From the desk of Jim Snyder
Let March Madness begin
This Sunday the NCAA will announce their choices for the field of 65. Rivals.com and the Pantherlair will hold a bracket contest. Give us your thoughts on which teams will reach the Final Four. How deep with the Panthers go? There is a link at the top of the basketball message board. We will give away two six-month subscriptions to Pitt fans for the top two finishers. We will give away two three-month subscriptions to the next two. Will there be upsets? Will the favorites advance? Who will get hot? I think this year it is a little more wide open than most years. Please play the “Pantherlair Bracket Buster”.
A little hoops recruiting
Many college coaches are busy preparing their teams for the NCAA or NIT tournaments so basketball recruiting is in a little lull right now but it won’t be long before it heats up again.
Pitt is among the top four and maybe the top three for forward Tyler Smith. If Pitt does not get him the question might be can the staff land a big man for the Class of 2006? If they can’t they might be advised to save the scholarship for 2007.
Pitt will save one scholarship for the Class of 2007 for Aliquippa’s Herb Pope (6’ 8”). Schenley also has a couple of interesting players that Pitt is following in DeJuan Blair (6’ 7”) and D. J. Kennedy (6’ 6”). Mike White has an article on these two today which we have posted on the Center Court at the Pete message board. There is another prospect that Pitt is following in Elizabeth Forward’s Steve Swiech (6’ 9”). Adding height will be a priority with Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall graduating next year.
Yesterday we had an article of Elizabeth Forward’s Steve Swiech. Pitt has been following his progress closely and we believe he would jump at a chance to go to Pitt. So far most of his contact seems to have been with Orlando Antigua. Swiech might be one of those players you want to watch play out on the AAU circuit where you often face better competition. Steve is a top student and is very articulate. He often sounds mature for his age when you interview him.
Some football recruiting
Last year Pitt did not sign anyone from the Erie area and in fact did not seem to be heavily involved with many players up north. Pitt has already offered offensive tackle Dan Matha (6’ 6” 310) from Erie McDowell. Last week we reported we thought Pitt would take five offensive linemen. Two of them should be offensive tackle candidates. Matha already has offers from Pitt, West Virginia and Notre Dame. He has visited Pitt at least three times and Pitt is in his top 5 or 6. Yesterday the Pantherlair had video of Matha in action. Check him out.
Another player that we are hearing very good things about is “Mo” Williams. He would probably be a wide receiver in college. Today the Pantherlair will have video of Williams in action. To be honest I have not yet seen video of him so I am anxious to see him. He was a quarterback and defensive back at Erie Strong Vincent. Williams is prospect we should follow very closely in the coming weeks.
We hear Pitt will probably take two running backs this year. One will be a big back. Henry Hynoski> from Southern Columbia and Steve Paskorz from Hampton might fill that role. The other should be a more traditional tailback.
Congratulations Dixon family
I am not sure who keeps records on these sorts of things but both Jamie Dixon and his sister Maggie both have their teams in the NCAA tournament. I would think this is the first time in history a brother and sister have pulled this one off. I hope you got a chance to see the cadets carry Maggie Dixon off the floor on their shoulders. It was one of those magic moments in sports. Army has never been to an NCAA basketball tournament (men or women). West Point is certainly not their first school that comes to mind when you think of a league champion in basketball. Jamie Dixon won the Big East regular season championship and was runner-up in the conference tournament in his first year as head coach at Pitt and his sister has won both in her first year.
Survive and advance
Early this year I remarked to a colleague that a Pitt win was not pretty but it was a win and I’ll take it. He remarked if you have been paying attention for five years most Pitt wins can often look a little ugly. He is right. Jamie Dixon’s team usually plays great defense and that can make many games look a little ragged. They also do not have a pure shooter like Rutger’s Quincy Douby who can get his own shot off. The result is the offense can struggle at times.
Any win is a good win and particularly when you beat West Virginia. Pitt started a freshman and two sophomores. Senior Carl Krauser and junior Aaron Gray were surrounded by a group of underclassmen. West Virginia has five seniors among their top six players. Things sure looked grim when the Panthers fell behind by a dozen in the first half last night. Coach Dixon deserves credit for pulling them together at halftime and getting the guards to penetrate the zone defense of West Virginia.
Aaron Gray also deserves a lot of credit. He was playing without his roommate Levon Kendall. Aaron had a nightmare of a game in the first ten minutes missing his first nine shots. Aaron sucked it up and controlled the paint. Aaron finishes with 19 points and 14 rebounds and the Panthers advance to play Villanova tonight.
The Spring is another great time of year
The Big East basketball tournament followed by the NCAA basketball tournament. It doesn’t get any better for hoops fans. I love it!
In addition we start spring football practice for the Panthers this week and the Pantherlair will be there. Football and basketball going at the same time. Does it get any better?
The Pantherlair Bracket Buster should be released after the NCAA makes their selections on Sunday.
Let March Madness begin
This Sunday the NCAA will announce their choices for the field of 65. Rivals.com and the Pantherlair will hold a bracket contest. Give us your thoughts on which teams will reach the Final Four. How deep with the Panthers go? There is a link at the top of the basketball message board. We will give away two six-month subscriptions to Pitt fans for the top two finishers. We will give away two three-month subscriptions to the next two. Will there be upsets? Will the favorites advance? Who will get hot? I think this year it is a little more wide open than most years. Please play the “Pantherlair Bracket Buster”.
A little hoops recruiting
Many college coaches are busy preparing their teams for the NCAA or NIT tournaments so basketball recruiting is in a little lull right now but it won’t be long before it heats up again.
Pitt is among the top four and maybe the top three for forward Tyler Smith. If Pitt does not get him the question might be can the staff land a big man for the Class of 2006? If they can’t they might be advised to save the scholarship for 2007.
Pitt will save one scholarship for the Class of 2007 for Aliquippa’s Herb Pope (6’ 8”). Schenley also has a couple of interesting players that Pitt is following in DeJuan Blair (6’ 7”) and D. J. Kennedy (6’ 6”). Mike White has an article on these two today which we have posted on the Center Court at the Pete message board. There is another prospect that Pitt is following in Elizabeth Forward’s Steve Swiech (6’ 9”). Adding height will be a priority with Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall graduating next year.
Yesterday we had an article of Elizabeth Forward’s Steve Swiech. Pitt has been following his progress closely and we believe he would jump at a chance to go to Pitt. So far most of his contact seems to have been with Orlando Antigua. Swiech might be one of those players you want to watch play out on the AAU circuit where you often face better competition. Steve is a top student and is very articulate. He often sounds mature for his age when you interview him.
Some football recruiting
Last year Pitt did not sign anyone from the Erie area and in fact did not seem to be heavily involved with many players up north. Pitt has already offered offensive tackle Dan Matha (6’ 6” 310) from Erie McDowell. Last week we reported we thought Pitt would take five offensive linemen. Two of them should be offensive tackle candidates. Matha already has offers from Pitt, West Virginia and Notre Dame. He has visited Pitt at least three times and Pitt is in his top 5 or 6. Yesterday the Pantherlair had video of Matha in action. Check him out.
Another player that we are hearing very good things about is “Mo” Williams. He would probably be a wide receiver in college. Today the Pantherlair will have video of Williams in action. To be honest I have not yet seen video of him so I am anxious to see him. He was a quarterback and defensive back at Erie Strong Vincent. Williams is prospect we should follow very closely in the coming weeks.
We hear Pitt will probably take two running backs this year. One will be a big back. Henry Hynoski> from Southern Columbia and Steve Paskorz from Hampton might fill that role. The other should be a more traditional tailback.
Congratulations Dixon family
I am not sure who keeps records on these sorts of things but both Jamie Dixon and his sister Maggie both have their teams in the NCAA tournament. I would think this is the first time in history a brother and sister have pulled this one off. I hope you got a chance to see the cadets carry Maggie Dixon off the floor on their shoulders. It was one of those magic moments in sports. Army has never been to an NCAA basketball tournament (men or women). West Point is certainly not their first school that comes to mind when you think of a league champion in basketball. Jamie Dixon won the Big East regular season championship and was runner-up in the conference tournament in his first year as head coach at Pitt and his sister has won both in her first year.
Survive and advance
Early this year I remarked to a colleague that a Pitt win was not pretty but it was a win and I’ll take it. He remarked if you have been paying attention for five years most Pitt wins can often look a little ugly. He is right. Jamie Dixon’s team usually plays great defense and that can make many games look a little ragged. They also do not have a pure shooter like Rutger’s Quincy Douby who can get his own shot off. The result is the offense can struggle at times.
Any win is a good win and particularly when you beat West Virginia. Pitt started a freshman and two sophomores. Senior Carl Krauser and junior Aaron Gray were surrounded by a group of underclassmen. West Virginia has five seniors among their top six players. Things sure looked grim when the Panthers fell behind by a dozen in the first half last night. Coach Dixon deserves credit for pulling them together at halftime and getting the guards to penetrate the zone defense of West Virginia.
Aaron Gray also deserves a lot of credit. He was playing without his roommate Levon Kendall. Aaron had a nightmare of a game in the first ten minutes missing his first nine shots. Aaron sucked it up and controlled the paint. Aaron finishes with 19 points and 14 rebounds and the Panthers advance to play Villanova tonight.
The Spring is another great time of year
The Big East basketball tournament followed by the NCAA basketball tournament. It doesn’t get any better for hoops fans. I love it!
In addition we start spring football practice for the Panthers this week and the Pantherlair will be there. Football and basketball going at the same time. Does it get any better?
The Pantherlair Bracket Buster should be released after the NCAA makes their selections on Sunday.
