From the desk of Jim Snyder
Changes at the PantherLair
Chris Peak will be taking over as publisher of the PantherLair effective June 1st. I am happy to report Tony Greco will also continue with this site in an increased roll. My contract with Rivals.com ran until the end of this year. In attempt to correct some technical issues Yahoo! Sports wanted to extend my agreement until the end of 2009 but I chose not to go that direction. There have been occasions that the PantherLair simply required too much of my time.
I have three grandsons. One has Downs Syndrome and he needs and deserves extra attention. The other two are actively involved in sports and I would like to spend some more time with them before it slips away. Neither are five-star prospects in fact they both often struggle just to get their fair share of playing time.
Despite their athletic limitations they are involved with big time programs. The oldest grandson will be a junior in high school this year. His team has been to the large school state finals two of the past three years and has won a Tennessee state championship once during that period. Last year was a rebuilding year for his team but even then they lost only by a score of 31-28 to Montgomery Bell Academy who went unbeaten and won the private school state championship. MBA is one of the best teams in the south and will be coming to Cincinnati this fall to play in the Herbstreit Classic. His high school team plays a brutal schedule and will once again face three teams that made it to the state semi-finals in various classifications last fall and that does not include two games with rivals that are very tough.
The youngest grandson who is still in grade school has already played on two state championship football teams and his little league baseball team won a local championship this spring. He already has attended one football practice (where they evaluate players for the various classifications for a program that hosts 700 players) so fall practice is only a few weeks away.
A special thanks and a look back
A number of people have worked at the PantherLair over the past seven years. I would like to recognize Steve Feller who in the early years kept this site alive despite having a family and a fulltime job elsewhere. He put in more hours that you can possibly imagine in those days.
The site and network have grown over the years adding photos, video and audio along the way. Sometimes when I look back for a file photo from several years ago I am shocked how little we had in those early years. The internet is still in its infancy so I have no doubt the network will continue to grow. Yahoo! Sports Is already the No. 1 sports destination on the internet behind ESPN and as a standalone entity Rivals.com is the dominant site on the internet for college football and basketball.
Some hoops talk
Tony Greco had an interview this week with small forward Darnell Dodson who is currently taking classes at Miami-Dade Junior College. As indicated in the article his current plan is to return to Pitt. The report out of Florida is that he is a bigger and better player than the one that came out of high school. The JUCO coaches expect him to have a huge year. He would have three years of eligibility at Pitt.
Darnell Dodson and five-star guard Lamar Patterson give you a very good head start on the Class of 2009. As discussed before forwards Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs will both graduate after the upcoming season. Landing a player capable of playing power forward should be the No. 1 target. Pitt is chasing a number of players including Dante Taylor.
Dante Taylor is also Maryland’s No. 1 target. The folks in Maryland feel this four-star forward will take his time and make official visits this fall before making any decision. Pitt and probably a dozen others schools will be trying to get him to leave the state of Maryland.
Rumors continue that another scholarship could open up. The speculation often involves Austin Wallace and the possibility that he could be declared medically unable to play. Should one open up players like Dominic Cheek and Brian Oliver could come into play. If you read the article on Cheek this week he does not seem to be in a big hurry to make a decision and that could be good news.
A colleague was talking to Coach Dixon a week ago and the coach was rattling off names of players that his staff was recruiting. He was asked where he was going to get the scholarships from and he simply gave a knowing smile. Coach Dixon has always had a policy of continuing to recruit even if he has no scholarships to give based on the philosophy of you never know when one will become available.
The last time I talked to Nasir Robinson he indicated he would take the SAT again in June so it will be sometime before you know where he stands.
Pitt has offered sophomore guard Isaiah Epps out of Plainfield, New Jersey as has Maryland. He is scheduled to visit Maryland June 24th & 25th.
The next AAU coverage comes in mid-June with the Nike Hoop Jam in St Louis and the Rumble in the Bronx (June 13-15).
Pitt ranked nationally in football
The first of the annual football magazines came out Memorial Day weekend and Lindy’s had Pitt ranked No. 23 in the country. I think this is pretty much what you can expect as these publications roll out. Pitt figures to be ranked from about No. 19 to No. 25 with a few having them just outside the Top 25. West Virginia should be the consensus choice to win the Big East. The Mountaineers have been tough to beat the past two years when their quarterback Pat White was healthy.
Where you rank Pitt may depend on your view of South Florida. Pitt must travel to Tampa to play the Bulls and their quarterback Matt Grothe returns to run their offense and George Selvie to lead their defense. Pitt will be a consensus pick to move up and back into the bowl scene but this game might determine just how high they go.
Recruiting roundup
Hopefully you saw Rivals analyst Jamie Newberg’s piece on Florida running backs. He counted 30 Florida backs with offers and he felt that number would climb to surpass the record 35 that were signed by Division 1 schools in 2006.
Last week we told you there is a very good chance LeSean McCoy is gone after this season. In fact the Pitt coaches are now using this as a recruiting tool in their pitch to land running backs. They are basically touting they have produced a first round draft pick and will you please come and take his place.
It appears they fail to mention Shariff Harris but this is recruiting and all is fair in love and war. Pitt has offers out to at least three Florida running backs. It is far too early to handicap a favorite but Pitt should grab at least one running back out of Florida.
Penn State now has 11 commitments while Pitt has been shutout so far. Pitt only offered three of those committed to Penn State and to be honest none of them showed a lot of interest in Pitt in recent months.
Back in February I was talking to a colleague and told him I would be hard pressed to name a player I thought would commit early to Pitt. A few that are Pitt leans come from schools that traditionally do not commit early. My concern has played itself out. Pitt will hold their summer camp in mid-June and maybe this will help break the log jam.
Earlier this week we had articles on DE Jack Lippert and DT Jordan Hill. Both players are from the Harrisburg area and are waiting to see if Penn State will offer. Their location puts them in the Penn State wheelhouse so we will have to wait and see how this plays out. While Pitt should have a smaller class this year it is our understanding that Penn State may take 25 or 26 in the Class of 2009.
The Pitt coaching staff will hold their annual summer camp in mid-June. This week four-star running back Tavon Austin from Baltimore Dunbar said he would be present at the Pitt camp. Coaches from across the country will be pitching recruits to attend their camps over the next couple of weeks. Tight end Mike Poplaski from Mechanicsburg has advised us he will also be there. Now that Neshaminy tight end Paul Carrezola has committed to Rutgers the Pitt coaches have shown more interest in him. Tight end Gary Gilliam (6’ 7” 245) from Hershey told Mike Farrell he plans to be there too. Tight end Steve Marck from Pennsbury High School will also be a camper.
Wide receiver Justin Brown from Concord, Delaware called me out of left field late last night to tell me he had recently received offers from Illinois, LSU and Tennessee. I did not know it at the time but we were ahead of him and had already reported those offers. I asked if he was still considering Pitt and he said he was. He said he was still open to all schools. It won’t be easy, however, he said he has 16 or 17 offers in total.
As indicated last week here are a few scheduled release dates.
June 9th - Update Rivals100
June 10th - Update Rivals250
June 11th - First release of three star players
We will have a number of articles for you today featuring players that the Pitt coaching is recruing.
In conclusion let me say I was at a Nashville restaurant recently. The waiter told me he was originally from the Allentown-Scranton area. I told him that I too was from Pennsylvania. He asked if I was Penn State fan. I laughed and told him I followed the University of Pittsburgh. He promptly replied that Dave Wannstedt was going to turn the Pitt program around. He quickly jumped in again and said jeez you guys have Jamie Dixon too. Your school has two great coaches. It must be a great time to be a Pitt fan. I agreed.
It is high likely that both the football program and the basketball program will be nationally-ranked this year. The women’s basketball program should be also. It looks like a great year to be a Pitt fan.
Hail to Pitt!
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 5/30 10:32 AM by Jim Pantherlair
Changes at the PantherLair
Chris Peak will be taking over as publisher of the PantherLair effective June 1st. I am happy to report Tony Greco will also continue with this site in an increased roll. My contract with Rivals.com ran until the end of this year. In attempt to correct some technical issues Yahoo! Sports wanted to extend my agreement until the end of 2009 but I chose not to go that direction. There have been occasions that the PantherLair simply required too much of my time.
I have three grandsons. One has Downs Syndrome and he needs and deserves extra attention. The other two are actively involved in sports and I would like to spend some more time with them before it slips away. Neither are five-star prospects in fact they both often struggle just to get their fair share of playing time.
Despite their athletic limitations they are involved with big time programs. The oldest grandson will be a junior in high school this year. His team has been to the large school state finals two of the past three years and has won a Tennessee state championship once during that period. Last year was a rebuilding year for his team but even then they lost only by a score of 31-28 to Montgomery Bell Academy who went unbeaten and won the private school state championship. MBA is one of the best teams in the south and will be coming to Cincinnati this fall to play in the Herbstreit Classic. His high school team plays a brutal schedule and will once again face three teams that made it to the state semi-finals in various classifications last fall and that does not include two games with rivals that are very tough.
The youngest grandson who is still in grade school has already played on two state championship football teams and his little league baseball team won a local championship this spring. He already has attended one football practice (where they evaluate players for the various classifications for a program that hosts 700 players) so fall practice is only a few weeks away.
A special thanks and a look back
A number of people have worked at the PantherLair over the past seven years. I would like to recognize Steve Feller who in the early years kept this site alive despite having a family and a fulltime job elsewhere. He put in more hours that you can possibly imagine in those days.
The site and network have grown over the years adding photos, video and audio along the way. Sometimes when I look back for a file photo from several years ago I am shocked how little we had in those early years. The internet is still in its infancy so I have no doubt the network will continue to grow. Yahoo! Sports Is already the No. 1 sports destination on the internet behind ESPN and as a standalone entity Rivals.com is the dominant site on the internet for college football and basketball.
Some hoops talk
Tony Greco had an interview this week with small forward Darnell Dodson who is currently taking classes at Miami-Dade Junior College. As indicated in the article his current plan is to return to Pitt. The report out of Florida is that he is a bigger and better player than the one that came out of high school. The JUCO coaches expect him to have a huge year. He would have three years of eligibility at Pitt.
Darnell Dodson and five-star guard Lamar Patterson give you a very good head start on the Class of 2009. As discussed before forwards Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs will both graduate after the upcoming season. Landing a player capable of playing power forward should be the No. 1 target. Pitt is chasing a number of players including Dante Taylor.
Dante Taylor is also Maryland’s No. 1 target. The folks in Maryland feel this four-star forward will take his time and make official visits this fall before making any decision. Pitt and probably a dozen others schools will be trying to get him to leave the state of Maryland.
Rumors continue that another scholarship could open up. The speculation often involves Austin Wallace and the possibility that he could be declared medically unable to play. Should one open up players like Dominic Cheek and Brian Oliver could come into play. If you read the article on Cheek this week he does not seem to be in a big hurry to make a decision and that could be good news.
A colleague was talking to Coach Dixon a week ago and the coach was rattling off names of players that his staff was recruiting. He was asked where he was going to get the scholarships from and he simply gave a knowing smile. Coach Dixon has always had a policy of continuing to recruit even if he has no scholarships to give based on the philosophy of you never know when one will become available.
The last time I talked to Nasir Robinson he indicated he would take the SAT again in June so it will be sometime before you know where he stands.
Pitt has offered sophomore guard Isaiah Epps out of Plainfield, New Jersey as has Maryland. He is scheduled to visit Maryland June 24th & 25th.
The next AAU coverage comes in mid-June with the Nike Hoop Jam in St Louis and the Rumble in the Bronx (June 13-15).
Pitt ranked nationally in football
The first of the annual football magazines came out Memorial Day weekend and Lindy’s had Pitt ranked No. 23 in the country. I think this is pretty much what you can expect as these publications roll out. Pitt figures to be ranked from about No. 19 to No. 25 with a few having them just outside the Top 25. West Virginia should be the consensus choice to win the Big East. The Mountaineers have been tough to beat the past two years when their quarterback Pat White was healthy.
Where you rank Pitt may depend on your view of South Florida. Pitt must travel to Tampa to play the Bulls and their quarterback Matt Grothe returns to run their offense and George Selvie to lead their defense. Pitt will be a consensus pick to move up and back into the bowl scene but this game might determine just how high they go.
Recruiting roundup
Hopefully you saw Rivals analyst Jamie Newberg’s piece on Florida running backs. He counted 30 Florida backs with offers and he felt that number would climb to surpass the record 35 that were signed by Division 1 schools in 2006.
Last week we told you there is a very good chance LeSean McCoy is gone after this season. In fact the Pitt coaches are now using this as a recruiting tool in their pitch to land running backs. They are basically touting they have produced a first round draft pick and will you please come and take his place.
It appears they fail to mention Shariff Harris but this is recruiting and all is fair in love and war. Pitt has offers out to at least three Florida running backs. It is far too early to handicap a favorite but Pitt should grab at least one running back out of Florida.
Penn State now has 11 commitments while Pitt has been shutout so far. Pitt only offered three of those committed to Penn State and to be honest none of them showed a lot of interest in Pitt in recent months.
Back in February I was talking to a colleague and told him I would be hard pressed to name a player I thought would commit early to Pitt. A few that are Pitt leans come from schools that traditionally do not commit early. My concern has played itself out. Pitt will hold their summer camp in mid-June and maybe this will help break the log jam.
Earlier this week we had articles on DE Jack Lippert and DT Jordan Hill. Both players are from the Harrisburg area and are waiting to see if Penn State will offer. Their location puts them in the Penn State wheelhouse so we will have to wait and see how this plays out. While Pitt should have a smaller class this year it is our understanding that Penn State may take 25 or 26 in the Class of 2009.
The Pitt coaching staff will hold their annual summer camp in mid-June. This week four-star running back Tavon Austin from Baltimore Dunbar said he would be present at the Pitt camp. Coaches from across the country will be pitching recruits to attend their camps over the next couple of weeks. Tight end Mike Poplaski from Mechanicsburg has advised us he will also be there. Now that Neshaminy tight end Paul Carrezola has committed to Rutgers the Pitt coaches have shown more interest in him. Tight end Gary Gilliam (6’ 7” 245) from Hershey told Mike Farrell he plans to be there too. Tight end Steve Marck from Pennsbury High School will also be a camper.
Wide receiver Justin Brown from Concord, Delaware called me out of left field late last night to tell me he had recently received offers from Illinois, LSU and Tennessee. I did not know it at the time but we were ahead of him and had already reported those offers. I asked if he was still considering Pitt and he said he was. He said he was still open to all schools. It won’t be easy, however, he said he has 16 or 17 offers in total.
As indicated last week here are a few scheduled release dates.
June 9th - Update Rivals100
June 10th - Update Rivals250
June 11th - First release of three star players
We will have a number of articles for you today featuring players that the Pitt coaching is recruing.
In conclusion let me say I was at a Nashville restaurant recently. The waiter told me he was originally from the Allentown-Scranton area. I told him that I too was from Pennsylvania. He asked if I was Penn State fan. I laughed and told him I followed the University of Pittsburgh. He promptly replied that Dave Wannstedt was going to turn the Pitt program around. He quickly jumped in again and said jeez you guys have Jamie Dixon too. Your school has two great coaches. It must be a great time to be a Pitt fan. I agreed.
It is high likely that both the football program and the basketball program will be nationally-ranked this year. The women’s basketball program should be also. It looks like a great year to be a Pitt fan.
Hail to Pitt!
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 5/30 10:32 AM by Jim Pantherlair
