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From the Desk of Jim Snyder
A Little Hoops Talk Please
Ronald Ramon is giving every indication that he will live up to his reputation as a big time shooter. One observer indicated he had the ability to get his shot of quickly when coming off a screen similar to Gary McNamara at Syracuse. Chevon Troutman, Carl Krauser and Chris Taft have three starting spots locked up for Coach Dixon’s team. It is beginning to look like Ramon will grab one of the two remaining spots. We may spend the next six weeks trying to figure out who will man the fifth spot come Big East Conference time.
Pitt currently has four scholarships to give this year. This number could rise to six (6) if Chris Taft and Carol Krauser leave early as many expect. I am not sure it would be a good wise to give six away. Pitt has three freshman (redshirt or true) and three sophomores (redshirt or true) on the roster in addition to junior John DeGroat. If you used all six there would not be good balance among the classes and there might not be a scholarship available for the recruiting Class of 2006. You would expect Jamie Dixon to save one or two. You would have to find a very good prospect to use one up.
We had a long conversation with Xaverian Coach Jack Alesi last week. Xaverian Coach Jack Alesi described Levance Fields as a stocky guard. He would remind you of Khalid El-Amin at Connecticut or John Bagley from Boston College. He said he is very fast and shoots the ball well. He also said he has a very good feel for the game. He described him as a typical Pitt kid, a team player. Coach Alesi indicated that a year ago Pitt would not have recruited him but his shooting improved dramatically over a one-year period. We had a good feeling after his visit but the longer this thing drags out the more skeptical you get about Pitt’s chances. Fields always has the option to wait until the late signing period. We had called numerous times late last week to Fields and his coach and they did not respond. The early signing period begins Wednesday (November 10th).
He has another guard by the name of Saquoin Stone (6’ 5”). I asked if Pitt was recruiting him and he said, “I wouldn’t call it recruiting him right now. I think they are intrigued by him and want to see him play this year. They have shown some mild interest.”
We commented that his team would be shorter this year. Coach Alesi replied, “Yeah about 6’ 9” shorter. If Mike Davis were still here we would have been ranked nationally.” We asked if it was possible if Mike might still gain eligibility and he said it was possible. He indicated that Xaverian is a demanding school. He indicated that Mike Davis and Chris Taft were a lot a like but Taft knew he had to take care of business in the classroom. He thought Mike was a product of AAU ball and thought too much about basketball and not enough about the classroom. He said he often had to sit Mike last year hoping to get his attention. He hoped by not playing him as a junior he would be ready for a big senior year. He indicated that if Mike gets his act together he has a world of upside potential. Mike lives with a guardian. He indicated that, “He is what we call an AVID kid in New York”. Having foster parents meant the state was paying almost $20,000 a year in tuition to send Mike to Xaverian. He is now in a NY City public school. Ugh!! He described Mike as a very likable kid. A very nice kid who needs to grow up quickly. Hopefully getting pitched out of Xaverian will get his attention. My guess is Coach Dixon and his staff will continue to monitor his progress this year.
A few months ago I attended a conference of Rivals publishers. The President of Rivals.com, Terry Shannon, made a point of proclaiming Rivals as being “tennis shoe neutral.” As you are aware, Rivals currently has a tie in to the Nike football camps. Rivals.com has also now entered into agreements with Reebok, Nike and Adidas for exclusive material from the AAU basketball camps next summer. We thought at the time that the line “tennis shoe neutral” was a great line. Sometimes it pays to be “coach neutral”.
Football rumblings
Pitt (5-3) lost a golden opportunity to become bowl eligible on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. It is easy to pick out many, many plays in a double overtime loss that might have made the difference. Tyler Palko did a good job of getting Pitt in a position to win it in regulation play only to see Josh Cummings hook a field goal attempt with time expiring. He simply rushed the kick.
Pitt (5-3) must now travel to Notre Dame (6-3). The Irish lost the statistical battle but beat Tennessee after the Vols quarterback went down with a separated shoulder. The Vols had lost their backup quarterback a week earlier to a broken collarbone. Tennessee had no firepower playing with their third-string quarterback. You now have to figure Notre Dame will beat Pitt this weekend at home. Pitt is coming off a brutal loss while the Irish have a bowl game in their sight.
Don’t look now but Boston College is very much alive to win the Big East Conference. The Eagles are 6-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play. If they beat West Virginia (8-1) in Morgantown they look to be in the drivers seat for the conference’s BCS slot. Pitt fans will find themselves in the strange position of rooting for the Mountaineers this weekend.
Cincinnati (5-4) stumbled around a little early in the year under first year Head Coach Mark Dantonio. The Bearcats have come back with a nice three game win streak against Memphis, TCU and Southern Miss to raise their record to 5-4. The Bearcats beat Southern Miss on the road. Southern Miss was 5-1 going into the game and ranked No. 21 in the country. Cincy hosts South Florida next and a win would make them bowl eligible. More importantly it really opens the door for Louisville to win Conference USA outright if the Cards run the table. Having Louisville come into the Big East as the Conference USA conference would give the new Big East a small boost.
Mike Tranghese has to be rooting for West Virginia and Louisville to run the table. It is the best thing that could happen to slow some of the negative talk while the conference is trying to rebuild.
The Pitt administration finds themselves one step closer to changing directions with the football program. Most Pitt alums are very unhappy and recruiting has become very difficult. Many close to the Pitt scene were very unhappy with the remarks of Walt Harris’ agent a couple of weeks ago. While many of his points might have been valid some of them were best left unsaid in public. Taking Pitt’s program to the next level will not be easy but I believe it is possible. Pitt needs to find someone who also believes it can be done and will work hard to insure that it does. They need not settle for someone who is just looking for a job. They tried that once before and it did not work out. Coach John Majors was recently asked to compare the fact that Florida might rehire Steve Spurrier (no longer under consideration) to his situation a few years back. Majors said that when he was rehired, Pitt was simply looking for a new football coach and that the school was not ready to make a commit to building a winning program.
Once you get past Urban Myers most candidates have strong points on their resume as well as some question marks. Myers is likely to end up in Florida but is still worth a phone call. He is from Ashtabula, Ohio and Pitt is as close to home as he is likely to get.
He graduated from Cincinnati and has coached at Ohio State and Bowling Green. Once you move past Myers every other candidate mentioned so far represents a gamble.
One of our readers posted that Pitt will conduct a nationwide search. We agree although those roads probably lead through Norman, Oklahoma and Ann Arbor, Michigan where Pitt AD Jeff long worked prior to coming to Pitt.
In the Steve Spurrier watch there is a rumor that South Carolina will make a run at Spurrier. Gamecock booster Hootie Ingram is the chairman of Augusta National. He reportedly will dangle a membership in Augusta Golf Club to get Steve.
In case you may have missed it late last week Pitt’s Jamie Pelusi was named Big East Goalkeeper of the Year. She was also a first team all-conference performer. Jamie Pelusi is a two-time Academic All-American. The Pitt News also named her Female Athlete of the Year in 2002. Her brother John plays for the nationally ranked Central Catholic. We suspect the big tight end will probably end up at Pitt once the coaching situation is resolved.
We spoke with McKeesport High School coach George Smith late last week. He told the Pantherlair that to the best of his knowledge Pitt is not currently recruiting his offensive lineman Lawrence Green (6’ 2” 300). Louisville and UConn are recruiting him so maybe he will still end up in the Big East Conference. There had been some concern about his knee but the coach insists he is healthy and that the knee is no problem. McKeesport was knocked out of the WPIAL AAAA playoffs this week by undefeated Upper St Clair.
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.
From the Desk of Jim Snyder
A Little Hoops Talk Please
Ronald Ramon is giving every indication that he will live up to his reputation as a big time shooter. One observer indicated he had the ability to get his shot of quickly when coming off a screen similar to Gary McNamara at Syracuse. Chevon Troutman, Carl Krauser and Chris Taft have three starting spots locked up for Coach Dixon’s team. It is beginning to look like Ramon will grab one of the two remaining spots. We may spend the next six weeks trying to figure out who will man the fifth spot come Big East Conference time.
Pitt currently has four scholarships to give this year. This number could rise to six (6) if Chris Taft and Carol Krauser leave early as many expect. I am not sure it would be a good wise to give six away. Pitt has three freshman (redshirt or true) and three sophomores (redshirt or true) on the roster in addition to junior John DeGroat. If you used all six there would not be good balance among the classes and there might not be a scholarship available for the recruiting Class of 2006. You would expect Jamie Dixon to save one or two. You would have to find a very good prospect to use one up.
We had a long conversation with Xaverian Coach Jack Alesi last week. Xaverian Coach Jack Alesi described Levance Fields as a stocky guard. He would remind you of Khalid El-Amin at Connecticut or John Bagley from Boston College. He said he is very fast and shoots the ball well. He also said he has a very good feel for the game. He described him as a typical Pitt kid, a team player. Coach Alesi indicated that a year ago Pitt would not have recruited him but his shooting improved dramatically over a one-year period. We had a good feeling after his visit but the longer this thing drags out the more skeptical you get about Pitt’s chances. Fields always has the option to wait until the late signing period. We had called numerous times late last week to Fields and his coach and they did not respond. The early signing period begins Wednesday (November 10th).
He has another guard by the name of Saquoin Stone (6’ 5”). I asked if Pitt was recruiting him and he said, “I wouldn’t call it recruiting him right now. I think they are intrigued by him and want to see him play this year. They have shown some mild interest.”
We commented that his team would be shorter this year. Coach Alesi replied, “Yeah about 6’ 9” shorter. If Mike Davis were still here we would have been ranked nationally.” We asked if it was possible if Mike might still gain eligibility and he said it was possible. He indicated that Xaverian is a demanding school. He indicated that Mike Davis and Chris Taft were a lot a like but Taft knew he had to take care of business in the classroom. He thought Mike was a product of AAU ball and thought too much about basketball and not enough about the classroom. He said he often had to sit Mike last year hoping to get his attention. He hoped by not playing him as a junior he would be ready for a big senior year. He indicated that if Mike gets his act together he has a world of upside potential. Mike lives with a guardian. He indicated that, “He is what we call an AVID kid in New York”. Having foster parents meant the state was paying almost $20,000 a year in tuition to send Mike to Xaverian. He is now in a NY City public school. Ugh!! He described Mike as a very likable kid. A very nice kid who needs to grow up quickly. Hopefully getting pitched out of Xaverian will get his attention. My guess is Coach Dixon and his staff will continue to monitor his progress this year.
A few months ago I attended a conference of Rivals publishers. The President of Rivals.com, Terry Shannon, made a point of proclaiming Rivals as being “tennis shoe neutral.” As you are aware, Rivals currently has a tie in to the Nike football camps. Rivals.com has also now entered into agreements with Reebok, Nike and Adidas for exclusive material from the AAU basketball camps next summer. We thought at the time that the line “tennis shoe neutral” was a great line. Sometimes it pays to be “coach neutral”.
Football rumblings
Pitt (5-3) lost a golden opportunity to become bowl eligible on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. It is easy to pick out many, many plays in a double overtime loss that might have made the difference. Tyler Palko did a good job of getting Pitt in a position to win it in regulation play only to see Josh Cummings hook a field goal attempt with time expiring. He simply rushed the kick.
Pitt (5-3) must now travel to Notre Dame (6-3). The Irish lost the statistical battle but beat Tennessee after the Vols quarterback went down with a separated shoulder. The Vols had lost their backup quarterback a week earlier to a broken collarbone. Tennessee had no firepower playing with their third-string quarterback. You now have to figure Notre Dame will beat Pitt this weekend at home. Pitt is coming off a brutal loss while the Irish have a bowl game in their sight.
Don’t look now but Boston College is very much alive to win the Big East Conference. The Eagles are 6-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play. If they beat West Virginia (8-1) in Morgantown they look to be in the drivers seat for the conference’s BCS slot. Pitt fans will find themselves in the strange position of rooting for the Mountaineers this weekend.
Cincinnati (5-4) stumbled around a little early in the year under first year Head Coach Mark Dantonio. The Bearcats have come back with a nice three game win streak against Memphis, TCU and Southern Miss to raise their record to 5-4. The Bearcats beat Southern Miss on the road. Southern Miss was 5-1 going into the game and ranked No. 21 in the country. Cincy hosts South Florida next and a win would make them bowl eligible. More importantly it really opens the door for Louisville to win Conference USA outright if the Cards run the table. Having Louisville come into the Big East as the Conference USA conference would give the new Big East a small boost.
Mike Tranghese has to be rooting for West Virginia and Louisville to run the table. It is the best thing that could happen to slow some of the negative talk while the conference is trying to rebuild.
The Pitt administration finds themselves one step closer to changing directions with the football program. Most Pitt alums are very unhappy and recruiting has become very difficult. Many close to the Pitt scene were very unhappy with the remarks of Walt Harris’ agent a couple of weeks ago. While many of his points might have been valid some of them were best left unsaid in public. Taking Pitt’s program to the next level will not be easy but I believe it is possible. Pitt needs to find someone who also believes it can be done and will work hard to insure that it does. They need not settle for someone who is just looking for a job. They tried that once before and it did not work out. Coach John Majors was recently asked to compare the fact that Florida might rehire Steve Spurrier (no longer under consideration) to his situation a few years back. Majors said that when he was rehired, Pitt was simply looking for a new football coach and that the school was not ready to make a commit to building a winning program.
Once you get past Urban Myers most candidates have strong points on their resume as well as some question marks. Myers is likely to end up in Florida but is still worth a phone call. He is from Ashtabula, Ohio and Pitt is as close to home as he is likely to get.
He graduated from Cincinnati and has coached at Ohio State and Bowling Green. Once you move past Myers every other candidate mentioned so far represents a gamble.
One of our readers posted that Pitt will conduct a nationwide search. We agree although those roads probably lead through Norman, Oklahoma and Ann Arbor, Michigan where Pitt AD Jeff long worked prior to coming to Pitt.
In the Steve Spurrier watch there is a rumor that South Carolina will make a run at Spurrier. Gamecock booster Hootie Ingram is the chairman of Augusta National. He reportedly will dangle a membership in Augusta Golf Club to get Steve.
In case you may have missed it late last week Pitt’s Jamie Pelusi was named Big East Goalkeeper of the Year. She was also a first team all-conference performer. Jamie Pelusi is a two-time Academic All-American. The Pitt News also named her Female Athlete of the Year in 2002. Her brother John plays for the nationally ranked Central Catholic. We suspect the big tight end will probably end up at Pitt once the coaching situation is resolved.
We spoke with McKeesport High School coach George Smith late last week. He told the Pantherlair that to the best of his knowledge Pitt is not currently recruiting his offensive lineman Lawrence Green (6’ 2” 300). Louisville and UConn are recruiting him so maybe he will still end up in the Big East Conference. There had been some concern about his knee but the coach insists he is healthy and that the knee is no problem. McKeesport was knocked out of the WPIAL AAAA playoffs this week by undefeated Upper St Clair.
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.
