So is this worth noting?

The 6-foot-9, 227-pound Pope, the 2006 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Basketball Player of the Year, counts Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas State, Louisville, Memphis and Oklahoma among his favorites. Pope apparently is in no hurry to decide.

Herb Pope no longer even lists Pitt amongst a 7-deep list. At this point, and at the risk of seeming like sour grapes, I’m not sure is a bad thing. He is an assured 1-and-done player at this point.

I just don’t think with all that has already happened in just a short time with his recruitment, that it would work out for that year. Anything less than the Final Four would make it a lost season. Pope has already created a lot of strong feelings with the Pitt fans. Not much of it positive. Winning may cure everything, but if the team fell short he would be blamed for having his own agenda, plan and interests ahead of the team.

At this point, he is going to have to leave Pittsburgh if he wants unconditional acceptance and support.

Pitt would be better off focusing on other local players worth pursuing and let Pope go his own way.