From the Desk of Jim Snyder
Extending the reach
Approximately four weeks ago Rivals.com reached a marketing agreement with AOL. This week they announced a similar arrangement with Yahoo. Hopefully these two agreements will help us to build the Panther Nation.
Congratulations to our contest winners
This was certainly a tough year on most people trying to pick the Final Four brackets. All of our top four finishers were already Pantherlair subscribers (no wonder they are so smart). We have instructed Rivals to extend your subscriptions with free months. Here were the top four finishers. Congratulations!
1) Southern Panther
2) UCI Panther
3) JD 1976
4) nubepm
Hall of Famer Marshall Goldberg passes away
My father would often go on for hours telling Pitt football stories from the Jock Sutherland era. Some of those stories would include former Panther running back Marshall Goldberg. Occasionally my mother would jump in claiming she went out on a date or two with Marshall. I have no idea if it was true. Goldberg would have been a couple of years older than her so I always had my doubts. I obviously never saw Marshall Goldberg play but her story did help add to the legend in our household. Pitt has a rich football history and certainly Marshall Goldberg was a big part of it. Our prayers are with him and his family.
Pitt hoops and recruiting
A number of early forecasts are out for next season. If Aaron Gray and the rest return the Pitt basketball team should be ranked in the top 15 in the country. You really have to wait and see who declares for the NBA draft around the country to make a forecast with any degree of accuracy. Andy Katz of ESPN has Pitt at No. 10 in the country in his early forecast. More importantly he had them as his highest ranked Big East team. The two top ranked Big East teams should be Pitt and Georgetown. Take your pick.
It is my understanding that the Big East basketball schedule will be controlled for one more year by ESPN/ABC. Pitt figures to be given a made for TV schedule. It probably means playing Georgetown twice and maybe Louisville, Marquette and/or UConn. Mike Tranghese has been quoted as saying that after this year there is sentiment for each school playing each other at least once each year. You will recall Pitt did not play Villanova or South Florida during the regular season.
As far as I can tell Pitt has been recruiting forward Tyler Smith the longest and the hardest. Jerry Myers from Rivals Hoops tells us he is a Pitt lean but obviously has not yet made up his mind or he would have announced. He is the highest ranked player out there that has not yet committed. My biggest fear has always been Kentucky who visited him this past week. They are the perennial king of the SEC in basketball. Florida winning the NCAA tournament and South Carolina winning the NIT sure put some luster back into SEC basketball, which has to be good for Kentucky.
Smith should be ready to announce shortly. The late signing period starts next week. If Pitt can land Tyler Smith this coming week their preseason ranking may go up a notch.
I was watching the NCAA tournament with my son-in-law (who is a Pitt grad). We watched George Mason knock off someone. We both came to the conclusion that the NCAA is tournament is not about who has the best team but who is hot at the end.
Florida had a long winning streak at the beginning of the season. They ran into health issues with three of their starters and lost 6 of the next 11 including two losses to South Carolina. They got healthy and won their last 11 in a row. I have a very good friend (a Florida fan) who feels someone put their hands out and healed them just in time but he is not sure who.
When it came tournament time for Pitt Levon Kendall went through a bout with back spasms and missed a tournament game. Aaron Gray came down with the flu, as did Keith Benjamin. Tyrell Biggs missed playing time with a leg injury and now we find the Ronald Ramon injured his shoulder during the Big East tournament. Ramon will have surgery today. Sometimes it is about being healthy at the end and Pitt was not.
Spring Practice reports from the Southside
Hopefully you have been following Chris Peak’s articles on the Pantherlair Home Page reporting on spring practice. Chris has also been taking photos of many of the players and coaches which should give you a better feel of what has been going on the past couple of weeks at the UPMC complex. Chris sometimes has three content items per day so make sure you wonder off the message boards and check the Home Page. If you miss a day or two for work reasons check under “Headlines” on the upper left hand side of this site to catch articles you may have missed.
Pitt will practice at Thomas Jefferson High School tonight from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM. They come right back with a 10:00AM Saturday morning practice on the Southside. The quick turn around should keep players and coaches hopping.
Pitt will play their spring game at Heinz Field next weekend (April 15th at 1:00 PM).
We have updated the roster and the depth chart on the Pantherlair. It should help you follow the spring practice reports. Check them out when you have a chance. Often Chris Peak’s articles are now linked to the players profile in a manner similar to a recruit.
This looks like a pretty typical year in the state of Pennsylvania. The database shows that approximately 31 players have already received a scholarship offer from a Division 1 school. This number should grow to about 55-70 by the time the recruiting process is over. The good news is that it appears to be a deep year for linemen, which is certainly an area of need for the Panthers.
In mid-April the NCAA calendar calls for an evaluation period. As soon as Pitt has their Spring Game the coaches hit the road visiting high schools. They will also attend a few combines. The number of prospects with scholarships offers should grow once the coaches conclude their Evaluation Period.
It is our understanding that Pitt hopes to take five offensive linemen. We are hoping that two of them are tackles. Pitt already has a verbal commitment from Chris Jacobson from Keystone Oaks. They have offers out to Even Blankenship from Center High school, Josh Marks from Southern Columbia, Gino Gradkowski from Seton-LaSalle, Stefan Wisniewski from Central Catholic and Dan Matha from Erie McDowell. This number should grow after the Evaluation Period. As stated earlier it appears to be a good year for linemen in Pennsylvania.
The Pitt staff is hoping that Jeff Otah (6’ 7” 340) can take over immediately at left tackle. John Bachman should be a starter some day at Pitt but it should probably be inside. He is a little undersized right now to play tackle. This spring does give him a lot of reps with the first string offense which should help him down the road.
If Jeff Otah does not work out Pitt might have to look to a true freshman. Joe Thomas (6’ 4” 294) played some at tackle in high school, as did Scott Corson (6’ 5” 280) and Jason Pinkston (6’ 5” 275). Pitt has to play Virginia and Michigan State in the first three games so let’s hope Jeff Otah grabs the position in as big hurry this summer.
Our poll question asks which freshman will have the biggest impact early on. Right now Dorin Dickerson and John Malecki are the early leaders. There are a few coaches who think long-term the answer might be Elijah Fields. This week Dave Wannstedt said Fields wants a shot at wide receiver and so that he will he will start in the fall camp. There are some on the Southside who think long-term he could play safety. It will be interesting to watch this one play itself out.
Yesterday Cameron Heyward was at practice. Ironhead’s son passed the “look test”. Most folks could not believe this huge person was still a teenager. Some thought he looked like he was thirty years old. They thought a Pittsburgh Steeler had wonder into the wrong practice session. “Mo” Williams from Erie Strong Vincent was also at camp yesterday. This is not his first visit to Pitt. Our sources say the staff likes this guy a lot. Keep an eye on him. We think he is a Pitt lean. “Mo” likes Pitt a lot. Chris Peak has up to date photos on “Mo” Williams in Cameron Heyward in today’s slide show. Hopefully you got a chance to check them out.
Our sources also say Josh Marks and Henry Hynoski will be in Pittsburgh for the entire weekend. It looks like this pair from Southern Columbia wants to give Pitt a long look. If Dave Wannstedt and his staff would land this pair it would be huge. They would both fill Pitt needs.
It is our understanding the quarterback Pat Bostick is also expected in the weekend to observe Pitt practice.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dixon family
Our payers go out to Maggie Dixon and her bother Jamie and the entire Dixon family. The news on Maggie is incredibly sad. Sometimes you are at a loss for the right words. That is where I am at on this story. My heart is heavy. Our prayers go out to the Dixon family.
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.
Extending the reach
Approximately four weeks ago Rivals.com reached a marketing agreement with AOL. This week they announced a similar arrangement with Yahoo. Hopefully these two agreements will help us to build the Panther Nation.
Congratulations to our contest winners
This was certainly a tough year on most people trying to pick the Final Four brackets. All of our top four finishers were already Pantherlair subscribers (no wonder they are so smart). We have instructed Rivals to extend your subscriptions with free months. Here were the top four finishers. Congratulations!
1) Southern Panther
2) UCI Panther
3) JD 1976
4) nubepm
Hall of Famer Marshall Goldberg passes away
My father would often go on for hours telling Pitt football stories from the Jock Sutherland era. Some of those stories would include former Panther running back Marshall Goldberg. Occasionally my mother would jump in claiming she went out on a date or two with Marshall. I have no idea if it was true. Goldberg would have been a couple of years older than her so I always had my doubts. I obviously never saw Marshall Goldberg play but her story did help add to the legend in our household. Pitt has a rich football history and certainly Marshall Goldberg was a big part of it. Our prayers are with him and his family.
Pitt hoops and recruiting
A number of early forecasts are out for next season. If Aaron Gray and the rest return the Pitt basketball team should be ranked in the top 15 in the country. You really have to wait and see who declares for the NBA draft around the country to make a forecast with any degree of accuracy. Andy Katz of ESPN has Pitt at No. 10 in the country in his early forecast. More importantly he had them as his highest ranked Big East team. The two top ranked Big East teams should be Pitt and Georgetown. Take your pick.
It is my understanding that the Big East basketball schedule will be controlled for one more year by ESPN/ABC. Pitt figures to be given a made for TV schedule. It probably means playing Georgetown twice and maybe Louisville, Marquette and/or UConn. Mike Tranghese has been quoted as saying that after this year there is sentiment for each school playing each other at least once each year. You will recall Pitt did not play Villanova or South Florida during the regular season.
As far as I can tell Pitt has been recruiting forward Tyler Smith the longest and the hardest. Jerry Myers from Rivals Hoops tells us he is a Pitt lean but obviously has not yet made up his mind or he would have announced. He is the highest ranked player out there that has not yet committed. My biggest fear has always been Kentucky who visited him this past week. They are the perennial king of the SEC in basketball. Florida winning the NCAA tournament and South Carolina winning the NIT sure put some luster back into SEC basketball, which has to be good for Kentucky.
Smith should be ready to announce shortly. The late signing period starts next week. If Pitt can land Tyler Smith this coming week their preseason ranking may go up a notch.
I was watching the NCAA tournament with my son-in-law (who is a Pitt grad). We watched George Mason knock off someone. We both came to the conclusion that the NCAA is tournament is not about who has the best team but who is hot at the end.
Florida had a long winning streak at the beginning of the season. They ran into health issues with three of their starters and lost 6 of the next 11 including two losses to South Carolina. They got healthy and won their last 11 in a row. I have a very good friend (a Florida fan) who feels someone put their hands out and healed them just in time but he is not sure who.
When it came tournament time for Pitt Levon Kendall went through a bout with back spasms and missed a tournament game. Aaron Gray came down with the flu, as did Keith Benjamin. Tyrell Biggs missed playing time with a leg injury and now we find the Ronald Ramon injured his shoulder during the Big East tournament. Ramon will have surgery today. Sometimes it is about being healthy at the end and Pitt was not.
Spring Practice reports from the Southside
Hopefully you have been following Chris Peak’s articles on the Pantherlair Home Page reporting on spring practice. Chris has also been taking photos of many of the players and coaches which should give you a better feel of what has been going on the past couple of weeks at the UPMC complex. Chris sometimes has three content items per day so make sure you wonder off the message boards and check the Home Page. If you miss a day or two for work reasons check under “Headlines” on the upper left hand side of this site to catch articles you may have missed.
Pitt will practice at Thomas Jefferson High School tonight from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM. They come right back with a 10:00AM Saturday morning practice on the Southside. The quick turn around should keep players and coaches hopping.
Pitt will play their spring game at Heinz Field next weekend (April 15th at 1:00 PM).
We have updated the roster and the depth chart on the Pantherlair. It should help you follow the spring practice reports. Check them out when you have a chance. Often Chris Peak’s articles are now linked to the players profile in a manner similar to a recruit.
This looks like a pretty typical year in the state of Pennsylvania. The database shows that approximately 31 players have already received a scholarship offer from a Division 1 school. This number should grow to about 55-70 by the time the recruiting process is over. The good news is that it appears to be a deep year for linemen, which is certainly an area of need for the Panthers.
In mid-April the NCAA calendar calls for an evaluation period. As soon as Pitt has their Spring Game the coaches hit the road visiting high schools. They will also attend a few combines. The number of prospects with scholarships offers should grow once the coaches conclude their Evaluation Period.
It is our understanding that Pitt hopes to take five offensive linemen. We are hoping that two of them are tackles. Pitt already has a verbal commitment from Chris Jacobson from Keystone Oaks. They have offers out to Even Blankenship from Center High school, Josh Marks from Southern Columbia, Gino Gradkowski from Seton-LaSalle, Stefan Wisniewski from Central Catholic and Dan Matha from Erie McDowell. This number should grow after the Evaluation Period. As stated earlier it appears to be a good year for linemen in Pennsylvania.
The Pitt staff is hoping that Jeff Otah (6’ 7” 340) can take over immediately at left tackle. John Bachman should be a starter some day at Pitt but it should probably be inside. He is a little undersized right now to play tackle. This spring does give him a lot of reps with the first string offense which should help him down the road.
If Jeff Otah does not work out Pitt might have to look to a true freshman. Joe Thomas (6’ 4” 294) played some at tackle in high school, as did Scott Corson (6’ 5” 280) and Jason Pinkston (6’ 5” 275). Pitt has to play Virginia and Michigan State in the first three games so let’s hope Jeff Otah grabs the position in as big hurry this summer.
Our poll question asks which freshman will have the biggest impact early on. Right now Dorin Dickerson and John Malecki are the early leaders. There are a few coaches who think long-term the answer might be Elijah Fields. This week Dave Wannstedt said Fields wants a shot at wide receiver and so that he will he will start in the fall camp. There are some on the Southside who think long-term he could play safety. It will be interesting to watch this one play itself out.
Yesterday Cameron Heyward was at practice. Ironhead’s son passed the “look test”. Most folks could not believe this huge person was still a teenager. Some thought he looked like he was thirty years old. They thought a Pittsburgh Steeler had wonder into the wrong practice session. “Mo” Williams from Erie Strong Vincent was also at camp yesterday. This is not his first visit to Pitt. Our sources say the staff likes this guy a lot. Keep an eye on him. We think he is a Pitt lean. “Mo” likes Pitt a lot. Chris Peak has up to date photos on “Mo” Williams in Cameron Heyward in today’s slide show. Hopefully you got a chance to check them out.
Our sources also say Josh Marks and Henry Hynoski will be in Pittsburgh for the entire weekend. It looks like this pair from Southern Columbia wants to give Pitt a long look. If Dave Wannstedt and his staff would land this pair it would be huge. They would both fill Pitt needs.
It is our understanding the quarterback Pat Bostick is also expected in the weekend to observe Pitt practice.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dixon family
Our payers go out to Maggie Dixon and her bother Jamie and the entire Dixon family. The news on Maggie is incredibly sad. Sometimes you are at a loss for the right words. That is where I am at on this story. My heart is heavy. Our prayers go out to the Dixon family.
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.
