An article from the UMass student paper on Dante Milligan transferring there. Apparently the writer and the editors do not know the correct spelling of Pittsburgh.

The worst of the Big East beat the worst of the ACC. Providence ended up crushing Virginia. Even before this, you had VT and Miami performing respectably in the ACC. In the 4 years that both teams played BE basketball they never won more than a combined 14 games. They have already won 9 in the ACC. This has led one writer at the NC State student paper to conclude that the BE is the better overall conference. No word yet, as to whether he has had to go into hiding.

As the 2004 college basketball season approached, experts hailed the ACC as the best conference in the nation, but the reality is that the Big East has taken over the title.

The ACC has a core of three teams (Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and Wake Forest) better than any three teams in any other conference, but overall, the conference lacks the depth to be called the best.

If the season ended today, it’s likely that the Big East would have seven teams in the tournament compared to the ACC’s five. Add four more to the total counting the teams coming into the Big East next year.

The ACC made the mistake of annexing the two weakest teams in the conference, which subsequently made things worse off for themselves, though it did improve the football side of the conference.

Miami and Virginia Tech were expected to be at the bottom of the ACC, but have surprised (and embarrassed) many and shown that all the years playing Syracuse, UConn and Pitt have paid off, and are now ahead of six of the ACC’s traditional teams.

His recommendation:

Undoubtedly, there will be arguments about this to come, but the only way to decide it for good is for the ACC to stop picking on the Big 10 every year and take on someone as good as they are, and start the annual ACC-Big East Challenge.

I’m game, though, I would be more in favor of an East-West series. A Big East-Pac 10 Challenge. The lowest 6 teams from the BE would not play obviously.

Why BC will not go undefeated and may not get far in the NCAA Tournament. I’m quite torn about BC. I really like their team, and their coach has been nothing but class. I even picked them as my dark horse team to win the Big East. Hate the school and the way they are bolting the Big East. This team has drawn some comparisons to the Pitt team of the previous few years. They play a stifling, physical defense and a game that gets the ball inside. Since I watched that sort of team for the previous few years, I feel like I can make some comments.

There is no way a team can go undefeated, let alone advance far in the tournament shooting only 30% from the 3-point line. Now I know they are not dependent on 3-point shooting, but they still take about 10 shots a game (61-202). Their best 3-point shooter is at 35.4%.

Sooner or later they will face a team that can match-up inside, or will completely collapse inside forcing them to take perimeter shots. Or their inside guys will just have a bad game.

They average 75 points a game, but the last two, they have scored only 64 and 62. Remember how Pitt just couldn’t seem to score by the end of the year? Everyone was saying they were a defense only team? Pitt averaged over 67 points/game last year. By the end of the season, though, they were tired and worn.

They are a very good team, and they have the schedule advantage of not having to play the best of the Big East more than once, but they still have games against ND, Villanova, Syracuse and Pitt left. Yes, all but the ND game is in Chestnut Hill, but I figure they have 2 losses coming.

But before I do, I want to note a story from the AP sportswriter in Pittsburgh, Alan Robinson about Coach Wannstedt’s re-emphasis on recruiting Western Pennsylvania. The article came out yesterday, and was picked up by papers down in Florida, Georgia, Indiana and California along with a bunch of papers throughout Pennsylvania. It was a positive piece and sends out something of an announcement to other coaches that Pitt be fighting them for the Western Pennsylvania kids.

Today, there is essentially a follow-up piece.

A year after Pitt lost two prime Pittsburgh-area recruits on letter-of-intent signing day, Wannstedt firmed up the Panthers’ recruiting base by signing 11 western Pennsylvania players Wednesday _ or nearly half of his initial 24-man class.

“I think we’re going to be very happy with these guys in a few years,” Wannstedt said.

Many recruits were lined up before former coach Walt Harris left for Stanford following Pitt’s 35-7 loss to Utah in the Fiesta Bowl. But Wannstedt landed commitments from a half-dozen western Pennsylvania players during his barely five weeks on the job, including quarterback Bill Stull of Seton-La Salle High.
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“Dave didn’t have a lot of time, but he was able to go back to Florida and get some players and he made sure he got that quarterback from western Pennsylvania,” said recruiting analyst Bobby Burton of Rivals.com. “He got some things accomplished in a short period of time.”
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Pitt did not recruit any of Rivals.com’s Top 100 players and its class is ranked only 38th by that service, 42nd by scout.com and 44th by recruiting analyst Max Emfinger. But Burton thinks Pitt will upgrade its future classes with Wannstedt, whose uptempo personality and sideline enthusiasm are regarded as recruiting plusses.
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“Walt Harris was never known for being a great recruiter, and I think Dave Wannstedt will be better than him,” Burton said. “To be successful at Pitt you’ve got to emphasize western Pennsylvania recruiting, and he’ll do that.”

It’s already popping up throughout Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

At the Pitt website, they have a collection of comments from Coach Wannstedt regarding the recruiting class.

On the ability of freshmen to come in and start:
“I think these days, the way the game has changed with players leaving before their time is up, I think you have to play the best players that you can possibly play and give yourself a chance to win. I don’t think that’s any different then what I have done in the NFL the past couple years. I can relate it back to when I played. We had a lot of freshmen that helped us win.”

On re-establishing Pitt’s relationships with local high schools:
“There has been a lot of talk about that, but I didn’t find that was the case whatsoever. In fact, I think the coaches who have recruited locally — Curtis Bray, Bob Junko and the others — I think they have done a great job of keeping those relationships. I think the biggest thing is where are we really going to spend our time. What relationship are we going to cultivate? We have had a couple decisions here within the past few weeks. Anytime it is close between a player in our own backyard and our own state that is the way we are going to go.”

On the freshmen class having an impact:
“I think they will. I think it will be determined by where we are at as a football team. I know that LaRod Stephens is faster than anyone we have. I think that this guy has a chance to come in here and be a running back and make some great plays. Does he have the ability to help us? Yes, he does without a doubt. A couple of the defensive linemen have a chance. We could have a young offensive lineman work his way into the starting lineup. It would not surprise me at all.”

On Conredge Collins:
“He had some offers from major schools, like Ohio State and Miami. He wanted a chance (to play running back), and a lot of teams where talking to him about starting at linebacker. Everyone in the country thought he could come in and start as a freshmen at fullback. I told him that we would give him a chance at tailback, because that position is wide open right now. Obviously if we can’t put this guy at tailback, he has to have the ability and flexibly at other spots.”
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On having a recruiting coordinator:
“I will start tomorrow. I have some guys lined up and I hope to have someone in place by the first of next week. It will be someone that I am very comfortable with and that I can relate to. He has to be a good recruiter and a good football coach who understands the University of Pittsburgh and this area. It will be an addition to the current staff.”

On the new facilities:
“They did a fabulous job putting it together, not just because it’s new either. What is new isn’t always best. The weight room, the training room and the practice fields are great. The indoor field is second to none. The relationship we have with the Steelers is something we need to take advantage of.”

On recruiting the neighboring state of Ohio:
“We will continue to recruit the Akron area. The one area we’ll recruit next year is the Cincinnati area. We picked up Cincinnati on our schedule and we will play Louisville. I had a coach tell me that there were over 30 Division I players taken from that area last year. It makes a lot of sense to me. It is an area where we will get a lot of exposure when we go and play Cincinnati or Louisville. That is an area you will hear more from next year.”

You have to figure most of the offensive line will be open competition, as will running back and the third and fourth wide receivers. The defensive line has some openings. Hopefully the freshmen WRs and RBs will be considered for returning punts and kicks.

Pitt Athletic Department released the official list of the 2005 Pitt football recruiting class, along with little bios on each of the recruits.

Okay, looks like everyone has signed their LOI. No late defections. Nothing official until Pitt actually puts out the commitment list.

Not sure how much more shuffling there will be on the rankings list, but Pitt’s class came in at #42 in one place and #38 in another at this point. Good or bad — depending on how you view things — that means Pitt had the second best recruiting class in the Big East (and that includes the former C-USA programs), behind WVU.

I can’t complain about that considering the difficulties the previous staff faced in recruiting and considering how well Coach Wannstedt jumped into things.

Don’t suppose anyone is going to the Panther Club Letter of Intent event this evening? If so, drop a line and perhaps a report on what it was like.

It’s under way. First item, Cedric McGee has signed a LOI with Pitt. You can check the commit lists here and here. Conredge Collins a top-ranked fullback and a recruit grabbed by Wannstedt has signed his LOI to play at Pitt — there were late rumors that he was changing his mind again.

Well, it’s here. The day the servers for recruiting sites brace for the crush. Signing day for college football. College football’s version of the NFL Draft and Free Agency period, all condensed into one day.

Unlike last year, there does not appear to be much in the way of big surprises or disappointments for Pitt’s recruiting class. The only real question at this point is about Cedric McGee, a WR prospect from Plantation, Florida. Otherwise, things seem relatively calm.

I had asked before about how Pitt suddenly had so many scholarships to offer, well it seems for at least one recruit, he will be “grayshirted.”

After accepting more commitments than he has scholarships available, new Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt offered [Kevin] Hughes the option to enroll in January 2006. When Wannstedt explained the virtues of such a move — it ultimately allows an extra semester of eligibility — Hughes became more receptive.

“Obviously, any kid wants to go in and get a chance to show what you’ve got,” Hughes said. “It’s only going to help me get that much bigger, stronger and faster. And I’ll get situated with school.
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Grayshirting, in fact, has become one of the hottest trends in college football recruiting. By delaying enrollment as a full-time student — which requires a minimum of 12 credits — by a semester, a prospect can participate in spring drills and still have five years to complete four seasons.

It still means there will be one less scholarship to offer in 2006, though.

Another story looks at two Pitt recruits who had academic issues, but are now qualified after a year.

National signing day a year ago was the day when the dream of Pitt recruits Craig Bokor and Rashad Jennings — to play Division I football — became a reality.

The dream for both players was shattered, however, when they were declared academically ineligible at the start of training camp. A year later, it is signing day again, and this time the two are sure they’ve got it right.

That’s because rather than quit in August, both dug in and accepted responsibility for their classroom failures. As a result, they are more mature and better students, and that eventually should translate into them becoming better football players.
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In Jennings and Bokor, the Panthers are getting two of their most talented players from last year’s class. Bokor is a rare combination of size (a svelte 295) and athleticism (he is quick and was an excellent basketball player in high school). Jennings, whose older brothers Bryan and Butch made it to the NFL, is a big bruising tailback.

Although Bokor and Jennings were recruited by Walt Harris, they are excited about playing for new coach Dave Wannstedt. Both stuck with Pitt despite the coaching change even though they had other attractive offers — Bokor from Michigan and Penn State; Jennings from Virginia Tech and North Carolina.

Hopefully, this will not be too strange a day.

At the end of December, Pitt and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit over the cost overruns and work done for the Petersen Event Center. The architectural firm, filed its answer and counter claim.

Apostolou Associates/Rosser International says Pitt and the state Department of General Services rejected its suggestions to trim costs and instead added features that pushed up the cost.

General Services “wanted the costs of the project to be reduced without eliminating items from the design,” a goal, the firm says, that was “unattainable.”

The architects claim they were directed to do extra design work without compensation and to speed up their work.

Apostolou/Rosser made the allegations in response to a lawsuit that Pitt and General Services filed in December in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. The architects claim that Pitt filed its lawsuit “as a means of redirecting criticism on this project” that was raised by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a series of stories published in April.

This lawsuit will be going on for a while.

There is no question Chris Taft is probably the most talented and biggest potential star on the Pitt team. It’s also no question that Taft has come no where near tapping his potential. He has been visibly unmotivated in games this season. His numbers are only slight improvements from last year, and far from where even he intended. The big game against Providence was nice to see, but it remains to be seen whether he keeps it going or just falls back to his old habits.

Right now, Taft is saying all the right things.

“I just told myself that the way I had been playing the last couple of games before this game was not really me,” Taft said after scoring a career-high 25 points and getting a season-high 15 rebounds in Pitt’s 86-66 whipping Monday of Providence. “I need to play with a lot more energy and help my teammates out and play more aggressive.”
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“Truthfully, I just didn’t like the way I had been playing. And I know the coaches didn’t like the way I had been playing,” said Taft, who is 6 feet 10 and 260 pounds. “I just told myself that I can’t play like that. I can’t afford to play bad because we have to keep winning games.”

Maybe Dixon was passing on what he was hearing from NBA personnel. ESPN college basketball analyst Len Elmore said recently that some of those same NBA scouts who spoke so highly Taft before the season had become more wary of his work ethic in games and practices.
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If Taft is finally coming into his own, that’s great news for the Panthers. They have built themselves back into a Big East contender largely without Taft’s best. If he can play like he did against Providence on a consistent basis, the Panthers could become a national title contender.

The pressure is on, and Taft knows it. And while he isn’t promising the same dazzling numbers, he is promising the same effort that led those eye-popping statistics against the Friars.

“I just felt like I wasn’t playing real good basketball,” Taft said. “I felt like I could have double-doubles day in and day out. But enough talk. I just have to go out and do it. Whatever happens, happens. But I know one thing, I’m going to go out there and play with a lot of energy.”

If Taft is playing with desire and well, Pitt is a potential Final Four team. If he is playing soft, Pitt is just another Tournament team that will get no farther than the Sweet 16. We’ll see how Taft plays in February.

The nice thing, is he doesn’t have to do it alone. None of the starters do. Pitt has a bench, and Coach Dixon has been using it. The results have been positive. It has given the team more energy, wins and seems to have restored focus to the team.