From the desk of Jim Snyder
You could win a million dollars
Rivals.com is giving away a 50” plasma HDTV set to the winner of their Bracket Busters contest. It is a valued at $5,000. In addition they are giving away a million dollars to anyone that gets them all right. It is free to enter so you have nothing to lose.
In addition the Pantherlair will give away a lifetime subscription to the winner of the Pantherlair’s league plus 3 six-month subscriptions to the next three finishers. If you already subscribe we will extend your current subscription for six months (or maybe for a lifetime).
There are two things you need to do. Go to User Options and make sure the Pantherlair is listed as your home site. After you do that please go register for the Bracket Buster contest. Make sure you select the one set up by Chris Peak. Once you complete these two steps you can come back on Sunday and fill out your brackets after the NCAA seeds the teams.
Good luck! You could be a winner.
Rivals Day in Akron
They will hold a Rivals Day at the University of Akron on March 25th. If you know someone that wants to attend they should e-mail recruiting@rivals.com. It is a classroom session on the recruiting process. Street clothes only. There will be no testing that day.
Nike combines
The last numbers I saw indicated they had already tested over 3,000 prospects so far and they are only halfway through the process. This Saturday at the Baltimore Ravens complex they expected to test a staggering 1,600 players. It will be their largest combine to date. They could end up testing 8,000 players. This could be double the number processed a year ago. The new NCAA rules have had the exact opposite effect. They tried to slow down the camps but now they have twice as many camps testing twice as many players.
A former Pittsburgh loves football
I can across an interview with Jacksonville sports writer Victor Ketchum. He replied about his love affair with football, “I love football as much today as I did as a kid. I have a very romantic attachment to the game that goes back to when I was nine and 10 years old and the thing I wanted most – every kid in town wanted it – was to be a water boy for the high school team. Friday nights in the fall were the most special days of my life back then. The first college game I ever saw was when I was nine years old. It was between Pitt and Michigan State. Mike Ditka played for Pitt. I can remember like it was yesterday, walking into Pitt Stadium and feeling as though my eyes were going to bulge out of my head. All I could do was stare at that field. To this day, the first thing I do every time I walk into a press box is stare at the field.”
Spring is just around the corner
Dave Wannstedt has the Panthers starting spring drills on March 17th and the Pantherlair will be there keeping you up to date.
Pitt returns players with game experience at most positions on offense except quarterback. If junior Bill Stull grabs the spot Pitt could be in the hunt for Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor for a very long time. If one of the freshmen end up with the starting spot it will make recruiting Pryor a lot tougher. It will be one of the many interesting sub-plots this spring.
As we have discussed in recent weeks, all eyes will be on the linebackers when Panthers line up on defense. With the exception of Scott McKillop there is very little game experience among the players that return.
Pitt will hold a Blue Chip Day on March 31st. They will invite juniors to watch them in spring practice drills.
We are currently in a Quiet Period which means coaches cannot recruit off campus. They will hit the road during an Evaluation Period once the spring practice sessions conclude.
Good news, bad news
Pitt needs linebackers and this is a very good year for linebackers in the WPIAL. It looks like Gateway’s Shayne Hale, Trinity’s Andrew Sweat and Montour’s Christian Wilson all appear to have become national recruits. All three have offers from the defending national champions. The fact that Florida has offered suggest they all could have few dozen offers if they allow they process to run its course.
Hopewell’s David Posluzny and Trinity’s Mike Yancich might not be too far behind. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney has Brandon Beachum. This means you will have a half dozen highly-recruited linebackers in the Tri-State area.
The Panthers new linebacker coach Paul Rhoads has potential help nearby. It may not be easy with a host of college recruiters descending on the linebackers from Western PA.
The Big East Tournament
It was good seeing DePaul and Louisville playing in Madison Square Garden yesterday. In some ways it unofficially puts them in the Big East Conference.
It two seasons the new Big East has evolved into a robust league in both sports. Next year the Big East will play an 18-game conference schedule. It will also start a new six-year TV contract which will put about 70 Big East games on ESPN and ESPN2 annually, up from around 40 today.
Mike Tranghese was under fired just a few short years ago but is now looking a lot better to many around the league.
It was interesting reading in the Post-Gazette this morning that Pitt has been one of the top three ticket sellers to the Big East Tournament. Pitt has used this event as a fund raiser for the athletic program. The size of Heinz Field makes it tough to create a scarcity in tickets in football. The size of the Pete and the lure of the conference tournament in the Big Apple helps Jeff Long in the fund raising process.
The Panthers finally broke out of their offensive funk last night and put 89 points on the scoreboard against Marquette last night.
Pitt was able to get the game played in the lane and picked up a lot of fouls. I think the same thing could work against Louisville which likes to extend their zone defense. West Virginia had some success going inside in the second half last night. Pounded it inside and cross your fingers you don’t get into foul trouble in the process. I liked mixing the zone defense in last night. I would try it again against Louisville in the semi-finals.
Congratulations to senior Aaron Gray. This week he was named first team All-Big East, Scholar-Athlete of the year in the Big East and third team All-American. He then puts up another double-double last night scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
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.
You could win a million dollars
Rivals.com is giving away a 50” plasma HDTV set to the winner of their Bracket Busters contest. It is a valued at $5,000. In addition they are giving away a million dollars to anyone that gets them all right. It is free to enter so you have nothing to lose.
In addition the Pantherlair will give away a lifetime subscription to the winner of the Pantherlair’s league plus 3 six-month subscriptions to the next three finishers. If you already subscribe we will extend your current subscription for six months (or maybe for a lifetime).
There are two things you need to do. Go to User Options and make sure the Pantherlair is listed as your home site. After you do that please go register for the Bracket Buster contest. Make sure you select the one set up by Chris Peak. Once you complete these two steps you can come back on Sunday and fill out your brackets after the NCAA seeds the teams.
Good luck! You could be a winner.
Rivals Day in Akron
They will hold a Rivals Day at the University of Akron on March 25th. If you know someone that wants to attend they should e-mail recruiting@rivals.com. It is a classroom session on the recruiting process. Street clothes only. There will be no testing that day.
Nike combines
The last numbers I saw indicated they had already tested over 3,000 prospects so far and they are only halfway through the process. This Saturday at the Baltimore Ravens complex they expected to test a staggering 1,600 players. It will be their largest combine to date. They could end up testing 8,000 players. This could be double the number processed a year ago. The new NCAA rules have had the exact opposite effect. They tried to slow down the camps but now they have twice as many camps testing twice as many players.
A former Pittsburgh loves football
I can across an interview with Jacksonville sports writer Victor Ketchum. He replied about his love affair with football, “I love football as much today as I did as a kid. I have a very romantic attachment to the game that goes back to when I was nine and 10 years old and the thing I wanted most – every kid in town wanted it – was to be a water boy for the high school team. Friday nights in the fall were the most special days of my life back then. The first college game I ever saw was when I was nine years old. It was between Pitt and Michigan State. Mike Ditka played for Pitt. I can remember like it was yesterday, walking into Pitt Stadium and feeling as though my eyes were going to bulge out of my head. All I could do was stare at that field. To this day, the first thing I do every time I walk into a press box is stare at the field.”
Spring is just around the corner
Dave Wannstedt has the Panthers starting spring drills on March 17th and the Pantherlair will be there keeping you up to date.
Pitt returns players with game experience at most positions on offense except quarterback. If junior Bill Stull grabs the spot Pitt could be in the hunt for Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor for a very long time. If one of the freshmen end up with the starting spot it will make recruiting Pryor a lot tougher. It will be one of the many interesting sub-plots this spring.
As we have discussed in recent weeks, all eyes will be on the linebackers when Panthers line up on defense. With the exception of Scott McKillop there is very little game experience among the players that return.
Pitt will hold a Blue Chip Day on March 31st. They will invite juniors to watch them in spring practice drills.
We are currently in a Quiet Period which means coaches cannot recruit off campus. They will hit the road during an Evaluation Period once the spring practice sessions conclude.
Good news, bad news
Pitt needs linebackers and this is a very good year for linebackers in the WPIAL. It looks like Gateway’s Shayne Hale, Trinity’s Andrew Sweat and Montour’s Christian Wilson all appear to have become national recruits. All three have offers from the defending national champions. The fact that Florida has offered suggest they all could have few dozen offers if they allow they process to run its course.
Hopewell’s David Posluzny and Trinity’s Mike Yancich might not be too far behind. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney has Brandon Beachum. This means you will have a half dozen highly-recruited linebackers in the Tri-State area.
The Panthers new linebacker coach Paul Rhoads has potential help nearby. It may not be easy with a host of college recruiters descending on the linebackers from Western PA.
The Big East Tournament
It was good seeing DePaul and Louisville playing in Madison Square Garden yesterday. In some ways it unofficially puts them in the Big East Conference.
It two seasons the new Big East has evolved into a robust league in both sports. Next year the Big East will play an 18-game conference schedule. It will also start a new six-year TV contract which will put about 70 Big East games on ESPN and ESPN2 annually, up from around 40 today.
Mike Tranghese was under fired just a few short years ago but is now looking a lot better to many around the league.
It was interesting reading in the Post-Gazette this morning that Pitt has been one of the top three ticket sellers to the Big East Tournament. Pitt has used this event as a fund raiser for the athletic program. The size of Heinz Field makes it tough to create a scarcity in tickets in football. The size of the Pete and the lure of the conference tournament in the Big Apple helps Jeff Long in the fund raising process.
The Panthers finally broke out of their offensive funk last night and put 89 points on the scoreboard against Marquette last night.
Pitt was able to get the game played in the lane and picked up a lot of fouls. I think the same thing could work against Louisville which likes to extend their zone defense. West Virginia had some success going inside in the second half last night. Pounded it inside and cross your fingers you don’t get into foul trouble in the process. I liked mixing the zone defense in last night. I would try it again against Louisville in the semi-finals.
Congratulations to senior Aaron Gray. This week he was named first team All-Big East, Scholar-Athlete of the year in the Big East and third team All-American. He then puts up another double-double last night scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
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.
