From the desk of Jim Snyder
Hoops talk
All four of the No. 1 seeds marched through the NCAA tournament this year taking away some of the fun that upsets often generate. The only big Cinderella storyline was Davidson. As most on you are aware Davison’s point guard Jason Richards is the son of former Panther basketball player Tom Richards.
Despite the fact that he missed a very long three-pointer that would have sent Davidson to the Final Four. Jason Richards was a big part of why the Wildcats went as far as they did. His ability to handle the ball and get Davidson into their offense cut down on the number of times Stephen Curry handled the ball. It helped Curry concentrate on scoring without having to run the offense.
Watching former Panther Dante Milligan help UMass to the NIT finals was also a feel good story. After learning his brother was murdered and then he plays a big role in helping the Minutemen to the finals was kind of neat.
I don’t like Tom Crean leaving Marquette for Indiana. I hate to see the Big East Conference lose coaches to other BCS conferences.
In case you missed it Pitt commit Ashton Gibbs was a first team all-state selection in New Jersey this year. The Garden State was loaded this year with a number of nationally ranked teams and a ton of Division 1 players. A nice honor for Gibbs.
Pitt commit Nasir Robinson was a repeat all-state selection in Pennsylvania.
Western Pa. does not have a lot of Catholic schools which produce so many of the basketball players coming out of New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Central Catholic and Seton LaSalle tend to put their energies into producing football players. Fifty or sixty years ago Western Pa. had a lot of small Catholic High Schools the size of St Anthony’s in New Jersey. The absence of a Catholic League in Western Pa. may be part of the reason this region produces does not produce many basketball players.
Rutgers’ coach Fred Hill had a reputation of being a good recruiter when he was an assistant at Villanova. He landed Mike Rosario in the Class of 2008 and now Greg Encheque (6’ 8”) for 2009. If he is able to keep his share of New Jersey kids at home he could turn the Scarlet Knights basketball program around as Greg Schiano has in football although he better start winning some more games soon.
Pitt has a verbal commitment from Lancaster’s Lamar Patterson (6’ 5”) for the Class of 2009. He could be joined by Darnell Dodson (6’ 7”) who is currently at Miami Dade College.
The coaching staff needs to bring in some height in 2009. Dante Taylor (6’ 8”) from National Christian Academy , Dan Jennings (6’ 8”) from Oak Hill Academy , Aarick Murray (6’ 10) from Glenn Mills , David Bruce (6'9") from Linden, NJ, Aaron Pogue (6’ 9”) from Vincennes CC and Zeke Marshall (6’ 11) from McKeesport are all possibilities. I would like to see two off this list.
Nike camps and combines
This past weekend they held Nike combines at Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. Student Sports tested approximately 850 prospects in Chicago and 650 in Columbus. Curiously the highest rated SQARQ rating in Columbus was from a linebacker from California by the name of Dan Hansen. Not sure why he come across country to be tested. The next scheduled combine within Pitt’s recruiting footprint is April 19th at the Baltimore Ravens complex. Last year this event had to turn prospects away after drawing a crowd of well over 800. It is our hope that holding one in Pittsburgh this year for 720 will help the folks out in Baltimore this year.
Rivals.com is also holding three Five Star Academies this coming weekend but all three are outside of Pitt’s recruiting footprint.
Next month Student Sports will hold Nike Camps at Columbus, Ohio on May 9th and at State College on May 10th. This weekend they will be in Miami, Florida and next week at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Technical hint
If you have trouble watching video or listening to audio make sure your pop-up blocker is turned off.
Spring Practice
It was a good idea by E.J. Borghetti setting Tony Dorsett up with LeSean McCoy. Shady is a very viable candidate for All-American honors if Pitt has a big season this fall. We hope you got to see our slide show with Shady and the Hawk. We also had a nifty video of the two talking at this week’s press conference. Check both out if you missed them.
So far it appears quarterback Bill Stull has taken almost all of the snaps with the first team. He did the same thing last spring and in fall camp before getting injured in the opener. It tells you that he will be given every opportunity to be the starter against Bowling Green in late August.
The coaching staff has held C.J. Davis, Jason Pinkston, Chris Jacobson, Derek Kinder, Nate Byham, Doug Fulmer and Gus Mustakas out of most drills. All of these are potential starters and will show up somewhere on the two-deep chart once they are healthy.
About all you can say for sure about the offensive line is C.J. Davis figures to start at right guard once he is healthy again.
Coach Tony Wise is getting some of the young players reps. It could be fall before we have a good read on what will happen up front.
Joe Thomas is getting a long look to see if he can grab one of the tackle slots. Behind C.J. Davis he has the most experience up front. I suspect he will grab a starting slot by the time they break fall camp. Chris Peak interviewed Joe this week. Check it out if you missed it.
This past week Tony Greco interviewed Pitt’s new offensive line coach Tony Wise and their new linebacker coach Joe Tumpkin. We hope you read both of them. Pitt returns a lot of players this year but has five new coaches.
Recruiting summary
Pitt will hold a Blue Chip Day on Saturday. The same day Tom Lemming will be at the UPMC complex taking pictures for his publication. Pitt invites juniors the same day hoping the dual invitations will result in a sizable turnout. The coaching staff did the same thing last year. Pitt will hold their first scrimmage on Saturday.
Neshaminy tight end Paul Carrezola has indicated he will be at Pitt on Saturday. So have Thomas Jefferson’s Pat Eger and safety Michael Giresi from Westerville, Ohio.
Seneca Valley quarterback C. J. Brown indicates he will watch Pitt practice today (Friday). Penn Hills Dan Mason will visit Penn State this weekend for their Junior Day but indicated he would return to Pitt next week.
Next weekend Pitt will hold their annual coaching clinic on April 11th & 12th (Friday and Saturday). It is targeted at high school coaches.
In last week’s War Room we indicated that we had identified 36 players with offers. That list is now up to 44 with offers.
As indicated a week ago wide receiver Je’Ron Stokes out of Philadelphia has an offer but has not shown much interest in Pitt yet. He is a Top 100 prospect. The Pitt coaching staff has also offered a pair of players from Naples, Florida. Naples was the Florida 3A state champion this past year. Offensive tackle Nick Alajajian (6’ 4” 280) is a Top 100 prospect. In addition running back Carlos Hyde (6’ 1” 230) also has an offer. We will follow up on both of them. They were on spring break this week.
Later today we will have an article on a pair of twins out of Delaware who both have recently picked up offer from Pitt. Jamil Terrell and Jamal Terrell both have a number of scholarship offers and stopped by Pitt this week.
Please see the link below to see the current offer list minus Stokes and the pair from Naples.
Pitt offer list
Hoops talk
All four of the No. 1 seeds marched through the NCAA tournament this year taking away some of the fun that upsets often generate. The only big Cinderella storyline was Davidson. As most on you are aware Davison’s point guard Jason Richards is the son of former Panther basketball player Tom Richards.
Despite the fact that he missed a very long three-pointer that would have sent Davidson to the Final Four. Jason Richards was a big part of why the Wildcats went as far as they did. His ability to handle the ball and get Davidson into their offense cut down on the number of times Stephen Curry handled the ball. It helped Curry concentrate on scoring without having to run the offense.
Watching former Panther Dante Milligan help UMass to the NIT finals was also a feel good story. After learning his brother was murdered and then he plays a big role in helping the Minutemen to the finals was kind of neat.
I don’t like Tom Crean leaving Marquette for Indiana. I hate to see the Big East Conference lose coaches to other BCS conferences.
In case you missed it Pitt commit Ashton Gibbs was a first team all-state selection in New Jersey this year. The Garden State was loaded this year with a number of nationally ranked teams and a ton of Division 1 players. A nice honor for Gibbs.
Pitt commit Nasir Robinson was a repeat all-state selection in Pennsylvania.
Western Pa. does not have a lot of Catholic schools which produce so many of the basketball players coming out of New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Central Catholic and Seton LaSalle tend to put their energies into producing football players. Fifty or sixty years ago Western Pa. had a lot of small Catholic High Schools the size of St Anthony’s in New Jersey. The absence of a Catholic League in Western Pa. may be part of the reason this region produces does not produce many basketball players.
Rutgers’ coach Fred Hill had a reputation of being a good recruiter when he was an assistant at Villanova. He landed Mike Rosario in the Class of 2008 and now Greg Encheque (6’ 8”) for 2009. If he is able to keep his share of New Jersey kids at home he could turn the Scarlet Knights basketball program around as Greg Schiano has in football although he better start winning some more games soon.
Pitt has a verbal commitment from Lancaster’s Lamar Patterson (6’ 5”) for the Class of 2009. He could be joined by Darnell Dodson (6’ 7”) who is currently at Miami Dade College.
The coaching staff needs to bring in some height in 2009. Dante Taylor (6’ 8”) from National Christian Academy , Dan Jennings (6’ 8”) from Oak Hill Academy , Aarick Murray (6’ 10) from Glenn Mills , David Bruce (6'9") from Linden, NJ, Aaron Pogue (6’ 9”) from Vincennes CC and Zeke Marshall (6’ 11) from McKeesport are all possibilities. I would like to see two off this list.
Nike camps and combines
This past weekend they held Nike combines at Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. Student Sports tested approximately 850 prospects in Chicago and 650 in Columbus. Curiously the highest rated SQARQ rating in Columbus was from a linebacker from California by the name of Dan Hansen. Not sure why he come across country to be tested. The next scheduled combine within Pitt’s recruiting footprint is April 19th at the Baltimore Ravens complex. Last year this event had to turn prospects away after drawing a crowd of well over 800. It is our hope that holding one in Pittsburgh this year for 720 will help the folks out in Baltimore this year.
Rivals.com is also holding three Five Star Academies this coming weekend but all three are outside of Pitt’s recruiting footprint.
Next month Student Sports will hold Nike Camps at Columbus, Ohio on May 9th and at State College on May 10th. This weekend they will be in Miami, Florida and next week at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Technical hint
If you have trouble watching video or listening to audio make sure your pop-up blocker is turned off.
Spring Practice
It was a good idea by E.J. Borghetti setting Tony Dorsett up with LeSean McCoy. Shady is a very viable candidate for All-American honors if Pitt has a big season this fall. We hope you got to see our slide show with Shady and the Hawk. We also had a nifty video of the two talking at this week’s press conference. Check both out if you missed them.
So far it appears quarterback Bill Stull has taken almost all of the snaps with the first team. He did the same thing last spring and in fall camp before getting injured in the opener. It tells you that he will be given every opportunity to be the starter against Bowling Green in late August.
The coaching staff has held C.J. Davis, Jason Pinkston, Chris Jacobson, Derek Kinder, Nate Byham, Doug Fulmer and Gus Mustakas out of most drills. All of these are potential starters and will show up somewhere on the two-deep chart once they are healthy.
About all you can say for sure about the offensive line is C.J. Davis figures to start at right guard once he is healthy again.
Coach Tony Wise is getting some of the young players reps. It could be fall before we have a good read on what will happen up front.
Joe Thomas is getting a long look to see if he can grab one of the tackle slots. Behind C.J. Davis he has the most experience up front. I suspect he will grab a starting slot by the time they break fall camp. Chris Peak interviewed Joe this week. Check it out if you missed it.
This past week Tony Greco interviewed Pitt’s new offensive line coach Tony Wise and their new linebacker coach Joe Tumpkin. We hope you read both of them. Pitt returns a lot of players this year but has five new coaches.
Recruiting summary
Pitt will hold a Blue Chip Day on Saturday. The same day Tom Lemming will be at the UPMC complex taking pictures for his publication. Pitt invites juniors the same day hoping the dual invitations will result in a sizable turnout. The coaching staff did the same thing last year. Pitt will hold their first scrimmage on Saturday.
Neshaminy tight end Paul Carrezola has indicated he will be at Pitt on Saturday. So have Thomas Jefferson’s Pat Eger and safety Michael Giresi from Westerville, Ohio.
Seneca Valley quarterback C. J. Brown indicates he will watch Pitt practice today (Friday). Penn Hills Dan Mason will visit Penn State this weekend for their Junior Day but indicated he would return to Pitt next week.
Next weekend Pitt will hold their annual coaching clinic on April 11th & 12th (Friday and Saturday). It is targeted at high school coaches.
In last week’s War Room we indicated that we had identified 36 players with offers. That list is now up to 44 with offers.
As indicated a week ago wide receiver Je’Ron Stokes out of Philadelphia has an offer but has not shown much interest in Pitt yet. He is a Top 100 prospect. The Pitt coaching staff has also offered a pair of players from Naples, Florida. Naples was the Florida 3A state champion this past year. Offensive tackle Nick Alajajian (6’ 4” 280) is a Top 100 prospect. In addition running back Carlos Hyde (6’ 1” 230) also has an offer. We will follow up on both of them. They were on spring break this week.
Later today we will have an article on a pair of twins out of Delaware who both have recently picked up offer from Pitt. Jamil Terrell and Jamal Terrell both have a number of scholarship offers and stopped by Pitt this week.
Please see the link below to see the current offer list minus Stokes and the pair from Naples.
Pitt offer list
