From the desk of Jim snyder
March Madness begins
Hopefully you remembered to get your picks into the Pantherlair Bracket Buster contest on time. The Pantherlair will be giving away two six-month subscriptions to the two Pitt fans that finish one-two. We will give away three months subscriptions to the next two.
The Pantherlair’s Chris Peak is in Auburn Hills covering the Pitt basketball team for our subscribers. Hopefully Pitt will get by Kent State tonight. If Pitt wins Chris will miss the opening day of spring football practice and Tony Greco will cover Dave Wannstedt & Co.
Chris Peak is scheduled to be on Rivals Radio at 9:00 AM EST on Friday and he is scheduled to be on the ESPN radio station in Pittsburgh at 11:00 AM EST on Saturday.
The Pitt basketball team is running into health issues at the wrong time. Last week Levon Kendall suffered back spasms and missed one game and was slowed in the final two. It appears Kendall may have reoccurring back issues so you never know if he will show up completely healthy for the next game. Aaron Gray was sidelined by the flu and Keith Benjamin was hospitalized this week. This means three of the players that started against Louisville in the opening round of the Big East tournament have had health issues this past week. In addition reserve Tyrell Biggs has spent time on crutches this week.
Pitt opened the Big East tournaments with wins over Louisville, West Virginia and Villanova. They have shown they are capable on making a 3 or 4 game run. A four-game run would put them in the Final Four. Kent State has played two Big East teams this year. Both Rutgers and Syracuse beat them but they will not be intimidated playing Pitt.
Ron Cook wrote this week that Pitt is probably still a year away. He is right but if Pitt can get healthy making a run this year it would give this young team some much needed experience to do some real damage next year. As we have seen in games yesterday champions from mid-major conferences can be a handful.
The Big East is off to a disappointing 0-3 start. Particularly sad was the showing by Syracuse against Texas A&M. Gerry McNamara does not score a single point and sits beside Jim Boeheim on the bench for the final five minutes with the game still in doubt. It was not a fun way to see McNamara end his career at Syracuse. Hopefully these Big East losses have caught Pitt’s attention and they will come out and play hard.
Coach Dixon, Arizona State and Missouri
Stories about coaching changes are a part of the basketball landscape this time of year. Rumors about Coach Dixon are so strong that one Rivals editor suggested we start writing articles on possible replacements. I hate even to think about this possibility and could not bring myself to do it.
I am glad coach Dixon got himself an agent who handles many other basketball coaches. His agent knows what major colleges pay their head coaches and he has a hot one in his client Jamie Dixon. It can’t hurt that his sister got Army into the NCAA for the first time in the school’s history. Who knows his new agent may be representing Maggie in coming years. Tennessee is now talking about bumping up the pay of Pat Summit to about one million per year. Hopefully Jeff Long will get this resolved as soon as the season is over. Jamie Dixon has a good situation at Pitt and Coach Dixon knows it. Pitt plays in one of the better conferences in the country. He has 8 of his top 9 players back next year. He has also has a great facility and he has Herb Pope and Tyrell Pryor waiting in the wings. I don’t think Pitt has to be the highest bidder but they will have to pay something close to market rates.
This past week there were two articles on the “Ticker” on forward Tyler Smith from Hargrave Military Academy. This is the same prep program that Sam Young played in. Jerry Meyers from Rivals Hoops indicated that Coach Dixon hopes to make an in-home visit after the Pitt season is over. Hopefully Jeff Long will have given Coach Dixon some good news before he has to make the visit. Tyler Smith plans to enroll in summer school so if you land him you will have in on campus within 90 days.
New and improved
Rivals.com has redesigned the look of their national basketball page in time for the NCAA basketball tournament. You can access it by going to NCAA BB in the black border near the top of this site.
Are you ready for some football?
Pitt will hold their Pro Day on Saturday at the UPMC complex. (This event is closed to the media.) Pitt will host a number of recruits on Saturday. Not a bad idea by Dave Wannstedt. Prospects can watch former Pitt players work out for NFL scouts and the Pitt coaches are not tied up so they can spend some time with the recruits. This guy never misses a trick in recruiting. Myles Caragein from Keystone Oaks will be there. Dom DeCicco of Thomas Jefferson is also scheduled to visit. Bill Kurelic had a story yesterday on the “Ticker” in which Dom DeCicco from Thomas Jefferson was quoted as saying he thought Pitt might offer soon. I happened to be on the phone with Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak when the story came up on the “Ticker” and he said Dom had a good workout at the recent combine. He said he had just spoken to Bob Junko and he would not be surprised if Pitt offered sometime in the near future. Coach Junko was in his office for the first time following heart surgery. It looks like Coach Junko will try to work an hour or two each day to ease his way back into things.
Vincent Hill and Joe Haden from Friendly High school in Maryland are also scheduled to be at Pitt on Saturday for their Pro Day. They are from Sam Young’s old high school in Ft Washington, MD.
We got a note from Pat Bostick’s family yesterday saying Pitt, Michigan and Louisville are his top three right now. Pat has already visited Pitt twice within the last 30 days. He will be in Pittsburgh again this weekend for Pro Day. Pat also plans on coming back to watch a Pitt spring practice session and to attend the Pitt Spring Game. He either has a strong interest in Pitt or likes spending time on the turnpike.
Pitt officially starts spring practice on Sunday at 10:00 AM. These sessions are generally closed to the public but Pitt will scrimmage at Center High School on Friday night (March 24th). A second scrimmage will be held Friday night (April 7th ) at Thomas Jefferson High School. In addition you will have another opportunity to see the Panthers football team when Pitt plays its Spring Game at Heinz Field on April 15th.
We are now in a Quiet Period. College coaches are not permitted to go off campus to recruit until after Pitt completes its spring drills. We will then enter an Evaluation Period. This will allow college coaches the opportunity to attend many of the Nike Camps. It appears this may be the last year college coaches will be permitted to attend.
March Madness begins
Hopefully you remembered to get your picks into the Pantherlair Bracket Buster contest on time. The Pantherlair will be giving away two six-month subscriptions to the two Pitt fans that finish one-two. We will give away three months subscriptions to the next two.
The Pantherlair’s Chris Peak is in Auburn Hills covering the Pitt basketball team for our subscribers. Hopefully Pitt will get by Kent State tonight. If Pitt wins Chris will miss the opening day of spring football practice and Tony Greco will cover Dave Wannstedt & Co.
Chris Peak is scheduled to be on Rivals Radio at 9:00 AM EST on Friday and he is scheduled to be on the ESPN radio station in Pittsburgh at 11:00 AM EST on Saturday.
The Pitt basketball team is running into health issues at the wrong time. Last week Levon Kendall suffered back spasms and missed one game and was slowed in the final two. It appears Kendall may have reoccurring back issues so you never know if he will show up completely healthy for the next game. Aaron Gray was sidelined by the flu and Keith Benjamin was hospitalized this week. This means three of the players that started against Louisville in the opening round of the Big East tournament have had health issues this past week. In addition reserve Tyrell Biggs has spent time on crutches this week.
Pitt opened the Big East tournaments with wins over Louisville, West Virginia and Villanova. They have shown they are capable on making a 3 or 4 game run. A four-game run would put them in the Final Four. Kent State has played two Big East teams this year. Both Rutgers and Syracuse beat them but they will not be intimidated playing Pitt.
Ron Cook wrote this week that Pitt is probably still a year away. He is right but if Pitt can get healthy making a run this year it would give this young team some much needed experience to do some real damage next year. As we have seen in games yesterday champions from mid-major conferences can be a handful.
The Big East is off to a disappointing 0-3 start. Particularly sad was the showing by Syracuse against Texas A&M. Gerry McNamara does not score a single point and sits beside Jim Boeheim on the bench for the final five minutes with the game still in doubt. It was not a fun way to see McNamara end his career at Syracuse. Hopefully these Big East losses have caught Pitt’s attention and they will come out and play hard.
Coach Dixon, Arizona State and Missouri
Stories about coaching changes are a part of the basketball landscape this time of year. Rumors about Coach Dixon are so strong that one Rivals editor suggested we start writing articles on possible replacements. I hate even to think about this possibility and could not bring myself to do it.
I am glad coach Dixon got himself an agent who handles many other basketball coaches. His agent knows what major colleges pay their head coaches and he has a hot one in his client Jamie Dixon. It can’t hurt that his sister got Army into the NCAA for the first time in the school’s history. Who knows his new agent may be representing Maggie in coming years. Tennessee is now talking about bumping up the pay of Pat Summit to about one million per year. Hopefully Jeff Long will get this resolved as soon as the season is over. Jamie Dixon has a good situation at Pitt and Coach Dixon knows it. Pitt plays in one of the better conferences in the country. He has 8 of his top 9 players back next year. He has also has a great facility and he has Herb Pope and Tyrell Pryor waiting in the wings. I don’t think Pitt has to be the highest bidder but they will have to pay something close to market rates.
This past week there were two articles on the “Ticker” on forward Tyler Smith from Hargrave Military Academy. This is the same prep program that Sam Young played in. Jerry Meyers from Rivals Hoops indicated that Coach Dixon hopes to make an in-home visit after the Pitt season is over. Hopefully Jeff Long will have given Coach Dixon some good news before he has to make the visit. Tyler Smith plans to enroll in summer school so if you land him you will have in on campus within 90 days.
New and improved
Rivals.com has redesigned the look of their national basketball page in time for the NCAA basketball tournament. You can access it by going to NCAA BB in the black border near the top of this site.
Are you ready for some football?
Pitt will hold their Pro Day on Saturday at the UPMC complex. (This event is closed to the media.) Pitt will host a number of recruits on Saturday. Not a bad idea by Dave Wannstedt. Prospects can watch former Pitt players work out for NFL scouts and the Pitt coaches are not tied up so they can spend some time with the recruits. This guy never misses a trick in recruiting. Myles Caragein from Keystone Oaks will be there. Dom DeCicco of Thomas Jefferson is also scheduled to visit. Bill Kurelic had a story yesterday on the “Ticker” in which Dom DeCicco from Thomas Jefferson was quoted as saying he thought Pitt might offer soon. I happened to be on the phone with Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak when the story came up on the “Ticker” and he said Dom had a good workout at the recent combine. He said he had just spoken to Bob Junko and he would not be surprised if Pitt offered sometime in the near future. Coach Junko was in his office for the first time following heart surgery. It looks like Coach Junko will try to work an hour or two each day to ease his way back into things.
Vincent Hill and Joe Haden from Friendly High school in Maryland are also scheduled to be at Pitt on Saturday for their Pro Day. They are from Sam Young’s old high school in Ft Washington, MD.
We got a note from Pat Bostick’s family yesterday saying Pitt, Michigan and Louisville are his top three right now. Pat has already visited Pitt twice within the last 30 days. He will be in Pittsburgh again this weekend for Pro Day. Pat also plans on coming back to watch a Pitt spring practice session and to attend the Pitt Spring Game. He either has a strong interest in Pitt or likes spending time on the turnpike.
Pitt officially starts spring practice on Sunday at 10:00 AM. These sessions are generally closed to the public but Pitt will scrimmage at Center High School on Friday night (March 24th). A second scrimmage will be held Friday night (April 7th ) at Thomas Jefferson High School. In addition you will have another opportunity to see the Panthers football team when Pitt plays its Spring Game at Heinz Field on April 15th.
We are now in a Quiet Period. College coaches are not permitted to go off campus to recruit until after Pitt completes its spring drills. We will then enter an Evaluation Period. This will allow college coaches the opportunity to attend many of the Nike Camps. It appears this may be the last year college coaches will be permitted to attend.
