From the desk of Jim Snyder
Our prayers go out to Tony
We have been operating a little short-handed recently. Tony Greco’s parents both came down with serious illnesses. Unfortunately his mother passed away earlier this week as the result of leukemia. She is being buried in Clarion, Pa. today. Our prayers and thoughts go out to the Greco family.
Some thoughts on Cincinnati and Louisville
Maybe for the first time this year Pitt played like the football team you hoped they would be before the start of the season. You have to give them a lot of credit. The Panthers had lost four in a row and found themselves down ten points early. They could have easily thrown in the towel (see Nebraska). This team did not quit and fought its way back. I thought they controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball which is very encouraging for the future.
Barring a complete collapse I think you can safely say Coach Wannstedt will be back in 2008 after the win over Cincinnati. If he wins another game or two he could be given a contract extension to help with recruiting despite the fact that Pitt is operating under an interim AD.
It was great to watch the Pitt football players parade the River City Rivalry Trophy around Heinz Field and get a chance to sing with the band for a change. You had to be happy for them.
With a little better luck Pitt could easily be 5-2 right now. They got blown out early by Virginia and Connecticut. These two teams are better than experts thought they would be and now have a combined record of 13-2 going into this weekend. It is no excuse for getting blown out but they have both shown they are good enough to take advantage if you shoot yourself in the foot.
I do not like the matchup this weekend with Louisville. Brian Brohm is capable of putting points up in bunches on anyone. It is hard to see Pitt simply outscoring them. Pitt will need a couple of stops and a couple of turnovers if they are to win Saturday. A few long drives by the offense would also help.
I am looking forward to going to the Ville. It is a great place to watch a college football game.
Some hoops talk
After watching Pitt’s basketball scrimmage at Fan Fest it is easy to see where Pitt could use a ten-man rotation early in the season. DeJuan Blair was very impressive with 17 points and 17 rebounds. One colleague compared him to Craig Smith (6’ 7”) when he played for Boston College and I think that is a fair comparison. It was hard to talk to anyone who did not use the word “beast” or “animal” when describing his play.
In the early going it is easy to see four guards in the Pitt rotation with Levance Fields, Ronald Ramon, Keith Benjamin and Brad Wanamaker all seeing time. Yesterday we reported on Brad Wanamaker. It would be a big help if he can play some meaningful minutes as a backup point guard.
At the small forward position senior Mike Cook figures to get the start but Gilbert Brown may really push him for playing time. Cook will not only have to pick up his play from what we saw in the scrimmage but will also have to pick it up from what we saw last year or Brown will take minutes from him.
Sam Young figures to finally get his shot at power forward this year with Tyrell Biggs giving him a breather.
Based on one scrimmage I would go with DeJuan Blair at center and then give Cassin Biggs plenty of meaningful minutes so he can help you against bigger teams Georgetown and UConn.
I was very impressed with Blair, Brown and Wanamaker and I was not disappointed with Cassin Diggs (6’ 10”). He reminded me of the player I saw as a freshman.
I would try to redshirt Gary McGhee (6’ 10”) if possible. I like him long term but there are only so many minutes to go around.
If DeJuan Blair starts at center Pitt will have a very small starting team. The oddity will be that every time they substitute at any position they will get bigger.
As one of my colleagues reminded me these rotations usually have a way of sorting themselves out as you go through the season.
Pitt was picked to finish 4th in the Big East Conference earlier this week at media day. I will take it right now. That would give Pitt a bye in the Big East tournament and a berth in the NCAA tournament this year. I think Pitt is a year away from another run at the Big East championship. If Blair, Brown and Wanamaker make the kind of progress I expect Pitt should be right back in the hunt next season.
We had several reports this week from Big East Media Day in New York City. We have posted links on the Center Court at the Pete Board in case you missed any of them.
It is too bad about Darnell Dodson not being eligible although he is another player I would have redshirted. Hopefully they can get him back in two years. We now know why Pitt did not stop recruiting a forward for the Class of 2008.
Yesterday we reported on junior forward Brian Oliver (6’ 6”) who visited Pitt last weekend at Fan Fest. I called his home and his mother answered the phone. She asked me if I was Jim Pantherlair so we know she hangs out on the Pantherlair which I hope is good news. Brian Oliver visited both Pitt and West Virginia this past weekend. He seemed much more enthused about his visit to Pitt than WVU.
Today we report on a pair of players from St Raymond’s. Pitt is recruiting guard Omari Lawrence (6’ 3”) and forward Kevin Parrom (6’ 6”) for the Class of 2009. It is about time for Pitt graduate Oliver Antigua to help the coaching staff land one of his players. In addition there was a second article on the Ticker earlier this week on Parrom.
Pitt is still recruiting senior forward Kevin Jones (6’ 7”) for the Class of 2008. He is scheduled to visit UMass this weekend and Pitt next week. He would be a great pickup at this late date. I would hate to handicap this one although Pitt gets the last visit so maybe it will work to their advantage.
Kevin Jones is clearly Pitt’s No. 1 target for their remaining scholarship for the Class of 2008 although there is a senior forward from New Jersey by the name of Dominic Rutlege (6’ 7”) they are looking at. We will have a report on Rutlege on Monday.
Rivals Radio
Pitt’s head basketball coach Jamie Dixon was on Rivals Radio this week as was head football coach Dave Wannstedt. We hope you had a chance to listen to the replays if you missed them live.
All the Way to Friday
Last night (Thursday) Rivals had a crew at the Jeannette-Greensburg Central Catholic game so we have video of Terrelle Pryor and the Jayhawks beating Greensburg CC 42-6. Please see the Ticker. Apparently Chris Hayden-Martin is done for the year as the result of a knee injury.
Tonight the Rivals camera crew will cover Montour’s game at Hopewell so we will also have video of Michigan commit Christian Wilson and Pitt commit Ryan Turnley.
Recruiting roundup
Cleveland Heights quarterback Travis Kelce committed to Cincinnati this week and quarterback Maryland ‘sWayne Warren went down with an ACL injury two weeks ago. The number of options to land a quarterback seems to be shrinking. Pitt has offers out to Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor and Dublin Coffman’s Zack Stoudt but neither has exactly jumped on Pitt’s offer. I am not sure if I can recall Pitt and Cincinnati offering the same player in recent years and the player picking Cincinnati. It looks like the Bearcats are making progress in Ohio.
Pitt has been recruiting but has not offered Kiski’s quarterback Josh Vick and Lackawanna’s A.J. McKenna.
We reported on Gateway’s Cameron Saddler this week. He has Pitt in his top four. Chris Peak reports Pitt is trying to get him to take an official visit Thanksgiving weekend when the Panthers host South Florida. He is set to declare in early December. I do like the report of I do not need to visit Pitt.
We also had a report on the Ticker this week on Averin Collier. He had indicated that Pitt and Clemson were at the top of his list but has now decided to take an official visit to Boston College. His brother Kevin did the same thing before committing to Pitt. Let’s hope the end result is the same this time around.
Last week we heard that Mentor kicker Kevin Harper would commit to Pitt but we caught up with him on the field prior to the Cincinnati game and he told us he was not ready to make a decision. He has been to Pitt 4-5 times so hopefully it will not be too much longer.
Pitt is playing a young team with a limited number of seniors. They have redshirted a large number of players when you take into consideration several of the players that had surgery like Derek Kinder and Jason Pinkston. They will be well stocked at most positions next fall.
One area where Pitt is starting seniors is along the offensive line. Jeff Otah, Mike McGlynn and Chris Vangas will all graduate. It appears Pitt will dip into the junior college or prep school ranks for an offensive lineman or two. Our sources have confirmed that they have offered offensive center Robb Houser(6’ 3” 285) from Butte CC in California. We will bring you a report next week.
There had been a report that they would also try and bring in a JUCO quarterback but you have to wonder how much success they would have with freshman Pat Bostick now starting at quarterback.
Pick’em contest
Here are the Pick’em standings after 8 weeks
1) Bkm67
2) Praaron
3) UP#1
4) Pitt/Rob
5) dukebbal3581
6) KingMissle
7) Fitgerald#1
8) Fan101
9) St. College Panther
10) Panth#1
If you have not already done so please get your Pick’em selections in for this weekend’s games.
Because of the Noon start on Saturday I will be driving to Louisville today and will stay there overnight. The Ville is a fun place to watch a college football game.
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 10/26 4:28 PM by Jim Pantherlair
Our prayers go out to Tony
We have been operating a little short-handed recently. Tony Greco’s parents both came down with serious illnesses. Unfortunately his mother passed away earlier this week as the result of leukemia. She is being buried in Clarion, Pa. today. Our prayers and thoughts go out to the Greco family.
Some thoughts on Cincinnati and Louisville
Maybe for the first time this year Pitt played like the football team you hoped they would be before the start of the season. You have to give them a lot of credit. The Panthers had lost four in a row and found themselves down ten points early. They could have easily thrown in the towel (see Nebraska). This team did not quit and fought its way back. I thought they controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball which is very encouraging for the future.
Barring a complete collapse I think you can safely say Coach Wannstedt will be back in 2008 after the win over Cincinnati. If he wins another game or two he could be given a contract extension to help with recruiting despite the fact that Pitt is operating under an interim AD.
It was great to watch the Pitt football players parade the River City Rivalry Trophy around Heinz Field and get a chance to sing with the band for a change. You had to be happy for them.
With a little better luck Pitt could easily be 5-2 right now. They got blown out early by Virginia and Connecticut. These two teams are better than experts thought they would be and now have a combined record of 13-2 going into this weekend. It is no excuse for getting blown out but they have both shown they are good enough to take advantage if you shoot yourself in the foot.
I do not like the matchup this weekend with Louisville. Brian Brohm is capable of putting points up in bunches on anyone. It is hard to see Pitt simply outscoring them. Pitt will need a couple of stops and a couple of turnovers if they are to win Saturday. A few long drives by the offense would also help.
I am looking forward to going to the Ville. It is a great place to watch a college football game.
Some hoops talk
After watching Pitt’s basketball scrimmage at Fan Fest it is easy to see where Pitt could use a ten-man rotation early in the season. DeJuan Blair was very impressive with 17 points and 17 rebounds. One colleague compared him to Craig Smith (6’ 7”) when he played for Boston College and I think that is a fair comparison. It was hard to talk to anyone who did not use the word “beast” or “animal” when describing his play.
In the early going it is easy to see four guards in the Pitt rotation with Levance Fields, Ronald Ramon, Keith Benjamin and Brad Wanamaker all seeing time. Yesterday we reported on Brad Wanamaker. It would be a big help if he can play some meaningful minutes as a backup point guard.
At the small forward position senior Mike Cook figures to get the start but Gilbert Brown may really push him for playing time. Cook will not only have to pick up his play from what we saw in the scrimmage but will also have to pick it up from what we saw last year or Brown will take minutes from him.
Sam Young figures to finally get his shot at power forward this year with Tyrell Biggs giving him a breather.
Based on one scrimmage I would go with DeJuan Blair at center and then give Cassin Biggs plenty of meaningful minutes so he can help you against bigger teams Georgetown and UConn.
I was very impressed with Blair, Brown and Wanamaker and I was not disappointed with Cassin Diggs (6’ 10”). He reminded me of the player I saw as a freshman.
I would try to redshirt Gary McGhee (6’ 10”) if possible. I like him long term but there are only so many minutes to go around.
If DeJuan Blair starts at center Pitt will have a very small starting team. The oddity will be that every time they substitute at any position they will get bigger.
As one of my colleagues reminded me these rotations usually have a way of sorting themselves out as you go through the season.
Pitt was picked to finish 4th in the Big East Conference earlier this week at media day. I will take it right now. That would give Pitt a bye in the Big East tournament and a berth in the NCAA tournament this year. I think Pitt is a year away from another run at the Big East championship. If Blair, Brown and Wanamaker make the kind of progress I expect Pitt should be right back in the hunt next season.
We had several reports this week from Big East Media Day in New York City. We have posted links on the Center Court at the Pete Board in case you missed any of them.
It is too bad about Darnell Dodson not being eligible although he is another player I would have redshirted. Hopefully they can get him back in two years. We now know why Pitt did not stop recruiting a forward for the Class of 2008.
Yesterday we reported on junior forward Brian Oliver (6’ 6”) who visited Pitt last weekend at Fan Fest. I called his home and his mother answered the phone. She asked me if I was Jim Pantherlair so we know she hangs out on the Pantherlair which I hope is good news. Brian Oliver visited both Pitt and West Virginia this past weekend. He seemed much more enthused about his visit to Pitt than WVU.
Today we report on a pair of players from St Raymond’s. Pitt is recruiting guard Omari Lawrence (6’ 3”) and forward Kevin Parrom (6’ 6”) for the Class of 2009. It is about time for Pitt graduate Oliver Antigua to help the coaching staff land one of his players. In addition there was a second article on the Ticker earlier this week on Parrom.
Pitt is still recruiting senior forward Kevin Jones (6’ 7”) for the Class of 2008. He is scheduled to visit UMass this weekend and Pitt next week. He would be a great pickup at this late date. I would hate to handicap this one although Pitt gets the last visit so maybe it will work to their advantage.
Kevin Jones is clearly Pitt’s No. 1 target for their remaining scholarship for the Class of 2008 although there is a senior forward from New Jersey by the name of Dominic Rutlege (6’ 7”) they are looking at. We will have a report on Rutlege on Monday.
Rivals Radio
Pitt’s head basketball coach Jamie Dixon was on Rivals Radio this week as was head football coach Dave Wannstedt. We hope you had a chance to listen to the replays if you missed them live.
All the Way to Friday
Last night (Thursday) Rivals had a crew at the Jeannette-Greensburg Central Catholic game so we have video of Terrelle Pryor and the Jayhawks beating Greensburg CC 42-6. Please see the Ticker. Apparently Chris Hayden-Martin is done for the year as the result of a knee injury.
Tonight the Rivals camera crew will cover Montour’s game at Hopewell so we will also have video of Michigan commit Christian Wilson and Pitt commit Ryan Turnley.
Recruiting roundup
Cleveland Heights quarterback Travis Kelce committed to Cincinnati this week and quarterback Maryland ‘sWayne Warren went down with an ACL injury two weeks ago. The number of options to land a quarterback seems to be shrinking. Pitt has offers out to Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor and Dublin Coffman’s Zack Stoudt but neither has exactly jumped on Pitt’s offer. I am not sure if I can recall Pitt and Cincinnati offering the same player in recent years and the player picking Cincinnati. It looks like the Bearcats are making progress in Ohio.
Pitt has been recruiting but has not offered Kiski’s quarterback Josh Vick and Lackawanna’s A.J. McKenna.
We reported on Gateway’s Cameron Saddler this week. He has Pitt in his top four. Chris Peak reports Pitt is trying to get him to take an official visit Thanksgiving weekend when the Panthers host South Florida. He is set to declare in early December. I do like the report of I do not need to visit Pitt.
We also had a report on the Ticker this week on Averin Collier. He had indicated that Pitt and Clemson were at the top of his list but has now decided to take an official visit to Boston College. His brother Kevin did the same thing before committing to Pitt. Let’s hope the end result is the same this time around.
Last week we heard that Mentor kicker Kevin Harper would commit to Pitt but we caught up with him on the field prior to the Cincinnati game and he told us he was not ready to make a decision. He has been to Pitt 4-5 times so hopefully it will not be too much longer.
Pitt is playing a young team with a limited number of seniors. They have redshirted a large number of players when you take into consideration several of the players that had surgery like Derek Kinder and Jason Pinkston. They will be well stocked at most positions next fall.
One area where Pitt is starting seniors is along the offensive line. Jeff Otah, Mike McGlynn and Chris Vangas will all graduate. It appears Pitt will dip into the junior college or prep school ranks for an offensive lineman or two. Our sources have confirmed that they have offered offensive center Robb Houser(6’ 3” 285) from Butte CC in California. We will bring you a report next week.
There had been a report that they would also try and bring in a JUCO quarterback but you have to wonder how much success they would have with freshman Pat Bostick now starting at quarterback.
Pick’em contest
Here are the Pick’em standings after 8 weeks
1) Bkm67
2) Praaron
3) UP#1
4) Pitt/Rob
5) dukebbal3581
6) KingMissle
7) Fitgerald#1
8) Fan101
9) St. College Panther
10) Panth#1
If you have not already done so please get your Pick’em selections in for this weekend’s games.
Because of the Noon start on Saturday I will be driving to Louisville today and will stay there overnight. The Ville is a fun place to watch a college football game.
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 10/26 4:28 PM by Jim Pantherlair
