tick tick tick

[Sean Miller Fan]

Time is running out for Capel to land a Top 150 player during the early signing period. Only 38 of players ranked 11-150 remain uncommitted. 8 of the top 10 are uncommitted but that the bidding for those players will run up until April so we obviously wont get any of those.

Listen, I love Capel. I believe in him and I think he'll get it done here eventually but for his first FULL-CYCLE recruiting class (and yes, I know his first class was good), things couldn't be going much worse.

We are still involved with Cockburn, Akok, Ledlum, and Wahab but those are the only 4 Top 100s that we are involved with. I think we get 1 but if we don't, Capel is going to have to get real creative trying to get guys to reclassify in the spring.

 

[Wednesday Morning]

If Coach Capel can't do it for an ACC Pitt team, then no one can. As long as the coaches, players and fans have enough resolve to stay positive through another tough season, while Coach showcases his coaching style, recruits will have a more positive attitude about our direction and we'll have a better chance with getting them. Besides, there's still time this year.

 

[H2P 2003]

Time is running out for Capel to land a Top 150 player during the early signing period. Only 38 of players ranked 11-150 remain uncommitted. 8 of the top 10 are uncommitted but that the bidding for those players will run up until April so we obviously wont get any of those.

Listen, I love Capel. I believe in him and I think he'll get it done here eventually but for his first FULL-CYCLE recruiting class (and yes, I know his first class was good), things couldn't be going much worse.

We are still involved with Cockburn, Akok, Ledlum, and Wahab but those are the only 4 Top 100s that we are involved with. I think we get 1 but if we don't, Capel is going to have to get real creative trying to get guys to reclassify in the spring.

Yes, we all know you think stallings should have been given 3 more years.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Time is running out for Capel to land a Top 150 player during the early signing period. Only 38 of players ranked 11-150 remain uncommitted. 8 of the top 10 are uncommitted but that the bidding for those players will run up until April so we obviously wont get any of those.

Listen, I love Capel. I believe in him and I think he'll get it done here eventually but for his first FULL-CYCLE recruiting class (and yes, I know his first class was good), things couldn't be going much worse.

We are still involved with Cockburn, Akok, Ledlum, and Wahab but those are the only 4 Top 100s that we are involved with. I think we get 1 but if we don't, Capel is going to have to get real creative trying to get guys to reclassify in the spring.

Yes, we all know you think stallings should have been given 3 more years.

Huh? I said Heather should have fired him before Year 2. Specifically I said that if we go 0-19, he will be fired, and we will be going 0-19 so she might as well fire him then.

 

[rockypanther]

Time is running out for Capel to land a Top 150 player during the early signing period. Only 38 of players ranked 11-150 remain uncommitted. 8 of the top 10 are uncommitted but that the bidding for those players will run up until April so we obviously wont get any of those.

Listen, I love Capel. I believe in him and I think he'll get it done here eventually but for his first FULL-CYCLE recruiting class (and yes, I know his first class was good), things couldn't be going much worse.

We are still involved with Cockburn, Akok, Ledlum, and Wahab but those are the only 4 Top 100s that we are involved with. I think we get 1 but if we don't, Capel is going to have to get real creative trying to get guys to reclassify in the spring.

What does he have to recruit on? Playing Time? ACC? You have to let Capel show for 2 years to show high school recruits the system and how they could be used. And to undo the laughing stock reputation Stallings made us into. It's shocking he got the few really promising recruits he already has when he first started.

 

[DiehardPanther]

If Coach Capel can't do it for an ACC Pitt team, then no one can. As long as the coaches, players and fans have enough resolve to stay positive through another tough season, while Coach showcases his coaching style, recruits will have a more positive attitude about our direction and we'll have a better chance with getting them. Besides, there's still time this year.

Agreed - If Capel cannot get it done, then it is a huge black mark on Pitt.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Time is running out for Capel to land a Top 150 player during the early signing period. Only 38 of players ranked 11-150 remain uncommitted. 8 of the top 10 are uncommitted but that the bidding for those players will run up until April so we obviously wont get any of those.

Listen, I love Capel. I believe in him and I think he'll get it done here eventually but for his first FULL-CYCLE recruiting class (and yes, I know his first class was good), things couldn't be going much worse.

We are still involved with Cockburn, Akok, Ledlum, and Wahab but those are the only 4 Top 100s that we are involved with. I think we get 1 but if we don't, Capel is going to have to get real creative trying to get guys to reclassify in the spring.

What does he have to recruit on? Playing Time? ACC? You have to let Capel show for 2 years to show high school recruits the system and how they could be used. And to undo the laughing stock reputation Stallings made us into. It's shocking he got the few really promising recruits he already has when he first started.

Its 2018. Recruits dont care about any of that stuff. Look how much Jamie won and couldn't beat A10 teams for players.

Recruits care about style of play and the personality of the head coach. That's basically it.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Everyone including myself wants to see instant progress , but it's not going to be that easy or happen overnight . JC isn't recruiting for Duke and Coach K anymore , he's recruiting for the only winless program in P6 ball .Patience will be needed .
JC is still involved with some very good players so let's see how this all plays out . Maybe he gets a couple big guys to reclassify in the spring ,or goes after a few grad transfers or underclassman transfers or just maybe Brown and Peace really step it up .
This man and his staff will work tireously and they'll get their players ...In time .

 

[H2P 2003]

How about we calm down a bit and give him a chance...

 

[Pitt-Chains]

How about we calm down a bit and give him a chance...

Logic.. go figure.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

How about we calm down a bit and give him a chance...

Who said we aren't giving him a chance? Just stating facts right now. Right now, things aren't going well. That doesn't mean he cant turn it around. Its getting late.

 

[JD1976]

Who said we aren't giving him a chance? Just stating facts right now. Right now, things aren't going well. That doesn't mean he cant turn it around. Its getting late.

Things seem to be going great to me. He landed a top half ACC recruiting class in basically 45 days. That’s effing amazing. He is getting sniffs in on elite 2019 and 2020 players that have no business looking at Pitt after an 0-19 season. Good lord. Let this play out.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Who said we aren't giving him a chance? Just stating facts right now. Right now, things aren't going well. That doesn't mean he cant turn it around. Its getting late.

Things seem to be going great to me. He landed a top half ACC recruiting class in basically 45 days. That’s effing amazing. He is getting sniffs in on elite 2019 and 2020 players that have no business looking at Pitt after an 0-19 season. Good lord. Let this play out.

Except I think previous season record means close to nothing to today's players especially when there's been a coaching change. If I am rating Capel's class, I cut no slack for the fact we went 0-19. I just dont think it matters. When we were winning, Jamie Dixon lost players to Akron, Davidson, UAB, Fordham, Rutgers, etc.

 

[H2P 2003]

Except I think previous season record means close to nothing to today's players especially when there's been a coaching change. If I am rating Capel's class, I cut no slack for the fact we went 0-19. I just dont think it matters. When we were winning, Jamie Dixon lost players to Akron, Davidson, UAB, Fordham, Rutgers, etc.

What are you talking about? Why are you talking about Jamie Dixon? Maybe if Sean miller was here, he could pay, I mean recruit a bunch of 5 star guys?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Except I think previous season record means close to nothing to today's players especially when there's been a coaching change. If I am rating Capel's class, I cut no slack for the fact we went 0-19. I just dont think it matters. When we were winning, Jamie Dixon lost players to Akron, Davidson, UAB, Fordham, Rutgers, etc.

What are you talking about? Why are you talking about Jamie Dixon? Maybe if Sean miller was here, he could pay, I mean recruit a bunch of 5 star guys?

I was pointing out that today's players dont care as much about winning as you think they do, which is why Jamie struggled in recruiting despite winning as much as he did here.

 

[pittchagg]

Except I think previous season record means close to nothing to today's players especially when there's been a coaching change. If I am rating Capel's class, I cut no slack for the fact we went 0-19. I just dont think it matters. When we were winning, Jamie Dixon lost players to Akron, Davidson, UAB, Fordham, Rutgers, etc.

Walker specifically said today that he chose Miami because he could be a contributing part of a team that wins games right away and he “wouldn’t need to be part of a rebuild.”

 

[levance2]

I believe in him and I think he'll get it done here eventually but for his first FULL-CYCLE recruiting class

I'm not sure how you're labeling this a "full cycle" when he still hasn't coached a single game here.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I believe in him and I think he'll get it done here eventually but for his first FULL-CYCLE recruiting class

I'm not sure how you're labeling this a "full cycle" when he still hasn't coached a single game here.

What don't you understand? April 2018-April 2019 is a one year full recruiting cycle and would be Capel's first. While he does almost 7 months to go, 80% or so of the kids commit before the season tips off.

 

[levance2]

What don't you understand? April 2018-April 2019 is a one year full recruiting cycle and would be Capel's first. While he does almost 7 months to go, 80% or so of the kids commit before the season tips off.

Right. So if you’re defining cycle as April to April, his first fall class after a “full cycle” would be his fall 2019 class.

I had hoped for a better fall class too, but he definitely has not had a “full cycle” after 7 months and zero games coached.

 

[H2P 2003]

Right. So if you’re defining cycle as April to April, his first fall class after a “full cycle” would be his fall 2019 class.

I had hoped for a better fall class too, but he definitely has not had a “full cycle” after 7 months and zero games coached.

Sean miller fan is probably just waiting for him to fail so he can tell everyone how pitt should have hired Sean miller.

 

[BigZeke]

Time is running out for Capel to land a Top 150 player during the early signing period. Only 38 of players ranked 11-150 remain uncommitted. 8 of the top 10 are uncommitted but that the bidding for those players will run up until April so we obviously wont get any of those.

Listen, I love Capel. I believe in him and I think he'll get it done here eventually but for his first FULL-CYCLE recruiting class (and yes, I know his first class was good), things couldn't be going much worse.

We are still involved with Cockburn, Akok, Ledlum, and Wahab but those are the only 4 Top 100s that we are involved with. I think we get 1 but if we don't, Capel is going to have to get real creative trying to get guys to reclassify in the spring.

Trust me - Pitt is gonna be just fine - HCJC just needs a full recruiting cycle or two - still think they’re gonna get (2) highly rated frontcout targets - $lightly $urprised by Walker’s commitment (Staff thought they were in pole position) to the Cane$ but when they have the la$t vi$it it$ alway$ a to$$up - H2P!

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Walker specifically said today that he chose Miami because he could be a contributing part of a team that wins games right away and he “wouldn’t need to be part of a rebuild.”

Yeah, but he was obviously lying because SMF says that recruits don't think about stuff like that today.

 

[gary2]

Yeah, but he was obviously lying because SMF says that recruits don't think about stuff like that today.

You expected Walker to say what Big Zeke indicated? I am going to Miami because they gave me the most money and other illegal inducements.

Walker had Illinois in his final four. Illinois pays.(but evidently not enough)

 

[steel_curtain]

You expected Walker to say what Big Zeke indicated? I am going to Miami because they gave me the most money and other illegal inducements.

-If going to college only because of money was the only reason recruits chose a school, Oregon would probably smoke everyone yearly because of Phil Knight at Nike. With a net worth of $35+ billion, he could just buy Oregon National Titles and not even play for them as Oregon would overpay and buy any player they wanted over anyone.

 

[andypappas]

Who said we aren't giving him a chance? Just stating facts right now. Right now, things aren't going well. That doesn't mean he cant turn it around. Its getting late.

He lost 1 kid and it was down to us and Miami. If you want to go jump off a bridge be my guest.

 

[4Mark_Marty]

I was pointing out that today's players dont care as much about winning as you think they do, which is why Jamie struggled in recruiting despite winning as much as he did here.

They don’t care as much unless you don’t win AT ALL!

 

[heybandguy]

Why are you talking about Jamie Dixon? Maybe if Sean miller was here, he could pay, I mean recruit a bunch of 5 star guys?

THIS. I forget where Dixon coaches now. Maybe a thread on his recruiting could be started...

 

[TheLogicalTake]

Indirectly a big weekend for Pitt recruiting with Wahab visiting Georgetown and Cockburn at UConn.

Wahab got a CB pick for Georgetown a while back and Ewing is going to have a pretty compelling pitch to make for any big man recruit. I still think we’re the leader but recruiting is fluid, as we saw with Walker. We need to get him on campus and press for a commit on the OV.

Cockburn’s recruitment went from radio silence to now he’s taking his OV to UConn and some of the better guys at 247 CB’d him there this morning. When you start seeing a land rush of CB picks to one school, it’s generally a good indication of an upcoming commitment, but it would be strange to see a top 30 kid only take one visit so who knows.

 

[B_Smith215]

Indirectly a big weekend for Pitt recruiting with Wahab visiting Georgetown and Cockburn at UConn.

Wahab got a CB pick for Georgetown a while back and Ewing is going to have a pretty compelling pitch to make for any big man recruit. I still think we’re the leader but recruiting is fluid, as we saw with Walker. We need to get him on campus and press for a commit on the OV.

Cockburn’s recruitment went from radio silence to now he’s taking his OV to UConn and some of the better guys at 247 CB’d him there this morning. When you start seeing a land rush of CB picks to one school, it’s generally a good indication of an upcoming commitment, but it would be strange to see a top 30 kid only take one visit so who knows.

Yea not looking great on Kofi

Is the Wahab visit to Georgetown publicly scheduled? That’s new if not.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

Yea not looking great on Kofi

Is the Wahab visit to Georgetown publicly scheduled? That’s new if not.

His 24/7 profile lists 10/26 as his OV for GTown, so I was operating off of that. If he doesn’t go, or doesn’t have one scheduled, all the better for us.

 

[B_Smith215]

His 24/7 profile lists 10/26 as his OV for GTown, so I was operating off of that. If he doesn’t go, or doesn’t have one scheduled, all the better for us.

Originally only had UConn, VT and then Pitt scheduled. Added Cuse the week after Pitt the other day.
If 247 has it listed maybe he recently added the Georgetown one also.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

Originally only had UConn, VT and then Pitt scheduled. Added Cuse the week after Pitt the other day.
If 247 has it listed maybe he recently added the Georgetown one also.

Yeah, I just did a quick search and it looks like he is at GTown this weekend.

I don’t really see the fit at Cuse. Wahab is more of an athletic big that can get up and down the court. Their garbage zone is tailor made for 7 foot statues to keep guys out of the paint. Their guys just don’t translate to the NBA, so I’d be pushing that narrative all day.

Ewing at Georgetown is a bit concerning. Much like Penny at Memphis, his name value is almost impossible to combat. I have my doubts that either guy will be a successful college coach, but they’re riding a ton of hype currently.

 

[B_Smith215]

Yeah, I just did a quick search and it looks like he is at GTown this weekend.

I don’t really see the fit at Cuse. Wahab is more of an athletic big that can get up and down the court. Their garbage zone is tailor made for 7 foot statues to keep guys out of the paint. Their guys just don’t translate to the NBA, so I’d be pushing that narrative all day.

Ewing at Georgetown is a bit concerning. Much like Penny at Memphis, his name value is almost impossible to combat. I have my doubts that either guy will be a successful college coach, but they’re riding a ton of hype currently.

I think it’s Wahab or bust in the early signing period. I just saw Zagoria had the Georgetown visit last week and I missed it. Not great but these top 100s are never going to be easy.

Agree completely about Syracuse. If you’re a 5star hoping to play in the NBA like Akok how can you go play zone there?

 

[TheLogicalTake]

I think it’s Wahab or bust in the early signing period. I just saw Zagoria had the Georgetown visit last week and I missed it. Not great but these top 100s are never going to be easy.

Agree completely about Syracuse. If you’re a 5star hoping to play in the NBA like Akok how can you go play zone there?

Agreed on Wahab or bust. If you can get him, the class is in good shape and you can wait until Spring to finish it out when, hopefully, there is some momentum and the recruiting board looks a little different with re-classifying, decommits, and grad transfers. If we miss on him, we’re in some trouble.

For Akok, I actually think he’d be a good fit in a zone because of his length but, again, Cuse just isn’t seeing their guys succeed at the next level. They deserve to get hammered to death with that on the recruiting trail

 

[drp1tt]

Who said we aren't giving him a chance? Just stating facts right now. Right now, things aren't going well. That doesn't mean he cant turn it around. Its getting late.

Getting extremely late for a coach who has been around for like 6 months. I get your angst but to say we have no chance come April for 8 of the top 10 might be true for Pitt but also for 95% of all the programs. You make it sound that only Pitt has no chance and everybody else is just killing it. Capel may be good and maybe not but I would like to see at least into year 3.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

FWIW, CB I saw yesterday had Wahab 33% to Pitt, 33% to Georgetown and, by default, 33% to elsewhere. He was once 66% to Pitt.

If we get no signee in the early period, then our chances in April will hinge on the W-L results Capel gets Pitt to achieve this coming season--i.e., he needs to be able to sell that significant improvement is underway.

We can speculate on how many W's overall and how many ACC would show enough improvement to effectively sell Pitt to quality recruits. IMHO, at a bare minimum it would need to begin with a double digit overall win total.

How many ACC wins need to be in that mix I am less sure about. I do suspect, it would need to be enough to result in Pitt being only a handful of games under 0.500 in overall wins--say a 14-18 final record at worst? Certainly it would need to be enough to avoid 20 losses--that would be a "bad look." So, it could mean getting 4-5? ACC wins--on top of a 10-11 OOC wins.

Is avoiding 20 losses possible with the current roster?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

FWIW, CB I saw yesterday had Wahab 33% to Pitt, 33% to Georgetown and, by default, 33% to elsewhere. He was once 66% to Pitt.

If we get no signee in the early period, then our chances in April will hinge on the W-L results Capel gets Pitt to achieve this coming season--i.e., he needs to be able to sell that significant improvement is underway.

We can speculate on how many W's overall and how many ACC would show enough improvement to effectively sell Pitt to quality recruits. IMHO, at a bare minimum it would need to begin with a double digit overall win total. How many ACC wins need to be in that mix I am less sure about. I do suspect, it would need to be enough to result in Pitt being only a few games under 0.500 in overall wins. That could mean 4-5? ACC wins.

Winning doesn't matter that much to today's players. Capel landed 2 Top 100ish players after 4-14 and 0-19. If we land nobody in the early period, our chances in the late period will be very small but not because of our record. It would be because there will only be about 20 players ranked 10-150 that remain unsigned. We would have to rely on players asking for releases due to coaching changes or probation or getting 2020 players to reclassify

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Winning doesn't matter that much to today's players. Capel landed 2 Top 100ish players after 4-14 and 0-19. If we land nobody in the early period, our chances in the late period will be very small but not because of our record. It would be because there will only be about 20 players ranked 10-150 that remain unsigned. We would have to rely on players asking for releases due to coaching changes or probation or getting 2020 players to reclassify

It may not matter much to one-and-done's but to others it will be a factor--at least it will become the tipping point on close calls in the spring. Good upward progress shown and it will likely lean close calls our way; zero real progress over Stalling's last season and it will lean the other way.

As an aside--as a coach, I wouldn't want a player on my team who was so selfish that he didn't care about winning--such players are a cancer to a team.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Winning doesn't matter that much to today's players. Capel landed 2 Top 100ish players after 4-14 and 0-19. If we land nobody in the early period, our chances in the late period will be very small but not because of our record. It would be because there will only be about 20 players ranked 10-150 that remain unsigned. We would have to rely on players asking for releases due to coaching changes or probation or getting 2020 players to reclassify

It may not matter much to one-and-done's but to others it will be a factor--at least it will become the tipping point on close calls in the spring. Good upward progress shown and it will likely lean close calls our way; zero real progress over Stalling's last season and it will lean the other way.

As an aside--as a coach, I wouldn't want a player on my team who was so selfish that he didn't care about winning--such players are a cancer to a team.

It actually does matter to 1 and dones. Thats why they only go to blue bloods. They can average 20 PPG, WIN, and go to the NBA. For non-one and done's, they are looking for the best situation to get them to the NBA. That is mostly style of play and relationship with the HC. Sure they would like to win but its a secondary concern for most.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

FWIW, CB I saw yesterday had Wahab 33% to Pitt, 33% to Georgetown and, by default, 33% to elsewhere. He was once 66% to Pitt.

If we get no signee in the early period, then our chances in April will hinge on the W-L results Capel gets Pitt to achieve this coming season--i.e., he needs to be able to sell that significant improvement is underway.

I think this is probably the best strategy that we have at the moment.

To address your first point on Wahab, I still think Pitt is in good shape but we should watch to see if GT picks up anymore CB picks this weekend or shortly thereafter. They’re not 100% right, but when you see multiple insiders all forecasting a kid to one school, it’s usually a good sign that something is upcoming.

As for the recruiting strategy, outside of Wahab, our best chances for success will be in the Spring once Capel has more time to get out and put in face time with these kids and there’s, hopefully, a better narrative to sell. It’s good that Pitt’s name came up with guys like Anthony, Akok, Cockburn, etc. but there is way too much working against Pitt at the moment. I realize Akok is on campus for his OV currently but, barring a Hail Mary, that is going to go in a different direction.

One possible route that I wouldn’t mind is pulling a Musselman and going heavy on Grad Transfers for a year or two until you can get a stream of ACC-level recruits flowing in.