surprising; kids often put a school on top in the aftermath of a good visit. What is a bit surprising is this quote at the end of the article:
“Right now, Missouri’s basically at the top,” Clark said. “I’d love to see other schools, but after today, it may not even be necessary. I loved my time here and definitely think that it could be the place for me.”
That notion of not needing to see other schools runs contrary to what Clark himself told PantherLair.com at the beginning of July:
"The colleges all want me to come out and visit and check out the campus, so I'm planning to visit Pitt soon and fly out to Missouri soon," Clark said. "I'm looking at going to Missouri in the end of July. I was going to go to Pitt in mid-July, but I have a basketball tournament coming up, so I'll probably go there at the end of July, too.
"Right now, Pitt and Missouri are my favorites because those are the two schools I am mostly talking to. I visited Penn State and that was a great school, but I haven't been talking to them that much. Mostly I just talk to Pitt and Missouri.”
So what to make of it? I’m inclined to think that this was an interview given one day after a visit, so Clark was clearly excited about his experience; the result is that, for a few days, he’s thinking that he might be done with recruiting. But I think Pitt is still pursuing him, and I think they’ll convince him to take that visit to Pittsburgh.
The day that article came out, a friend text messaged me and asked “Why would a kid from Allentown go to Missouri?” For me, that’s the essential question here: how could a kid from Allentown decide to go a thousand miles away (give or take a few hundred) when he could play a couple hundred miles away?
So I looked back to the recruiting class of 2002 (which is as far back as the current Rivals database goes), and I can’t find a single Pennsylvania prospect who went to Missouri. In fact, other than Clark, I can’t even find any Pa. prospects in the last five recruiting classes who held offers from Missouri (although I’m sure there have been a few more). The point is, if Clark actually does go to Missouri, it would almost be an anomaly.
But I guess that’s why recruiting is fun.
On a serious note
We have to close out this week’s In the Pitt on a more somber note. By now most of you have probably heard about Bob Junko’s recent health concerns. The specifics of Coach Junko’s health matters are not necessarily important; what is important is that the man fell ill and was hospitalized. Junko’s official title is “Director of Football Relations,” and I really can’t think of a better description of what he does, whether it’s with recruits, coaches, or anyone who wants a tour of the Panthers’ facilities.
Greg Gattuso said on the radio Wednesday that, when visiting a recruit on an in-home visit, Dave Wannstedt always seems to know someone who the recruit’s family knows. I’d have to guess that, in western Pennsylvania, Bob Junko might know more people than even Wannstedt himself.
Over the next few days, keep the Junko’s in your thoughts. The man is an asset to the Pitt program, and he’s a pretty damn good guy.
Thanks for joining this week’s edition of In The Pitt. Since this feature is still in its early stages, feel free to e-mail chrispeak1@comcast.net with any suggestions, feedback, or other input.
This post was edited on 7/25 9:33 AM by Chris Peak
