Several of you have e-mailed me about the warm and fantastic story about Tyler Palko’s friendship with Chris McKough, a teen who has Down’s Syndrome. With whom he has already started the TC House Foundation.

There’s really not much to add to this. It’s a story to read in full. It speaks volumes about the character and person of Tyler Palko and his whole family. It is yet another reason why Palko is one of the most popular Panther in the school’s history.

Something that seems to be missing from a lot of draft talk, involves previous drafts where international players are not yet here.

But not every international basketball prospect joins the NBA immediately after hearing his name called on draft night. Many, including stars like Kirilenko, Peja Stojakovic of Serbia-Montenegro and Manu Ginobili of Argentina, remained in Europe for a couple of seasons after being drafted, honing their skills and ensuring that they were ready for the difficult transition to the NBA game and life in general in North America. In the past four NBA drafts, more and more teams are using their second-round picks to select promising international players they don’t plan to have on their rosters right away.

Some young international players need another year or more to fully develop their games in Europe before entering the cauldron of NBA play. Some simply need to play out their existing contracts, avoiding huge buyouts that can run more than a million dollars. Still others needs time to hit the weight room or get used to their new bodies after explosive growth spurts in their late teens or early 20s.
…
NBA draft rules make selecting an international player who would agree to stay overseas for a year to two, or who is contractually obligated to do so, especially attractive. Most players who played college basketball in the U.S. want to try to make the NBA as soon as they are drafted. If the player signs a contract and the team can’t find a roster spot for him right away, the player is then waived and becomes a free agent, and the drafting team loses all rights to him.

In contrast, if an NBA team drafts a player who is already playing professionally outside the U.S., the NBA team retains that player’s NBA draft rights as long as he is under contract. When the player informs the NBA team that he is free of any contractual obligation, the NBA team must present the player with what is known as a “required tender,” or contract offer. At that point, contract negotiations can begin.

This could have a big impact on the 2006 draft picks. A couple weeks ago, I noted the needs of teams in the second half of the 1st round. The New Jersey Nets at #22 and #23 have been speculated to be very likely to take a traditional center like Gray.

Maybe not. They have a 7-foot Center stashed in Europe.

Mile Ilic, FMP Zeleznik (Serbia & Montenegro)

Few basketball fans in the United States had ever heard the name Nenad Krstic when the New Jersey Nets plucked him with the 24th pick in the 2002 NBA draft. As it turned out, Nets president Rod Thorn and general manager Ed Stefanski had found a bona fide NBA big man who came into the league in 2004-05 and averaged 10 points and five rebounds right away. In his second season, Krstic became a full-time starter and averaged 13.5 points and 6.4 rebounds.

Now the Nets hope to cash in again with another big man from the same part of the world. Ilic, a Bosnian selected with the 43rd pick in the 2005 draft, is young (21) and not nearly as physically developed as Krstic, but he’s an athletic big man with a knack for blocking shots.

“He is a legitimate seven-footer with terrific hands,” said Stefanski. “He runs the court well and is athletic. If you have a seven-footer with great hands, that is step one to becoming a good player. He has to get an NBA body, and he is working on his body and has made progress. He has good tools. We are encouraged by his overall progress and we’ll be talking to his agent (Marc Cornstein) in the next couple of months to talk again about when it makes sense to bring him over here.”

One more reason why draft projections are becoming more unreliable overall and borderline worthless until after the June pre-Draft camp. At which point they are only somewhat unreliable.

Coming June 7.

Athlon is usually the first amongst the preview publications.

A decent Q&A with Orlando Antigua who as expected is going to be promoted to Assistant Basketball Coach at Pitt. Maybe a little too much talk about being with the Globetrotters. He is yet another guy who decided to settle down in Pittsburgh. Not coming back home, but making Pittsburgh his home.

Q: Is that why you retired?

Antigua: I was getting to the point where I knew I wouldn’t be able to play forever. I wanted to start the next phase of my career. I worked for Pat Cavanaugh’s company in the North Hills and got some great experience in the corporate world there. When I was there, I worked with Joey David on his staff at Mt. Lebanon and then came the opportunity to be a part of coach Dixon’s staff.

Q: Did you always want to be a coach?

Antigua: I wasn’t sure. My brother was a coach. Sometimes, as a player I thought I was a coach (laughs). I was always intrigued by the strategy of the game, the game-planning. Being the director of basketball operations that gave me an idea of the administrative side of things, and I got to see whether I wanted to be involved in the coaching aspect.

…

Q: You’ve had opportunities to leave Pitt for assistant-coaching positions the past couple of years. Why did you stay at Pitt?

Antigua: It’s home. It’s where a lot of my opportunities have flourished. Even when I was a Globetrotter, I never really left. I’ve always lived in Pittsburgh. It’s the university that gave me an opportunity to earn a degree, and I’ve met some wonderful people here. That’s one of the reasons I have a tattoo of a Panther on my arm. It’s a reminder of no matter where I go, I’ll always be a Pitt Panther. I had the opportunity to help mold some very good players here. It was a great opportunity to show my passion for the university.

As a brief, unrelated to sports, digression, these are the kind of stories the City of Pittsburgh needs to keep in mind and should promote. People who come from elsewhere to live and settle in the city. It’s all well and good to want to keep the people born and raised in the area around — and don’t I hear enough about the ‘brain drain’ complaint in Cleveland — but just as important is getting new people coming and staying.

People who don’t just talk about how the city was and aren’t tied to those things, but want to go forward in the city and community. People who fall in love with the area, find it comfortable and want to make it home. As a non-native Western PAer who went to Pitt and loved the city and misses it, I enjoy reading things like that and the way recent commit Pat Bostick spoke of the City as well as the school.

Q: Which Pitt player will surprise the most next season?

Antigua: That’s a great question. I would say probably Levon [Kendall]. Actually, it’s a toss-up between two or three guys. I would also say Ronald [Ramon] and Sam Young. Sam is just starting to scratch the surface of the player he can become.

How many would have expected him to say Kendall? As long as Kendall’s back doesn’t cause him big problems he could be very important to the inside game. Especially if Gray doesn’t come back.

Imagine being a multi-talented athlete. An All-American football player and turning down pro sports for teaching. It wouldn’t happen today except for medical reasons. It was a different era.

Hubert R. “Hub” Randour, an All-America halfback at the University of Pittsburgh and the first head football coach in the fledgling Penn Hills School District, where he taught for 42 years, died Friday. Mr. Randour, of Penn Hills, was 91.

Mr. Randour played at Pitt for legendary Coach Jock Sutherland from 1933 to 1935 on a team that lost only three games during that three-year span.

After graduating from Pitt in 1936, Mr. Randour declined offers from the Steelers, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Eagles to accept the head coaching position with the new Penn Hills High School. The school’s first football and basketball teams included only ninth- and 10th-graders. Students then were housed at the former Stevens Elementary School until the new high school was built on Saltsburg Road.

He was also the science teacher at Penn Hills. Just got advice against playing professional football at that time.

“He even signed a contract with the Steelers, but never showed up for training camp,” his son added. “His brother, George, who was an all-star football player at the University of Wisconsin, warned him that the pros were not for him.”

Mr. Randour left his teaching and coaching position to enlist in the Navy during World War II.

“Dad was sent to Bainbridge (Md.) Naval Base as a physical fitness instructor,” said his son. “He had the opportunity to work with former boxing champion Gene Tunney, which he appreciated.

“Dad often said he was fortunate to have had Jock Sutherland as his football coach at Pitt and Gene Tunney as the head instructor at the Naval Base.”

Mr. Randour was assigned to Grove City College, Mercer County, as the physical fitness director at the Naval Radio School located on the campus.

Eventually, he attended gunnery school at the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia, and became a gunnery officer in the Pacific Theater.

All Condolences to the family.

Former Pitt coach and now Special Assistant to the AD and Chancellor Johnny Majors turns 71 today.

Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt also celebrates his birthday today. He’s 54.

I assume my eyes are burning because of allergies, but it could also simply for typing the above post title. Yes, it’s never too early it seems to start talking about the next draft. ESPN.com has a top 12 draft prospects for ’07 (Insider Subs.). No Pitt players on the list but at the bottom they start listing top draft prospects by position.

QB — #7 Tyler Palko

ILB — #2 H.B. Blades

CB — #9 Darrelle Revis

Pitt Kicker David Abdul just does not seem to get much of a chance just to have things be normal for any length of time. From the fire that torched his apartment, to seeing Billy Gaines fall from rafters to his death, to suffering through a miserable season kicking, to a horrible car accident that broke his leg, now this.

Pitt senior kicker David Abdul is being tested for a potential genetic heart condition similar to that of his twin brother, Jonathan, who had surgery to replace a valve.

“David Abdul’s twin brother recently underwent heart surgery,” Pitt sports information director EJ Borghetti said. “In light of his brother’s condition, the entire family is undergoing medical evaluation for any type of related conditions. As it relates to David a definitive diagnosis or planned course of action has not yet been determined. Has received some evaluations from his family doctor and he will be evaluated by Pitt’s doctors next week.”

If it is determined that Abdul’s condition is similar to his brother’s, his future with the Panthers would be in doubt. It would also mark the end of a career that began with much promise but has been marked by a long run of tough luck.

Yeesh. Good luck David. Something has to go your way sooner or later.

It’s interesting, heartbreaking and difficult at times to watch and read Coach Jamie Dixon struggling to start talking about his sister’s passing.

Simultaneously, outside the basketball offices upstairs, their coach was getting choked up talking about his sister, Maggie, who died unexpectedly six weeks ago from a heart ailment.

While everyone around Pitt’s coach has settled back into some sense of normalcy, Jamie Dixon is still trying to deal with the pain of losing his sister, the women’s coach at West Point, at age 28.

“I’ve gotten so many e-mails saying it’s happened to other people at a young age,” Dixon said. “You just wonder why. People have that image of her being carried off the floor [after the Patriot League championship game]. And to have something like that a couple of weeks later … people will always ask why.”

Dixon fought back tears on a few occasions in his first meeting with local reporters since Maggie’s death April 6. Dixon said yesterday that it was time for him to send a message to the people in Western Pennsylvania who have overwhelmed his family with letters of support.

He seems to need to start talking about it to help work through it.

Jamie Dixon said Thursday his family had received “an amazing number” of condolence letters and e-mail messages from western Pennsylvania and neighboring states, as well as from government officials.

“It really has pulled us through some tough times,” he said, tears in his eyes. “I never did know how much it would mean. It means a lot.”

He said talking about Maggie may appear to make him uncomfortable, but he believed it was important for people to know about her and her accomplishments.

“She can be an inspiration to a lot of people, to a lot of girls,” Dixon said.

It can’t be an easy thing to talk about his family and what they are going through so publicly for Coach Dixon. In his time at Pitt, until this season with Maggie Dixon coaching at Army, I had never even heard him mention his family. They have always seemed to be something he has tried to keep away from the media and conversations.

Aaron Gray is not going to waste his parents’ money on workouts for NBA teams.

“One of two things is going to happen,” Gray said yesterday after playing pickup games against other Pitt players at the Petersen Events Center. “I’m going to work out here and invite all the teams to come. Or I’m going to pick a location and work out for a team and do their workout. If I did that, they would have to agree to open it up to all the other NBA teams.”

Gray said that workout likely will be sometime in the next two weeks before the Orlando camp, which is June 6-10. Gray still plans on attending the predraft camp, but he said he will only be there for physicals and official measurements and weigh-ins.

“I have no problem working out down there,” Gray said. “But no big men are going to be there. If I do well, it’s going to be against power forwards and forwards. Even if I did well, what good would it do?”

By holding one, all-inclusive workout, Gray will be able to give general managers what they’re looking for without incurring the expenses of traveling around the country for private workouts. Many players who have signed with agents, as former Pitt player Chris Taft did last season, traveled across the country for private workouts with teams.

Gray retained his college eligibility by not signing with an agent. If he attended private workouts, he would have to pay for all expenses related to those trips by the start of the school year in August. Gray said his workout will be at Pitt or in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Detroit or Cleveland.

“Chris’ situation was totally different from mine,” Gray said. “He gave up his eligibility. I have to foot the bill for everything. That’s why when I do this workout it has to be open to every team.”

All those spots are of course locations with NBA franchises and within reasonable driving distance from Pittsburgh for Gray. Not sure many NBA teams would want to send scouts or GMs to Pittsburgh just to see one guy.

The article has Gray trying to make it as abundantly clear as possible that he hasn’t made any sort of decision at this time.

But Gray said yesterday that money will not be the determining factor in his decision.

“I can promise you this,” Gray said. “Just because they tell me I’m going to be a first-round pick doesn’t mean I’ll leave here. All the money in the world can’t buy back my senior year. They could tell me I’m a lottery pick. But that’s not what it’s all about for me.”

Gray said he is not fazed by the likelihood that Ohio State recruit Greg Oden and other first-year college players will forgo their eligibility and enter the draft next season. Gray said he welcomes the competition.

“I’m confident in myself,” Gray said. “I’m not afraid of Greg Oden or anyone else out there. I’m not afraid to come back. My worst option is an amazing option. If I don’t work out well and they tell me I have to come back, then I’m more than happy to come back to school.”

Gray said he has received more feedback from NBA teams since declaring for the draft, but he refused to discuss any new information on his draft status. And while he talked glowingly and at length yesterday about the possibility of returning, he wanted to make clear that he has not made up his mind.

“I think about it every minute,” Gray said. “The easy part for me is getting out there on the court. That’s when I can forget about it.

“This is a great opportunity for me. I’m going to put my best foot forward for the NBA, so when I make the decision, I’ll have both sides of the story.”

The only Center who is clearly ranked ahead of him by every scout and mock draft, Patrick O’Bryant of Bradley is now “all in” for the draft now that he has hired an agent. O’Bryant is expected to go somewhere at #10-15 in the draft — the fringe of the lottery picks.

It seems no big men actually work out in the Orlando pre-draft camp. They just go down there for measurements and perhaps some interviews with teams. That is what Gray will be doing.

Gray, a senior-to-be who entered his name in the NBA draft April 26, nonetheless, will attend the camp June 6-10 at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., where he’ll be required only to undergo a physical.

“One of the things I heard is there’s not going to be any big men down there,” the 7-foot, 270-pound Gray said.

Gray has until June 18 to decide.

If you want something other than draft projections to make you feel positive about the possibility of Gray returning for his Senior season, read this Bill Simmons article about what direction the NBA is heading.

Is this where we’re headed? Are teams better off building for SmallBall over a conventional style? If you can play only five players, and you don’t have an above-average center on your roster — which most teams lack, by the way — why not just play your best five guys regardless of position?

For instance, last summer’s most important signing turned out to be Raja Bell, a much ridiculed move at the time. Remember? Twenty-five million for Raja Bell? What was Phoenix thinking? Actually, they were thinking that he’s a great defender who makes 40 percent of his 3s. Perfect for them. So they started pursuing him on midnight, July 1, then overpaid to make sure they got him. Ten months later, he looked like an absolute bargain even before he saved their season Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the Zydrunas Ilgauskas contract (four years, $55 million) would have been fine in 1998, but it’s a roster killer in 2006. Much like in real life, you can’t survive with slow big guys anymore.

Just look at this year’s draft. As recently as three years ago, LaMarcus Aldridge would have been the first pick, because, after all, you always take a good big man first, right? Not this year. LSU’s Ty Thomas (a Marion-like forward) will be the first pick, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Aldridge and Adam Morrison (another player who would have been more effective five years ago) will drop out of the top three, whereas Brandon Roy (Washington’s outstanding shooting guard) and UConn’s Marcus Williams (yes, the Laptop Guy, as well as the only elite point guard in the draft) will end up going higher than people think (and doing better than people think). In the old days, you needed a franchise player to realistically contend for a title. Now? You need two penetrators (including an alpha dog), three or four shooters and two guys who can rebound and protect the rim. That’s it. Just ask Phoenix.

I admit to watching and enjoying the NBA playoffs this season a lot more than in recent years. Simmons is right about the big men losing importance. The centers in all the series have been relegated to complimentary players (with Shaq the only exception — barely). The wildcard with regards to the draft, is how many GMs have noticed and adjusted their thinking accordingly. I wouldn’t be surprised if a large number are still a few years behind.

From the AD’s Q&A:

Q: This May 16 will mark the third-year anniversary of your Pitt appointment. People might forget the fact that when you arrived at Pitt one of your first big challenges was the viability of the Big East, which was about to lose three key members. Three years later the conference is not only on stable ground but thriving. What are your thoughts about the future of the league and its unique structure?

JL: Once we recovered from having the wind knocked out of us, so to speak, when those teams departed, we regrouped and strategically planned for the future of the Big East. When we made the decision to add the new teams, we plotted a course that we genuinely believed would bring us back to an extremely powerful conference in not only basketball but football as well. I think we’re way ahead of schedule. Some developments that will be announced later this year will speak to the strength of the Big East. People will know that we’re a serious player and here to stay. I couldn’t be more pleased with the progress of our conference. I couldn’t be more pleased with the support and strength our chancellors and presidents have lent to the athletic directors in the conference. In the not-to-distant future we’ll see further evidence of an even stronger Big East, stronger than what many thought we could ever accomplish.

[Emphasis added.]

Hopefully he isn’t simply referring to the expected semi-SEC-Big East basketball challenge which will rotate 4 teams each year. Nor should he be referring to the next TV contract which will primarily on the back of the basketball offerings. The basketball portion of the BE is not in doubt. Oooh, WVU headlines the inaugural ESPNU Classic. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

The Q&A also touches on the new bowl tie-ins. While promoting 5-6 possible bowl bids for the 8 team conference, it doesn’t mention the risk of downgrading non-con schedules by the member schools in an effort to insure being bowl eligible. Something the Big East really can’t afford to do. If the conference wants to get beyond looking like the runt of the BCS litter, the member schools need to be aggressive in scheduling. Taking some risks and playing a respectable schedule (that means you, Hoopies).

Another article on the subject of football camps versus combines (Insider subs.) . As usual author bias and interest plays a huge role in the perspective. This one is by Tom Luginbill of ESPN’s Scouts, Inc. They don’t sponsor or presumably get to attend the combines. Can you guess which he thinks are better for the kids?

However, if a prospect can afford the cost of the camp, he should go that route. If a prospect has a few programs he really likes and is interested in playing for, the value of being instructed one-on-one by the position coach at that institution and other guest coaches can provide for outstanding exposure and possible opportunities down the road.
…
The bottom line is that many times combine combine results seem to be marketed to the public and fans as being an indicator of a player’s ability to perform in game conditions. However, when scouting and grading prospects for our rankings, we rarely — if ever — use combine results as a significant basis for a report. If a player performs well at a combine — or, on the other hand, performs poorly — what we see of him in game conditions will always take precedence.

No mention that the combines are sponsored by rivals in the market for recruiting information, and that these combines provide additional resources in making, maintaining and keeping contact with the recruits and their high school coaches. A competitive edge in the marketplace for Rivals.com and Scout.com over ESPN Scouts, Inc.

Now, to be fair, Luginbill does admit the cost of going to a camp is a big factor for a lot of kids and they are useful for both coaches and the kids. He even concedes that students from rural or less known high schools often benefit from the exposure of going to a combine.

However, marginal-to-good prospects who have not received the necessary exposure have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by attending one or more combines in order to be seen and then later evaluated on film.

Regardless, the best way to get recruited is to get as much film out to as many schools as possible, then follow up with each program on a regular basis. There is no substitute for proof of how an individual plays the game.
…
College coaches, if nothing else, have been helped by the mass influx of accessible information on potential prospects nationwide that many of these combines help provide. That is a good thing, especially for the unknown or under-the-radar prospects who before all of this recruiting hysteria might have gone the Division I-AA route but now get seen or heard about enough for the big boys to take notice.

All in all, if combines are marketed correctly, do not make promises they can’t keep and most importantly always, always keep the student-athletes’ best interest as priority No. 1, it is a win-win situation for all involved.

I think the combines will continue and if the recruiting sites are smart they can turn it into an additional revenue stream. There is no reason not to tape every part of the combine. It seems they do that to some extent since some of the video is offered as clips to show what a particular recruit does on their sites.

They can package it as a full DVD of the combine and sell it to the coaches. Neatly getting around the rule of prohibiting coaches from attending the combine; providing the additional exposure for the recruits who might need it; additional revenue stream for the recruiting sites; and still providing the kids with an incentive to attend combines with the promise that coaches from other programs will see them.

It just seems so logical and reasonable.

It seems incoming Pitt freshman Kevan Smith will have an interesting one to make.

During the winter months, Smith continued to lift weights, study the Pitt playbook and prepare for the fall, secure in the knowledge of where he would be next year. However, as baseball season rolled around and Smith began his assault on area pitchers, scouts seemingly came out of the woodwork.

Now, it isn’t a question of if he’ll get drafted in a few weeks, it’s just a matter of what round he goes in.

“Last year, I wasn’t getting a lot of interest for baseball and now all of the sudden I’m getting all this attention,” said Smith.

“It’s like a whole new recruiting process. It’s been overwhelming at times because this stuff is all new to me.”

Raider head coach Eric Semega has been telling Smith for two years that he would get drafted because he has so many of the tools the scouts look for.

“He has the quickest hands I’ve ever seen with the bat,” said Semega.

“He’s big, strong, has a tremendous arm and has a great attitude. The scary part is that he’s been splitting his time between football and baseball. If he gets the opportunity to focus 100 percent on baseball, he will be incredible.”

With a dozen pro baseball organizations showing interest on one hand and a free education and the chance to play major college football on the other, Smith will have some difficult choices to make in the near future.

“I’m so grateful to have these options,” said Smith, who carries nearly a 3.9 grade point-average and plans to study engineering if he does indeed choose Pitt.

Wonder if Coach Wannstedt would let him walk-on with the baseball team?

You may have read or heard about ABC doing Saturday night football games this year. Some games are already set (3 ND games, go figure) and others look to be regionalized. The only Pitt games that coincide with open dates are:

October 7 at Syracuse

November 4 at USF

November 11 at UConn

Call me a pessimist but I don’t think the odds favor ABC picking up any of those matchups.

Last weekend H.B. Blades and other top college football players spent the time in Phoenix for the Playboy All-American weekend photo shoot. Among the players who went was Joe Thomas a senior Offensive Tackle for Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s Athletic Department has a photo gallery of the weekend event (hat tip to Adam).

Apparently there was a private pool party during the weekend. For some reason that escapes me, photographs were taken and Wisconsin was happy to share. The gay football fan demographic has to be thrilled by this. I think we have to have a photo caption contest:

Insert own caption here.

I don’t even want to know what he was actually doing at this point.

UPDATE: I can’t believe I blanked on making the most obvious comparison to the classic Adam Sandler & Chris Farley “Schmitt’s Gay Beer” sketch.

Click here to go see the original (quicktime).