From the desk of Jim Snyder
Hoops recruiting roundup
Now that junior college guard Jermaine Dixon is officially on board at Pitt here is what the Panthers’ roster could look like next season:
Sam Young (senior)
Levance Fields (senior)
Tyrell Biggs (senior)
Jermaine Dixon (junior)
Austin Wallace (redshirt sophomore)
Gilbert Brown (redshirt sophomore)
DeJuan Blair (sophomore)
Gary McGee (sophomore)
Brad Wanamaker (sophomore)
Nasir Robinson (freshman)
Ashton Gibbs (freshman)
Travon Woodall (freshman)
Dwight Miller (freshman)
Unless we have a transfer or an academic casualty along the way Pitt should have only three scholarships to give in the Class of 2009. One of those is already spoken for in McCaskey’s Lamar Patterson (6’ 5”). It appears the Pitt coaching staff also hopes to get back Darnell Dodson (6’ 7”) who is currently at Miami Dade Junior College. If he makes it back he would have three years of eligibility.
If Pitt ends up with only one more to give it should go to a big man (someone 6’ 8” or taller). Right now it looks like the top candidates appear to be:
Dante Taylor (6’ 8”) National Christian Academy, MD (Pitt, Maryland & UConn)
Andrew Fitzgerald (6’ 9” Owings Mills, MD (Pitt, Maryland, Seton Hall, Washington State)
Dan Jennings (6’ 8”) Oak Hill Academy), Va. (Pitt, Memphis, Xavier, Seton Hall, Rutgers & West Virginia)
One Rivals.com reporter wrote about Dante Taylor after seeing him at Jam Fest, “He continued to impress here, with a slew of coaches watching his game on Sunday against the NY Panthers. Taylor registered 16 points and 6 rebounds in a losing effort, and earlier had 20 points and 11 boards against the Pittsburgh Storm. Again, Taylor was most effective on the offensive glass, and his offensive game is coming, as he showed a left hand hook shot, to go along with his power moves and dunks. Taylor is a legit top 50 talent.”
Rivals analyst Justin Young wrote of Dan Jennings after watching him this past weekend at the Real Deal in Arkansas, “His work on the glass was scary. The big man did a great job of owning the boards. He loves his role as the enforcer.”
Once you get by these three there appears to be another group still being evaluated.
Andrew Gillette (6’ 8”) Neumann-Goretti HS in Philadelphia
Aaric Murray (6’ 10) Glenn Mills
David Bruce (6’ 9”) Linden, NJ
Zeke Marshall (6’ 11”) McKeesport
In last week’s War Room we reported that Pitt had signed junior college guard Jermaine Dixon to a Letter of Intent with Pitt. We were a little puzzled as to why they held up their press release. Could it be they knew guard Ashton Gibbs was in town for the Jam Fest and did not want to explain why they had signed a junior college guard to play his position?
This week we have published interviews with Lamar Patterson, Maurice Creek, Andrew Fitzgerald, Dante Taylor, Dominic Cheek, Brian Oliver plus updates on Ashton Gibbs, Omari Lawrence and Kevin Parrom. Later today we will report again on Jermaine Dixon.
Pitt continues to recruit a number of guards and wingmen. It is always possible that a Nasir Robinson or Darnell Dodson might not qualify or a player could transfer out. If any of these things happen events like the Jam Fest this past weekend can do a world of good. Many players got to see the Pitt campus and the Pete without having to recruit them.
AAU play continues this weekend with two tournaments in Las Vegas and the King James Classic in Akron, Ohio.
Final thoughts on spring practice session
On the offensive side of the ball Dorin Dickerson emerged as a legit weapon this spring. He is too big for many defensive backs and too fast for most linebackers. He has the potential to create matchup problems. NFL football coaches loved to create matchup problems and so do former NFL coaches. The big question is if Nate Byham and John Pelusi are both healthy in the fall which tight end gets how much playing time?
Once again running back Shariff Harris kept impressing folks. Too bad there is only one ball to carry. LeSean McCoy figures to get the bulk of the carries and I guarantee you senior LaRod Stevens will also get his touches. I think I would make Harris the short yardage back for one year. It’s possible both Stephens and McCoy could both be gone after this season and Harris would take over.
Coach Dave Wannstedt is fond of saying this is still a young team with only 13 seniors. The Panthers should show a big improvement this fall but might be a year away from really hitting it big. It might be depressing not to have McCoy that year but Shariff Harris has done a lot to calm those concerns.
Quarterback Greg Cross has shown some spark with his running ability. The big question right now is who will be the backup quarterback. Maybe Cross will be the backup or maybe Kevan Smith will step up and allow you to redshirt Cross? I could take either side of the argument. Only two quarterbacks figure to take snaps once fall camp ends. If Pitt is going to have the luxury of redshirting Pat Bostick Greg Cross or Kevan Smith must show they can be the No. 2 quarterback.
On defense the defensive coordinator still must settle on a cornerback opposite Aaron Berry. They might also need to find a backup safety if Sherrod Murdock does not rejoin the team.
If defensive end Doug Fulmer and defense tackle Gus Mustakas return at full strength this fall Pitt could have its best defensive line in decades. It will not only be talented but also have some depth. The front four could set up another big year for middle linebacker Scott McKillop.
As we have reported on a number of occasions the Panthers should be improved in 2008 but just how much better depends on Coach Wise rebuilding the offensive line which lost three starters. Jason Pinkston, C.J. Davis, Chase Clowser and Chris Jacobson were held out of contact drills this spring. It gave Coach Wise a chance to look at some young players. We will have to wait until fall camp to get a better read on the offensive line. On paper it appears to have potential.
Big East Stadium expansions
We have linked an article on the Between F&F board on Louisville getting state approval to expand PaPa John Stadium to 60,000 for the 2010 season. Earlier we reported Rutgers has already started construction on their stadium expansion. The current plan is to increase capacity of Rutgers Stadium to over 56,000 for the 2009 season.
The only Big East stadium that needs to be expanded down the road is Connecticut. It holds 40,000 and they need to bring it up to 50,000. That process was not helped when this week they got approval to move ahead with an 8 year deal with Notre Dame. Four games with Notre Dame would be played in South Bend and four games would be played in Boston or the Meadowlands.
Football recruiting roundup
The Pitt coaching staff did not use the Blue-Gold game as a big recruiting tool. Steel Valley’s Tyrone Ezell was at the game and we had a photo in one of our photo galleries. We hope you saw it because he is definitely a prospect to watch.
Running Back Theo Riddick visited Pitt last weekend and we reported on him but he subsequently committed to Notre Dame. We also reported on the visit of offensive lineman Khalil Wilkes. He is from the St Peter’s program which sent Pitt freshman Shariff Harris. Wilkes is also a player Pitt figures to be in the hunt for. Last night the Wilkes family informed us that Khalil has been offered by Maryland, Northwestern and East Carolina. He now has a total of 7 offers.
This week we had video on Lakeview offensive lineman Cory King. We hope you got a chance to see this road grader. We think Pitt will be in the hunt with him.
Rivals.com updated their Top 100 and Top 250 this week. One question often asked is how can a player drop when he has not played in a game since the last update. We are still very early in the process. We have just started the Evaluation Period. This is true for college coaches and analyst too.
Last week in Baltimore approximately 1,200 players were tested at the Nike combine. Several weeks ago we had the first Nike combine in Pittsburgh and over 700 showed up. There are still three Nike combines left but they are all out west.
Still in front of us are most of the Nike Camps although this month they have held two in Florida and one in California. This weekend they are in Texas and Louisiana. Student Sports will hold Nike Camps in Columbus, Ohio and at State College the weekend of May 9th & 10th.
There will also be an Adidas Elite Camp at the UPMC complex on the Southside on May 18th.
With a ton of camps in front of us over the next several weeks you can be sure that analysts will fall in love< with several prospects that were not on their charts. If you are ranked No. 98 in the Top 100 you better enjoy it while it lasts because others are almost sure to fly by you the next time around.
The Pitt coaches will be on the road visiting high schools for the next four weeks. As we reported last week the head coaches are not allowed out for the first time. Dave Wannstedt was great at this so it is imperative that the assistants work hard to get recruits to visit Pitt.
Texas, West Virginia, Michigan and Ohio State are off to a big start and have commitments from several prospects. However Penn State has only one, Syracuse has one, Louisville has none, Maryland has 2 and Rutgers has three. Of the recruits in this group I would not lose sleep over any of them with the exception of quarterback Tom Savage out of Philadelphia. It is still very early in the process.
Pitt only has 13 seniors. I am not sure how many scholarships they will give but it figures to be a relatively small class. They certainly will not be able to take a full class of 25 players. It might be best to win some games this fall and finish strong in recruiting this year.
Former Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko is hosting a golf outing on June 20th to benefit the TC House Foundation. This organization is trying to build a home in Imperial for those with Down Syndrome. To register please go to www.tchouse.org.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die-hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
Hoops recruiting roundup
Now that junior college guard Jermaine Dixon is officially on board at Pitt here is what the Panthers’ roster could look like next season:
Sam Young (senior)
Levance Fields (senior)
Tyrell Biggs (senior)
Jermaine Dixon (junior)
Austin Wallace (redshirt sophomore)
Gilbert Brown (redshirt sophomore)
DeJuan Blair (sophomore)
Gary McGee (sophomore)
Brad Wanamaker (sophomore)
Nasir Robinson (freshman)
Ashton Gibbs (freshman)
Travon Woodall (freshman)
Dwight Miller (freshman)
Unless we have a transfer or an academic casualty along the way Pitt should have only three scholarships to give in the Class of 2009. One of those is already spoken for in McCaskey’s Lamar Patterson (6’ 5”). It appears the Pitt coaching staff also hopes to get back Darnell Dodson (6’ 7”) who is currently at Miami Dade Junior College. If he makes it back he would have three years of eligibility.
If Pitt ends up with only one more to give it should go to a big man (someone 6’ 8” or taller). Right now it looks like the top candidates appear to be:
Dante Taylor (6’ 8”) National Christian Academy, MD (Pitt, Maryland & UConn)
Andrew Fitzgerald (6’ 9” Owings Mills, MD (Pitt, Maryland, Seton Hall, Washington State)
Dan Jennings (6’ 8”) Oak Hill Academy), Va. (Pitt, Memphis, Xavier, Seton Hall, Rutgers & West Virginia)
One Rivals.com reporter wrote about Dante Taylor after seeing him at Jam Fest, “He continued to impress here, with a slew of coaches watching his game on Sunday against the NY Panthers. Taylor registered 16 points and 6 rebounds in a losing effort, and earlier had 20 points and 11 boards against the Pittsburgh Storm. Again, Taylor was most effective on the offensive glass, and his offensive game is coming, as he showed a left hand hook shot, to go along with his power moves and dunks. Taylor is a legit top 50 talent.”
Rivals analyst Justin Young wrote of Dan Jennings after watching him this past weekend at the Real Deal in Arkansas, “His work on the glass was scary. The big man did a great job of owning the boards. He loves his role as the enforcer.”
Once you get by these three there appears to be another group still being evaluated.
Andrew Gillette (6’ 8”) Neumann-Goretti HS in Philadelphia
Aaric Murray (6’ 10) Glenn Mills
David Bruce (6’ 9”) Linden, NJ
Zeke Marshall (6’ 11”) McKeesport
In last week’s War Room we reported that Pitt had signed junior college guard Jermaine Dixon to a Letter of Intent with Pitt. We were a little puzzled as to why they held up their press release. Could it be they knew guard Ashton Gibbs was in town for the Jam Fest and did not want to explain why they had signed a junior college guard to play his position?
This week we have published interviews with Lamar Patterson, Maurice Creek, Andrew Fitzgerald, Dante Taylor, Dominic Cheek, Brian Oliver plus updates on Ashton Gibbs, Omari Lawrence and Kevin Parrom. Later today we will report again on Jermaine Dixon.
Pitt continues to recruit a number of guards and wingmen. It is always possible that a Nasir Robinson or Darnell Dodson might not qualify or a player could transfer out. If any of these things happen events like the Jam Fest this past weekend can do a world of good. Many players got to see the Pitt campus and the Pete without having to recruit them.
AAU play continues this weekend with two tournaments in Las Vegas and the King James Classic in Akron, Ohio.
Final thoughts on spring practice session
On the offensive side of the ball Dorin Dickerson emerged as a legit weapon this spring. He is too big for many defensive backs and too fast for most linebackers. He has the potential to create matchup problems. NFL football coaches loved to create matchup problems and so do former NFL coaches. The big question is if Nate Byham and John Pelusi are both healthy in the fall which tight end gets how much playing time?
Once again running back Shariff Harris kept impressing folks. Too bad there is only one ball to carry. LeSean McCoy figures to get the bulk of the carries and I guarantee you senior LaRod Stevens will also get his touches. I think I would make Harris the short yardage back for one year. It’s possible both Stephens and McCoy could both be gone after this season and Harris would take over.
Coach Dave Wannstedt is fond of saying this is still a young team with only 13 seniors. The Panthers should show a big improvement this fall but might be a year away from really hitting it big. It might be depressing not to have McCoy that year but Shariff Harris has done a lot to calm those concerns.
Quarterback Greg Cross has shown some spark with his running ability. The big question right now is who will be the backup quarterback. Maybe Cross will be the backup or maybe Kevan Smith will step up and allow you to redshirt Cross? I could take either side of the argument. Only two quarterbacks figure to take snaps once fall camp ends. If Pitt is going to have the luxury of redshirting Pat Bostick Greg Cross or Kevan Smith must show they can be the No. 2 quarterback.
On defense the defensive coordinator still must settle on a cornerback opposite Aaron Berry. They might also need to find a backup safety if Sherrod Murdock does not rejoin the team.
If defensive end Doug Fulmer and defense tackle Gus Mustakas return at full strength this fall Pitt could have its best defensive line in decades. It will not only be talented but also have some depth. The front four could set up another big year for middle linebacker Scott McKillop.
As we have reported on a number of occasions the Panthers should be improved in 2008 but just how much better depends on Coach Wise rebuilding the offensive line which lost three starters. Jason Pinkston, C.J. Davis, Chase Clowser and Chris Jacobson were held out of contact drills this spring. It gave Coach Wise a chance to look at some young players. We will have to wait until fall camp to get a better read on the offensive line. On paper it appears to have potential.
Big East Stadium expansions
We have linked an article on the Between F&F board on Louisville getting state approval to expand PaPa John Stadium to 60,000 for the 2010 season. Earlier we reported Rutgers has already started construction on their stadium expansion. The current plan is to increase capacity of Rutgers Stadium to over 56,000 for the 2009 season.
The only Big East stadium that needs to be expanded down the road is Connecticut. It holds 40,000 and they need to bring it up to 50,000. That process was not helped when this week they got approval to move ahead with an 8 year deal with Notre Dame. Four games with Notre Dame would be played in South Bend and four games would be played in Boston or the Meadowlands.
Football recruiting roundup
The Pitt coaching staff did not use the Blue-Gold game as a big recruiting tool. Steel Valley’s Tyrone Ezell was at the game and we had a photo in one of our photo galleries. We hope you saw it because he is definitely a prospect to watch.
Running Back Theo Riddick visited Pitt last weekend and we reported on him but he subsequently committed to Notre Dame. We also reported on the visit of offensive lineman Khalil Wilkes. He is from the St Peter’s program which sent Pitt freshman Shariff Harris. Wilkes is also a player Pitt figures to be in the hunt for. Last night the Wilkes family informed us that Khalil has been offered by Maryland, Northwestern and East Carolina. He now has a total of 7 offers.
This week we had video on Lakeview offensive lineman Cory King. We hope you got a chance to see this road grader. We think Pitt will be in the hunt with him.
Rivals.com updated their Top 100 and Top 250 this week. One question often asked is how can a player drop when he has not played in a game since the last update. We are still very early in the process. We have just started the Evaluation Period. This is true for college coaches and analyst too.
Last week in Baltimore approximately 1,200 players were tested at the Nike combine. Several weeks ago we had the first Nike combine in Pittsburgh and over 700 showed up. There are still three Nike combines left but they are all out west.
Still in front of us are most of the Nike Camps although this month they have held two in Florida and one in California. This weekend they are in Texas and Louisiana. Student Sports will hold Nike Camps in Columbus, Ohio and at State College the weekend of May 9th & 10th.
There will also be an Adidas Elite Camp at the UPMC complex on the Southside on May 18th.
With a ton of camps in front of us over the next several weeks you can be sure that analysts will fall in love< with several prospects that were not on their charts. If you are ranked No. 98 in the Top 100 you better enjoy it while it lasts because others are almost sure to fly by you the next time around.
The Pitt coaches will be on the road visiting high schools for the next four weeks. As we reported last week the head coaches are not allowed out for the first time. Dave Wannstedt was great at this so it is imperative that the assistants work hard to get recruits to visit Pitt.
Texas, West Virginia, Michigan and Ohio State are off to a big start and have commitments from several prospects. However Penn State has only one, Syracuse has one, Louisville has none, Maryland has 2 and Rutgers has three. Of the recruits in this group I would not lose sleep over any of them with the exception of quarterback Tom Savage out of Philadelphia. It is still very early in the process.
Pitt only has 13 seniors. I am not sure how many scholarships they will give but it figures to be a relatively small class. They certainly will not be able to take a full class of 25 players. It might be best to win some games this fall and finish strong in recruiting this year.
Former Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko is hosting a golf outing on June 20th to benefit the TC House Foundation. This organization is trying to build a home in Imperial for those with Down Syndrome. To register please go to www.tchouse.org.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die-hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
