From the desk of Jim Snyder
Hopefully you saw our mid-week War Room. If you missed it we have moved it to the War Room Archives message board.
Are you ready for some football?
This coming Monday Pitt will hold their annual Media Day for the local press corps and the Pantherlair will be there. The following day the Pitt players start fall camp with a two-a-day session. NCAA rules do not allow practicing in pads until Saturday August 11th.
Pitt will hold three scrimmages this year. The first one has been scheduled for Tuesday August 14th.
Practice session are closed to the general public but the Pantherlair will be there keeping you up to date. Pitt will hold their annual Fan Fest on Thursday August 23rd at Heinz Field which is open to the public.
We have endured some bad news this past week. It is not an uncommon problem this time of year. Tight end Kyle Hubbard decided he wanted to pursue a basketball career at Cleveland State. Nic DiLillo received an offer from Ohio State. He reassured the Pitt coaches he was still coming to Pitt and 24 hours later commits to Ohio State. He is obviously a young man who does not understand the concept of commitment. When he gets married down the road he bride might want to consider a prenuptial agreement.
Earlier this week we told you Elijah Fields would be suspended for the year and a few hours later Pitt issued a release. We may have nudged the coach into announcing this a day or two earlier than he planned. It might be best this is out of the way so we can focus on football next week. Fields is a big time talent. We hope he uses the year wisely and we get to see him playing next fall. Safety Mike Phillips is a senior. If things go as planned Fields should fill his spot in 2008.
It is always a little dangerous to make predictions until teams have finished their fall camp. The new Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said this week the depth chart in the media guide is a starting point. Let’s see what it looks like when they break fall camp. Injuries are a big part of football. Simply getting out of camp without losing a projected starter is the first big first hurdle. Seeing which young player show something early is half the fun.
The Pitt media guide lists only eight fifth-year seniors and four fourth-year seniors. This has a couple of implications. The fact that there are only a dozen seniors means that this will once again be a young Pitt team. It also does not open up many scholarship opportunities for the Class of 2008.
The media covering the Big East Conference voted a couple of weeks ago and picked Pitt to finish sixth in the conference. I think they should do a little better and finish 7-5 and make their way to a bowl. The question is could they do better than 7-5? The early season schedule is forgiving. If Pitt can find a way to split with Virginia and Michigan State a 6-1 start is not impossible.
Last year the Panthers started 6-1 and then we think became the first Division 1 team to start a season 6-1 and not make a bowl. This year they have more talent and more depth. If the young players come around by mid-season they should be in a better position to pull an upset or two late in the year.
The Big East has three very talented quarterbacks returning in Pat White from West Virginia, Brian Brohm from Louisville and Matt Grothe at South Florida. Two of these three are often mentioned as Heisman Trophy candidates. Pitt is still searching for an answer at this important position.
One of our readers asked what will you consider progress at Pitt beyond simply wins and losses? I am not sure what the answer is on this one but I sure would like to see the younger players making plays. Even if they get beat from time to time and cost you games I would like to see them making plays. Similar to the one Elijah Fields made in the spring game.
I would also like to see one of the three quarterbacks take control by the end of the year. I would like to spend Thanksgiving Day feeling confident they have a player at quarterback that will take them to the next level in 2008.
Rivals.com did a bowl projection and put both West Virginia and Louisville in a BCS Bowl this year. They also have Notre Dame going to the Sun Bowl this year. Many think Notre Dame will step back a little this year and if they do could grab the Big East’s Gator/Sun Bowl slot.
In going through the media guide I notice that freshman running back Greg Williams is a cousin of Arizona Cardinal running back Edger James. He is also a nephew of Albert Bentley who was a running back in the NFL from 1985-1991 with the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers. Maybe we should not ship him off to be a linebacker too fast. It might be best to give him a look as a running back.
I don’t know if you picked up that Michigan State offensive lineman Jason Diehl is out for the year. He has undergone multiple knee surgeries and it has his career in doubt. Pitt recruited him coming out of Milford Prep in the Class of 2006 and he made an official visit to Pitt. It is starting to look like it might not workout for him at Michigan State.
Will the Big Ten expand?
The Big Ten commissioner was in partial retreat this week when Big Ten held their annual Media Day earlier this week. He had made statements to the Des Moines Register that the Big Ten was located in eight states and might look to moving into a ninth state in the next couple of years.
The Big Ten Conference is locked in a power struggle with Comcast in their attempt to get their new Big Ten network off the ground this fall. DirecTV owns approximately half of this network and will carry this new channel.
I spent nearly a decade involved in negotiations with the cable systems and helped ESPN launch ESPN2, ESPN News and to a lesser degree ESPN Classic. These negotiations are often long power struggles and take time.
At the end of the day their negotiations with Comcast will probably determine their appetite for expansion. Ohio State and Michigan have often opposed expansion fearing a division split would lessen the interest in their game. However these negotiations are about money and they now have a financial partner to worry about (DirecTV). Stay tuned this story has not played itself out.
Some hoops talk
We have updated our basketball roster to include the incoming Class of 2007. There had been some discussion about how big freshman Brad Wanamaker was. We had him listed as 6’ 2”. His AAU coach told us he plays like he is 6’ 6” tall. Pitt has Brad listed at 6’ 4” tall.
Pitt has targeted forward Eloy Vargas but this week Shay Wildeboor reported that St. Patrick’s forward Quintrell Thomas (6’ 8”) may be headed to Pittsburgh for a visit sometime in the next 30 days or so. St Patrick’s was 30-2 last year and finished No. 2 in the country. They won their second consecutive Tournament of Champions in New Jersey this past season. Thomas has seen his stock rise this summer and he now has offers from a number of Big East schools including Pitt.
Tournament MVP Kenny Boynton scored 20 points as Florida's Team Breakdown routed the King of the Court of Akron, Ohio, 74-45 to win the AAU Junior Boys National Championship Wednesday night at Disney's Wide World of Sports this week. I believe this is the first time a team from Florida has won this event.
Boynton made 9-of-16 shot attempts from the floor in a game Breakdown dominated all the way.
Eloy Vargas, a 6-10 senior forward, had 17 points and guard Brandon Knight added 13 for Breakdown.
Coach Jamie Dixon is 105-30 in his first four years as a head coach with a winning percentage of 77.8%. Interestingly his Big East Conference record is not too far behind at 45-19 for a 70.3% winning percentage. He is 7-4 in Big East tournament play.
Recruiting round up
Chris reported on Averin Collier this week. For several months I have not thought he would commit until late August and so far not much has happened to change my thinking. He is very close to his brother Kevin. I am a big fan of both Kevin and Averin Collier. Hopefully fall camp goes as expected and both are on board next year.
Earlier this week we reported that defensive end Jeff Hutchison from West Boca Raton High School has an offer from Pitt. The current plan is to bring him in for an official visit sometime this fall. He already has over 1,900 views of his video which is a lot for only having his highlights in the system for a little over a week. He almost fainted when I told him how many people have viewed his video so far. We also now have a picture in his profile in the database.
Pitt has offered four defensive ends that have shown some interest in the Panthers in Jeff Hutchison from West Boca Raton HS, Jake Stoller from the University School, Jack Crawford from Richland, New Jersey and Kaleb Ramsey from Laurel Highlands. Pitt would like to take two defensive ends.
Norwin defensive end Tyler Urban committed to Maryland. Our sources say Pitt recruited him but did not offer.
Chris reported on linebacker Steve Gardinerfrom Dublin Coffman this week. It looks like this will come down to Pitt or Northwestern although Michigan State and Ohio State are still lurking in the background. He has visited Michigan State on a couple of occasions. If this drags out too long Pitt could be battling Michigan State on the field and in recruiting in September. Pitt’s best shot may be if he makes a decision by the end of August.
Hopefully you got to see Mike Farrell’s breakdown on the top uncommitted prospects in the Atlantic East region. Pitt was mentioned on several occasions.
We will report on Thomas Jefferson’s Brock DeCicco today and we will have a couple of pre-camp articles over the next 24 hours.
And finally Monday starts the best time of year. Football followed by basketball. Eight months of pure fun. Some weeks this fall we will have 6 or 7 nights of football. Life is good.
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.
Hopefully you saw our mid-week War Room. If you missed it we have moved it to the War Room Archives message board.
Are you ready for some football?
This coming Monday Pitt will hold their annual Media Day for the local press corps and the Pantherlair will be there. The following day the Pitt players start fall camp with a two-a-day session. NCAA rules do not allow practicing in pads until Saturday August 11th.
Pitt will hold three scrimmages this year. The first one has been scheduled for Tuesday August 14th.
Practice session are closed to the general public but the Pantherlair will be there keeping you up to date. Pitt will hold their annual Fan Fest on Thursday August 23rd at Heinz Field which is open to the public.
We have endured some bad news this past week. It is not an uncommon problem this time of year. Tight end Kyle Hubbard decided he wanted to pursue a basketball career at Cleveland State. Nic DiLillo received an offer from Ohio State. He reassured the Pitt coaches he was still coming to Pitt and 24 hours later commits to Ohio State. He is obviously a young man who does not understand the concept of commitment. When he gets married down the road he bride might want to consider a prenuptial agreement.
Earlier this week we told you Elijah Fields would be suspended for the year and a few hours later Pitt issued a release. We may have nudged the coach into announcing this a day or two earlier than he planned. It might be best this is out of the way so we can focus on football next week. Fields is a big time talent. We hope he uses the year wisely and we get to see him playing next fall. Safety Mike Phillips is a senior. If things go as planned Fields should fill his spot in 2008.
It is always a little dangerous to make predictions until teams have finished their fall camp. The new Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said this week the depth chart in the media guide is a starting point. Let’s see what it looks like when they break fall camp. Injuries are a big part of football. Simply getting out of camp without losing a projected starter is the first big first hurdle. Seeing which young player show something early is half the fun.
The Pitt media guide lists only eight fifth-year seniors and four fourth-year seniors. This has a couple of implications. The fact that there are only a dozen seniors means that this will once again be a young Pitt team. It also does not open up many scholarship opportunities for the Class of 2008.
The media covering the Big East Conference voted a couple of weeks ago and picked Pitt to finish sixth in the conference. I think they should do a little better and finish 7-5 and make their way to a bowl. The question is could they do better than 7-5? The early season schedule is forgiving. If Pitt can find a way to split with Virginia and Michigan State a 6-1 start is not impossible.
Last year the Panthers started 6-1 and then we think became the first Division 1 team to start a season 6-1 and not make a bowl. This year they have more talent and more depth. If the young players come around by mid-season they should be in a better position to pull an upset or two late in the year.
The Big East has three very talented quarterbacks returning in Pat White from West Virginia, Brian Brohm from Louisville and Matt Grothe at South Florida. Two of these three are often mentioned as Heisman Trophy candidates. Pitt is still searching for an answer at this important position.
One of our readers asked what will you consider progress at Pitt beyond simply wins and losses? I am not sure what the answer is on this one but I sure would like to see the younger players making plays. Even if they get beat from time to time and cost you games I would like to see them making plays. Similar to the one Elijah Fields made in the spring game.
I would also like to see one of the three quarterbacks take control by the end of the year. I would like to spend Thanksgiving Day feeling confident they have a player at quarterback that will take them to the next level in 2008.
Rivals.com did a bowl projection and put both West Virginia and Louisville in a BCS Bowl this year. They also have Notre Dame going to the Sun Bowl this year. Many think Notre Dame will step back a little this year and if they do could grab the Big East’s Gator/Sun Bowl slot.
In going through the media guide I notice that freshman running back Greg Williams is a cousin of Arizona Cardinal running back Edger James. He is also a nephew of Albert Bentley who was a running back in the NFL from 1985-1991 with the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers. Maybe we should not ship him off to be a linebacker too fast. It might be best to give him a look as a running back.
I don’t know if you picked up that Michigan State offensive lineman Jason Diehl is out for the year. He has undergone multiple knee surgeries and it has his career in doubt. Pitt recruited him coming out of Milford Prep in the Class of 2006 and he made an official visit to Pitt. It is starting to look like it might not workout for him at Michigan State.
Will the Big Ten expand?
The Big Ten commissioner was in partial retreat this week when Big Ten held their annual Media Day earlier this week. He had made statements to the Des Moines Register that the Big Ten was located in eight states and might look to moving into a ninth state in the next couple of years.
The Big Ten Conference is locked in a power struggle with Comcast in their attempt to get their new Big Ten network off the ground this fall. DirecTV owns approximately half of this network and will carry this new channel.
I spent nearly a decade involved in negotiations with the cable systems and helped ESPN launch ESPN2, ESPN News and to a lesser degree ESPN Classic. These negotiations are often long power struggles and take time.
At the end of the day their negotiations with Comcast will probably determine their appetite for expansion. Ohio State and Michigan have often opposed expansion fearing a division split would lessen the interest in their game. However these negotiations are about money and they now have a financial partner to worry about (DirecTV). Stay tuned this story has not played itself out.
Some hoops talk
We have updated our basketball roster to include the incoming Class of 2007. There had been some discussion about how big freshman Brad Wanamaker was. We had him listed as 6’ 2”. His AAU coach told us he plays like he is 6’ 6” tall. Pitt has Brad listed at 6’ 4” tall.
Pitt has targeted forward Eloy Vargas but this week Shay Wildeboor reported that St. Patrick’s forward Quintrell Thomas (6’ 8”) may be headed to Pittsburgh for a visit sometime in the next 30 days or so. St Patrick’s was 30-2 last year and finished No. 2 in the country. They won their second consecutive Tournament of Champions in New Jersey this past season. Thomas has seen his stock rise this summer and he now has offers from a number of Big East schools including Pitt.
Tournament MVP Kenny Boynton scored 20 points as Florida's Team Breakdown routed the King of the Court of Akron, Ohio, 74-45 to win the AAU Junior Boys National Championship Wednesday night at Disney's Wide World of Sports this week. I believe this is the first time a team from Florida has won this event.
Boynton made 9-of-16 shot attempts from the floor in a game Breakdown dominated all the way.
Eloy Vargas, a 6-10 senior forward, had 17 points and guard Brandon Knight added 13 for Breakdown.
Coach Jamie Dixon is 105-30 in his first four years as a head coach with a winning percentage of 77.8%. Interestingly his Big East Conference record is not too far behind at 45-19 for a 70.3% winning percentage. He is 7-4 in Big East tournament play.
Recruiting round up
Chris reported on Averin Collier this week. For several months I have not thought he would commit until late August and so far not much has happened to change my thinking. He is very close to his brother Kevin. I am a big fan of both Kevin and Averin Collier. Hopefully fall camp goes as expected and both are on board next year.
Earlier this week we reported that defensive end Jeff Hutchison from West Boca Raton High School has an offer from Pitt. The current plan is to bring him in for an official visit sometime this fall. He already has over 1,900 views of his video which is a lot for only having his highlights in the system for a little over a week. He almost fainted when I told him how many people have viewed his video so far. We also now have a picture in his profile in the database.
Pitt has offered four defensive ends that have shown some interest in the Panthers in Jeff Hutchison from West Boca Raton HS, Jake Stoller from the University School, Jack Crawford from Richland, New Jersey and Kaleb Ramsey from Laurel Highlands. Pitt would like to take two defensive ends.
Norwin defensive end Tyler Urban committed to Maryland. Our sources say Pitt recruited him but did not offer.
Chris reported on linebacker Steve Gardinerfrom Dublin Coffman this week. It looks like this will come down to Pitt or Northwestern although Michigan State and Ohio State are still lurking in the background. He has visited Michigan State on a couple of occasions. If this drags out too long Pitt could be battling Michigan State on the field and in recruiting in September. Pitt’s best shot may be if he makes a decision by the end of August.
Hopefully you got to see Mike Farrell’s breakdown on the top uncommitted prospects in the Atlantic East region. Pitt was mentioned on several occasions.
We will report on Thomas Jefferson’s Brock DeCicco today and we will have a couple of pre-camp articles over the next 24 hours.
And finally Monday starts the best time of year. Football followed by basketball. Eight months of pure fun. Some weeks this fall we will have 6 or 7 nights of football. Life is good.
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.
