From the desk of Jim Snyder
Some hoops talk
What a huge win for the Pitt basketball program earlier this week when Pitt upset Georgetown 69-60 Coach Dixon used an 8 man rotation and not one of those players was a starter last year.
Senior guards Keith Benjamin and Ronald Ramon both had huge games. Keith Benjamin is averaging 18 points per game in the last 5 games. Not too long ago many Pitt fans worried when he entered the lineup for fear he would try to do too much. Now he is seldom off the floor and he is making big plays at both ends. Coach Dixon indicated at the Big East teleconference yesterday that from time to time Benji has gone through these hot streaks in practice sessions.
Junior forward Tyrell Biggs is now also giving Pitt solid minutes.
Earlier this year Pitt was coming off a huge win over Duke at Madison Square Garden and they travelled to Ohio in their next game and ran into a buzz saw at Dayton.
The Panthers are coming off another huge win and once again must travel to Ohio to face a dangerous Cincinnati team. The Bearcats have struggled at times but have managed to beat Louisville, Syracuse and No. 25 Villanova so they should not be taken for granted. They also gave No. 2 Memphis and No. 20 Xavier all they could handle.
This week Rivals.com named Cincinnati’s sophomore guard Deonta Vaughn their national Player of the Week. Vaughn led Cincinnati to home upsets of Syracuse and Villanova last week, averaging 27 points and 3.5 assists. Those performances made him the Rivals.com National Player of the Week.
Pitt’s Sam Young was one of three other players nominated for their performance last week.
Pitt’s DeJuan Blair was also a runner-up for Rivals.com’s Freshman of the Week award.
Pitt’s new (old) Athletic Director Steve Pederson has a couple of important tasks ahead of him. One is to sell more tickets to football games at Heinz Field and the other is to get Jamie Dixon signed up to a new deal.
Coach Dixon has his players playing very hard and is obviously a very good teacher. You have to love his optimism when he tells the media he has told his team after the injuries, “No excuses. No limitations.”
The RPI rankings bounce up and down everyday but Pitt has a solid position in the Top 10 going into the weekend. Pitt has bounced around in the No.4-No. 6 range this week. They were No. 4 this morning. It might be best if Duke continues to win. I never thought I would be happy with another Duke win.
Agnus Berenato also has her team back in the Top 25 in the polls. Pitt is one of only seven schools to have both their men and women’s teams nationally-ranked.
The women’s team is ranked No. 16 right now in the RPI so there are in very good shape going into the weekend.
We have pinned video highlights of the Georgetown game to the top of the basketball message board in case you have missed them. Keith Benjamin’s left-handed prayer is included as well as Jay Bilas’ comments after the game. A very good highlight clip. Well worth the time.
Levance Fields has said he hopes to be back by Valentine’s Day. Perhaps February 21st might be more realistic. That would give him six games to ease back into the lineup before the Big East tournament. Pitt has a road game at Notre Dame that day.
The Rivals.com final Top 250
Rivals.com released it final Top 250 this weeks after watching players play in half dozen all-star games. There are several players of interest to Pitt fans:
No. 1 Terrelle Pryor QB Jeannette HS
No. 26 Jonathan Baldwin WR Aliquippa HS
No. 39 Lucas Nix OL Thomas Jefferson HS
No. 117 Shayne Hale LB/DE Gateway HS
No. 203 A. J. Alexander WR Altoona
No. 226 Jarred Holley DB Easton HS
No. 247 Cameron Saddler RB Gateway HS
When you consider that approximately 2,500 football players will sign Division 1 Letters of Intent this year it is a nice honor for this group.
Running back Chris Burns has a 4-star ranking which would put him in the next group of 50. Another way to look at it is that he would be in the Top 300.
Rivals.com currently has Pitt ranked No. 18 in the country. At the end of the day these rankings are influenced by the number of commitments you have. A few of the SEC schools like Auburn often sign 30 knowing full well a dozen of them will end up at Hargrave Military Academy.
The Rivals network is growing rapidly
Since Rivals.com was purchased by Yahoo! there has been dramatic growth by both parties. They may have anticipated the growth but it has surprised me. In four out of the past five months Yahoo Sports! has beaten ESPN.com in unique visitors. At least in the near term this trend will continue and the gap is getting larger each month.
The Rivals network is also seeing double digit growth. The management is very good about reinvesting back into the company which should be very good news for you going forward.
They have once again doubled their server capacity in anticipation of Letter Of Intent Day on February 6th.
Recruiting roundup
The Pitt coaching staff hosted a large group last weekend when the basketball team played Seton Hall. Coach Wannstedt should keep his fingers crossed that basketball games are played on recruiting weekends. They are a great recruiting tool.
Pitt received commitments this week from tight end Justin Virbitsky from Lakeland High School near Reading , linebacker Joe Trebitz from West Boca Raton High School in Florida, Wide receiver A.J. Alexander from Altoona and defensive back Jarred Holley from Easton, PA.
We were on the phone with LB Joe Trebitz getting his story on committing to Pitt. He asked us to hold while he took another call. I was on hold for what seemed like a long time. I was worried he had forgotten I was on hold. He came back to inform me Coach Wannstedt was calling to congratulate him on committing to Pitt. I asked him what he said and he replied, “He said will win a national championship during my four years at Pitt.” Jamie Dixon’s power of positive thinking may have rubbed off on the football coaching staff.
We have pinned a video of Jarred Holley’s press conference at the top of the Between Fifth & Forbes message board. It is well worth a watch if you want to know this young man a little better. You will see an articulate teen. He has a 4.3 GPA which may be his best stat of all and why he had 30 scholarship offers.
Pitt has a commitment from 20 players so far. It is more than we originally expected and may require some advanced math to fit them all in. It looks like they may take one more with Robert Sands from Miami Carol City High School being at the top of the list. It is still always possible Central Catholic’s Andrew Taglianetti could still be brought in as a greyshirt. We will have an article on him today.
The quarterback situation is still a little unsettled with Zack Stoudt from Dublin Coffman High School in Ohio scheduled to visit Louisville this weekend. And then there is always Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor. Pryor has the potential to influence Pitt’s recruiting in a number of ways. The last we looked neither Ohio State nor Michigan had landed a quarterback both hoping to get Pryor. If they do not get Pryor will Stoudt end up on their radar? If Pitt does not get him it is best that he goes to Ohio State.
Coach Paul Rhoads
Reporters from Auburn called us this week to ask us about Paul Rhoads and we told him right now he is a hero because the Pitt defense shutdown West Virginia but just wait until the next loss and he will be right back in the doghouse of some Pitt alums. They initially reported that he was only making $180,000 at Pitt but a reliable source tells me it was much more than the figure reported. Not sure of the amount but it may be as much as a $100,000 shy of reality.
There have been some reports of divisiveness on the Pitt staff. The pressure of not going to a bowl the past three years may have frayed nerves. Paul Rhoads is a holdover from the old Walt Harris staff. While I think Paul was unfairly blamed at times it may not all bad that he moved on despite the fact that he is a solid coach and well respected by many knowledgeable people.
Coach Wannstedt has developed a reputation for recruiting players. Now he must recruit coaches. He still has an opening to fill as offensive line coach to replace Paul Dunn and now an opening for a defensive coordinator.
It appears Pitt will hire offensive line coach Tony Weis who has a long history with Coach Wannstedt. Weis was a visitor to Pitt’s spring camp early last year.
If Pitt stays internally there is no doubt that the defensive coordinator’s job would go to Greg Gattuso.
Chris Peak has an article on replacement candidates on the Pantherlair Home Page. Please check it out.
Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley may be tired of waiting for Joe Pa. He is a very good defensive coordinator and recruiter. He would be a good pick for Pitt but I suspect this would be too complicated to put together.
Sal Sunseri was in Pittsburgh this week for Georgetown basketball game. He had a reputation as a great recruiter when he was in the college ranks. The same can be said of Teryl Austin. One wit remarked if you go after Sunseri you better make sure Zack Stoudt has signed a Letter of Intent first.
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.
Some hoops talk
What a huge win for the Pitt basketball program earlier this week when Pitt upset Georgetown 69-60 Coach Dixon used an 8 man rotation and not one of those players was a starter last year.
Senior guards Keith Benjamin and Ronald Ramon both had huge games. Keith Benjamin is averaging 18 points per game in the last 5 games. Not too long ago many Pitt fans worried when he entered the lineup for fear he would try to do too much. Now he is seldom off the floor and he is making big plays at both ends. Coach Dixon indicated at the Big East teleconference yesterday that from time to time Benji has gone through these hot streaks in practice sessions.
Junior forward Tyrell Biggs is now also giving Pitt solid minutes.
Earlier this year Pitt was coming off a huge win over Duke at Madison Square Garden and they travelled to Ohio in their next game and ran into a buzz saw at Dayton.
The Panthers are coming off another huge win and once again must travel to Ohio to face a dangerous Cincinnati team. The Bearcats have struggled at times but have managed to beat Louisville, Syracuse and No. 25 Villanova so they should not be taken for granted. They also gave No. 2 Memphis and No. 20 Xavier all they could handle.
This week Rivals.com named Cincinnati’s sophomore guard Deonta Vaughn their national Player of the Week. Vaughn led Cincinnati to home upsets of Syracuse and Villanova last week, averaging 27 points and 3.5 assists. Those performances made him the Rivals.com National Player of the Week.
Pitt’s Sam Young was one of three other players nominated for their performance last week.
Pitt’s DeJuan Blair was also a runner-up for Rivals.com’s Freshman of the Week award.
Pitt’s new (old) Athletic Director Steve Pederson has a couple of important tasks ahead of him. One is to sell more tickets to football games at Heinz Field and the other is to get Jamie Dixon signed up to a new deal.
Coach Dixon has his players playing very hard and is obviously a very good teacher. You have to love his optimism when he tells the media he has told his team after the injuries, “No excuses. No limitations.”
The RPI rankings bounce up and down everyday but Pitt has a solid position in the Top 10 going into the weekend. Pitt has bounced around in the No.4-No. 6 range this week. They were No. 4 this morning. It might be best if Duke continues to win. I never thought I would be happy with another Duke win.
Agnus Berenato also has her team back in the Top 25 in the polls. Pitt is one of only seven schools to have both their men and women’s teams nationally-ranked.
The women’s team is ranked No. 16 right now in the RPI so there are in very good shape going into the weekend.
We have pinned video highlights of the Georgetown game to the top of the basketball message board in case you have missed them. Keith Benjamin’s left-handed prayer is included as well as Jay Bilas’ comments after the game. A very good highlight clip. Well worth the time.
Levance Fields has said he hopes to be back by Valentine’s Day. Perhaps February 21st might be more realistic. That would give him six games to ease back into the lineup before the Big East tournament. Pitt has a road game at Notre Dame that day.
The Rivals.com final Top 250
Rivals.com released it final Top 250 this weeks after watching players play in half dozen all-star games. There are several players of interest to Pitt fans:
No. 1 Terrelle Pryor QB Jeannette HS
No. 26 Jonathan Baldwin WR Aliquippa HS
No. 39 Lucas Nix OL Thomas Jefferson HS
No. 117 Shayne Hale LB/DE Gateway HS
No. 203 A. J. Alexander WR Altoona
No. 226 Jarred Holley DB Easton HS
No. 247 Cameron Saddler RB Gateway HS
When you consider that approximately 2,500 football players will sign Division 1 Letters of Intent this year it is a nice honor for this group.
Running back Chris Burns has a 4-star ranking which would put him in the next group of 50. Another way to look at it is that he would be in the Top 300.
Rivals.com currently has Pitt ranked No. 18 in the country. At the end of the day these rankings are influenced by the number of commitments you have. A few of the SEC schools like Auburn often sign 30 knowing full well a dozen of them will end up at Hargrave Military Academy.
The Rivals network is growing rapidly
Since Rivals.com was purchased by Yahoo! there has been dramatic growth by both parties. They may have anticipated the growth but it has surprised me. In four out of the past five months Yahoo Sports! has beaten ESPN.com in unique visitors. At least in the near term this trend will continue and the gap is getting larger each month.
The Rivals network is also seeing double digit growth. The management is very good about reinvesting back into the company which should be very good news for you going forward.
They have once again doubled their server capacity in anticipation of Letter Of Intent Day on February 6th.
Recruiting roundup
The Pitt coaching staff hosted a large group last weekend when the basketball team played Seton Hall. Coach Wannstedt should keep his fingers crossed that basketball games are played on recruiting weekends. They are a great recruiting tool.
Pitt received commitments this week from tight end Justin Virbitsky from Lakeland High School near Reading , linebacker Joe Trebitz from West Boca Raton High School in Florida, Wide receiver A.J. Alexander from Altoona and defensive back Jarred Holley from Easton, PA.
We were on the phone with LB Joe Trebitz getting his story on committing to Pitt. He asked us to hold while he took another call. I was on hold for what seemed like a long time. I was worried he had forgotten I was on hold. He came back to inform me Coach Wannstedt was calling to congratulate him on committing to Pitt. I asked him what he said and he replied, “He said will win a national championship during my four years at Pitt.” Jamie Dixon’s power of positive thinking may have rubbed off on the football coaching staff.
We have pinned a video of Jarred Holley’s press conference at the top of the Between Fifth & Forbes message board. It is well worth a watch if you want to know this young man a little better. You will see an articulate teen. He has a 4.3 GPA which may be his best stat of all and why he had 30 scholarship offers.
Pitt has a commitment from 20 players so far. It is more than we originally expected and may require some advanced math to fit them all in. It looks like they may take one more with Robert Sands from Miami Carol City High School being at the top of the list. It is still always possible Central Catholic’s Andrew Taglianetti could still be brought in as a greyshirt. We will have an article on him today.
The quarterback situation is still a little unsettled with Zack Stoudt from Dublin Coffman High School in Ohio scheduled to visit Louisville this weekend. And then there is always Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor. Pryor has the potential to influence Pitt’s recruiting in a number of ways. The last we looked neither Ohio State nor Michigan had landed a quarterback both hoping to get Pryor. If they do not get Pryor will Stoudt end up on their radar? If Pitt does not get him it is best that he goes to Ohio State.
Coach Paul Rhoads
Reporters from Auburn called us this week to ask us about Paul Rhoads and we told him right now he is a hero because the Pitt defense shutdown West Virginia but just wait until the next loss and he will be right back in the doghouse of some Pitt alums. They initially reported that he was only making $180,000 at Pitt but a reliable source tells me it was much more than the figure reported. Not sure of the amount but it may be as much as a $100,000 shy of reality.
There have been some reports of divisiveness on the Pitt staff. The pressure of not going to a bowl the past three years may have frayed nerves. Paul Rhoads is a holdover from the old Walt Harris staff. While I think Paul was unfairly blamed at times it may not all bad that he moved on despite the fact that he is a solid coach and well respected by many knowledgeable people.
Coach Wannstedt has developed a reputation for recruiting players. Now he must recruit coaches. He still has an opening to fill as offensive line coach to replace Paul Dunn and now an opening for a defensive coordinator.
It appears Pitt will hire offensive line coach Tony Weis who has a long history with Coach Wannstedt. Weis was a visitor to Pitt’s spring camp early last year.
If Pitt stays internally there is no doubt that the defensive coordinator’s job would go to Greg Gattuso.
Chris Peak has an article on replacement candidates on the Pantherlair Home Page. Please check it out.
Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley may be tired of waiting for Joe Pa. He is a very good defensive coordinator and recruiter. He would be a good pick for Pitt but I suspect this would be too complicated to put together.
Sal Sunseri was in Pittsburgh this week for Georgetown basketball game. He had a reputation as a great recruiter when he was in the college ranks. The same can be said of Teryl Austin. One wit remarked if you go after Sunseri you better make sure Zack Stoudt has signed a Letter of Intent first.
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.
