New Names - 4/6

[gary2]

Pitt Staff Reaches Out to Wichita State Transfer Dexter Dennis

On Wednesday, just hours after entering the transfer portal, former Wichita State Shocker Dexter Dennis heard from the Pitt staff, he told Pittsburgh Sports Now. Dennis is a 6-foot-5 guard who averaged 8.4 points per game last season as a junior. He hit 54 of his 135 three-point attempts, a 40%...

pittsburghsportsnow.com

 

[PittMBA]

Pitt Staff Reaches Out to Wichita State Transfer Dexter Dennis

On Wednesday, just hours after entering the transfer portal, former Wichita State Shocker Dexter Dennis heard from the Pitt staff, he told Pittsburgh Sports Now. Dennis is a 6-foot-5 guard who averaged 8.4 points per game last season as a junior. He hit 54 of his 135 three-point attempts, a 40%...

pittsburghsportsnow.com

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Maybe Burton gives us some in with the Witchita St kid

 

[iMissTheOldDayss]

Gary, these guys aren’t coming here

 

[gary2]

Gary, these guys aren’t coming here

Never said they were

 

[gary2]

Maybe Burton gives us some in with the Witchita St kid

 

[docpanther26]

Capel is not hitting the portal for future NBA first rounders, he’s trying to get some future Giant Eagle produce managers who can play some decent ball. C’mon Capel!

 

[Wanstash21]

Capel is not hitting the portal for future NBA first rounders, he’s trying to get some future Giant Eagle produce managers who can play some decent ball. C’mon Capel!

well the one kid who played for us this year is a rocket scientist.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Gary, this isnt hard to understand. You are putting in way too much work on this. The staff is going to call or text 100-200 transfers to land 5. Out of those several hundred, we may get visits from 10, maybe. There will be several hundred where we don't hear anything more than Pitt has contacted them.

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

Gary, this isnt hard to understand. You are putting in way too much work on this. The staff is going to call or text 100-200 transfers to land 5. Out of those several hundred, we may get visits from 10, maybe. There will be several hundred where we don't hear anything more than Pitt has contacted them.

Unfortunately this seems pretty much the case. It sounds like the only conditions Lyke chose (or was permitted contractually) to impose on Capel was to show proof that his staff was “contacting“ players in the portal. Basically, they are doing the bare minimum, but to the extreme of doing it with every single individual, seemingly. Wouldn’t be surprised to soon see a tweet from Okudale that Pitt has contacted him. 😄

 

[Lillysays]

If capel doesn’t have any visits set up for this weekend he isn’t doing his job. He needs to use the football team and spring game to show the school spirit. He needs to use the football team like how the football team used to use the basketball team when it was good.

 

[Jeffburgh]

Yep.
Coach Costanza.

 

[gary2]

If capel doesn’t have any visits set up for this weekend he isn’t doing his job. He needs to use the football team and spring game to show the school spirit. He needs to use the football team like how the football team used to use the basketball team when it was good.

Agree. Needs official visits this weekend and at least one new commitment by Monday night.

Any less would be a bad sign.

 

[tjb]

NCAA recruiting calendar: visits allowed after noon today only, and then not again until Good Friday.

Coaches can go on the road for evaluations tomorrow through Sunday, but no in-person contact allowed during that time.

 

[tjb]

Coaches can go on the road for evaluations tomorrow through Sunday, but no in-person contact allowed during that time.

This is wrong. Official visits are allowed this weekend. No off-campus in-person visits allowed. I misunderstood.

 

[gary2]

This is wrong. Official visits are allowed this weekend. No off-campus in-person visits allowed. I misunderstood.

I do not understand why we apparently have no visits scheduled. We have contacted around 50 transfers, some a while back.

That is just transfers. What about HS and JC visits?

I think Duquesne has 4-5 visiting.

7 scholarships to fill. Where is the urgency? Roche and Alston could be visiting here. Same with Brown, Quinn and Njie.

 

[gary2]

I do not understand why we apparently have no visits scheduled. We have contacted around 50 transfers, some a while back.

That is just transfers. What about HS and JC visits?

I think Duquesne has 4-5 visiting.

7 scholarships to fill. Where is the urgency? Roche and Alston could be visiting here. Same with Brown, Quinn and Njie.

Former Cal U Star Philip Alston Commits to Loyola Chicago

On Saturday, former California University of Pennsylvania standout forward Philip Alston told Pittsburgh Sports Now that he committed to Loyola Chicago. Alston averaged 21 points and 10.8 rebounds this season for Cal U. Alston, after hearing from over 50 schools in the portal, Alston’s...

pittsburghsportsnow.com

 

[pittzip]

Former Cal U Star Philip Alston Commits to Loyola Chicago

On Saturday, former California University of Pennsylvania standout forward Philip Alston told Pittsburgh Sports Now that he committed to Loyola Chicago. Alston averaged 21 points and 10.8 rebounds this season for Cal U. Alston, after hearing from over 50 schools in the portal, Alston’s...

pittsburghsportsnow.com

Ouch

 

[gary2]

Ouch

Damn Right

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Ouch

Damn Right

Good fit for him. He’s a 6’6 PF that doesn’t move the needle much in the ACC.

 

[pittzip]

Good fit for him. He’s a 6’6 PF that doesn’t move the needle much in the ACC.

Maybe But this is the same story again.

No on campus visits this weekend either.

 

[docpanther26]

Maybe But this is the same story again.

No on campus visits this weekend either.

Correct, maybe no on campus visits because nobody wants to come here, just saying.

 

[gary2]

Correct, maybe no on campus visits because nobody wants to come here, just saying.

Can’t be

 

[docpanther26]

Can’t be

I know, its hard to believe...

 

[docpanther26]

I'm not in the room with these guys, but there does not seem to be any sense of urgency. I really hope I'm wrong.

 

[tjb]

It’s an evaluation weekend, and most coaches are on the road at AAU events. Hard to get to Florida, Indianapolis or the west coast and host a good on-campus visit.

The recruiting calendar seems like a vestige of the days when there were a handful of unsigned senior HS players and the work was kicking off on the next year’s class, not of a time when 1,200 immediately eligible transfers were available and you needed to fill half your roster.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

I'm not in the room with these guys, but there does not seem to be any sense of urgency. I really hope I'm wrong.

I just hate Spring recruiting. We’re blanket offering every kid along with half the programs in the country and it seems like it’s absolutely the Wild West when it comes to landing anyone. This is just a really bad way to do business in my opinion and I have a bad feeling that, outside of Cummings, the guys we bring in are going to be lottery ticket types that are left after the major programs have finished up in the buffet line.

I’m sure the sales pitch is that we have all the minutes you want available in a P6 league but kids/their parents/coaches aren’t stupid. The narrative around this program is just bad and we’ve pinned any chance at improvement next year on winning dog fights for transfers who have 2/3 of the programs in the country after them. This is just a poor, poor way to do business

 

[Dark Days]

I just hate Spring recruiting. We’re blanket offering every kid along with half the programs in the country and it seems like it’s absolutely the Wild West when it comes to landing anyone. This is just a really bad way to do business in my opinion and I have a bad feeling that, outside of Cummings, the guys we bring in are going to be lottery ticket types that are left after the major programs have finished up in the buffet line.

I’m sure the sales pitch is that we have all the minutes you want available in a P6 league but kids/their parents/coaches aren’t stupid. The narrative around this program is just bad and we’ve pinned any chance at improvement next year on winning dog fights for transfers who have 2/3 of the programs in the country after them. This is just a poor, poor way to do business

It’s why The Capel Era is hands down worse than Stallings.. I’m guessing Jason Capel has the Transfer Portal up and just keeps hitting refresh every 5 minutes, then sends out a contact to the next one to hit Portal.. Then he interrupts Jeff Capel, who’s watching re runs of the Coach K final game ceremony at Cameron to let him know..

 

[HailToPitt1985]

This fiasco with Capel and his staff with recruiting and the portal is beyond ridiculous. We see them offering every kid out there, but that doesn't take any effort, just a computer and a few seconds. No results, no urgency. I think Stallings did more when he was sleeping than Capel does awake.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

This fiasco with Capel and his staff with recruiting and the portal is beyond ridiculous. We see them offering every kid out there, but that doesn't take any effort, just a computer and a few seconds. No results, no urgency. I think Stallings did more when he was sleeping than Capel does awake.

One of my biggest criticisms is that we have no plan in recruiting.

If you want to be Transfer U, that’s fine but the good ones isolate on the transfers they want and go get them. We’re offering every kid who comes into the portal and hoping to find traction anywhere we can. Look at what Georgetown did versus what we’re doing. Two coaches who know they probably have one year left to fix things or they’re out and you have Ewing going out and bringing in Nickelberry from LSU to get an inside track with their priority transfers while we keep the same staff that has not been getting the job done.

Last year would’ve been the perfect time for a complete reset since so many starters left, but instead we went for the quick fix and it failed. The definition of madness is trying the same failed approach over and over expecting different results which is exactly where we’re at.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

We’re offering every kid who comes into the portal

I mostly agree with your post, but there is something that I think needs to be said. Just because we are contacting lots of these guys, we most certainly are not offering all of them or even many of them. There is a big difference between "hearing from" a school and actually getting a scholarship offer from one.

I was talking to a guy last week whose son was playing a sport at a D2. He decided to transfer. The guy said that the day his name was put up on the transfer portal within a few hours his son had "heard from" coaches at 25 different schools. Most of them were just generic "we saw your name in the portal and watched some highlights and we wanted to see what you were thinking" type texts. A couple of them were from schools that seemed to really be interested. Some of them the kid responded back to and asked for more information or tried to get a conversation going with the coach and he never heard anything back from them again.

But the point is, at the end of that first day of him being in the portal he could have rightly told someone that he was "hearing from" literally dozens of schools, even though it soon became clear that many of them had little real interest at all.

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

One of my biggest criticisms is that we have no plan in recruiting.

If you want to be Transfer U, that’s fine but the good ones isolate on the transfers they want and go get them. We’re offering every kid who comes into the portal and hoping to find traction anywhere we can. Look at what Georgetown did versus what we’re doing. Two coaches who know they probably have one year left to fix things or they’re out and you have Ewing going out and bringing in Nickelberry from LSU to get an inside track with their priority transfers while we keep the same staff that has not been getting the job done.

Last year would’ve been the perfect time for a complete reset since so many starters left, but instead we went for the quick fix and it failed. The definition of madness is trying the same failed approach over and over expecting different results which is exactly where we’re at.

The problem is that the fans definition of success (scoreboard, tournament) differs from this coach and staff (paycheck, and … paycheck) and the university (conference money and network money)

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

One of my biggest criticisms is that we have no plan in recruiting.

If you want to be Transfer U, that’s fine but the good ones isolate on the transfers they want and go get them. We’re offering every kid who comes into the portal and hoping to find traction anywhere we can. Look at what Georgetown did versus what we’re doing. Two coaches who know they probably have one year left to fix things or they’re out and you have Ewing going out and bringing in Nickelberry from LSU to get an inside track with their priority transfers while we keep the same staff that has not been getting the job done.

Last year would’ve been the perfect time for a complete reset since so many starters left, but instead we went for the quick fix and it failed. The definition of madness is trying the same failed approach over and over expecting different results which is exactly where we’re at.

They don't care enough to make a concerted effort. Reaching out to a kid that hits the portal takes no effort. Setting up a Zoom call takes minimal effort. Actually recruiting a guy hard takes effort.

Coaches weren't on the road when they should have been after the season ended in March. It's why they had no visits last weekend. They've essentially given up unless someone falls into their lap.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

They don't care enough to make a concerted effort. Reaching out to a kid that hits the portal takes no effort. Setting up a Zoom call takes minimal effort. Actually recruiting a guy hard takes effort.

Coaches weren't on the road when they should have been after the season ended in March. It's why they had no visits last weekend. They've essentially given up unless someone falls into their lap.

I have no clue what they’ve been doing behind the scenes, so I can’t speak to how hard they’re working but their “plan” looks to scattershot at best.

It seems as if they are going to wait out this first round of transfers and see who is still available once the major players have picked the guys they want, unless you have a kid like Cummings who is intent on coming to Pitt. Playing devils advocate, I guess I can see some type of logic there as even if the staff camped out on the door step of the high end kids, they’re probably not coming to Pitt with where the program is at. In my opinion, that’s taking a dangerous game with little margin for error and making it even harder, but I don’t know if all the effort in the world gets us in the door with some of these higher profile kids. Now, had we reconfigured the staff to get an edge with either kids in the portal or HS decommits, maybe it’s a different story but that ship seems to have sailed.

 

[gary2]

They don't care enough to make a concerted effort. Reaching out to a kid that hits the portal takes no effort. Setting up a Zoom call takes minimal effort. Actually recruiting a guy hard takes effort.

Coaches weren't on the road when they should have been after the season ended in March. It's why they had no visits last weekend. They've essentially given up unless someone falls into their lap.

I made this same complaint last season: Capel needed to punt on the evaluation period and get people in last weekend for visits.

If there is not successful recruiting for next season, it will be his last.

It seems he would rather kick back and watch high school kids with coaching buddies than get kids in here and close.

There are 7 ships to fill.

 

[rockypanther]

I made this same complaint last season: Capel needed to punt on the evaluation period and get people in last weekend for visits.

If there is not successful recruiting for next season, it will be his last.

It seems he would rather kick back and watch high school kids with coaching buddies than get kids in here and close.

There are 7 ships to fill.

He shouldn’t be recruting high school kids anyway right now.

 

[Pitt79]

I’m sure the sales pitch is that we have all the minutes you want available in a P6 league but kids/their parents/coaches aren’t stupid.

Sure, why come to Pitt and play for the last place ACC team? Go to somewhere like Loyola Chicago or UMBC or St. Peters and have a chance to win 20 games and maybe even play in the NCAA Tournament, things you have NO CHANCE to do at Pitt.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

I have no clue what they’ve been doing behind the scenes, so I can’t speak to how hard they’re working but their “plan” looks to scattershot at best.

There are 7 ships to fill.

Frankly, I don't think there is a plan. Jeff kept the same inept staff and will get the same inept results.

If they were out on the road we would know. If there were visitors we would know. I can't fathom how you have more than half your scholarships open and no action in recruiting.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Frankly, I don't think there is a plan. Jeff kept the same inept staff and will get the same inept results.

If they were out on the road we would know. If there were visitors we would know. I can't fathom how you have more than half your scholarships open and no action in recruiting.

This is basically correct. Everyone knows he has 11 months left, so they are going through the motions, checking boxes, putting in minimal effort and will collect a nice buyout in March. Capel is still the HC 100% due to the buyout being too large. He knows he's done and is just cashing checks until the big one comes. If the Pitt HC job isnt the best in the nation, I don't know what is? Where else can you get rich by doing nothing?