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From the Desk of Jim Snyder
A little on football recruiting
A “birdie” flew by to say that he had been talking to an uncle of Sean Lee from Upper St Clair. He has recently picked up an offer from Indiana and Sean now has five offers. He told the “birdie” that he was not optimistic about Pitt offering because the Pitt staff has a limited number of scholarships available and might think that safety is not position that requires the most attention. Sean’s brother Connor Lee is a walk-on kicker at Pitt.
I personally will be surprised if Pitt offers a quarterback this year. Tyler Palko and Luke Getsy have three years of eligibility left. Redshirt freshman Joe Flacco and true freshman Darrell Strong both have four years of eligibility left. This simply does not look like an area of need for a program operating with a limited number of scholarships. Pitt may continue to kick tires in case one of the four becomes dissatisfied but I think the staff would be slow to actually offer.
We spoke to Coach Frank Hepler from Plantation High School in Florida. As reported earlier Pitt has offered defensive tackle Jeff Owens (6’ 2” 263) and wide receiver Cedrick McGee (6’ 1” 175) Coach Hepler said he thinks Pitt has now offered cornerback Dennis Campbell (5’9” 170). He said Dennis also now has offers from Auburn and South Florida. We will try and talk to Dennis in the next week or so.
Coach Hepler indicated that five other players from Plantation are planning on making the trip to Pittsburgh for the Panthers summer camp. Coach Hepler indicated that a linebacker by the name of Dominique Gilner was the highest rated of this group.
Let’s shore up the offense
Pitt will move Charles Spencer (6’ 5” 320) to the offensive line during the fall camp in August. He will be looked at left guard and right tackle. We would be surprised if he did not start at one or the two positions. Quite frankly he has the size to be your right tackle.
A “birdie” also stopped by to say Vernon Botts (6’ 4” 255) was being moved to the offensive side of the ball. Earlier this week we suggested that Kyle Smith might be moved to tight end. It could be Vernon Botts. He was a tight end in high school and caught 6 touchdown passes his senior year.
It is our understanding that the type of surgery WR Terrell Allen had normally takes about six months to heal. The only good news in this story is that he has a redshirt year available to him.
A quick look at the basketball schedule
Last year Pitt was fortunate to have Alabama, Georgia and Florida State on their schedule. None of them figure to be back. We were encouraged to hear that Pitt has been negotiating with South Carolina for a home and home series.
Coach Dixon is apparently not anxious to put together a demanding non-conference scheduling figuring the conference schedule is tough enough. In addition it is often not easy to get schools to play you on your floor. We were speaking to one of our contacts that said Pitt tried to schedule a home and away series with a Big Ten school. The Athletic Director liked the idea but said he had to run it by his coach. The coach turned the deal down saying he was not interested in playing Pitt at the “Pete” even if he got a return visit.
Unless the networks step in, it will tough getting big name schools scheduled. If the opposing coach does not turn the deal down you have a good chance Coach Dixon will veto it unless it is a made for TV game. Pitt has to find a way to do some deals with schools ranked 100-200 and try and limit these games with teams ranked above 200. They hurt your RPI rating and the NCAA holds then against you when the seed teams. Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette and DePaul will be joining the Big East Conference next fall so we expect Coach Dixon to move slowly in upgrading the non-conference schedule.
From the Desk of Chris Dokish
The elite are going elsewhere
Last year, the Panthers’ recruiting class started strong and then for various reasons (mostly the Big East situation) it went south at the end. This year, while Pitt will still have a lot of chances for good players, the initial targets of the “elite” variety seem to be falling away from Pitt earlier than usual.
Top targets Eugene Monroe, Michael Ray Garvin, Brian Cushing, Justin King, Vladimir Richard, Andre Mathis, Anthony Wiseman, and Tom McAndrew have all either virtually eliminated the Panthers or have committed elsewhere. While others like Kalvin Bailey, DeSean Jackson, Jesse Hester, David Harvey, Mike Moore, David Nelson, Kitt Pommells, James Dray, Doug Worthington, Jeffrey Owens, B.J. Travers, Rico McCoy, Rahkeem Smith, Greg Boone, Queito Teasley, and Ray Herring look to be long shots at best.
Nyan Boateng, once considered a near get is now looking more like a hard get. The Panthers are involved with top Ohio prospects Brian Hartline, Curtis Smith, Javon Ringer, Antwon Hight, and Brandon Harrison but all prefer Ohio State offers instead. Inexplicably, some stars that have an interest in Pitt haven’t been offered yet, such as Melvin Alaeze, Marques Slocum, Bill Stull, Sean Lee, Jarmal Ruffin, and Kyle Newell. More worrisome is that local prospects like Shane Brooks, John Pelusi, Ernest Williams, and Jason Kacinko are far from being Panthers. Brooks doesn’t include Pitt in his favorites, Williams seems to be looking outside of the area, Kacinko’s offers are starting to pile up, and Pelusi, a legacy, is being recruited harder by UConn than by Pitt. All of this bad momentum could change, however, with an excellent season on the field. The test is there for Coach Walt Harris and his staff to get back in good graces with the college elite.
The elite are Pitt's future
On the bright side, Panther basketball recruiting fans should have a fun summer. Look for at least four, if not more, verbals this summer. The Panther staff is scouring the country looking for the best players they can. They can’t afford sleepers in this class as they will be expected to play, and produce, very early. At the guards, the main targets initially appear to be Lavance Fields, Noel Wilmore, Jesse Sapp, and Ricky Torres. Swingmen targets include former Pittsburgh native Trey Hampton, Nathan Skinner, Saiqoun Stone, and recently Chad Millard. Millard, a New Hampshire native is a 6’8” SF that is considered one of the top 20 players in the class. Keep in mind that the Panthers also are one of the leaders for Class of 2006 superstar Paul Harris, a player that displays Jaron Brown toughness, but is also a big time scorer. The big men that the Panthers are courting include West Newton native Ben McCauley, Antonio Pena, Ryan Reid, Ryan Wright, Tyrell Biggs, Vernon Goodridge, and Mike Davis.
Of these 15 rising seniors, Torres, McCauley, Pena, Wright, Biggs, and Davis have Pitt offers with Davis already verballing. Fields and Goodridge may also have offers. Harris has an offer for the Class of 2006.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
This post was edited by TNPanther on 6/11 9:54 AM
From the Desk of Jim Snyder
A little on football recruiting
A “birdie” flew by to say that he had been talking to an uncle of Sean Lee from Upper St Clair. He has recently picked up an offer from Indiana and Sean now has five offers. He told the “birdie” that he was not optimistic about Pitt offering because the Pitt staff has a limited number of scholarships available and might think that safety is not position that requires the most attention. Sean’s brother Connor Lee is a walk-on kicker at Pitt.
I personally will be surprised if Pitt offers a quarterback this year. Tyler Palko and Luke Getsy have three years of eligibility left. Redshirt freshman Joe Flacco and true freshman Darrell Strong both have four years of eligibility left. This simply does not look like an area of need for a program operating with a limited number of scholarships. Pitt may continue to kick tires in case one of the four becomes dissatisfied but I think the staff would be slow to actually offer.
We spoke to Coach Frank Hepler from Plantation High School in Florida. As reported earlier Pitt has offered defensive tackle Jeff Owens (6’ 2” 263) and wide receiver Cedrick McGee (6’ 1” 175) Coach Hepler said he thinks Pitt has now offered cornerback Dennis Campbell (5’9” 170). He said Dennis also now has offers from Auburn and South Florida. We will try and talk to Dennis in the next week or so.
Coach Hepler indicated that five other players from Plantation are planning on making the trip to Pittsburgh for the Panthers summer camp. Coach Hepler indicated that a linebacker by the name of Dominique Gilner was the highest rated of this group.
Let’s shore up the offense
Pitt will move Charles Spencer (6’ 5” 320) to the offensive line during the fall camp in August. He will be looked at left guard and right tackle. We would be surprised if he did not start at one or the two positions. Quite frankly he has the size to be your right tackle.
A “birdie” also stopped by to say Vernon Botts (6’ 4” 255) was being moved to the offensive side of the ball. Earlier this week we suggested that Kyle Smith might be moved to tight end. It could be Vernon Botts. He was a tight end in high school and caught 6 touchdown passes his senior year.
It is our understanding that the type of surgery WR Terrell Allen had normally takes about six months to heal. The only good news in this story is that he has a redshirt year available to him.
A quick look at the basketball schedule
Last year Pitt was fortunate to have Alabama, Georgia and Florida State on their schedule. None of them figure to be back. We were encouraged to hear that Pitt has been negotiating with South Carolina for a home and home series.
Coach Dixon is apparently not anxious to put together a demanding non-conference scheduling figuring the conference schedule is tough enough. In addition it is often not easy to get schools to play you on your floor. We were speaking to one of our contacts that said Pitt tried to schedule a home and away series with a Big Ten school. The Athletic Director liked the idea but said he had to run it by his coach. The coach turned the deal down saying he was not interested in playing Pitt at the “Pete” even if he got a return visit.
Unless the networks step in, it will tough getting big name schools scheduled. If the opposing coach does not turn the deal down you have a good chance Coach Dixon will veto it unless it is a made for TV game. Pitt has to find a way to do some deals with schools ranked 100-200 and try and limit these games with teams ranked above 200. They hurt your RPI rating and the NCAA holds then against you when the seed teams. Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette and DePaul will be joining the Big East Conference next fall so we expect Coach Dixon to move slowly in upgrading the non-conference schedule.
From the Desk of Chris Dokish
The elite are going elsewhere
Last year, the Panthers’ recruiting class started strong and then for various reasons (mostly the Big East situation) it went south at the end. This year, while Pitt will still have a lot of chances for good players, the initial targets of the “elite” variety seem to be falling away from Pitt earlier than usual.
Top targets Eugene Monroe, Michael Ray Garvin, Brian Cushing, Justin King, Vladimir Richard, Andre Mathis, Anthony Wiseman, and Tom McAndrew have all either virtually eliminated the Panthers or have committed elsewhere. While others like Kalvin Bailey, DeSean Jackson, Jesse Hester, David Harvey, Mike Moore, David Nelson, Kitt Pommells, James Dray, Doug Worthington, Jeffrey Owens, B.J. Travers, Rico McCoy, Rahkeem Smith, Greg Boone, Queito Teasley, and Ray Herring look to be long shots at best.
Nyan Boateng, once considered a near get is now looking more like a hard get. The Panthers are involved with top Ohio prospects Brian Hartline, Curtis Smith, Javon Ringer, Antwon Hight, and Brandon Harrison but all prefer Ohio State offers instead. Inexplicably, some stars that have an interest in Pitt haven’t been offered yet, such as Melvin Alaeze, Marques Slocum, Bill Stull, Sean Lee, Jarmal Ruffin, and Kyle Newell. More worrisome is that local prospects like Shane Brooks, John Pelusi, Ernest Williams, and Jason Kacinko are far from being Panthers. Brooks doesn’t include Pitt in his favorites, Williams seems to be looking outside of the area, Kacinko’s offers are starting to pile up, and Pelusi, a legacy, is being recruited harder by UConn than by Pitt. All of this bad momentum could change, however, with an excellent season on the field. The test is there for Coach Walt Harris and his staff to get back in good graces with the college elite.
The elite are Pitt's future
On the bright side, Panther basketball recruiting fans should have a fun summer. Look for at least four, if not more, verbals this summer. The Panther staff is scouring the country looking for the best players they can. They can’t afford sleepers in this class as they will be expected to play, and produce, very early. At the guards, the main targets initially appear to be Lavance Fields, Noel Wilmore, Jesse Sapp, and Ricky Torres. Swingmen targets include former Pittsburgh native Trey Hampton, Nathan Skinner, Saiqoun Stone, and recently Chad Millard. Millard, a New Hampshire native is a 6’8” SF that is considered one of the top 20 players in the class. Keep in mind that the Panthers also are one of the leaders for Class of 2006 superstar Paul Harris, a player that displays Jaron Brown toughness, but is also a big time scorer. The big men that the Panthers are courting include West Newton native Ben McCauley, Antonio Pena, Ryan Reid, Ryan Wright, Tyrell Biggs, Vernon Goodridge, and Mike Davis.
Of these 15 rising seniors, Torres, McCauley, Pena, Wright, Biggs, and Davis have Pitt offers with Davis already verballing. Fields and Goodridge may also have offers. Harris has an offer for the Class of 2006.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
This post was edited by TNPanther on 6/11 9:54 AM
