From the desk of Jim Snyder
My Fan Pages
When I first heard about the My Fan Page concept I was skeptical. I failed to have a vision of how this would work long-term. The Rivals.com network now has over 108,000 fans set up and it is growing everyday. There is a pin at the top of this board regarding frequently asked questions if you need some help.
Ratings and rankings
When they release ratings and rankings each year I hold my breath. College fanatics across the country often think with their hearts and not their heads. They hate to hear bad news about their school. They often are not crazy about hearing good news about a rival school either. On top of that I tend to disagree with a percentage of the rankings myself. I often see what I think are foul balls. Discussing who we think has been overvalued or undervalued it the fun part of the process because we never know for sure until they have been on campus awhile.
Every year the financial resources that Rivals.com devotes to evaluations grows but there will always be disagreements. No individual can see every player. Trying to reach a consensus is not easy. The NFL draft is not an exact science. College recruiting is far tougher. You can be sure that not every player Pitt brings in this year will be an All-American. Some will leave the program as was the case recently with McKenzie Mathews who some ranked highly. Recruiting is not a perfect system. It can be messy at times. It is what often makes it very interesting to follow. Folks see the same player and draw different conclusions. There are a number of services out there. Rivals.com devotes more resources to this task than any of them. That does not mean they will get them all right.
One of our staffers was questioning some folks on the Southside some time ago on why Pitt had backed off a player they seemed so very high on early in the process? He replied, “Did it ever occur to you that we can make a mistake?” The fact that recruiting process starts so early these day compounds the problem for college coaches.
It appears Pitt has put together another solid class again this year but quite frankly they can do better if they start winning games on the football field. At some point the Panthers must start going to bowl games again. They must demonstrate on the field that things are on the upswing and when they do they will win even more of these head-to-head battles. They are doing a very good job against a tough backdrop right now but there is still room for improvement (and that is very good news).
Rivals.com has allowed subscribers a chance to rearrange their Top 250. Over 45,000 fans have taken the time so far. The fans like Marvin Austin out of Washington, D.C. better than the analysts do and so do I. At the Nike camp last spring this 290-pounder worked out catching passes with the wide receivers to demonstrate his athletic ability. It was a very impressive demonstration. Not sure where he is going to school but they will have themselves a big time prospect. He is a little over the top in his personality. It might take some coaching to rein him in a bit.
Two Pitt commits have been upgraded recently. Wide receiver Aundre Wright and running back Shariff Harris. These two have one thing in common. They can both run. They both have speed to burn. Coach Wannstedt indicated in an interview at halftime of the West Virginia game a couple of years ago Pitt needed to get faster. These two are a part of the equation. Aundre Wright was lightly recruited coming out of Perry High School in large part because of his academic issues. I suspect Milford Coach Bill Chaplick had a hand in this upgrade. Shariff Harris transferred schools after his sophomore year. He played linebacker as a junior. A high ankle injury caused him to miss games some games in his junior year. He blossomed as a senior as a running back. He flew under Rivals.com radar for a long time. I am not sure what position he will eventually play. He stands up too straight for my taste as a running back. He could be a wide receiver or end up on defense if LeSean McCoy shows he is the real deal.
We now have video on every 2007 football recruit that Pitt has commits from except LeSean McCoy and Aundre Wright (there is a lot of Bishop McDevitt film on McCoy). Mike Farrell has video from Milford Academy in his possession on both players. Hopefully I can catch his attention after Letter of Intent Day so he will send them to the editing department. You will get a chance to see both.
It appears Pitt could finish in to the Top 25 nationally for the second year in a row and No. 1 in the Big East. Over the past three years Pitt has finished No. 2, No. 1 and No. 1 in the Big East. Recruiting good players is big part of the coaching job. Lining them up at the right position so you get your best players on the field is also big part of the job. The Pitt staff needs to start translating stars into wins. They need to find a way to get the Panthers back into the bowl picture. I am very optimistic it will eventually happen. Give us your thoughts on how just how long you think it will take.
Pitt released their 2007 football schedule yesterday. It seemed a little odd to see all 12 games being played on a Saturday. The network executives seemed to have passed on some primetime exposure for this young team although Pitt only controls their home schedule and on paper many of their attractive games are on the road. The good news is that this young group will get to play 7 games before they have to take on Louisville, South Florida, West Virginia or Rutgers. At least three in this group will be nationally ranked when the preseason polls are released although I could make a case for all four.
As long as Grambling brings their band with them they are worth the price of admission. They are sensational. Texas A&M brought only a part of their band with them and got a standing ovation. This band will get one too.
ESPN’s Insider service currently has Pitt just outside their Top 25 in team rankings at No. 27.
Here is a list of their top dozen in Pennsylvania. They include LeSean McCoy even though he was in a prep school in New York. These are all names that should be familiar to most of you.
1) LeSean McCoy
2) Rob Gronkowski
3) Derek Morgan
4) Stefen Wisniewski
5) Pat Bostick
6) Nick Sukay
7) Moe Williams
8) Chris Jacobson
9) Nathan Stupar
10) Myles Caragein
11) Jon Ditto
12) Josh Marks
I might add I could easily differ with this list too.
Some Pitt commits scheduled to play in PA all-star games in June.
Here is a list of Pitt commits scheduled to play in the Big 33 game on Hershey, Pa. on June 16th.
Dom DeCicco-Thomas Jefferson
Henry Hynoski-Southern Columbia
Chris Jacobson-Keystone Oaks
John Fieger-Upper Perkiomen
Wayne Jones-Bishop McCort (uncommitted)
The following is a list of Pitt commits scheduled to play in the East-West all-star game in Altoona on June 23rd.
Myles Caragein
Greg Gaskins
Moe Williams
Here is a list of Pitt commits not currently scheduled for either game.
Pat Bostick-Manheim Twp.
Jordan Gibbs-Penn Manor
Dan Matha-Erie McDowell
Tristan Roberts-Pennridge
Brandon Lindsey-Aliquippa
In addition it does not look like Kyle Hubbard from Lakewood St. Edward’s in Ohio will be in the Big 33 game.
A technical hint
Occasionally I get error messages when looking at a player’s profile. I am not sure why but often when I click my refresh button it clears up. If you have this problem give it a try.
Record set on basketball message board
A record was set after the Villanova game on the basketball message board. If you go around the Rivals network records are often set after a painful loss or when you fire the coach. It was good to see a record being set after a win after a regular season game. Maybe Pitt fans are starting to jump on the bandwagon now that the Panthers are 20-3. Pitt now has six consecutive 20-game winning seasons for the first time in the school’s long history. Very impressive. Four of these have come under Coach Dixon.
We may have dodged a bullet
When you look back at how close Pitt came to hiring Skip Prosser from Wake Forest you have to shake your head. The Demon Deacons are 11-11 overall and 2-7 in conference play. They still have a couple of tough road games left. They can forget about going to the NCAA tournament this year.
This past year Coach Dixon lost assistants Barry Rohrssen and Joe Lombardi when this pair took head coaching jobs. Coach Dixon also lost John Alesi from his staff. Jamie plugged in Mike Rice, Brandon Knight and David Cox. Two of these three had no experience at the college level. He also promoted Orlando Antigua. The Panthers have not missed a beat. I am not sure what this says but something tells me Jamie Dixon can coach.
Football recruiting summary
Tony Greco ran into a North Carolina State coach in Pittsburgh this week who told him their staff lives on the Rivals.com network. It helps them filter out players they feel they can realistically recruit.
One of the Montour coaches has updated Tony on Montour’s Christian Wilson. He is blowing up as a recruit after his workout at the U.S. Army combine in San Antonio. Wilson now has offers from Pitt, Michigan, Purdue, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisville and Colorado. Virginia Tech has said they would offer but they do not have it in writing yet. Working out in shorts often not only impresses the recruiting analysts but college coaches as well. I have three generations of in-laws that have gone to this school district and some still do. I told Coach Lou Cerro recently he better get the program turned around because we are watching him. They upset Ambridge and Blackhawk late in the year so he might have it headed in the right direction.
We were talking to Coach Ray Reitz at Jeannette this week. Pitt and others had made inquires about his wide receiver Devonta Shannon but so far no school had offered. He was trying to reach a MAC school without success. We used a couple of our contacts to help him reach them. Their voice mail was full and he was having trouble. Not sure if it helped. It looks like they are tight on scholarships too.
Pitt currently has 23 verbal commitments plus they must account for plus punter Dave Brytus who transferred in from Purdue and Baldwin’s Justin Hargrove who grayshirted for a total of 25. They are still trying to land defensive end Jabaal Sheard. If they land Sheard they will be one over the limit. We have been hearing rumors for sometime that it is always possible one might not qualify. This is a tough area. We do not have access to SAT scores or transcripts for obvious reason. You must rely for hearsay in this area. Based on feedback our educated guess is that running back Xavier Stinson might not make it. In some ways it makes sense. Since Stinson has committed Pitt has recruited and landed three running backs in LeSean McCoy, Shariff Harris and Greg Williams.
Coach Wannstedt and Coach Partridge were in Florida this past week visiting defensive end Jabaal Sheard. I like Pitt’s chances in this one unless he falls in love on his visit to Arizona State. I have been to the Tempe/Scottsdale area many times on business and for bowl games. It is a very nice place to be in January and February. It is a simply a great place to spend the winter months. It is supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny this weekend. It is not as nice in August when it is 110 degrees and you are trying to work yourself through two-a-days in fall practice sessions. Hopefully the distance factor will bother him and his family. I found it a little curious that Rutgers did not send a coach in to visit Sheard this week. Perhaps they have turned in another direction.
Wayne Jones from Johnstown's Bishop McCort is visiting Cincinnati this weekend. Pitt would like him to take a grayshirt. Hopefully the lure of playing with his teammate Mike Cruz and Johnstown’s Antwuan Reed will help carry the day. All three could be freshmen at Pitt in 2008.
We will now enter Quiet Period This means coaches can no longer recruit off campus. On Sunday we will enter a Dead Period. This means no contact with the prospect until after Letter of Intent Day next week. The NCAA gives the recruit a few days to reflect on their decision without being pressured.
There were approximately 83 players from Pennsylvania that have committed to Division 1 schools. That seems to be in line with recent years. Perhaps few more will commit by Letter of Intent Day. Some felt this was not a great year in the state on the high end. Not sure there will be anymore in the total in 2008 but it could be stronger on the high end.
As reported earlier Coach Wannstedt has established a pattern of getting a few commitments early to get the recruiting season off top a quick start. Expect a couple of early verbals for 2008 sometime in February.
The Pitt coaching staff has already had a number of junior prospects in for basketball games and we have tried to highlight many of them when featuring them in articles. It appears their first “official” Junior Day will be held February 17th when the Panther basketball team plays Washington.
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.
This post was edited on 2/2 9:09 AM by Chris Peakif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
My Fan Pages
When I first heard about the My Fan Page concept I was skeptical. I failed to have a vision of how this would work long-term. The Rivals.com network now has over 108,000 fans set up and it is growing everyday. There is a pin at the top of this board regarding frequently asked questions if you need some help.
Ratings and rankings
When they release ratings and rankings each year I hold my breath. College fanatics across the country often think with their hearts and not their heads. They hate to hear bad news about their school. They often are not crazy about hearing good news about a rival school either. On top of that I tend to disagree with a percentage of the rankings myself. I often see what I think are foul balls. Discussing who we think has been overvalued or undervalued it the fun part of the process because we never know for sure until they have been on campus awhile.
Every year the financial resources that Rivals.com devotes to evaluations grows but there will always be disagreements. No individual can see every player. Trying to reach a consensus is not easy. The NFL draft is not an exact science. College recruiting is far tougher. You can be sure that not every player Pitt brings in this year will be an All-American. Some will leave the program as was the case recently with McKenzie Mathews who some ranked highly. Recruiting is not a perfect system. It can be messy at times. It is what often makes it very interesting to follow. Folks see the same player and draw different conclusions. There are a number of services out there. Rivals.com devotes more resources to this task than any of them. That does not mean they will get them all right.
One of our staffers was questioning some folks on the Southside some time ago on why Pitt had backed off a player they seemed so very high on early in the process? He replied, “Did it ever occur to you that we can make a mistake?” The fact that recruiting process starts so early these day compounds the problem for college coaches.
It appears Pitt has put together another solid class again this year but quite frankly they can do better if they start winning games on the football field. At some point the Panthers must start going to bowl games again. They must demonstrate on the field that things are on the upswing and when they do they will win even more of these head-to-head battles. They are doing a very good job against a tough backdrop right now but there is still room for improvement (and that is very good news).
Rivals.com has allowed subscribers a chance to rearrange their Top 250. Over 45,000 fans have taken the time so far. The fans like Marvin Austin out of Washington, D.C. better than the analysts do and so do I. At the Nike camp last spring this 290-pounder worked out catching passes with the wide receivers to demonstrate his athletic ability. It was a very impressive demonstration. Not sure where he is going to school but they will have themselves a big time prospect. He is a little over the top in his personality. It might take some coaching to rein him in a bit.
Two Pitt commits have been upgraded recently. Wide receiver Aundre Wright and running back Shariff Harris. These two have one thing in common. They can both run. They both have speed to burn. Coach Wannstedt indicated in an interview at halftime of the West Virginia game a couple of years ago Pitt needed to get faster. These two are a part of the equation. Aundre Wright was lightly recruited coming out of Perry High School in large part because of his academic issues. I suspect Milford Coach Bill Chaplick had a hand in this upgrade. Shariff Harris transferred schools after his sophomore year. He played linebacker as a junior. A high ankle injury caused him to miss games some games in his junior year. He blossomed as a senior as a running back. He flew under Rivals.com radar for a long time. I am not sure what position he will eventually play. He stands up too straight for my taste as a running back. He could be a wide receiver or end up on defense if LeSean McCoy shows he is the real deal.
We now have video on every 2007 football recruit that Pitt has commits from except LeSean McCoy and Aundre Wright (there is a lot of Bishop McDevitt film on McCoy). Mike Farrell has video from Milford Academy in his possession on both players. Hopefully I can catch his attention after Letter of Intent Day so he will send them to the editing department. You will get a chance to see both.
It appears Pitt could finish in to the Top 25 nationally for the second year in a row and No. 1 in the Big East. Over the past three years Pitt has finished No. 2, No. 1 and No. 1 in the Big East. Recruiting good players is big part of the coaching job. Lining them up at the right position so you get your best players on the field is also big part of the job. The Pitt staff needs to start translating stars into wins. They need to find a way to get the Panthers back into the bowl picture. I am very optimistic it will eventually happen. Give us your thoughts on how just how long you think it will take.
Pitt released their 2007 football schedule yesterday. It seemed a little odd to see all 12 games being played on a Saturday. The network executives seemed to have passed on some primetime exposure for this young team although Pitt only controls their home schedule and on paper many of their attractive games are on the road. The good news is that this young group will get to play 7 games before they have to take on Louisville, South Florida, West Virginia or Rutgers. At least three in this group will be nationally ranked when the preseason polls are released although I could make a case for all four.
As long as Grambling brings their band with them they are worth the price of admission. They are sensational. Texas A&M brought only a part of their band with them and got a standing ovation. This band will get one too.
ESPN’s Insider service currently has Pitt just outside their Top 25 in team rankings at No. 27.
Here is a list of their top dozen in Pennsylvania. They include LeSean McCoy even though he was in a prep school in New York. These are all names that should be familiar to most of you.
1) LeSean McCoy
2) Rob Gronkowski
3) Derek Morgan
4) Stefen Wisniewski
5) Pat Bostick
6) Nick Sukay
7) Moe Williams
8) Chris Jacobson
9) Nathan Stupar
10) Myles Caragein
11) Jon Ditto
12) Josh Marks
I might add I could easily differ with this list too.
Some Pitt commits scheduled to play in PA all-star games in June.
Here is a list of Pitt commits scheduled to play in the Big 33 game on Hershey, Pa. on June 16th.
Dom DeCicco-Thomas Jefferson
Henry Hynoski-Southern Columbia
Chris Jacobson-Keystone Oaks
John Fieger-Upper Perkiomen
Wayne Jones-Bishop McCort (uncommitted)
The following is a list of Pitt commits scheduled to play in the East-West all-star game in Altoona on June 23rd.
Myles Caragein
Greg Gaskins
Moe Williams
Here is a list of Pitt commits not currently scheduled for either game.
Pat Bostick-Manheim Twp.
Jordan Gibbs-Penn Manor
Dan Matha-Erie McDowell
Tristan Roberts-Pennridge
Brandon Lindsey-Aliquippa
In addition it does not look like Kyle Hubbard from Lakewood St. Edward’s in Ohio will be in the Big 33 game.
A technical hint
Occasionally I get error messages when looking at a player’s profile. I am not sure why but often when I click my refresh button it clears up. If you have this problem give it a try.
Record set on basketball message board
A record was set after the Villanova game on the basketball message board. If you go around the Rivals network records are often set after a painful loss or when you fire the coach. It was good to see a record being set after a win after a regular season game. Maybe Pitt fans are starting to jump on the bandwagon now that the Panthers are 20-3. Pitt now has six consecutive 20-game winning seasons for the first time in the school’s long history. Very impressive. Four of these have come under Coach Dixon.
We may have dodged a bullet
When you look back at how close Pitt came to hiring Skip Prosser from Wake Forest you have to shake your head. The Demon Deacons are 11-11 overall and 2-7 in conference play. They still have a couple of tough road games left. They can forget about going to the NCAA tournament this year.
This past year Coach Dixon lost assistants Barry Rohrssen and Joe Lombardi when this pair took head coaching jobs. Coach Dixon also lost John Alesi from his staff. Jamie plugged in Mike Rice, Brandon Knight and David Cox. Two of these three had no experience at the college level. He also promoted Orlando Antigua. The Panthers have not missed a beat. I am not sure what this says but something tells me Jamie Dixon can coach.
Football recruiting summary
Tony Greco ran into a North Carolina State coach in Pittsburgh this week who told him their staff lives on the Rivals.com network. It helps them filter out players they feel they can realistically recruit.
One of the Montour coaches has updated Tony on Montour’s Christian Wilson. He is blowing up as a recruit after his workout at the U.S. Army combine in San Antonio. Wilson now has offers from Pitt, Michigan, Purdue, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisville and Colorado. Virginia Tech has said they would offer but they do not have it in writing yet. Working out in shorts often not only impresses the recruiting analysts but college coaches as well. I have three generations of in-laws that have gone to this school district and some still do. I told Coach Lou Cerro recently he better get the program turned around because we are watching him. They upset Ambridge and Blackhawk late in the year so he might have it headed in the right direction.
We were talking to Coach Ray Reitz at Jeannette this week. Pitt and others had made inquires about his wide receiver Devonta Shannon but so far no school had offered. He was trying to reach a MAC school without success. We used a couple of our contacts to help him reach them. Their voice mail was full and he was having trouble. Not sure if it helped. It looks like they are tight on scholarships too.
Pitt currently has 23 verbal commitments plus they must account for plus punter Dave Brytus who transferred in from Purdue and Baldwin’s Justin Hargrove who grayshirted for a total of 25. They are still trying to land defensive end Jabaal Sheard. If they land Sheard they will be one over the limit. We have been hearing rumors for sometime that it is always possible one might not qualify. This is a tough area. We do not have access to SAT scores or transcripts for obvious reason. You must rely for hearsay in this area. Based on feedback our educated guess is that running back Xavier Stinson might not make it. In some ways it makes sense. Since Stinson has committed Pitt has recruited and landed three running backs in LeSean McCoy, Shariff Harris and Greg Williams.
Coach Wannstedt and Coach Partridge were in Florida this past week visiting defensive end Jabaal Sheard. I like Pitt’s chances in this one unless he falls in love on his visit to Arizona State. I have been to the Tempe/Scottsdale area many times on business and for bowl games. It is a very nice place to be in January and February. It is a simply a great place to spend the winter months. It is supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny this weekend. It is not as nice in August when it is 110 degrees and you are trying to work yourself through two-a-days in fall practice sessions. Hopefully the distance factor will bother him and his family. I found it a little curious that Rutgers did not send a coach in to visit Sheard this week. Perhaps they have turned in another direction.
Wayne Jones from Johnstown's Bishop McCort is visiting Cincinnati this weekend. Pitt would like him to take a grayshirt. Hopefully the lure of playing with his teammate Mike Cruz and Johnstown’s Antwuan Reed will help carry the day. All three could be freshmen at Pitt in 2008.
We will now enter Quiet Period This means coaches can no longer recruit off campus. On Sunday we will enter a Dead Period. This means no contact with the prospect until after Letter of Intent Day next week. The NCAA gives the recruit a few days to reflect on their decision without being pressured.
There were approximately 83 players from Pennsylvania that have committed to Division 1 schools. That seems to be in line with recent years. Perhaps few more will commit by Letter of Intent Day. Some felt this was not a great year in the state on the high end. Not sure there will be anymore in the total in 2008 but it could be stronger on the high end.
As reported earlier Coach Wannstedt has established a pattern of getting a few commitments early to get the recruiting season off top a quick start. Expect a couple of early verbals for 2008 sometime in February.
The Pitt coaching staff has already had a number of junior prospects in for basketball games and we have tried to highlight many of them when featuring them in articles. It appears their first “official” Junior Day will be held February 17th when the Panther basketball team plays Washington.
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.
This post was edited on 2/2 9:09 AM by Chris Peakif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
