War Room November 11th
From the desk of Jim Snyder
Rivals.com has introduced a new national basketball site. You can reach it by clicking on the black border at the top of each page marked “NCAA BB”. The football national site is labeled “NCAA FB”.
The recruiting yearbooks are in the mail if you are an annual subscriber so keep an eye out. You should have yours shortly.
Bobby Burton was talking about conference expansion recently on Rivals Radio. He indicated that there is virtually no talk of expansion in the PAC 10. The folks in the PAC 10 are happy right where they are. He indicated there is some talk about Big Ten expansion down the road. Their first choice would be Notre Dame but they are not going anywhere. This week Notre Dame signed a ten-year deal with Adidas worth $60 million dollars through the 2013-2014 school year. They can’t get out of they way of the money in South Bend. There is little chance they will join the Big Ten or the Big East (for football). The Big Ten would then look at Missouri or Nebraska. If they fail on those two they might look at a Big East school (Pitt, Syracuse or Rutgers). Pitt has never won an outright championship in football in the Big East. They did end up in a three way tie last year but their were only 7 teams in the conference in a transition year. For the time being everyone involved in the athletic program should make winning and building the Big East their primary focus. There is a “window” after five (5) years in the Big East agreement. No one really knows how this will play out. Logic says the football only schools will go their separate ways. If they do they would add a school or two. Memphis and/or Central Florida might be logical candidates. There are many drivers in this type of decision and many of them are spelled money. Who knows the television market place might decide they want the football schools to stay with the basketball schools. All it takes is green cash.
All conferences deliver money from few sources. The first is network television, the second is bowl games (including the BCS bowl) and another is in home football games. Eight team football conferences come up short in delivering home football games.
In a recent press conference coach Wannstedt talked about the high expectations this summer when Pitt was nationally ranked and he acknowledged that he did little to cool the enthusiasm. In fact he helped fan the flames. He told me this summer in a brief conversation that they might sellout the game with Connecticut (later in the year). Pitt would have to be at least 8-1 right now to have a realistic shot at that. Instead they are 4-5. Among they many things that went wrong was the fact that this staff may have over estimated just what they had on their hands coming off an eight win season. I think the staff has a little better understanding right now of where the program stands. Recently juniors Tyler Palko and H.B. Blades questioned if all of the players were dedicated to turning things around. Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia went through similar problems in his first year and then quickly took their program to a higher level. All Pitt fans are hoping that coach Wannstedt will do the same.
I case you missed it Pitt’s game at Central Florida has been moved from 2008 to too 2006. We have updated our future schedule. There is a good possibility Pitt will play the Citadel at home next year. They are a 1AA school. Pitt is still trying to schedule a 1A school but they are running out of time. Pitt would make two trips to Florida next year. They would play Central Florida in a non-conference game and South Florida in a conference game. I have already notified my wife we will be making a trip to at least one of these games (and maybe both).
Some recruiting updates
Harry had an article this week on defensive back Javoni Chappel from Trotwood-Madison High School in Ohio. He is visiting Pitt today. He was scheduled to visit last month but committed to Purdue. Pitt figured he was no interested and cancelled the trip. I talked to him at the time and he was very disappointed. It is usually tough to flip a player once he has committed but Chappel might be an exception to the rule.
The Tribune-Review had an article this week on Dorin Dickerson. In this Q&A article it indicated that Southern Cal, Michigan Florida and West Virginia all continued to recruit him after he committed to Pitt.
One of our “birdies” has indicated that Pitt continues to recruit Penn State commit Eric Latimore from Delaware. Not sure what the chances of turning this defensive end around are but we will check with him in a few weeks to find out.
Harry also had an article on Aaron Berry from Bishop McDevitt. Berry usually mentions Pitt in his top five and our “birdies felt they Pitt staff thinks they might get a visit. I did not like him telling Harry he might not take an official visit because he has already been there. This is usually the kiss of death. If a player has a school high on his list he usually wants to make as many visits as possible to make sure he is not making a mistake. Berry visited Minnesota recently with teammate Jason Kates. Kates has never been high on Pitt so he does not make a good travelling companion.
In case you missed it Vernon “pig” Smith has told a Rivals reporter that Pitt is no longer interested in him. He was recruited by the old Walt Harris staff. The new staff got commitments from linebackers Greg Webster, Nate Nix and Dan Loheyde. The only linebacker that graduates is J.J. Horne. I have reason to believe they told at least one of the WPIAL linebackers if he committed they would not take any others and with good reason too. They have more pressing needs and don’t have many more scholarships to give. A few players will probably leave the program and Pitt needs them to or they can not take any more players. They are up against the 85-man scholarship limitation.
Harry had interviewed wide receiver Jamar Howard (6’ 5” 200) from Cincinnati Winthrow who told him he would be visiting Pitt in a couple of weeks. We assumed he meant for the UConn game. It turns out he is headed for Minnesota this weekend. We spoke to him again this week and he tells us that he still wants to visit Pitt. His top four are Minnesota, Iowa, West Virginia and Pitt. It won’t be easy for him to visit all four. He is one of the top basketball players in Cincinnati. Any time you have a football prospect that also plays basketball it is very tough for them to get all five of their visits in. Quite frankly wide receiver is not a high priority for Pitt with verbals from West Allegheny’s Dorin Dickerson and Gateway’s Aaron Smith but from what we have seen on video this big guy has a chance to be something special. We will keep following him to see if he schedules a trip to Pitt. We think Pitt will have several players in the weekend of December 2nd. Maybe he will be with that group. He said he might switch his scheduled visit with Iowa that is currently in the database.
A week or so ago we spoke to Cincinnati Winthrow coach “Doc” Gamble about obtaining video for Jamar Howard. This has to one of the better names for a football coach. If Matt Cavanaugh doesn’t work out what football fan wouldn’t like to have an offensive coordinator named “Doc” Gamble.
Pitt has offered offensive tackles Clarence Bailey from Lackawanna Junior College and Jeff Otah from Valley Forge. Our sources indicate their best shot is with Jeff Otah and in fact they feel Pitt is the leader. He will visit a couple of schools. It looks like West Virginia and South Carolina. While we believe Pitt is his leader it is always possible that he will fall in love while making another visit. Many of these prospects at military schools look for a way to get a weekend pass. Who can blame them? You are treated like a celebrity on an official visit. It beats marching around in your spare time. Yesterday we had an article on Oliver tackle Kevin Macon (6’ 7” 317). We think he maybe the back up plan if they do not land Otah.
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 11/11 2:16 PM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
This post was edited on 11/11 2:20 PM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
From the desk of Jim Snyder
Rivals.com has introduced a new national basketball site. You can reach it by clicking on the black border at the top of each page marked “NCAA BB”. The football national site is labeled “NCAA FB”.
The recruiting yearbooks are in the mail if you are an annual subscriber so keep an eye out. You should have yours shortly.
Bobby Burton was talking about conference expansion recently on Rivals Radio. He indicated that there is virtually no talk of expansion in the PAC 10. The folks in the PAC 10 are happy right where they are. He indicated there is some talk about Big Ten expansion down the road. Their first choice would be Notre Dame but they are not going anywhere. This week Notre Dame signed a ten-year deal with Adidas worth $60 million dollars through the 2013-2014 school year. They can’t get out of they way of the money in South Bend. There is little chance they will join the Big Ten or the Big East (for football). The Big Ten would then look at Missouri or Nebraska. If they fail on those two they might look at a Big East school (Pitt, Syracuse or Rutgers). Pitt has never won an outright championship in football in the Big East. They did end up in a three way tie last year but their were only 7 teams in the conference in a transition year. For the time being everyone involved in the athletic program should make winning and building the Big East their primary focus. There is a “window” after five (5) years in the Big East agreement. No one really knows how this will play out. Logic says the football only schools will go their separate ways. If they do they would add a school or two. Memphis and/or Central Florida might be logical candidates. There are many drivers in this type of decision and many of them are spelled money. Who knows the television market place might decide they want the football schools to stay with the basketball schools. All it takes is green cash.
All conferences deliver money from few sources. The first is network television, the second is bowl games (including the BCS bowl) and another is in home football games. Eight team football conferences come up short in delivering home football games.
In a recent press conference coach Wannstedt talked about the high expectations this summer when Pitt was nationally ranked and he acknowledged that he did little to cool the enthusiasm. In fact he helped fan the flames. He told me this summer in a brief conversation that they might sellout the game with Connecticut (later in the year). Pitt would have to be at least 8-1 right now to have a realistic shot at that. Instead they are 4-5. Among they many things that went wrong was the fact that this staff may have over estimated just what they had on their hands coming off an eight win season. I think the staff has a little better understanding right now of where the program stands. Recently juniors Tyler Palko and H.B. Blades questioned if all of the players were dedicated to turning things around. Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia went through similar problems in his first year and then quickly took their program to a higher level. All Pitt fans are hoping that coach Wannstedt will do the same.
I case you missed it Pitt’s game at Central Florida has been moved from 2008 to too 2006. We have updated our future schedule. There is a good possibility Pitt will play the Citadel at home next year. They are a 1AA school. Pitt is still trying to schedule a 1A school but they are running out of time. Pitt would make two trips to Florida next year. They would play Central Florida in a non-conference game and South Florida in a conference game. I have already notified my wife we will be making a trip to at least one of these games (and maybe both).
Some recruiting updates
Harry had an article this week on defensive back Javoni Chappel from Trotwood-Madison High School in Ohio. He is visiting Pitt today. He was scheduled to visit last month but committed to Purdue. Pitt figured he was no interested and cancelled the trip. I talked to him at the time and he was very disappointed. It is usually tough to flip a player once he has committed but Chappel might be an exception to the rule.
The Tribune-Review had an article this week on Dorin Dickerson. In this Q&A article it indicated that Southern Cal, Michigan Florida and West Virginia all continued to recruit him after he committed to Pitt.
One of our “birdies” has indicated that Pitt continues to recruit Penn State commit Eric Latimore from Delaware. Not sure what the chances of turning this defensive end around are but we will check with him in a few weeks to find out.
Harry also had an article on Aaron Berry from Bishop McDevitt. Berry usually mentions Pitt in his top five and our “birdies felt they Pitt staff thinks they might get a visit. I did not like him telling Harry he might not take an official visit because he has already been there. This is usually the kiss of death. If a player has a school high on his list he usually wants to make as many visits as possible to make sure he is not making a mistake. Berry visited Minnesota recently with teammate Jason Kates. Kates has never been high on Pitt so he does not make a good travelling companion.
In case you missed it Vernon “pig” Smith has told a Rivals reporter that Pitt is no longer interested in him. He was recruited by the old Walt Harris staff. The new staff got commitments from linebackers Greg Webster, Nate Nix and Dan Loheyde. The only linebacker that graduates is J.J. Horne. I have reason to believe they told at least one of the WPIAL linebackers if he committed they would not take any others and with good reason too. They have more pressing needs and don’t have many more scholarships to give. A few players will probably leave the program and Pitt needs them to or they can not take any more players. They are up against the 85-man scholarship limitation.
Harry had interviewed wide receiver Jamar Howard (6’ 5” 200) from Cincinnati Winthrow who told him he would be visiting Pitt in a couple of weeks. We assumed he meant for the UConn game. It turns out he is headed for Minnesota this weekend. We spoke to him again this week and he tells us that he still wants to visit Pitt. His top four are Minnesota, Iowa, West Virginia and Pitt. It won’t be easy for him to visit all four. He is one of the top basketball players in Cincinnati. Any time you have a football prospect that also plays basketball it is very tough for them to get all five of their visits in. Quite frankly wide receiver is not a high priority for Pitt with verbals from West Allegheny’s Dorin Dickerson and Gateway’s Aaron Smith but from what we have seen on video this big guy has a chance to be something special. We will keep following him to see if he schedules a trip to Pitt. We think Pitt will have several players in the weekend of December 2nd. Maybe he will be with that group. He said he might switch his scheduled visit with Iowa that is currently in the database.
A week or so ago we spoke to Cincinnati Winthrow coach “Doc” Gamble about obtaining video for Jamar Howard. This has to one of the better names for a football coach. If Matt Cavanaugh doesn’t work out what football fan wouldn’t like to have an offensive coordinator named “Doc” Gamble.
Pitt has offered offensive tackles Clarence Bailey from Lackawanna Junior College and Jeff Otah from Valley Forge. Our sources indicate their best shot is with Jeff Otah and in fact they feel Pitt is the leader. He will visit a couple of schools. It looks like West Virginia and South Carolina. While we believe Pitt is his leader it is always possible that he will fall in love while making another visit. Many of these prospects at military schools look for a way to get a weekend pass. Who can blame them? You are treated like a celebrity on an official visit. It beats marching around in your spare time. Yesterday we had an article on Oliver tackle Kevin Macon (6’ 7” 317). We think he maybe the back up plan if they do not land Otah.
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 11/11 2:16 PM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
This post was edited on 11/11 2:20 PM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
