Here’s the Pitt press release on hiring Greg Gattuso as Recruiting Coordinator and Tight Ends Coach.

“I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Greg over the last several years when he would visit us at our training camp sites,” Wannstedt said. “He is an excellent coach who has a strong understanding of Pennsylvania football and, more importantly, Pitt football. Greg will be a great asset for our staff.”

“This is a dream come true for me to join the University of Pittsburgh,” Gattuso said. “I’m a longtime admirer of Dave Wannstedt. I actually attended Dolphins camp when he was there and ran his defense at Duquesne for 13 years. I couldn’t be more thrilled to join his staff and Pitt’s great football tradition.”

Paul Zeise’s post-NLI day Q&A is up.

Q: What happened to Pitt commitments Simmons and Marlon Terry? Did they sign elsewhere?

ZEISE: Terry has some work to do academically. From what I understand Pitt decided to part ways with Simmons for a variety of reasons. Terry may still make it back if he gets his academic house in order at junior college or whatever.
…
Q: If Walt Harris was still in charge, given the number of returning starters, anything less than a Big East championship would be considered a failure. Do you think Dave Wannstedt will face similar expectations?

ZEISE: I think those expectations have to remain. Pitt should be the favorite to win the Big East and anything less should be viewed as a failure. I know Louisville on the road is a tough assignment but Pitt needs to win that game so that it can establish itself early as the top program in the new Big East. Next year the Panthers will have the team to do it and outside of the Louisville game, will likely be favored in all its remaining conference games. Wannstedt also needs to have a highly successful season to gain some momentum in recruiting. I think it goes beyond the Big East, though, I think Pitt needs to win at least one, if not both of its two non-conference games against marquee teams (Notre Dame and Nebraska). That would go a long way towards showing the Panthers are indeed going to be a player and that the coaching change was for the better (remember, Harris was criticized for not consistently winning those kind of big games).

The whole thing is a must read.

I honestly don’t see how Taft won’t enter into the NBA draft. We can all agree that Taft has not made the leap expected this year. The fact is, though, that the NBA draft is not about drafting the best player; the NBA is about drafting the best potential player. Chris Taft fits that description. He has size, he will only get stronger and bigger, he has shown decent touch, and when motivated has a mean streak to battle inside. Most importantly, he has size. Look back on any NBA draft in the last 10-15 years. You will consistently see Centers who were stiffs, drafted very high. Why? Because they were big men. How else do you explain Chris Mihm going Number 7 a few years ago?

Krauser, though, is not going into the draft. The beat writers seem to want to speculate on this, and maybe its because Krauser says things to them to make them believe he is really considering it. It’s not going to happen. I have not seen his name in any national publication when it comes to speculating on kids who will declare for the draft. Not even in the columns mentioning those who might but shouldn’t. The other reason is that this 2005 NBA draft will be ridiculously heavy with point guards.

The latest is from Chris Ford who covers the NBA for ESPN.com (subs. req’d.). He breaks down the list of underclassmen in terms of who Will, Might and Considering. Krauser isn’t there. Taft tops the list.

1. Chris Taft, So., Pittsburgh: Big man looked like a lock for the top three before the season began, but he’s struggled this year. However, scouts still claim he’s still near the top of their draft boards and believe he will definitely declare.

Now on his list, here are the Point Guards:

Will:
3. Deron Williams, Jr., Illinois: His stock has never been higher, and he won’t miss the opportunity to make the jump. Most scouts believe he’s the second-best point guard prospect in the draft behind Chris Paul and should be a lottery pick.

4. Raymond Felton, Jr., North Carolina: Felton has flirted with declaring the last two seasons, this will likely be the year he actually does it. While scouts remain split on how good of a prospect he’ll be, his stock is high enough that he knows he’ll go in the first half of the first round. That should be enough.

Might:
1. Chris Paul, So., Wake Forest: He’s a consensus top-five pick in the draft right now and could go as high as No. 1. So, what is he waiting for? Paul loves playing for Wake Forest and isn’t sure he wants to leave just yet. If the Bobcats get the No. 1 pick, they might make him an offer he can’t refuse.

6. Jarrett Jack, Jr., Georgia Tech: Jack has interest in the NBA and if he can get assurances that he’s a top-20 pick, he’ll likely declare. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem given his unquestionable talent, but this is a deep point guard class that might push Jack a little further down the charts than he’d like.

7. John Gilchrist, Jr., Maryland: Gilchrist has a well-documented jones for playing in the NBA. He has the talent to make him a mid-first rounder. But questions about his attitude, focus and constant comparisons to Stephon Marbury have hurt his stock to the point that he might be better off returning for another season.

11. Ronnie Brewer, So., Arkansas: Brewer is a tough guy to project. Some scouts believe he has the talent to be a lottery pick, others aren’t convinced he’s really a point guard. He could be another guy who declares, keeps his college eligibility, and then looks for a promise in the mid first round. He has some fans.

12. Randolph Morris, Fr., Kentucky: He’s not ready. That’s clear. But he’s a real center, something this draft is almost totally devoid of. Someone will take him in the first round because of that. However, he could really improve his stock by playing another year or two at Kentucky.

15. Mardy Collins, Jr., Temple: Collins has drawn a lot of praise over the past month from scouts. He’s got great size for the position, has true point-guard instincts and really racks up the steals. A sleeper who could really rise with great workouts.

23. Mustafa Shakur, Jr., Arizona: A highly-touted prospect who has slipped in the eyes of most scouts. He must improve his jumper and work on running the offense in the half-court set.

Considering:
1. Curtis Stinson, So., Iowa State: He’s already 22 years old and knows his window is closing. Enough teams like him that he has a shot of cracking the late first round with great workouts and a good camp in Chicago.

9. Darius Washington, Fr., Memphis: He should meet Anthony Roberson Jr. Washington’s another shooting guard in a point guard’s body who, for some reason, still believes he’s a point guard. His open battles with Sean Banks this season haven’t helped his stock. He has NBA-itus, but he’s going to have to either wait or risk slipping into the second round.

10. Jose Juan Barea, Jr., Northeastern: He’s a scoring machine who has shown some good point guard skills. However, he tries to do too much on Northeastern and is paying for it, averaging 4.6 turnovers a game. He could improve his stock at Chicago if he can prove that he can play under control.

Obviously not all of those players will declare. Still if even half come out, that is 6 underclassmen point guards. Nevermind any seniors and foreign players. The most Krauser might do is test the waters at some tryout camps, but not hire an agent.

You know, I’m willing to give myself plenty of credit for making BC my dark horse pick to win the BE regular season, so I should also concede that I overestimated WVU this year. They have just sunk again in the Big East. They just have had a lot of trouble adjusting to Big East basketball. But wait, this is WVU’s 10th year in the Big East. They are still adjusting, it seems.

Three seasons into his tenure at West Virginia, John Beilein has gleaned a keen appreciation of what it means to compete in the Big East.

“We just got done playing an undefeated team, and now our present after that one is Pitt,” he said.

Beilein’s Mountaineers most recently helped keep No. 5 Boston College undefeated, losing 62-50 on Tuesday night at the Conte Forum.

Now comes a Saturday evening visit to the WVU Coliseum by the No. 16 Panthers, who are “playing their best basketball of the year right now,” Beilein maintained.

Welcome to the Big East.

Sorry, that sort of opening is good for 1st year coaches, not 3rd year. Especially when the National Champs have come from the Big East the last 2 years. None of this should be new. It strikes me as kind of strange to be writing a piece talking about the difficulties and challenges of playing in the Big East at this point.

For one of the few times in Pitt-WVU basketball, Pitt is absolutely dominating.

Until this recent skid, West Virginia had never lost more than two consecutive games against Pitt, dating to the mid-1950s. To make matters worse for the Mountaineers, the past five games have been noncompetitive.

Pitt has won by an average of more than 20 points a game during the streak. Pitt’s nine-point win last season was the closest margin in the past three seasons. It was preceded by Pitt victories of 36, 19, 27 and 10.
…
West Virginia’s seniors could be facing regret if they fail to beat Pitt tomorrow or Feb. 23 at the Petersen Events Center. No player on West Virginia’s team has beaten Pitt, and the two games this season represent the seniors’ last chance. If Tyrone Salley, Duriel Price and D’or Fischer don’t win, they’ll be the first West Virginia players in 70 years to leave the program without beating Pitt.

Something to shoot for. The game was a complete sellout back in December. The fans are expected to be at the game early, and they let their hillbilly mascot fire off that musket indoors.

The P-G Pitt beat writer, Ray Fittipaldo, has his weekly Q&A up. Nothing too interesting.

A puff piece on back-up center Aaron Gray. Focusing on how much he has to eat. Nothing like seeing the diets of the really fat or tall for amusement.

On Wednesday, Coach Wannstedt said he would be starting his interviews for the recruiting coordinator position. He had a short list and hoped to have someone in place by Monday. Apperently he only got one name into the list before stopping.

Greg Gattuso, who led Duquesne University to football prominence at the NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major level, has resigned to become the recruiting coordinator at Pitt.

First-year Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt hired Gattuso to replace Bryan Deal, a member of former coach Walt Harris’ staff. Deal is expected to be named coach at Fox Chapel High School.

Gattuso, 42, the all-time winningest coach at Duquesne following a 12-year run, met yesterday with Duquesne athletic director Brian Colleary.

Gattuso is a Western Pennsylvania native and played football at Penn State. He will also serve as the tight ends coach. In a general note at the end of this story, former Pitt WR and member of Pitt’s radio broadcast crew for the last year, Yogi Roth, is going to California. He has been hired asan assistant director of football operations at the University of Southern California.

The hiring of Gattuso was already rumored, and people seem to think highly of him in the area. It would appear to be a good fit and hire.