From the Desk of Jim Snyder
The lawsuit is settled
It is good to read that the lawsuit involving Pitt and the ACC schools has been settled. It is hard to totally evaluate this agreement but it looks like Pitt has accomplished about all that they could realistically hoped for. The ACC pays $5 million. It probably is not a coincidence that this is the amount Boston College should have paid for their departure. The ACC schools have refused to schedule Pitt with the lawsuit pending. Putting a schedule together can be very difficult when 18% of the BCS schools are boycotting you. Pitt gets a home game with Miami and a home and away series with NC State. These are a big help with the future schedules. Jeff Long will now need to look to the Big Ten (hopefully Penn State) for some additional non-conference games.
We will probably never know for sure but I suspect the lawsuit also helped the Big East maintain their BCS status. Last week the BCS conferences set up an arrangement, which guarantees the Big East Conference is a participant over the short run and is also a virtual lock over the long run. It has bought the Big East time to rebuild the strength of their conference.
The new BCS agreement also took care of Notre Dame. It virtually assures that Notre Dame will remain an independent in football for a very long time. Now that the NCAA has approved the 12th game it is time for Notre Dame to step up and honor its verbal commitment by scheduling some games with Big East football schools. Hopefully they will start by playing UConn, Rutgers and Syracuse in the Meadowlands. The more games that Notre Dame schedules with the Big East the more television exposure the league will get.
Tidbits from the Nike Camp at State College
Some of our readers have commented on the fact that the Nike Camp at State College has been a recruiting advantage to Penn State. It has been. They wrap a Junior Day around the camp. On Friday night several recruits were registering at the Penn State football building while I was there. I assume they were on their way to dinner with their families and the Penn State staff.
Pitt will now counter with an Adidas Camp at the UPMC complex on May 14th. Hopefully, this will be as well run as the Nike Camps. It remains to be seen how many of the top prospects show up at this camp. Pitt assistant coach Curtis Bray was at State College and told us he was hopeful of a good turnout next week.
They had over 400 athletes at the Nike Camp at State College. They were all put through a very good workout. This camp serves the entire East Coast. The entire Penn State staff with the exception of Joe Paterno watched the player’s workout.
One of the funnier stories at the Nike Camp was that Phil Grosz got himself thrown out of the Penn State weight room when he was interviewing players while they were working out. The coaches that run the camp are not fond of reporters pulling kids out of line. There were reporters there from several Rivals sites and only Phil Grosz manages to get himself thrown out. Go figure.
I was speaking to the publisher of the Michigan site. He told me the Wolverines now try to put one of their best recruiters into Western PA. Their success in recent years is not an accident. On the flip side a reporter from the Michigan State site told me they have had trouble recruiting in Western PA in recent years and have found more success on the eastern side of the state.
Student Sports, which is affiliated with the Rivals network, has exclusive rights to much of the Nike data for 30 days. They organize and run the camps. The data is then made available to all Rivals sites. The data from the first camp at Miami should be downloaded into our system this coming week.
Dorin Dickerson from West Allegheny not only passes the “look test” but also had the best SPARQ ranking at State College. In addition he was named Co-MVP. He worked out first with the running backs and later with the wide receivers. His coach, Bob Palko, was there with Dickerson’s father. We spoke briefly. Coach Palko said that the opener with Notre Dame would put a little pressure on the Pitt team in the off-season, which he thought might be a positive. Dickerson is listed in the database as an “athlete”. He feels he will eventually play wide receiver in college but will be a running back at West Allegheny this fall.
South Park quarterback Connor Dixon ran a 4.45 in the 40, which is moving for someone of his height. He has visited Pitt on a number of occasions and Matt Cavanaugh has allowed him to sit in one of the quarterback meetings. Pitt has offered Pat Devlin. If things do not workout with Devlin, Dixon is one of a number of solid quarterback prospects in Western PA.
Mychal Skinner of Kiski is also an impressive looking athlete that also worked out with the quarterbacks. He still needs to work on his accuracy, which is to be expected for someone that was injured much of his junior year. Jeremy Patterson who reports on the Southeast for Rivals singled out “the guy in gold shorts” as being an impressive prospect. Skinner missed a large portion of his junior year due to injury and needs the exposure these camps offer.
Quarterback Pat Devlin looked very good although he still needs to add some weight to his upper body. That should come in time as he ages and continues to work out.
Elijah Fields from Duquesne also passes the “look test”. He told us that both Pitt and West Virginia are talking to him about playing defensive back although it is clear he would like a shot at wide receiver if possible.
Kevin Gorman rode up to State College with Bill Stull and I was able to speak briefly with Stull. He was able to attend most of the Pitt spring practices. He sat in on a number of the quarterback meetings. Tyler Palko did a similar thing when Walt Harris was at Pitt. Bill Stull indicated he would start taking classes at Pitt as soon as he graduates from high school. You may recall that Shane Books from Duquesne told us he also would be starting in June. It appears that several of the local players that are not in the Big 33 game will start early. I am not sure if this puts pressure on those selected for the Big 33 game.
Bill Stull was there to watch his former teammate Brandon Bogdanski workout. I believe Seton-LaSalle’s Bogdanski ran the 40 in 4.5 seconds.
Kevin Gorman told us the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wants him to cut back on the recruiting articles. He will still be covering high school sports for them but there will be fewer recruiting articles. This is a decision made by Tribune-Review sports editor.
Baldwin’s Cart Kelly would love to get an offer from Pitt. He had a very good workout at the Nike Camp. We will have to see if he gets caught in the scholarship crunch at Pitt. If you had a full compliment of a scholarships he would be a prospect that would be offered.
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.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
The lawsuit is settled
It is good to read that the lawsuit involving Pitt and the ACC schools has been settled. It is hard to totally evaluate this agreement but it looks like Pitt has accomplished about all that they could realistically hoped for. The ACC pays $5 million. It probably is not a coincidence that this is the amount Boston College should have paid for their departure. The ACC schools have refused to schedule Pitt with the lawsuit pending. Putting a schedule together can be very difficult when 18% of the BCS schools are boycotting you. Pitt gets a home game with Miami and a home and away series with NC State. These are a big help with the future schedules. Jeff Long will now need to look to the Big Ten (hopefully Penn State) for some additional non-conference games.
We will probably never know for sure but I suspect the lawsuit also helped the Big East maintain their BCS status. Last week the BCS conferences set up an arrangement, which guarantees the Big East Conference is a participant over the short run and is also a virtual lock over the long run. It has bought the Big East time to rebuild the strength of their conference.
The new BCS agreement also took care of Notre Dame. It virtually assures that Notre Dame will remain an independent in football for a very long time. Now that the NCAA has approved the 12th game it is time for Notre Dame to step up and honor its verbal commitment by scheduling some games with Big East football schools. Hopefully they will start by playing UConn, Rutgers and Syracuse in the Meadowlands. The more games that Notre Dame schedules with the Big East the more television exposure the league will get.
Tidbits from the Nike Camp at State College
Some of our readers have commented on the fact that the Nike Camp at State College has been a recruiting advantage to Penn State. It has been. They wrap a Junior Day around the camp. On Friday night several recruits were registering at the Penn State football building while I was there. I assume they were on their way to dinner with their families and the Penn State staff.
Pitt will now counter with an Adidas Camp at the UPMC complex on May 14th. Hopefully, this will be as well run as the Nike Camps. It remains to be seen how many of the top prospects show up at this camp. Pitt assistant coach Curtis Bray was at State College and told us he was hopeful of a good turnout next week.
They had over 400 athletes at the Nike Camp at State College. They were all put through a very good workout. This camp serves the entire East Coast. The entire Penn State staff with the exception of Joe Paterno watched the player’s workout.
One of the funnier stories at the Nike Camp was that Phil Grosz got himself thrown out of the Penn State weight room when he was interviewing players while they were working out. The coaches that run the camp are not fond of reporters pulling kids out of line. There were reporters there from several Rivals sites and only Phil Grosz manages to get himself thrown out. Go figure.
I was speaking to the publisher of the Michigan site. He told me the Wolverines now try to put one of their best recruiters into Western PA. Their success in recent years is not an accident. On the flip side a reporter from the Michigan State site told me they have had trouble recruiting in Western PA in recent years and have found more success on the eastern side of the state.
Student Sports, which is affiliated with the Rivals network, has exclusive rights to much of the Nike data for 30 days. They organize and run the camps. The data is then made available to all Rivals sites. The data from the first camp at Miami should be downloaded into our system this coming week.
Dorin Dickerson from West Allegheny not only passes the “look test” but also had the best SPARQ ranking at State College. In addition he was named Co-MVP. He worked out first with the running backs and later with the wide receivers. His coach, Bob Palko, was there with Dickerson’s father. We spoke briefly. Coach Palko said that the opener with Notre Dame would put a little pressure on the Pitt team in the off-season, which he thought might be a positive. Dickerson is listed in the database as an “athlete”. He feels he will eventually play wide receiver in college but will be a running back at West Allegheny this fall.
South Park quarterback Connor Dixon ran a 4.45 in the 40, which is moving for someone of his height. He has visited Pitt on a number of occasions and Matt Cavanaugh has allowed him to sit in one of the quarterback meetings. Pitt has offered Pat Devlin. If things do not workout with Devlin, Dixon is one of a number of solid quarterback prospects in Western PA.
Mychal Skinner of Kiski is also an impressive looking athlete that also worked out with the quarterbacks. He still needs to work on his accuracy, which is to be expected for someone that was injured much of his junior year. Jeremy Patterson who reports on the Southeast for Rivals singled out “the guy in gold shorts” as being an impressive prospect. Skinner missed a large portion of his junior year due to injury and needs the exposure these camps offer.
Quarterback Pat Devlin looked very good although he still needs to add some weight to his upper body. That should come in time as he ages and continues to work out.
Elijah Fields from Duquesne also passes the “look test”. He told us that both Pitt and West Virginia are talking to him about playing defensive back although it is clear he would like a shot at wide receiver if possible.
Kevin Gorman rode up to State College with Bill Stull and I was able to speak briefly with Stull. He was able to attend most of the Pitt spring practices. He sat in on a number of the quarterback meetings. Tyler Palko did a similar thing when Walt Harris was at Pitt. Bill Stull indicated he would start taking classes at Pitt as soon as he graduates from high school. You may recall that Shane Books from Duquesne told us he also would be starting in June. It appears that several of the local players that are not in the Big 33 game will start early. I am not sure if this puts pressure on those selected for the Big 33 game.
Bill Stull was there to watch his former teammate Brandon Bogdanski workout. I believe Seton-LaSalle’s Bogdanski ran the 40 in 4.5 seconds.
Kevin Gorman told us the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wants him to cut back on the recruiting articles. He will still be covering high school sports for them but there will be fewer recruiting articles. This is a decision made by Tribune-Review sports editor.
Baldwin’s Cart Kelly would love to get an offer from Pitt. He had a very good workout at the Nike Camp. We will have to see if he gets caught in the scholarship crunch at Pitt. If you had a full compliment of a scholarships he would be a prospect that would be offered.
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.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
