From the desk of Jim Snyder
Win a million dollars
Rivals.com will once again hold a Bracket Busters contest this year. The Grand Prize will be a plasma HDTV television set valued at $5,000. If you manage to get them all right your win a million dollars. In addition the Pantherlair will give the three highest ranked players on our site a six-month free subscription. Pay attention to the games this coming week and the seedings next weekend. You could be a winner.
To make sure you are set up to play please go to User Options in the gold border on any message board. Make sure your home site is set to the Pantherlair.
It is your choice
Please keep in mind Rivals.com gives you a choice of how to view the message boards. The Pantherlair has historically used a thread view. We understand that many folks get comfortable with a certain format and want to keep it that way. If you prefer a thread view simply go to User Optionsoptions in the Gold border near the top of any of the message board. Go to display by and pick thread view and then click on submit. Your settings will be set permanently to thread viewing.
If you need more help see Chris Peak’s post at the top of this message board.
Banned posters
Over the years the Pantherlair has had a policy of saying no true Pitt fan is banned forever. Unfortunately we have had to ban a few over the years that posted while they were drinking. Others simply got caught up in the heat of the battle. Their love of Pitt and their passion for the school gets the best of them and they start hammering Pitt players or coaches after losses. We have all said things we later regret. I know I have.
The rules of the road are listed under Rules on the top of each message boards. If you know someone that would like to give it another chance simply have them send Chris or myself an e-mail. No apologies are necessary. This is a country of second and third chances.
Rivals Day
Rivals will hold a classroom session on the recruiting process at the University of Akron on March 25th. There will be no testing. Anyone interested in attending should send an e-mail to recruiting@rivals.com.
March Madness
If you are a hoops junkie the best month of the year has arrived. Some of the smaller conferences have already started tournament play. Other will get started this weekend.
Pitt travels to Marquette this weekend with a chance to grab a share of the big East regular season championship. On paper this a tough matchup for Pitt. Marquette is a guard oriented team and their guards are quick and can penetrate. They have little game inside but they can force Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall to guard on the perimeter.
Neither team has played well lately. Marquette (22-8) has stumbled coming down the stretch and has lost four of their last five games although three of those losses were conference games on the road. They did beat Villanova at home.
Pitt gave some signs of coming out of their offensive slump by scoring 51 points in the second half against West Virginia. If Antonio Graves and Mike Cook play with confidence Pitt can be tough to beat. Both have played tentatively lately looking to pass first and shoot second. It gets them in trouble when the defense collapses on them during their moment of indecision.
Pitt should not try to play a full court game with Marquette. They need to control the tempo and pound it inside to Gray and Kendall.
Pitt is now 25-5 and ranked No. 4 in the RPI rankings. They could make seeding awfully tough for the NCCA selection committee if they put a few wins together at the end. Pitt is now 11-5 against Top 100 teams. Every team they play now should be in the Top 100. If you put four in a row together 15-5 against Top 100 teams will get you plenty of consideration for a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
The No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament plays Thursday night at 9:00 pm. Beating Marquette would insure Pitt does not have to play on a short turn around in the semi-finals in New York. The field has been set for the Big East Tournament with Cincinnati, Rutgers, Seton Hall and South Florida having been eliminated. Seedings are still up in the air pending the outcome of this weekend’s games.
Several teams in the top ten have lost already this week so Pitt has a chance to move up if they beat Marquette. Florida, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Nevada and Georgetown have all lost since the last poll was taken and we still have many games to be played this weekend.
I hope you got a chance to read Tony Greco’s article on Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor yesterday. Orlando Antigua was at the game so the Pitt staff has not given up on him playing at least some basketball at Pitt.
Yesterday Jamie Dixon met with the media and talked briefly about some of Pitt’s recruits for the Class of 2008. Check out Chris Peak’s article on the Home Page.
Comings and goings
Hopefully you saw Chris Peak’s post earlier this week indicating Corey Davis has been indefinitely suspended from the Pitt program. He joins Tommie Campbell in the doghouse. You have to wonder if either will ever be back.
Spring is in the air
Many schools have already started spring football practice. Pitt will start their spring practice sessions on March 17th and the Pantherlair will be there.
It seems for the past decade Pitt fans have worried about the big guys up front but this spring the focus will shift.
On offense Pitt fans will be watching the quarterback position. Bill Stull figures to be the leader even though he has no meaningful game experience. Redshirt freshman Kevan Smith has his supporters. Some think Smith may grab the brass ring. Pitt fans will be watching closely to see if someone takes control of the position. Quarterback Pat Bostick has graduated from high school and will be on the sidelines watching. He will get his chance this summer.
Pitt replaced Curtis Bray as their linebacker coach. Paul Rhoads will take over as the linebacker position coach. All of this is a clear sign that Pitt fans are not the only ones concerned about this important position. A number of players will be moved to linebacker this spring to see what they can do. We will be there to report on their progress.
Pitt already has offers out to nine linebackers and there is some evidence that indicates they are not done offering. It looks like they will heavy-up this year at linebacker. Those linebackers with early offers include.
Brendan Beal 6’ 4” 235 Roxbury, New Jersey
Brandon Beachum 6’ 1” 220 Youngstown Cardinal Mooney
Shayne Hale 6’ 3” 218 Gateway
David Posluszny 6’ 0” 206 Hopewell
Devoe Torrance 6’ 2” 210 Canton South
Andrew Sweat 6’ 2” 225 Trinity
Christian Wilson 6’ 3” 225 Montour
Marcus Witherspoon 6’ 2” 216 Abeson, NJ
Mike Yancich 6’ 3” 225 Trinity
There are already 23 linebackers listed in the 2008 database so we think a few more will get an offer.
Pitt will hold a Blue Chip Day on Saturday March 31st. Once they release the entire practice schedule I think we will find these recruits will be watching the Panthers in a spring practice session.
Hopefully you saw our article on Myles Caragein this week. He is late add to the Big 33 roster.
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.
This post was edited on 3/2 10:12 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
Win a million dollars
Rivals.com will once again hold a Bracket Busters contest this year. The Grand Prize will be a plasma HDTV television set valued at $5,000. If you manage to get them all right your win a million dollars. In addition the Pantherlair will give the three highest ranked players on our site a six-month free subscription. Pay attention to the games this coming week and the seedings next weekend. You could be a winner.
To make sure you are set up to play please go to User Options in the gold border on any message board. Make sure your home site is set to the Pantherlair.
It is your choice
Please keep in mind Rivals.com gives you a choice of how to view the message boards. The Pantherlair has historically used a thread view. We understand that many folks get comfortable with a certain format and want to keep it that way. If you prefer a thread view simply go to User Optionsoptions in the Gold border near the top of any of the message board. Go to display by and pick thread view and then click on submit. Your settings will be set permanently to thread viewing.
If you need more help see Chris Peak’s post at the top of this message board.
Banned posters
Over the years the Pantherlair has had a policy of saying no true Pitt fan is banned forever. Unfortunately we have had to ban a few over the years that posted while they were drinking. Others simply got caught up in the heat of the battle. Their love of Pitt and their passion for the school gets the best of them and they start hammering Pitt players or coaches after losses. We have all said things we later regret. I know I have.
The rules of the road are listed under Rules on the top of each message boards. If you know someone that would like to give it another chance simply have them send Chris or myself an e-mail. No apologies are necessary. This is a country of second and third chances.
Rivals Day
Rivals will hold a classroom session on the recruiting process at the University of Akron on March 25th. There will be no testing. Anyone interested in attending should send an e-mail to recruiting@rivals.com.
March Madness
If you are a hoops junkie the best month of the year has arrived. Some of the smaller conferences have already started tournament play. Other will get started this weekend.
Pitt travels to Marquette this weekend with a chance to grab a share of the big East regular season championship. On paper this a tough matchup for Pitt. Marquette is a guard oriented team and their guards are quick and can penetrate. They have little game inside but they can force Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall to guard on the perimeter.
Neither team has played well lately. Marquette (22-8) has stumbled coming down the stretch and has lost four of their last five games although three of those losses were conference games on the road. They did beat Villanova at home.
Pitt gave some signs of coming out of their offensive slump by scoring 51 points in the second half against West Virginia. If Antonio Graves and Mike Cook play with confidence Pitt can be tough to beat. Both have played tentatively lately looking to pass first and shoot second. It gets them in trouble when the defense collapses on them during their moment of indecision.
Pitt should not try to play a full court game with Marquette. They need to control the tempo and pound it inside to Gray and Kendall.
Pitt is now 25-5 and ranked No. 4 in the RPI rankings. They could make seeding awfully tough for the NCCA selection committee if they put a few wins together at the end. Pitt is now 11-5 against Top 100 teams. Every team they play now should be in the Top 100. If you put four in a row together 15-5 against Top 100 teams will get you plenty of consideration for a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
The No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament plays Thursday night at 9:00 pm. Beating Marquette would insure Pitt does not have to play on a short turn around in the semi-finals in New York. The field has been set for the Big East Tournament with Cincinnati, Rutgers, Seton Hall and South Florida having been eliminated. Seedings are still up in the air pending the outcome of this weekend’s games.
Several teams in the top ten have lost already this week so Pitt has a chance to move up if they beat Marquette. Florida, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Nevada and Georgetown have all lost since the last poll was taken and we still have many games to be played this weekend.
I hope you got a chance to read Tony Greco’s article on Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor yesterday. Orlando Antigua was at the game so the Pitt staff has not given up on him playing at least some basketball at Pitt.
Yesterday Jamie Dixon met with the media and talked briefly about some of Pitt’s recruits for the Class of 2008. Check out Chris Peak’s article on the Home Page.
Comings and goings
Hopefully you saw Chris Peak’s post earlier this week indicating Corey Davis has been indefinitely suspended from the Pitt program. He joins Tommie Campbell in the doghouse. You have to wonder if either will ever be back.
Spring is in the air
Many schools have already started spring football practice. Pitt will start their spring practice sessions on March 17th and the Pantherlair will be there.
It seems for the past decade Pitt fans have worried about the big guys up front but this spring the focus will shift.
On offense Pitt fans will be watching the quarterback position. Bill Stull figures to be the leader even though he has no meaningful game experience. Redshirt freshman Kevan Smith has his supporters. Some think Smith may grab the brass ring. Pitt fans will be watching closely to see if someone takes control of the position. Quarterback Pat Bostick has graduated from high school and will be on the sidelines watching. He will get his chance this summer.
Pitt replaced Curtis Bray as their linebacker coach. Paul Rhoads will take over as the linebacker position coach. All of this is a clear sign that Pitt fans are not the only ones concerned about this important position. A number of players will be moved to linebacker this spring to see what they can do. We will be there to report on their progress.
Pitt already has offers out to nine linebackers and there is some evidence that indicates they are not done offering. It looks like they will heavy-up this year at linebacker. Those linebackers with early offers include.
Brendan Beal 6’ 4” 235 Roxbury, New Jersey
Brandon Beachum 6’ 1” 220 Youngstown Cardinal Mooney
Shayne Hale 6’ 3” 218 Gateway
David Posluszny 6’ 0” 206 Hopewell
Devoe Torrance 6’ 2” 210 Canton South
Andrew Sweat 6’ 2” 225 Trinity
Christian Wilson 6’ 3” 225 Montour
Marcus Witherspoon 6’ 2” 216 Abeson, NJ
Mike Yancich 6’ 3” 225 Trinity
There are already 23 linebackers listed in the 2008 database so we think a few more will get an offer.
Pitt will hold a Blue Chip Day on Saturday March 31st. Once they release the entire practice schedule I think we will find these recruits will be watching the Panthers in a spring practice session.
Hopefully you saw our article on Myles Caragein this week. He is late add to the Big 33 roster.
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.
This post was edited on 3/2 10:12 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
