Some hoops talk
Since Pitt lost Mike Cook and Levance Fields they have shown they can still play with most any team in the country. They have also shown that with the possible exception of St. John’s anyone in the conference can beat them if they have an off night.
Most college teams have flaws and so do the Panthers. Part of the problem is that they have four freshmen in their rotation. They make all mistakes. All four are still work in progress.
Pitt also lacks a reliable dribbler that has the ability to penetrate. Often their offense starts at midcourt. Some teams give them fits just getting the ball up the court. Their problems are compounded anytime DeJuan Blair gets in foul trouble or Sam Young has an off night as he did against Rutgers.
I could hardly believe my eyes watching Pitt pull away from Villanova with Keith Benjamin playing point guard and Gilbert Brown play the No. 2 guard. I kept hoping the clock would run so they could get Ronald Ramon back into the game but my colleague pointed out they are doing just fine let’s see how far they can go with this lineup. They built up a big enough cushion to win the game.
The win over Villanova was huge as will be any Big East win until Fields is back playing and is in game shape once again. They must now travel to Connecticut to face the UConn Huskies tomorrow. UConn has gotten hot of late. The Huskies have won four in a row in impressive fashion. Pitt and UConn are both 5-3 in league play. The winner of this game grabs an edge in the race for a bye for the tournament in New York next month. It will take a big effort on the boards by DeJuan Blair to hold Pitt in this game.
DeJuan Blair and UConn’s Jeff Adrien are both listed at 6’ 7” tall. They are also in a virtual tie for third place in the Big East in rebounding. If either player has a big game their team could be the winner. The game will be played in the Hartford Civic Center and will be televised regionally by CBS. The men’s team is ranked No. 16 in the RPI rankings this morning.
The Pitt women are ranked No. 14 in the country in the AP poll and they are No. 11 in the RPI rankings. They are now 17-3 overall and 7-0 in the Big East Conference. They play No. 4 Rutgers at the Pete on Saturday. It is a dog gone crying shame it runs almost head to head with the men’s game at UConn. One could argue that this is the biggest regular season game in the history of the school for the women’s team.
Later this month the Lady Panthers also have No. 1 UConn at the Pete. If they could find a way to split with Rutgers and UConn it would be a major boost for Agnus Berenato’s program. Pitt has at least four players capable of putting up big numbers on any given night. I wish they had a big shot blocker. I also have the same wish for the men’s team.
Villanova hosts a tournament
This weekend the Pavilion on the Villanova campus will be the site of two tournaments featuring some of the nation's best high school basketball talent and teams. Here's a look at the matchups. I would love to see Terrelle Pryor and Nasir Robinson going at it tonight. The Chester Clippers play both nights. St Anthony’s and Pitt commit Travon Woodall play tomorrow afternoon.
Today
Prime Time Shootout
Our Savior New American (N.Y.) vs. Hotchkiss School (Conn.), 4:30 p.m.
Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Timber Creek, 6 p.m.
Chester vs. Jeannette (Pa.), 7:30 p.m.
American Christian vs. St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.), 9:00 p.m.
Saturday
Kobe Bryant Classic
Pennsbury vs. Neshaminy, 10:15 a.m.
Girls: Ursuline Academy (Del.) vs. Germantown Academy, noon
Academy of the New Church vs. American Christian, 1:45 p.m.
Rancocas Valley vs. St. Anthony (N.J.), 3:30 p.m.
Ridley vs Lower Merion, 5:15 p.m.
Roman Catholic vs. Chester, 7 p.m.
Gonzaga (D.C.) vs. Neumann-Goretti, 8:45 p.m.
Last night Seton Hall Prep hammered Morris Knolls 78-42. Pitt commit Ashton Gibbs scored 32 points which included 7 three-pointers. We have posted video highlights of both Ashton Gibbs and Lamar Patterson to the top of the Center Court at the Pete message board. If you have never seen them play you might want to check them out.
Coaching vacancies
We hope you saw Chris Peak’s post about Maryland’s assistant coachBryan Brossard. Coach Wannstedt said recently that if you are not the offensive or defensive coordinator you had better be a good recruiter. If you can’t recruit he will show you the door and this has happened a couple of times in the past two years.
Pitt would like to place a heavy recruiting emphasis on the Washington-Baltimore corridor. They have not had as much success as they would like because the area coach for this region has been like a revolving door. Recruiting is about building relationships with high school coaches.
Aubrey Hill has been covering this area the past two years and he is now gone. Coach Brossard is an interesting candidate because he might help open doors in an area Pitt feels they need to be competitive.
Recruiting roundup
This week the Pitt coaching staff added Central Catholic’s Andrew Taglianetti to their commitment list. He will take a “greyshirt” offer which begins next January. We expect him to enroll at Pitt in September in part to get a jump on the academic side but he can also workout to build himself up so that he is ready to go in spring training next year.
We reported yesterday on Dublin Coffman quarterback Zack Stoudt. He was quite blunt about saying he was simply trying to protect himself in case Pitt landed Terrelle Pryor. I expect Stoudt to commit to Pitt but I wish Pryor would give off the dime and make a decision. How hard can this be to make up your mind?
Dublin Coffman linebacker Steve Gardiner committed to Michigan State last night. He had visited Michigan State several times this year and camped at Michigan State. The Spartans recruited him throughout the process but only offered in recent weeks.
We had heard Pitt might add 1-2 more to their commitment list. However, most of the players they are chasing now have academic issues. You can put Harrisburg linebacker Adrian Robinson in this category. The same can be said of Columbus Eastmoor’s Isaiah Pead, Miami Carol City’s Robert Sands and Dwyer’s Roosevelt Maggitt.
We will have video for you today of Adrian Robinson. You might want to check it out.
Some school’s like Auburn often sign a pile of these guys hoping a few make it and the rest head to a prep school where they think they have an edge recruiting them the second time around. Auburn has commitments from 29 players. Based on recent history they will not all make it past the NCAA Clearinghouse.
Penn State took a commitment from Harrisburg’s Brandon Ware recently hoping he would qualify at some point.
The question will be does Pitt want to gamble on one or two of these players given the restrictions they have in opening up scholarships to get under the limit of 85?
I spoke briefly to Isaiah Pead this week while he was taking classes to improve his ACT score. I did not want to distract him so we agreed to talk later.
As posted earlier Vaughn Carraway did not yet project as a qualifier so Pitt would not accept his commitment and he grabbed the offer from Temple instead. This was apparently was Pitt’s call not his.
This coming Wednesday is Letter of Intent Day. College coaches across the country will be huddled around their fax machines hoping they get the paperwork from all of their verbal commitments.
College fans will gather on the internet hoping for a pleasant surprise and crossing their fingers there is no bad news to report.
Rivals.com doubles their server capacity in anticipation of this day. Once Letter of Intent Day has passed they leave the increased capacity in place while starting to make plans for their next upgrade.
Pitt is currently ranked No. 21 nationally in recruiting this year. Unless someone pulls as rabbit out of the hat late they figure to finish in the top 25. Many of those ahead of them will be rewarded for having more scholarships to give.
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.
Since Pitt lost Mike Cook and Levance Fields they have shown they can still play with most any team in the country. They have also shown that with the possible exception of St. John’s anyone in the conference can beat them if they have an off night.
Most college teams have flaws and so do the Panthers. Part of the problem is that they have four freshmen in their rotation. They make all mistakes. All four are still work in progress.
Pitt also lacks a reliable dribbler that has the ability to penetrate. Often their offense starts at midcourt. Some teams give them fits just getting the ball up the court. Their problems are compounded anytime DeJuan Blair gets in foul trouble or Sam Young has an off night as he did against Rutgers.
I could hardly believe my eyes watching Pitt pull away from Villanova with Keith Benjamin playing point guard and Gilbert Brown play the No. 2 guard. I kept hoping the clock would run so they could get Ronald Ramon back into the game but my colleague pointed out they are doing just fine let’s see how far they can go with this lineup. They built up a big enough cushion to win the game.
The win over Villanova was huge as will be any Big East win until Fields is back playing and is in game shape once again. They must now travel to Connecticut to face the UConn Huskies tomorrow. UConn has gotten hot of late. The Huskies have won four in a row in impressive fashion. Pitt and UConn are both 5-3 in league play. The winner of this game grabs an edge in the race for a bye for the tournament in New York next month. It will take a big effort on the boards by DeJuan Blair to hold Pitt in this game.
DeJuan Blair and UConn’s Jeff Adrien are both listed at 6’ 7” tall. They are also in a virtual tie for third place in the Big East in rebounding. If either player has a big game their team could be the winner. The game will be played in the Hartford Civic Center and will be televised regionally by CBS. The men’s team is ranked No. 16 in the RPI rankings this morning.
The Pitt women are ranked No. 14 in the country in the AP poll and they are No. 11 in the RPI rankings. They are now 17-3 overall and 7-0 in the Big East Conference. They play No. 4 Rutgers at the Pete on Saturday. It is a dog gone crying shame it runs almost head to head with the men’s game at UConn. One could argue that this is the biggest regular season game in the history of the school for the women’s team.
Later this month the Lady Panthers also have No. 1 UConn at the Pete. If they could find a way to split with Rutgers and UConn it would be a major boost for Agnus Berenato’s program. Pitt has at least four players capable of putting up big numbers on any given night. I wish they had a big shot blocker. I also have the same wish for the men’s team.
Villanova hosts a tournament
This weekend the Pavilion on the Villanova campus will be the site of two tournaments featuring some of the nation's best high school basketball talent and teams. Here's a look at the matchups. I would love to see Terrelle Pryor and Nasir Robinson going at it tonight. The Chester Clippers play both nights. St Anthony’s and Pitt commit Travon Woodall play tomorrow afternoon.
Today
Prime Time Shootout
Our Savior New American (N.Y.) vs. Hotchkiss School (Conn.), 4:30 p.m.
Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Timber Creek, 6 p.m.
Chester vs. Jeannette (Pa.), 7:30 p.m.
American Christian vs. St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.), 9:00 p.m.
Saturday
Kobe Bryant Classic
Pennsbury vs. Neshaminy, 10:15 a.m.
Girls: Ursuline Academy (Del.) vs. Germantown Academy, noon
Academy of the New Church vs. American Christian, 1:45 p.m.
Rancocas Valley vs. St. Anthony (N.J.), 3:30 p.m.
Ridley vs Lower Merion, 5:15 p.m.
Roman Catholic vs. Chester, 7 p.m.
Gonzaga (D.C.) vs. Neumann-Goretti, 8:45 p.m.
Last night Seton Hall Prep hammered Morris Knolls 78-42. Pitt commit Ashton Gibbs scored 32 points which included 7 three-pointers. We have posted video highlights of both Ashton Gibbs and Lamar Patterson to the top of the Center Court at the Pete message board. If you have never seen them play you might want to check them out.
Coaching vacancies
We hope you saw Chris Peak’s post about Maryland’s assistant coachBryan Brossard. Coach Wannstedt said recently that if you are not the offensive or defensive coordinator you had better be a good recruiter. If you can’t recruit he will show you the door and this has happened a couple of times in the past two years.
Pitt would like to place a heavy recruiting emphasis on the Washington-Baltimore corridor. They have not had as much success as they would like because the area coach for this region has been like a revolving door. Recruiting is about building relationships with high school coaches.
Aubrey Hill has been covering this area the past two years and he is now gone. Coach Brossard is an interesting candidate because he might help open doors in an area Pitt feels they need to be competitive.
Recruiting roundup
This week the Pitt coaching staff added Central Catholic’s Andrew Taglianetti to their commitment list. He will take a “greyshirt” offer which begins next January. We expect him to enroll at Pitt in September in part to get a jump on the academic side but he can also workout to build himself up so that he is ready to go in spring training next year.
We reported yesterday on Dublin Coffman quarterback Zack Stoudt. He was quite blunt about saying he was simply trying to protect himself in case Pitt landed Terrelle Pryor. I expect Stoudt to commit to Pitt but I wish Pryor would give off the dime and make a decision. How hard can this be to make up your mind?
Dublin Coffman linebacker Steve Gardiner committed to Michigan State last night. He had visited Michigan State several times this year and camped at Michigan State. The Spartans recruited him throughout the process but only offered in recent weeks.
We had heard Pitt might add 1-2 more to their commitment list. However, most of the players they are chasing now have academic issues. You can put Harrisburg linebacker Adrian Robinson in this category. The same can be said of Columbus Eastmoor’s Isaiah Pead, Miami Carol City’s Robert Sands and Dwyer’s Roosevelt Maggitt.
We will have video for you today of Adrian Robinson. You might want to check it out.
Some school’s like Auburn often sign a pile of these guys hoping a few make it and the rest head to a prep school where they think they have an edge recruiting them the second time around. Auburn has commitments from 29 players. Based on recent history they will not all make it past the NCAA Clearinghouse.
Penn State took a commitment from Harrisburg’s Brandon Ware recently hoping he would qualify at some point.
The question will be does Pitt want to gamble on one or two of these players given the restrictions they have in opening up scholarships to get under the limit of 85?
I spoke briefly to Isaiah Pead this week while he was taking classes to improve his ACT score. I did not want to distract him so we agreed to talk later.
As posted earlier Vaughn Carraway did not yet project as a qualifier so Pitt would not accept his commitment and he grabbed the offer from Temple instead. This was apparently was Pitt’s call not his.
This coming Wednesday is Letter of Intent Day. College coaches across the country will be huddled around their fax machines hoping they get the paperwork from all of their verbal commitments.
College fans will gather on the internet hoping for a pleasant surprise and crossing their fingers there is no bad news to report.
Rivals.com doubles their server capacity in anticipation of this day. Once Letter of Intent Day has passed they leave the increased capacity in place while starting to make plans for their next upgrade.
Pitt is currently ranked No. 21 nationally in recruiting this year. Unless someone pulls as rabbit out of the hat late they figure to finish in the top 25. Many of those ahead of them will be rewarded for having more scholarships to give.
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.
