From the desk of Jim Snyder
The Bowl Pick’em winners
The top three finishers in the Bowl Pick’em contest are all currently subscribers. They will have their subscriptions extended by three (3) months. These were not easy picks with Boise Sate upsetting Oklahoma and Florida hammering The Ohio State University.
The top three finishers were:
Tommy Smiles
Dueceman
MtLeboPanther
It looks like Tommy Smiles finished No. 27 in the country. All three of the above were in the top 100 nationally. My guess is well over 10,000 played this game so a great finish for all three. Congratulations to each of them.
MyFanPage
There is now a link to MyFanPage at the top left hand side of the Pantherlair and on the message boards near “Who’s on line”. It concept similar to My Space.com. Set up a buddies list. It will help you to follow the posts of your favorite posters.
Navigation hints
If you go to the Resources link just above the blue border on any message board it will give you hints on how to do a number of nifty things. One of our suggestions is to change your password to something easy for you to remember.
Wireless alerts
Rivals.com will charge $29.95 for 6 months of Wireless Alerts. If you signed up initially but do not want to continue you might want to send an e-mail. In theory it is not necessary but you might want something in writing.
All you have to do is e-mail textalerts@rivals.com.
Athletic Directors that serve an “atta boy”
They say that every great athletic director has a list of a half dozen names in his desk of football and basketball coaches that he will call if he needs to replace his own.
Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich gets the Pantherlair’s award for Big East Athletic Director of the Year. Jurich replaced Bobby Patrino within 48 hours with Tulsa football coach Steve Kragthorpe. He also broke ground on a new basketball arena last month and announced plans for a major expansion of the football stadium. Quick work by Jurich deserves to be recognized.
The national award has to go to Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley. The Florida Gators win the national championship in both football and basketball this year dispelling the myth that you can not be good in both sports. He also lands Urban Myers a couple of years ago from Utah before Notre Dame could grab him.
A forecast for the spring
We had a strand on the message board speculating about what position Dorin Dickerson will play going forward. It is our understanding that he will be give a very long look at running back this spring to see if that is where he will play going forward. It should add some interest to this springs football practices.
It is too bad about McKenzie Mathews leaving school. Rivals.com had him ranked as a 3-star prospect but he never really seemed cut out for Division 1A football from the moment fall camp started. Maybe a smaller school would be more appropriate.
Pitt redshirted two defensive ends in Greg Romeus and Tyler Tkach. Both looked good despite the limited number of reps. It would not surprise us if one or maybe both of them played their way on to the two-deep chart this fall. Neither player was highly-rated and both were pleasant surprises when they showed up on campus.
Pitt hosts GameDay at the Pete on Saturday
ESPN GameDay activities will begin at 11:00 am with the live television show originating from the Petersen Events Center floor. Admission is free an open to the public.
Hosts of the ESPN show include Rece Davis, Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Hebert Davis, Dick Vitale and Andy Katz. Segments will include interviews with Coach Dixon and Aaron Gray.
Doors will open at 9:30 am. Please join the Pitt Pep Band, Pitt Cheerleaders and Dance team and the Panther mascot.
Following the ESPN GameDay broadcast the Pitt women’s team will host St.John’s. Admission is only $1. Pitt is now 13-2 after beating nationally ranked Marquette at home this week.
Saturday night the Pitt’s men team will host Georgetown. The Hoyas are now 11-4. The game will be telecast at 9:00 pm on ESPN.
Any win on the road is a good win. It is very big if it is a conference game. Pitt was a one point favorite going into the DePaul game and controlled the game nicely throughout. DePaul has been up and down by they have the talent to beat anyone. Just ask Kansas.
Pitt really has a chance to get on a run now with three in a row at home followed by Cincinnati and St John’s. Georgetown, Connecticut and Marquette all have talent. Anyone of the three is capable of putting a big game together. Let’s hope the home crowd at the Pete gets into these games and gives the Panthers a true home court advantage.
Home many will Pitt take in the Class of 2007?
One of our posters indicated a staffer told him in a supermarket Pitt could take 25+2. You never know where you will pickup a good rumor. This number is always a moving target. It is this year and it will be every year. This “plus two” indicates Pitt must still account for punter Dave Brytus and grayshirt Justin Hargrove at some point. We will let the Pitt staff worry about which players get charged to which recruiting class. At the end of the day the 85-man scholarship rule is the bigger problem. If Pitt signs 25 players it is always possible that a couple might not qualify right away. It may also mean you eventually have to grayshirt a player or two. Some of the decisions might not play themselves out until next summer.
The recruiting Class of 2008
Coach Wannstedt has shown a pattern of having a couple of early commits. As you are aware Johnstown’s Awtuan Reed (5’ 9” 170) has already committed. We expect a couple of more in February after Letter of Intent Day. This week we reported on Bishop McCort Mike Cruz (6’ 4’ 255). We look for him to commit and probably Lucas Nix from Thomas Jefferson.
This past week we reported that junior Averin Collier is expected to make an unofficial visit to Pitt this weekend. We do not think you will see can early commitment on this one but it will probably get down to Pitt and Syracuse as was the case with his older brother Kevin Collier.
Honors pile up for Pitt commits
The Pennsylvania Football News released their all-state teams this week. Most of the in-state Pitt commits were recognized.
Quarterback Pat Bostick, offensive guard Greg Gaskins and offensive tackle Dan Matha were first team all-state in AAAA. Offensive lineman Jordan Gibbs was a third team AAAA selection.
Offensive guard Chris Jacobson, safety Dom DeCicco, defensive lineman Myles Caragein and defensive back Maurice Williams were all first team AAA all-state selections.
Linebacker Brandon Lindsey was a second team Class AA all-state section.
Henry Hynoski was first team Class A all-state selection.
Recruiting recap
Last weekend Rochester’s Derek Moye visited Pitt. Moye projects as a wide receiver. This is not an area of great need. Derek Kinder will be a senior next fall but the other wideouts have multiple years of eligibilty left. Marcel Pestano will be a junior. Cedric McGee, Tamarcus Porter and Oderick Turner will only be sophomores. Gateway’s Aaron Smith will be a redshirt freshman. In addition Pitt has commitments from Aundre Wright and Moe Williams. We thought Moye was a Penn State lean prior to visiting Pitt and still do but we would take him. Moye is a four-sport standout who needs a couple of years in the weightroom but has big play potential if you are patient. He is 6 feet 5 inches tall and is the WPIAL 100 meters champion. Guys with these stats don’t grow on trees. Moye will decide between Pitt and Penn State.
A half dozen players that have already committed to Pitt will make their official visits this weekend. The Pitt commits scheduled to visit are.
Dom DeCicco - Thomas Jefferson
John Fieger - Upper Perkiomen
Greg Gaskins - Penn Manor
Max Gruder – Charlotte, NC
Henry Hynoski –Southern Columbia
Aundre Wright-Milford Military (Perry)
Three players that have committed to other schools in their past are also scheduled to visit Pittsburgh.
LeSean McCoy Milford Academy (Miami)
Brandon Walker-Findlay, Ohio (Louisville)
Sherod Murdock-Tampa, Fl (Alabama)
Sherod’s brother O.J. Sherod was a Rivals 100 selection in the Class of 2006 and committed to South Carolina. He ran into off the field legal problems was suspended by Steve Spurrier. The last I heard he was still in school and participating in track.
Sherod attended the Alabama summer camp which led to an offer from the Crimson Tide which he accepted. While he was there at the summer camp he met Alabama defensive back coach Chris Ball who has recently interviewed with Pitt for an opening on the Pitt staff. It is our understanding that Pitt has interviewed 3-4 coaching prospects including Coach Ball. No word on any hire yet but we think the Post-Gazette has it right today. On the assumption they do hire Coach Ball we then expect them to promote grad assistant Brian Angelichio to tight ends coach. He was once the offensive coordinator at Ithaca College.
Sherod Murdock and Brandon Walker indicated that were in good shape academically when we interviewed them.
Hopefully you saw the article on Tyson Butler. He visited Central Florida after visiting Pitt. Butler says he still has some work to do before qualifying. There was also an article on offensive tackle Branden Curry. Curry will visit Marshall this weekend. It would not surprise me if he also has work to do in the classroom.
We spoke to Bryan Williams yesterday. He is just finishing up on his winter break. He leaves for Valley Forge on Monday. He said he is still on track to visit Pitt next weekend. Mike Farrell followed up with an interview yesterday. If you missed it yesterday please see the Ticker. Bryan may be getting closer to becoming a Panther.
Mike Farrell also had an article on defensive end Anthony Rhoads. If Chris Drager remains committed to Virginia Tech he could be the back up plan. See the Ticker if you missed the article yesterday afternoon.
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.
The Bowl Pick’em winners
The top three finishers in the Bowl Pick’em contest are all currently subscribers. They will have their subscriptions extended by three (3) months. These were not easy picks with Boise Sate upsetting Oklahoma and Florida hammering The Ohio State University.
The top three finishers were:
Tommy Smiles
Dueceman
MtLeboPanther
It looks like Tommy Smiles finished No. 27 in the country. All three of the above were in the top 100 nationally. My guess is well over 10,000 played this game so a great finish for all three. Congratulations to each of them.
MyFanPage
There is now a link to MyFanPage at the top left hand side of the Pantherlair and on the message boards near “Who’s on line”. It concept similar to My Space.com. Set up a buddies list. It will help you to follow the posts of your favorite posters.
Navigation hints
If you go to the Resources link just above the blue border on any message board it will give you hints on how to do a number of nifty things. One of our suggestions is to change your password to something easy for you to remember.
Wireless alerts
Rivals.com will charge $29.95 for 6 months of Wireless Alerts. If you signed up initially but do not want to continue you might want to send an e-mail. In theory it is not necessary but you might want something in writing.
All you have to do is e-mail textalerts@rivals.com.
Athletic Directors that serve an “atta boy”
They say that every great athletic director has a list of a half dozen names in his desk of football and basketball coaches that he will call if he needs to replace his own.
Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich gets the Pantherlair’s award for Big East Athletic Director of the Year. Jurich replaced Bobby Patrino within 48 hours with Tulsa football coach Steve Kragthorpe. He also broke ground on a new basketball arena last month and announced plans for a major expansion of the football stadium. Quick work by Jurich deserves to be recognized.
The national award has to go to Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley. The Florida Gators win the national championship in both football and basketball this year dispelling the myth that you can not be good in both sports. He also lands Urban Myers a couple of years ago from Utah before Notre Dame could grab him.
A forecast for the spring
We had a strand on the message board speculating about what position Dorin Dickerson will play going forward. It is our understanding that he will be give a very long look at running back this spring to see if that is where he will play going forward. It should add some interest to this springs football practices.
It is too bad about McKenzie Mathews leaving school. Rivals.com had him ranked as a 3-star prospect but he never really seemed cut out for Division 1A football from the moment fall camp started. Maybe a smaller school would be more appropriate.
Pitt redshirted two defensive ends in Greg Romeus and Tyler Tkach. Both looked good despite the limited number of reps. It would not surprise us if one or maybe both of them played their way on to the two-deep chart this fall. Neither player was highly-rated and both were pleasant surprises when they showed up on campus.
Pitt hosts GameDay at the Pete on Saturday
ESPN GameDay activities will begin at 11:00 am with the live television show originating from the Petersen Events Center floor. Admission is free an open to the public.
Hosts of the ESPN show include Rece Davis, Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Hebert Davis, Dick Vitale and Andy Katz. Segments will include interviews with Coach Dixon and Aaron Gray.
Doors will open at 9:30 am. Please join the Pitt Pep Band, Pitt Cheerleaders and Dance team and the Panther mascot.
Following the ESPN GameDay broadcast the Pitt women’s team will host St.John’s. Admission is only $1. Pitt is now 13-2 after beating nationally ranked Marquette at home this week.
Saturday night the Pitt’s men team will host Georgetown. The Hoyas are now 11-4. The game will be telecast at 9:00 pm on ESPN.
Any win on the road is a good win. It is very big if it is a conference game. Pitt was a one point favorite going into the DePaul game and controlled the game nicely throughout. DePaul has been up and down by they have the talent to beat anyone. Just ask Kansas.
Pitt really has a chance to get on a run now with three in a row at home followed by Cincinnati and St John’s. Georgetown, Connecticut and Marquette all have talent. Anyone of the three is capable of putting a big game together. Let’s hope the home crowd at the Pete gets into these games and gives the Panthers a true home court advantage.
Home many will Pitt take in the Class of 2007?
One of our posters indicated a staffer told him in a supermarket Pitt could take 25+2. You never know where you will pickup a good rumor. This number is always a moving target. It is this year and it will be every year. This “plus two” indicates Pitt must still account for punter Dave Brytus and grayshirt Justin Hargrove at some point. We will let the Pitt staff worry about which players get charged to which recruiting class. At the end of the day the 85-man scholarship rule is the bigger problem. If Pitt signs 25 players it is always possible that a couple might not qualify right away. It may also mean you eventually have to grayshirt a player or two. Some of the decisions might not play themselves out until next summer.
The recruiting Class of 2008
Coach Wannstedt has shown a pattern of having a couple of early commits. As you are aware Johnstown’s Awtuan Reed (5’ 9” 170) has already committed. We expect a couple of more in February after Letter of Intent Day. This week we reported on Bishop McCort Mike Cruz (6’ 4’ 255). We look for him to commit and probably Lucas Nix from Thomas Jefferson.
This past week we reported that junior Averin Collier is expected to make an unofficial visit to Pitt this weekend. We do not think you will see can early commitment on this one but it will probably get down to Pitt and Syracuse as was the case with his older brother Kevin Collier.
Honors pile up for Pitt commits
The Pennsylvania Football News released their all-state teams this week. Most of the in-state Pitt commits were recognized.
Quarterback Pat Bostick, offensive guard Greg Gaskins and offensive tackle Dan Matha were first team all-state in AAAA. Offensive lineman Jordan Gibbs was a third team AAAA selection.
Offensive guard Chris Jacobson, safety Dom DeCicco, defensive lineman Myles Caragein and defensive back Maurice Williams were all first team AAA all-state selections.
Linebacker Brandon Lindsey was a second team Class AA all-state section.
Henry Hynoski was first team Class A all-state selection.
Recruiting recap
Last weekend Rochester’s Derek Moye visited Pitt. Moye projects as a wide receiver. This is not an area of great need. Derek Kinder will be a senior next fall but the other wideouts have multiple years of eligibilty left. Marcel Pestano will be a junior. Cedric McGee, Tamarcus Porter and Oderick Turner will only be sophomores. Gateway’s Aaron Smith will be a redshirt freshman. In addition Pitt has commitments from Aundre Wright and Moe Williams. We thought Moye was a Penn State lean prior to visiting Pitt and still do but we would take him. Moye is a four-sport standout who needs a couple of years in the weightroom but has big play potential if you are patient. He is 6 feet 5 inches tall and is the WPIAL 100 meters champion. Guys with these stats don’t grow on trees. Moye will decide between Pitt and Penn State.
A half dozen players that have already committed to Pitt will make their official visits this weekend. The Pitt commits scheduled to visit are.
Dom DeCicco - Thomas Jefferson
John Fieger - Upper Perkiomen
Greg Gaskins - Penn Manor
Max Gruder – Charlotte, NC
Henry Hynoski –Southern Columbia
Aundre Wright-Milford Military (Perry)
Three players that have committed to other schools in their past are also scheduled to visit Pittsburgh.
LeSean McCoy Milford Academy (Miami)
Brandon Walker-Findlay, Ohio (Louisville)
Sherod Murdock-Tampa, Fl (Alabama)
Sherod’s brother O.J. Sherod was a Rivals 100 selection in the Class of 2006 and committed to South Carolina. He ran into off the field legal problems was suspended by Steve Spurrier. The last I heard he was still in school and participating in track.
Sherod attended the Alabama summer camp which led to an offer from the Crimson Tide which he accepted. While he was there at the summer camp he met Alabama defensive back coach Chris Ball who has recently interviewed with Pitt for an opening on the Pitt staff. It is our understanding that Pitt has interviewed 3-4 coaching prospects including Coach Ball. No word on any hire yet but we think the Post-Gazette has it right today. On the assumption they do hire Coach Ball we then expect them to promote grad assistant Brian Angelichio to tight ends coach. He was once the offensive coordinator at Ithaca College.
Sherod Murdock and Brandon Walker indicated that were in good shape academically when we interviewed them.
Hopefully you saw the article on Tyson Butler. He visited Central Florida after visiting Pitt. Butler says he still has some work to do before qualifying. There was also an article on offensive tackle Branden Curry. Curry will visit Marshall this weekend. It would not surprise me if he also has work to do in the classroom.
We spoke to Bryan Williams yesterday. He is just finishing up on his winter break. He leaves for Valley Forge on Monday. He said he is still on track to visit Pitt next weekend. Mike Farrell followed up with an interview yesterday. If you missed it yesterday please see the Ticker. Bryan may be getting closer to becoming a Panther.
Mike Farrell also had an article on defensive end Anthony Rhoads. If Chris Drager remains committed to Virginia Tech he could be the back up plan. See the Ticker if you missed the article yesterday afternoon.
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.
