From the desk of Jim Snyder
A date to circle
If you know of a legitimate Division 1 prospect you might tell him to circle Sunday March 2nd.
Rivals.com will be holding their annual Five-Star Academy class at the University of Akron on that date. It is a classroom session on the recruiting process for juniors. It helps recruits know who is really recruiting them and who is just stringing them along. College coaches go through the process over and over again but for a recruit it is a once in a lifetime experience. This session helps level the playing field.
One the same day Student Sports is scheduled to hold a Nike Combine for juniors in the Pittsburgh area. I don’t have a location yet but they will do testing that day if anyone that is interested.
Once we get by Letter of Intent Day in early February it will be time to focus on juniors although in many ways that processed got underway with the junior combine in San Antonio which was tied into the U.S. Army All-American game.
Some Hoops talk
Jamie Dixon has the basketball team playing very hard right now. It was a good road win at South Florida and they had some bad luck at the end against Nova after leading most of the way. Pitt was leading by one when they forced Nova into a wild shot which hit the top of the backboard. The rebound resulted in a jump ball call and Villanova got another chance when the alternate passion arrow was in their favor. They eventually made two free throws to win it.
Ronald Ramon is not your ideal point guard and he is playing injured right now. I will probably change my mind a couple of times in the next several weeks but I think when Levance Fields gets back Keith Benjamin should start at the No. 2 guard spot with Ramon going back to the role he played a year ago of backing up both guard spots.
Five minutes into the South Florida game I told my wife Pitt would beat the Bulls. It just looked like they were unwilling or unable to pressure Pitt’s guards. The result was Pitt was able to get into its offense. I suspect the year will have its up and downs depending on the matchups at guard.
ESPN announcer Doris Burke was on target when she said don’t touch Keith Benjamin right now or you will end up with a heat blister. Benjamin is on fire in his first three starts. Benji has made 21 of 30 from the field for 70.0% and 8 for 14 from 3-point range for 57%. He obviously won’t keep this up all year but let’s hope he stays hot for a while longer to give the four freshmen a chance to gain some game experience.
This Pitt team deserves a sportive crowd Saturday afternoon at the Pete.
Pitt needs to keep scratching out wins until they get Levance Fields back. It will probably take at least 21 win including 9 in the Big East to give yourself a good shot at getting a NCAA invitation. Pitt is now ranked No. 8 in the RPI index. You need to keep this ranking in the Top 30 to feel safe.
Agnus Berenato’s looks like she has the Pitt’s women team headed in the right direction. The Lady Panthers are 12-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The Big East is the No. 1 conference in the RPI rankings on the women’s side. Pitt is ranked No. 22. If Agnus keeps winning they will move up because of the conference power ranking. She looks like she has her team headed back to the NCAA tournament. The win at DePaul was a huge step forward for the program.
In the latest USA Today rankings St Anthony’s (10-0) is No. 2 and Chester (13-1) is No. 10 in the country. St Anthony’s figures to take over the No. 1 spot because St Benedict’s, who was ranked No. 1, was upset this week by Academy of the New Church 53-50.
I have an opportunity to watch St. St. Anthony’s play a few times. Travon Woodall is a very good player. This team goes nine deep. Most games are blowouts but if the score is close Coach Bobby Hurley usually makes sure three players are on the floor. Seniors Mike Rosario (Rutgers) and Travon Woodall (Pitt) are there alongside five-star junior Dominic Cheek. Woodall is a player. He will back up Levance Fields next year and take over for him the following year. Don’t worry about whether he starts or not. This team is loaded with guards.
Pitt has also been evaluating a couple of player’s from St Raymond’s coached by Oliver Antigua. St. Raymond’s is ranked No. 8 in the country so Kevin Parrom and Omari Lawrence are players to watch. They are not at the top of the list right now but if they have big junior years they might be.
Dave Wannstedt is recruiting the state of Pennsylvania very hard on the football side. It almost looks like Jamie Dixon is following his philosophy. Pitt has landed Lamar Patterson from the Lancaster area for the class of 2009 and they are recruiting McKeesport’s Zeke Marshall. Nasir Robinson is from Chester in the Class of 2008. Already are on the roster are DeJuan Blair from Pittsburgh, Cassin Diggs from Williamsport, Brad Wanamaker from Philadelphia and Gilbert Brown from Harrisburg. Keeping the best in-state may be good idea.
Football recruiting roundup
Mike Farrell did a voice over on an AMP piece this week. He was trying to make the point that Pitt has benefitted in recruiting from their upset of West Virginia. He had talked to the three Pitt commits in San Antonio and they said it had no effect. I have to think it did have some impact on Hale and Saddler.
More importantly he said Pitt should benefit over the next eight months. They should have 6-10 recruits committed for the Class of 2009 before they play another football game. The big impact of this win has yet to be felt. I had one colleague say to me the way things are going right now there might be one of two the current Pitt commits that he would like a mulligan on but it’s too late now.
One last comment on the U.S. Army All-American game. I think Jonathan Baldwin surprised the analysts. He was listed as a tight end in part because that is what he played at Aliquippa. He finally got a chance to show them he could play wide receiver. He can make the circus catch but needs to be more consistent. He could be a big star at Pitt.
Lucas Nix got off to a slow start in the one-on-one pass protection drills but had a solid week. He did not come out of the U.S. Army All-American game until the fourth quarter. They rested him one series and sent him back in for the balance of the game. He may have played as much as any player on either side. The East had 221 yards rushing to 30 for the West and that was the difference. I hate the thought of a freshman starting on the offensive line but I would not rule Lucas out.
Pitt will host a large group of recruits this weekend. Here is a list of players scheduled to attend.
A.J. Alexander -Ath. ?Altoona
Dominick Britt QB/DB Trotwood Madison
Chris Burns RB New Wilmington (Pitt commit)
Vaughan Carraway WR/DB Muhlenberg HS
Steve Gardiner LB Dublin Coffman
Jeff Hutchison DE West Boca Raton
Lucas Nix OL Thomas Jefferson (Pitt commit)
Isaiah Pead RB/DB Columbus Eastmoor
Zach Stoudt QB Dublin Coffman QB (Pitt-soft commit)
Tino Sunseri-QB Central Catholic (Pitt commit)
Joe Trebitz-LB ?West Boca Raton
Ryan Turnley-OL-Hopewell (Pitt commit)
Dan Vaughan DE/TE Central Catholic
Justin Virbitsky ?TE- Lakeland HS
Manny Williams LB/DB Clairton (Pitt commit)
In addition to the players listed above Pitt is also recruiting QB Terrelle Pryor, DB Jarred Holley, OL Josh Jenkins who is schedule to visit next week and LB Etyen Edet who is scheduled for the following weekend. There is also LB Roosevelt Maggitt who has already visited and DB Andrew Taglianetti who still has not scheduled a visit.
Pitt already has 16 verbal commitments and they are in a scholarship crunch. Certainly they will take no more than four more.
Let’s assume for a minute Jarred Holley is near the top of the priority list. If you look at the broad list of players they are recruiting it appears they want another linebacker. It also would not surprise me if they took another tight end.
You chase Pryor to the end and you keep your fingers crossed Josh Jenkins is still on the board so he makes his visits on January 18th.
We heard a report from one coach that is recruiting Pryor that he thought these were the odds on Terrelle Pryor: Ohio State -50%, Michigan -30% and Penn State 20%. On the other hand the reporters from Michigan told Tony they thought he was theirs to lose. We also hear a rumor he may have personal issues that will keep him close to home. He is now playing basketball and will have limited time to devote to the recruiting process. The odds are small that Pitt will land him but the longer this drags out the better.
Pitt is bringing in a couple of players that view themselves as wide receivers. It does not appear to be an area of need but they just may be recruiting speed and will figure out where they play later.
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.
Rivals.com Five Star Academy
A date to circle
If you know of a legitimate Division 1 prospect you might tell him to circle Sunday March 2nd.
Rivals.com will be holding their annual Five-Star Academy class at the University of Akron on that date. It is a classroom session on the recruiting process for juniors. It helps recruits know who is really recruiting them and who is just stringing them along. College coaches go through the process over and over again but for a recruit it is a once in a lifetime experience. This session helps level the playing field.
One the same day Student Sports is scheduled to hold a Nike Combine for juniors in the Pittsburgh area. I don’t have a location yet but they will do testing that day if anyone that is interested.
Once we get by Letter of Intent Day in early February it will be time to focus on juniors although in many ways that processed got underway with the junior combine in San Antonio which was tied into the U.S. Army All-American game.
Some Hoops talk
Jamie Dixon has the basketball team playing very hard right now. It was a good road win at South Florida and they had some bad luck at the end against Nova after leading most of the way. Pitt was leading by one when they forced Nova into a wild shot which hit the top of the backboard. The rebound resulted in a jump ball call and Villanova got another chance when the alternate passion arrow was in their favor. They eventually made two free throws to win it.
Ronald Ramon is not your ideal point guard and he is playing injured right now. I will probably change my mind a couple of times in the next several weeks but I think when Levance Fields gets back Keith Benjamin should start at the No. 2 guard spot with Ramon going back to the role he played a year ago of backing up both guard spots.
Five minutes into the South Florida game I told my wife Pitt would beat the Bulls. It just looked like they were unwilling or unable to pressure Pitt’s guards. The result was Pitt was able to get into its offense. I suspect the year will have its up and downs depending on the matchups at guard.
ESPN announcer Doris Burke was on target when she said don’t touch Keith Benjamin right now or you will end up with a heat blister. Benjamin is on fire in his first three starts. Benji has made 21 of 30 from the field for 70.0% and 8 for 14 from 3-point range for 57%. He obviously won’t keep this up all year but let’s hope he stays hot for a while longer to give the four freshmen a chance to gain some game experience.
This Pitt team deserves a sportive crowd Saturday afternoon at the Pete.
Pitt needs to keep scratching out wins until they get Levance Fields back. It will probably take at least 21 win including 9 in the Big East to give yourself a good shot at getting a NCAA invitation. Pitt is now ranked No. 8 in the RPI index. You need to keep this ranking in the Top 30 to feel safe.
Agnus Berenato’s looks like she has the Pitt’s women team headed in the right direction. The Lady Panthers are 12-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The Big East is the No. 1 conference in the RPI rankings on the women’s side. Pitt is ranked No. 22. If Agnus keeps winning they will move up because of the conference power ranking. She looks like she has her team headed back to the NCAA tournament. The win at DePaul was a huge step forward for the program.
In the latest USA Today rankings St Anthony’s (10-0) is No. 2 and Chester (13-1) is No. 10 in the country. St Anthony’s figures to take over the No. 1 spot because St Benedict’s, who was ranked No. 1, was upset this week by Academy of the New Church 53-50.
I have an opportunity to watch St. St. Anthony’s play a few times. Travon Woodall is a very good player. This team goes nine deep. Most games are blowouts but if the score is close Coach Bobby Hurley usually makes sure three players are on the floor. Seniors Mike Rosario (Rutgers) and Travon Woodall (Pitt) are there alongside five-star junior Dominic Cheek. Woodall is a player. He will back up Levance Fields next year and take over for him the following year. Don’t worry about whether he starts or not. This team is loaded with guards.
Pitt has also been evaluating a couple of player’s from St Raymond’s coached by Oliver Antigua. St. Raymond’s is ranked No. 8 in the country so Kevin Parrom and Omari Lawrence are players to watch. They are not at the top of the list right now but if they have big junior years they might be.
Dave Wannstedt is recruiting the state of Pennsylvania very hard on the football side. It almost looks like Jamie Dixon is following his philosophy. Pitt has landed Lamar Patterson from the Lancaster area for the class of 2009 and they are recruiting McKeesport’s Zeke Marshall. Nasir Robinson is from Chester in the Class of 2008. Already are on the roster are DeJuan Blair from Pittsburgh, Cassin Diggs from Williamsport, Brad Wanamaker from Philadelphia and Gilbert Brown from Harrisburg. Keeping the best in-state may be good idea.
Football recruiting roundup
Mike Farrell did a voice over on an AMP piece this week. He was trying to make the point that Pitt has benefitted in recruiting from their upset of West Virginia. He had talked to the three Pitt commits in San Antonio and they said it had no effect. I have to think it did have some impact on Hale and Saddler.
More importantly he said Pitt should benefit over the next eight months. They should have 6-10 recruits committed for the Class of 2009 before they play another football game. The big impact of this win has yet to be felt. I had one colleague say to me the way things are going right now there might be one of two the current Pitt commits that he would like a mulligan on but it’s too late now.
One last comment on the U.S. Army All-American game. I think Jonathan Baldwin surprised the analysts. He was listed as a tight end in part because that is what he played at Aliquippa. He finally got a chance to show them he could play wide receiver. He can make the circus catch but needs to be more consistent. He could be a big star at Pitt.
Lucas Nix got off to a slow start in the one-on-one pass protection drills but had a solid week. He did not come out of the U.S. Army All-American game until the fourth quarter. They rested him one series and sent him back in for the balance of the game. He may have played as much as any player on either side. The East had 221 yards rushing to 30 for the West and that was the difference. I hate the thought of a freshman starting on the offensive line but I would not rule Lucas out.
Pitt will host a large group of recruits this weekend. Here is a list of players scheduled to attend.
A.J. Alexander -Ath. ?Altoona
Dominick Britt QB/DB Trotwood Madison
Chris Burns RB New Wilmington (Pitt commit)
Vaughan Carraway WR/DB Muhlenberg HS
Steve Gardiner LB Dublin Coffman
Jeff Hutchison DE West Boca Raton
Lucas Nix OL Thomas Jefferson (Pitt commit)
Isaiah Pead RB/DB Columbus Eastmoor
Zach Stoudt QB Dublin Coffman QB (Pitt-soft commit)
Tino Sunseri-QB Central Catholic (Pitt commit)
Joe Trebitz-LB ?West Boca Raton
Ryan Turnley-OL-Hopewell (Pitt commit)
Dan Vaughan DE/TE Central Catholic
Justin Virbitsky ?TE- Lakeland HS
Manny Williams LB/DB Clairton (Pitt commit)
In addition to the players listed above Pitt is also recruiting QB Terrelle Pryor, DB Jarred Holley, OL Josh Jenkins who is schedule to visit next week and LB Etyen Edet who is scheduled for the following weekend. There is also LB Roosevelt Maggitt who has already visited and DB Andrew Taglianetti who still has not scheduled a visit.
Pitt already has 16 verbal commitments and they are in a scholarship crunch. Certainly they will take no more than four more.
Let’s assume for a minute Jarred Holley is near the top of the priority list. If you look at the broad list of players they are recruiting it appears they want another linebacker. It also would not surprise me if they took another tight end.
You chase Pryor to the end and you keep your fingers crossed Josh Jenkins is still on the board so he makes his visits on January 18th.
We heard a report from one coach that is recruiting Pryor that he thought these were the odds on Terrelle Pryor: Ohio State -50%, Michigan -30% and Penn State 20%. On the other hand the reporters from Michigan told Tony they thought he was theirs to lose. We also hear a rumor he may have personal issues that will keep him close to home. He is now playing basketball and will have limited time to devote to the recruiting process. The odds are small that Pitt will land him but the longer this drags out the better.
Pitt is bringing in a couple of players that view themselves as wide receivers. It does not appear to be an area of need but they just may be recruiting speed and will figure out where they play later.
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.
Rivals.com Five Star Academy
