Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Actual news that matters.

The Big East announced the conference match-ups in basketball for the upcoming season. Not the dates mind you, just who plays who, where and how many times.

Pitt’s Home-and-Home opponents: WVU, UConn and DePaul

BE Home games: Cinci, Marquette, ND, St. John’s, USF, Syracuse

BE Road games: Georgetown, Louisville, VIllanova, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Providence

I can’t say the schedule is unfair. Obviously 3 very tough road games with G-town, L-ville and ‘Nova. But home with Marquette, ND, ‘Cuse and Cinci (who I think will actually be better than people think).

Just a few quick thoughts.

The eyeball test, suggests that the hardest home-and-home for an upper-half of the Big East squad goes to Notre Dame with UConn, Louisville and St. John’s. UConn has Pitt, ND and Seton Hall. WVU has Louisville, Pitt and USF. Louisville gets ND, WVU and USF.

The easiest for upper-8 teams might be ‘Nova with Marquette, Providence and ‘Cuse. Marquette gets off pretty lightly with G-town, DePaul and ‘Nova.

Cinci looks to be the biggest schedule beneficiary. Home-and-homes with G-town, Providence and St. John’s. The home slate has L-ville, UConn, ND and WVU. With Pitt, ‘Nova and Marquette on the road.

Pitt is still trying to find a team to play at Madison Square Garden on December 17. How does Memphis sound? Levance Fields thinks that will be the team.

“They’re trying to work a game against Memphis in the Garden, like we played Duke last year,” he said. “So hopefully that works out.”

I think that would fit the bill. Of course, that is hardly conclusive at this point.

We knew Pitt was working to get a marquee game at the Garden once bumped from the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament.

Memphis would be a fantastic opponent. It makes sense for them as well, since Calipari likes to play at least one game each year in the NY/NJ area for recruiting. The storylines might grate a bit, but the game would be worth it.

Is it just a sign of wanting to see Pitt playing something? The expectations for the 08-09 season already pushing at me? I don’t know, but despite the silliness, the time involved in travel, cost of gas for a trip and what the wife would say if I even discussed driving to Pittsburgh for an evening to watch a couple summer league games… I’ve thought about it a lot.

It’s barely a month long in length, but it has become a popular event. The players from the schools in the area are very much into participating.

For the first time, all four Division I schools in the area will participate. Pitt, West Virginia, Duquesne and Robert Morris players, including incoming freshmen, will take part.

“This all started after I had a chance meeting with [Pitt coach] Jamie Dixon three years ago,” said league director John Giammarco. “He wanted a competitive summer league for the players around here. This isn’t pickup basketball. This is top-flight competition. I’m really proud the way this has grown and developed to what Jamie’s vision was. His commitment to basketball in Western Pennsylvania is second to none. He gets the big picture.”

…

“I’ve been around the local basketball scene for a long time and it’s been a long time since an offseason program generated this much interest,” Giammarco said. “This wouldn’t happen if all four schools didn’t work together to make this happen. Every other major city has something like this. It’s an exciting time for college basketball in Western Pennsylvania.”

I’ve said it plenty of times. This is a vital part of Coach Jamie Dixon’s legacy in building Pitt basketball for the long-term. Beyond simply keeping the present players in the area — staying on top of classwork, team unity and bonding, nutrition and conditioning, and hopefully out of trouble. By doing what he can to encourage and support the creation of a summer league (while still keeping clear of NCAA rules) he is strengthening Pitt basketball and creates goodwill, support and interest in the community and the high schools. So on the still rare times when Western PA does produce a quality D1 basketball player there’s more than just being the local team to pull them to Pitt. There’s the interaction of the players and memories of seeing things like this. And for some, playing on teams with the present players.

What’s also great, is that the interest isn’t just for the players. People want to watch.

Games are played every Monday and Wednesday night starting at 7 pm. Plan on getting there early. The parking lot was filled by 6:15.

Yes, I know the gym is small, but that’s excellent.

Still, the best matchup was the back-and-forth between Young and Blair, as the Pitt front-courters worked to out-do each other all night. Blair, who looks even quicker than he did at the end of the season, finished with 35 points and 12 rebounds and had at least five or six dunks, but they were so thunderous it looked like the entire structure of the hoop was going to collapse. Blair even looked up at the rim in the second half and pointed out that he bent it.

Young ran the show for the Aliquippa team. He scored 44 points and was 16-of-18 from two-point range. Of course, many of those 16 shots were dunks or lay-ins, and oftentimes they came after Young would grab a defensive rebound and then take it coast-to-coast for a jam or a reverse lay-in. Young talked after the game about some of the things he learned at Vince Carter’s camp last week, and it’s safe to say that he put a few of those things on display tonight.

Miller’s performance can’t be missed either. Miller switched teams this week to play alongside Young and Woodall. He finished with eight points and an impressive 14 rebounds. For a second game in a row, Miller showed a lot of hustle and he was in on any loose ball he could get his hands on. How tough is he? After taking an elbow to the mouth from Blair, the coach wanted him to take a breather, but Miller shook it off and stayed on the court.

The first week of the league, Blair, Young and Fields were all away at the various camps.

That gave the incoming and last year’s bench players a bigger chance to stand-out.

Incoming Pitt freshman Dwight Miller might have been the most athletic player on the floor in this game. The 6-8 swingman showed a good all-around game, contributing 21 points, including two three-pointers and a pair of monster dunks. He also grabbed five rebounds. Miller finished 7-of-13 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. He looks comfortable as a slasher, three-point shooter, and even a perimeter defender.

FWG had three solid performances from Pitt players. Ashton Gibbs was paired with Brad Wanamaker in the backcourt, with Gibbs playing the point and Wanamaker at the two, although Wanamaker played the one when Gibbs wasn’t in. Gibbs led with 18 points, including three three-pointers. Wanamaker added eight points and also had two steals. Biggs finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

With UNC presently the prohibitive favorite in July to win it all in April, the next step is figuring out which teams could derail that plan. Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News considers some teams. He groups them as “contenders,” “sleepers,” and “pretenders.

In the contenders category he has UConn, Louisville and Arizona. I can buy into UConn and Lousville. Not Arizona. The “me” culture at Arizona has passed? Brandon Jennings is all about that that culture.

Yes, they have Budinger back, but even if Brandon Jennings comes that won’t be enough. Their depth has suffered. Their defense still is lacking and they won’t have enough offense. After Budinger the only main cogs returning are Nic Wise and Jordan Hill. I guess Lute Olson could have a Joe Paterno type surge like a couple years ago, but in NCAA Tournament terms, that will likely just mean the Sweet 16.

Really the whole contenders section could be subtitled, “teams with hall-of-fame coaches that have top future NBA talent and have shown they can coach that potential.”

In the pretenders, it’s Notre Dame, Duke and Arizona State. I don’t see any of those teams having a deep March run so I guess I’ll agree.

In the sleepers it is Texas, Wake Forest and Pitt.

Some consider the Panthers national title contenders, but the lack of dead-certain NBA talent makes them a better fit in this category. Winning four straight Big East Tournament games requires a vast reservoir of toughness; we know they have that. Winning six NCAA games in a row requires a level of firepower that might be beyond their reach. One thing’s certain: Pitt will not go down without a battle.

I’d say he’s a little down on Sam Young and DeJuan Blair. If he meant dead-certain first round draft NBA talent, then it wouldn’t seem like such an odd statement. I would still disagree about Pitt being a “sleeper” — and not just because of blind optimism — because I think there is more talent on this team heading for the NBA. Gilbert Brown is a year or two away from that. I also think McGhee will eventually become an NBA Center — he has the frame for it as much as anything else.

NBE Basketball also has a snapshot of Pitt for the upcoming season. The questions about the players arent’ about Young, Fields and Blair — other than continued normal development. The questions are about Gilbert Brown improving his range. Gary McGhee getting more confident and finishing shots. Bradley Wanamaker finding his court vision. Whether Mike Cook comes back. Who will be the shooting guard? The questions about the team are for the players around the trio.

I’ve been debating the waste of time that was ESPN’s “Face of the Program” gimmick. Essentially trying to pick one player or iconic image that would define a program at its best. It’s been mostly lame. For several schools they have been stuck with just the logo.

Pitt was a no-brainer for ESPN in going with Tony Dorsett. Not only was he the school’s greatest running back, won the Heisman, wore the cool uni and was a hall of fame pro player. He also led a Pitt team to a national championship.

That’s the one thing that trumps all the other poll choices in Dan Marino and Hugh Green. Larry Fitzgerald and Curtis Martin never had a shot.

Yes, that I even wasted a post on it is an obvious sign that news and info is drying up just before the July 4th holiday.

You know, the one thing that makes me smile in the whole recruiting bit is how nearly every kid who commits says the same thing.

…Street said. “I love the coaches, and it’s all about family there. I can see myself playing as a freshman. Everything just fell into place.”

[Emphasis added.]

I know a lot of that has to do with the confidence in their own ability. Then there’s the recruiting and hearing what they want to hear.

Still, just take a look at the roster some time and look for the asterisk by “class” in the spring football guide (PDF, p. 40) to see just how many freshmen and sophomores at Pitt have had a redshirt. This is not a bad thing for the team, but it is a bit of a disconnect between beliefs/expectations and reality.

Meanwhile Brock DeCicco may be slowing down his decisionmaking. His top choices haven’t changed — Pitt, Iowa, Florida, Wisconsin and Illinois — but the times when he was planning to take a couple visits this summer have.

DeCicco was scheduled to visit Illinois this past weekend but he didn’t go because of a family friend’s death. He says he will visit Wisconsin at the end of July and most likely reschedule his trip to Illinois. While Pitt is still the heavy favorite as the local school and his older brother is a sophomore on the team, the TE has options.

Meanwhile Redshirt Freshman Fullback Henry Hynoski had a piece in his local paper to see how he was fairing.

“I’m out here (Pittsburgh) living with five of my teammates,” said Hynoski, the 2006 AP Class A Player of the Year, by phone this week. “I have classes twice a week, and we have workouts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”

Hynoski, a fullback, said the workouts, despite the fact that they are summer practices, are pretty tough.

“We’re in a high intensity period right now,” he said. “We’re trying to get in the best shape possible before camp starts. We’ve been doing a lot of lifting and running, and just trying to be stronger overall.”

…

I’m pretty much at the weight I was at in high school, but I’ve lost a lot of fat and put on more muscle. I feel stronger. My weightlifting maxes went up tremendously. I am going to try to lose five pounds by camp.”

Both players are looking at backup jobs entering the season. Hynoski is listed as the Panthers’ No. 2 fullback, and Marks is listed as backup right guard for the Nittany Lions.

“Our starting fullback, Condredge Collins, is great,” Hynoski said. “Just about everybody has him listed as a number one pick in the draft right now. But we have a lot of rotations in the backfield. Our fullbacks and tailbacks take a beating, so even a second team guy will be called on once in a while. Once he graduates things look better for me.”

Obviously, Hynoski knows the reality right now. Barring an injury to Collins, Hynoski might get no more than 10 carries in 2008. Collins only had 33 in 2007. With McCoy, Stephens-Howling and Harris or Collier; touches in the backfield will be tough to distribute.

What has made this year in recruiting so strange is not that Pitt is recruiting better or worse than the past couple of years. Or that more or less recruits are giving verbals. It’s been that so many kids have been giving early verbals this year at so many other schools. In the Big East, USF has 11 verbals, Rutgers has a whopping 18, WVU has 11 and Cinci somehow is up to 20.

That a part of some questioning about how recruiting has been going for Pitt this year. Yes, Pitt has maybe 17 spots or so to offer, so they have to be careful. But when you also factor in the verbal to Ohio State of 3 top players out of Western PA this early versus last year when the only commits this early of top players was Sweat to OSU and Yancich to PSU, it adds to the questions.

Well, Pitt added another today with WR Devin Street from Bethlehem pulling the trigger.

At 6-feet-4, 175-pounds, Street is a bona fide big-play threat who possesses sub-4.5 speed in the 40-yard dash and has run the 100 in 10.58 seconds.

Street, who plans to be a dentist, chose the Panthers after considering scholarship offers from Rutgers, Boston College, Connecticut, Temple and Akron.

“I am a competitive guy, I hate losing and I don’t lose, I never go into anything with the goal anything less than winning,” Street said. “I know nothing is going to be handed to me, but coach Wannstedt said that through hard work I can get some playing time early. I plan to work hard, as I always do because, like I said, I’m someone who does not see losing as an option.”

Street impressed at the camps. Rivals.com doesn’t have him ranked at this time, while Scouts.com has him as a 3-star.

Street becomes Pitt’s 5th commit and the 3d in the past week.

Just when it seemed the transfer stuff was over, there is the possibility of a Mizzou transfer. Keon Lawrence, a sophomore shooting guard from New Jersey seems to really want to be back east — specifically in the Big East.

“The reason why he’s leaving Missouri is he kind of wants to come home, family things and stuff,” said Lawrence’s skills trainer Mike Rodgers. “We’re going to concentrate on the Big East as far as his recruitment. We are concentrating on Villanova, Seton Hall, Rutgers and St. John’s, and moving along to looking into Providence, Pittsburgh and Marquette. We have a timetable on how we’re going to do it. I’ve had conversations with a number of Big East coaches.”

Lawrence was a 3-star recruit in the 2006 class. Rivals.com had him ranked 101st in their overall-150 and the 23d best SG. He was not among the slew of Mizzou players that ended up suspended for fighting at a club..

Lawrence slipped a bit in his sophomore year. Despite averaging more minutes, his scoring only increased slightly to 11 ppg (from 9.7) as his shooting percentages from the perimeter and the FT line fell — though, he did see a slight rise in 2PT FG%.

I just don’t see a lot of interest on either side, but it is worth taking note.

Given that Maurice Williams has the potential for the NFL, I have to believe he wouldn’t make it permanent at Edinboro.

When Williams was ruled ineligible for the 2008 season, Pitt confirmed Williams was going to attend summer school there.

“It’s nothing that was a surprise,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt told the Erie Times-News earlier this month. “We’ve had ongoing discussions with Mo this whole semester that he knew what he had to get done academically. I would preface everything by saying he’s the first guy on the football field.

“Never misses a weight workout. Works as hard as we like. The disappointing thing is that he didn’t put the same type of effort and interest in the academic end of it like he addressed the football and weight workouts.”

The school was planning to red-shirt him.

“We will red-shirt him this year and I expect him to be a major player here in the next couple of years,” Wannstedt said earlier this month.

He would still have to sit out the year if he transferred to Edinboro. This appears to be about Williams — an Erie native — taking courses over the summer while being home.

If he was really leaving, I doubt he would be worried so much about taking the summer courses.

The article notes that former Panther Tommie Campbell transferred to Edinboro, but dropped out after a year. He had been suspended for several games because of not going to class.

The focus on recruiting (or at least commits at this point) remains on the lines. Pitt got another commit on Friday. Jack Lippert out of Central Dauphin gave a verbal.

Jack Lippert, a 6-4, 248-pound defensive end from Central Dauphin, on Friday became the fourth recruit to commit to the Panthers for the Class of 2009.

“I like the coaching staff a lot and the overall environment and opportunity at Pitt,” Lippert said.

Lippert, ranked by rivals.com as the nation’s sixth-best defensive end, chose the Panthers over Boston College, Buffalo and Temple. This fall, he will be a fourth-year starter on the defensive line and a third-year starter on the offensive line.

Lippert played last season with an injured knee, which is why there were other teams interested in him, but waiting to make an offer until after the season got underway.

Rivals.com has him as a 4-star prospect and ranked #161 overall in their top-250. Scout.com has him as a 3-star. ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. has him listed as a potential includee for their top-150 (Insider subs).

He is a good and physical wrap-up tackler. Plays with a good motor. As a pass rusher displays the ability to get some push up-field and will flash the ability to use his weapons to swat down a blockers hands and can get turned some to round the corner.

My favorite part in their evaluation was this statement, “He comes across as a good football player who will try and work a little harder than the guy across from him.”

Assuming the knee stays healthy, this is a verbal that will look even better later in the fall.