Jay Bilas’ ESPN.com chat (Insider subs.) gets asked about the Pitt-Wisky game.

Ryan (Oshkosh, WI): Hey Jay, who do you think comes out victorious at the Kohl Center this Saturday?

Jay Bilas: Ryan: I like Wisconsin at home. The Badgers had better take care of the ball better, though. They had 22 turnovers against Marquette, which is what you would expect in two games from a Bo Ryan coached team. I think Wisconsin is very good, but I would not be surprised to see Pitt win if they shoot it well.

Way to be decisive.

Over at SI.com, Grant Wahl looks at the remaining unbeatens and lumps Pitt in the group of “jury still out”

Kudos to Jamie Dixon for taking on a tougher schedule this season, including his willingness to play Buffalo (in a squeaker) on the road. The game of the week is clearly going to be in Madison on Saturday, but we’re also curious to see how the Panthers perform against Oklahoma State in a virtual road game on Dec. 21. If Pitt can win at least one of those games, we’ll fess up and admit that we undervalued them to start the season. (We’ll already cave on the so-far-exemplary performance of Levance Fields at the point-guard spot.)

The Cowboys, by the way, he placed among the teams that could back up being undefeated.

Back to the Buffalo game, Jamie Dixon will defend that game and is working the media to join him (Insider subs.).

“If it’s so easy to win these games, then why aren’t people playing them?” said Dixon, whose Panthers are in a stretch of playing four of five games away from Pitt including games at Auburn (win), Buffalo, Saturday at No. 7 Wisconsin, and then next Thursday against Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City (an hour from the Cowboys’ campus).

“No one understands how hard it is to win these games,” Dixon said. “They were [No.] 55 in the RPI when we played them and so it’s a win on the road, a hard win on the road. And that’s why a lot of people don’t do them. When we go to Dayton next year, that could be another good road win if we can get it.”

The win over the Bulls hardly was a no-win situation for Pitt. It was the first real late-game test for the Panthers (Auburn played Pitt to an eight-point game). They had to bunker down, score late, and hold on defensively during a final Buffalo possession that could have tied the game (a 3-pointer missed).

Lord, help us all, Doug Gottleib is backing Pitt.

I agree with Jamie Dixon’s comment in the Daily Word — it is tough to win at Buffalo, and if the Panthers beat Wisconsin and Oklahoma State, they will be my No. 1 team, hands down. Even if Pitt splits those two games they should not drop out of the top five.

Stop the world, I want to get off. I’m forced to agree with Gottleib.

From the Ray Fittipaldo B-Ball Q&A today.

Q: I am concerned that Pitt is not beating teams badly enough. Sure, there have been plenty of comfortable 15- and 20-point victories, but where are the full-fledged blowouts? Florida beat Southern by 56 points and North Florida by 46 points. North Carolina won a game by 46 points. Ohio State has a number of 30-point victories this season. Shouldn’t Pitt be dominating lesser competition in the same fashion? Maybe I am just being crazy. Please put my mind at ease and tell me this isn’t something to worry about.FITTIPALDO: Some of its has to do with the caliber of competition Pitt is playing and some of it has to do with the fact that Pitt, by its nature, tends to play in a lot of low-scoring, close games. You mentioned Florida beating Southern by 46 points. Well, Southern is 0-9 and is ranked No. 302 in the RPI. Pitt’s non-conference games have been against tougher competition. Let’s say Delaware State is Pitt’s worst non-conference opponent. Delaware State is 1-8 but its RPI is No. 117. That’s a huge difference, and it shows the difference between scheduling for Florida and Pitt this season.

But I’m not going to put your mind at east completely, Jason. Pitt does play a lot of teams closer then it should, and one of these times it’s going to come back to bite the Panthers. I’ll put it this way: If Pitt plays the way it did against Buffalo, the Panthers will lose by double digits to Wisconsin and Oklahoma State.

Records matter at this point, RPI not so much. The sample sizes are too small and one game creates a wild fluctuation. We’ve seen in the past how games that look like big wins early become meaningless later if that team is a disappointment. What is a big difference in why Pitt doesn’t blow out teams is that Pitt is playing one of the slowest tempos in all of basketball. While many teams are playing at a faster pace, Pitt isn’t.

Taking a look at Ken Pomeroy’s stat page, Pitt’s adjusted tempo is for 63.0 possessions/game. 313th slowest. By comparison, North Carolina is averaging 74.5 poss/game (21st). Both teams are playing teams are very efficient in their offenses, but if you are getting more opportunities and converting them, you will score a lot more and make the wins look that much bigger.

Someone take some zinc, and maybe som echinacea or something over to Aaron Gray. At the very least some green tea to get him healthy for Saturday. He’s been battling some bug since the Duquesne game, and now with the Wisconsin game looming, his status is in doubt (that, or Jamie Dixon is going Bill Belicheck this year).

Looks like Paul Zeise will be filling in a bit on the Pitt basketball beat for the P-G. Ray Fittipaldo probably has to get back to the PSU beat for a couple weeks for their bowl game. So Zeise has the b-ball coverage including today’s online chat.

iambringingsexyback: Paul, after 10 games , what is the biggest weakness on this team? A legitimate scorer, someone who can take over a game? Lack of frontcourt depth?

Paul Zeise: That’s a great question. I think Mike Cook can be that go-to guy but he obviously has to become more assertive on offense and develop that scorers mentality. It is tough given the system the Panthers play for anyone to really step out like that but I think it really helps come tourney time when you have that one guy you can go to and get a basket when you need it. I think the outside shooting probably is still a question even though they’ve been shooting fairly well from the outside in most of their games. The only other question is this- – if a game is called tight, like most NCAA games are, especially in the NCAA, can this team adjust? They haven’t in the past, but this seems to be a little more skilled and athletic team than we’ve seen.

Everyone will have to step up on Saturday. Even with Gray Wisconsin matched up well with Pitt.

To the surprise of no one, Buddy Morris was hired for his third go-round as Pitt’s Strength & Conditioning Coach. Tom Myslinski was hired as the assistant, again as widely expected.

Not really fired up too much about this one way or the other (hat tip Joe T).

“One guy graduated from here, the other got his master’s from here,” Wannstedt said. “So this means more to them than just a regular job. I think our goal here was to get the strength and conditioning staff in place as quickly as possible because we felt like the areas we needed most improvement in are our strength and our toughness, both mentally and physically.

“I believe Buddy and Tom will push our team and will help us achieve the kind of growth in those areas during this offseason and moving forward. These are two of the best in the business, we’re fortunate to have them both.”

All sounds good.  I’m not sure how big an impact this will actually have, other than Coach Wannstedt being more comfortable with them in those positions.

The former strength and conditioning coach, Mike Kent was hired from Louisville, where he received a decent amount of credit for the job he did with their strength and conditioning as their profile was rising. Kent, as I recall, stressed a lot more on the conditioning and stretching/flexibility to avoid injuries and create more speed and stamina. Something, in theory, Wannstedt probably agrees. The results, of course generally didn’t reflect that — at least on the lines.

Not much going on right now. Almost forced to look to the high school level and future Pitt players. Southern Columbia, led by Pitt recruit Henry Hynoski will be going for its 5th straight championship at the A-level.

All the PIAA Championships are scheduled for this weekend in Hershey.

So, if you feel like, you can scan the nominees for All-Pennsylvania team at A, AA, AAA and AAAA for Pitt recruits and remaining tagets.

I’m sure most of you don’t care, but tonight is the Crosstown Shootout between Cinci and Xavier. Even though the wife is a Cinci alum, I’m struggling with who to support.

On the one hand, it’s Cinci, a BE team and it’s good for the conference and ultimately Pitt for them to win. In terms of out-of-conference record, conference strength and of course the RPI — direct benefits to Pitt for Cinci to win. Plus Bob Huggins is no longer there to hate.

On the other side, Xavier is coached by former Pitt PG, Sean Miller. And I always like to see the alum doing well. Especially a guy who played while I was at Pitt.

Pitt’s non-con schedule is starting to hit that “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” phase.

The John Chaney Award for reckless scheduling. Amazingly, Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon has done a complete 180 on pre-conference scheduling, going from one of the easiest slates in each of his first three seasons to what will probably be the most difficult any major team plays this year. It almost cost the Panthers when they scheduled a low-reward game at Buffalo, but they rallied to a 70-67 victory. They’ve still got games at Wisconsin (Saturday) and vs. Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City (Dec. 21).

That’s why the MAC and other mid-major conferences rarely get these kind of games. If you win, you’re supposed to. If you get upset, it exposes you. Even as all the pundits say with the other breath that these teams aren’t that bad and teams should play these games. There’s no real payoff.

Wisconsin has a game against UW-Milwaukee today (also the Panthers), but there is no way that the media isn’t peeking ahead.

This game will be the highlight game of the Badgers’ nonconference season. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and UW coach Bo Ryan have similar philosophies: Win with fundamentals and by playing smart. They also don’t mind traveling to places other top programs would never go to become tougher. Pitt was tested Saturday when it traveled to mid-major Buffalo and eked out a 70-67 win – just the second time this season that its winning margin wasn’t double-digits. That was a 74-66 win at Auburn. The Tigers lost to Wisconsin 77-63 at the South Padre Island Invitational in late November. Florida State is also a common opponent. Pitt beat the Seminoles 88-66 at home while Wisconsin beat the Seminoles 81-66 at the Kohl Center.

Pitt and Wisconsin have other similarities, too. Both have a serious All-America candidate as well as a strong and deep supporting cast. The Panthers are led by Aaron Gray, a talented 7-foot, 270-pound senior center who averages 16.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and is shooting 64 percent overall. Mike Cook, a 6-4 junior swingman, averages 11.6 points and is shooting 56.6 percent overall and 35.7 percent from 3-point range. Antonio Graves, a 6-3 senior guard, averages 10.1 points and is shooting 49.4 percent overall and 48.1 percent from 3. The Panthers have nine players who average more than 12 minutes a game.

Pitt beat Wisconsin on New Year’s Eve last season as then-senior point guard Carl Krauser scored 22 points for the host Panthers, who shot 55.1 percent. Alando Tucker had 25 points for Wisconsin, which shot 42.1 percent.

It’s Saturday, noon on ESPN. Now the bad news. Dick Vitale will be doing the screaming.

Coach Dixon seems a little envious that Wisconsin gets a warm-up after a break with Milwaukee.

In years past under Dixon, Pitt would traditionally play a major-conference team between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The Panthers preferred to play smaller conference foes the weekend after final exams.

That is not the case this season with a trip to No. 7 Wisconsin Saturday. Wisconsin gave Pitt two dates for the game and this is the one that worked best for Pitt.

“It’s not ideal,” Dixon said. “But that’s what you have to do to get two of the best teams in the country to play. As you can see, there are not a lot of teams out there playing games like these.”

Wisconsin actually has size to match up with Pitt. Two strong 6′ 11″ players in Forward-Center Brian Butch and Center Greg Stiemsma, who like Gray, is also is willing and adept at passing out if the shot isn’t there.

A story on Levon Kendall in the Toronto paper. As usual the focus is on what he does on the court, not the box score.

“They did a good job of clogging the lane,” Buffalo point guard Eric Moore said after the game. He wasn’t kidding. With Kendall and Gray parked in the paint, knees bent, arms stretched straight out, they forced the Bulls out to the perimeter, where in the end the Bulls relied too much on outside shots. Dixon said Kendall is the team’s MVP. His status has Canada’s senior men’s national team coach Leo Rautins salivating as well.

A kid who put up 40 points and 12 rebounds for Canada against a junior national U.S. team in a tournament in Argentina in 2005, dumbfounding NBA scouts, has been contributing in other ways for Pitt. In Saturday’s game, in front of 6,350 frenzied Bulls fans — the third largest crowd in Alumni Arena history — Kendall had just six points, but it was the intangibles that one took notice of, especially in the face of a charged-up Bulls team that came within three points of pulling off a massive upset.

Gray had 19 points, but it was Kendall’s six rebounds, his four assists, one turnover — and the key points during a close game where he made those contributions — that get noticed by basketball people.

“My role in this offence is a lot different here,” Kendall said. “I do the little things, play defence, set screens, be a leader, the stuff that doesn’t show up in the boxscores. I’m not satisfied with 6.0 points per game (his average), but that’s not something I’m going to force.”

Well his points per game would be higher if he was shooting better. So far he’s only 18-47 (.383) this season. The lowest shooting percentage among the starters and the four coming off the bench. His Free Throw shooting is solid, but he isn’t knocking down shots so far.

ESPN.com has conference reviews, Joe Starkey handles the Big East.

Biggest Disappointment

Pittsburgh

The Panthers garnered some preseason votes in both polls and were picked to finish third in the conference but lost their final five games — their first five-game Big East losing streak since 1998 — to finish 6-6 and mired in sixth place. Some key injuries on the defensive line set the stage for the season-ending collapse. Pitt’s final three opponents (UConn, West Virginia, Louisville) combined for 139 points and 1,621 yards. West Virginia’s home loss to USF also could qualify in this category. It was a season-killer.

Yeah, Pitt was an easy consensus. In the individual capsules (Insider subs.) I was mildly surprised he even mentioned Paul Rhoads.

Shortly after the regular-season finale, second-year coach Dave Wannstedt fired linebacker coach Curtis Bray and strength and conditioning coach Mike Kent but surprised many by retaining defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads. The Panthers finished 87th in Division I-A in total defense.

Capsules are tough, because you are trying to summarize everything past and going forward in too short a space. Still that, was begging for more. Instead, that was the extent of commentary on the defense. In looking back and forward you get this.

Biggest disappointment: The freshman class was supposed to have some major contributors, but players such as receiver/tailback Dorin Dickerson, tight end Nate Byham, tailback Kevin Collier and safety Elijah Fields would have been better off redshirting. Dickerson was hobbled early in the season and Fields didn’t catch on to the defense fast enough.

What’s next: As the pressure rises, Wannstedt is going to have to break in a new quarterback to replace Palko. The three major competitors will be highly touted freshman Pat Bostick, junior Bill Stull and redshirt freshman Kevan Smith. Whoever emerges should have an outstanding corps of receivers, led by Derek Kinder (57 catches, six touchdowns) and Oderick Turner (44 catches, eight touchdowns).

The implication by linking Byham and Collier with the other two, is that they too had struggles that kept them from contributing. Not simply a failure to use them. Something that isn’t actually clear from this past season — especially Byham. If you want to use the heralded freshmen as the “biggest disappointment” rather than the run defense, then the questions on the coaches only increases.
The pressure is going to be on seeing the defense improve. That more then anything else, it is what will be watched closely. It’s what has failed miserably. It is supposed to be Wannstedt’s strength. It’s where he has resisted any coaching changes other then tossing over Bray since coming into the job.

Luke Winn at SI.com has a Q&A with Aaron Gray. A little about the Buffalo game, breaking a backboard and ankle in highschool, and getting ready for Wisconsin.

LW: You’re shooting a pretty stellar 64 percent this year from the field, as opposed to 52.6 percent last season. Where are you picking up that 12 percent? New moves? Easier baskets?

AG: I think I’ve always had good touch around the basket, and always been able to shoot it a little bit. The reason the percentage was down last year was due to me not being in as good a shape as I am this year. I’ve continued to work a lot on my strength and conditioning in the offseason. It’s funny, because I took easier shots last year — far more of them right inside, near the basket, and I’d rarely ever fade out to 10 or 15 feet. This year I’m out to 10, 15, even 17 feet and my percentage has risen.

LW: Did you have some kind of specific training regiment that resulted in the new, fitter Aaron Gray?

AG: Ronald Ramon‘s pops actually came out and put us through a boot camp for the last six weeks of the summer, to get us ready for the season. We’d wake up at around 7 a.m., and start doing a bunch of conditioning and agility work, running hills, running on the track, and doing cone drills for lateral movement. Then we’d work the basketball camps here for the little kids, which ran from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. — and we’d lift weights during the lunch break. After camp, we’d do all of our on-the-court stuff, with everyone working together on their ballhandling, shooting and everything else.

That “boot camp” is going to take legend status at this rate.

Over at the Fanhouse, I have the results of a small voting bloc of Big East bloggers on Big East football awards. It’s a small bloc, because not many responses were received.

Here’s my ballot.

Coaching performance from Best to Worst:

1. Jim Leavitt, USF
2. Greg Schiano, Rutgers
3. Bob Petrino, Louisville
4. Mark Dantonio, Cinci
5. Rich Rodriguez, WVU
6. Randy Edsall, UConn
7. Dave Wannstedt, Pitt
8. Greg Robinson, Syracuse

I was stunned by how well USF did. At the start of the season, I figured them for last. What with all the injuries, arrests, and drug suspensions. Yet, they kept winning. They got better during the season. For just the 2006 season, I think Leavitt edges Schiano who would get this award if it was for evaluating the job over his whole tenure.
Greg Robinson does not have the talent, and the team did not quitting. I have some real questions about his decisionmaking and coaching . Dave Wannstedt and Pitt’s secon-half nose-dive keeps all the questions and doubts about Wannstedt being a head coach answered for many and unanswered for poor Pitt fans.

Offensive Player of the Year:

Pat White, QB, WVU. He makes the offense go. His decisionmaking in the spread option has been excellent all year. The threat of him taking off, frees up Steve Slaton. He doesn’t pass much, but is quite accurate when he does.
Defensive Player of the Year:

H.B. Blades, MLB, Pitt.
It’s hard to pick Blades, considering how bad the defense around him was. I think to some degree that this is a reflection on how down the defense was overall in the Big East. Rutgers had probably the best team defense, but who was the actual difference maker on the squad? Rameel Meekins? Courtney Greene? That was a squad where the sum exceeded the parts.
Defense, on the other hand, was lacking in major star power. Rutgers had the best defense this year, but it was a unit outperforming the individuals. Is Courtney Greene better or more important to Rutgers than Rameel Meekins?

That made Blades the only standout in the Big East, despite being on a defense that was torched by any team with a competent O-line and running back who could go north-south.

Special Teams Player of the Year:

Art Carmody, K, Louisville.

Some good return guys in JuJuan Spillman (L-ville), Lowell Robinson (Pitt) and Ean Randolph (USF); but Carmody was reliable and extremely valuable to Louisville. Especially during the games when Brohm was out and then just trying to get back into form.

Newcomer of the Year:

Matt Grothe, QB, USF.

A no-brainer. He was the reason that USF did much better than expected. Stepped in when Julmiste went down to start the season, and just won with his arm and legs. He was the entire USF offense for many games, and still couldn’t be stopped by defenses keying on him. Could very well be better than Pat White next year.
Most Overrated Player:

Brendan Carney, P, Syracuse.

Ray Guy hopeful, the only thing working for Syracuse last year. Just fell to middle of the pack in Big East punting.

Most Surprising Team:

Cinci

I thought they would be 6th or 7th in the Big East this year. Instead, they improved all season despite lesser talent than nearly every team in the conference. The lack of depth caught up to them in many games as they faded in the second half. They gave every team they faced at least one half where they scared the crap out of them including: VT, OSU, Pitt, WVU and L-ville.

USF was a close second in this category for me.
Most Disappointing Team:

Pitt

The way Pitt collapsed in the second half of the season was pathetic. They folded as they faced better competition. The team failed to improve throughout the season like good teams or teams with promise do. Very frustrating to see them skid off the tracks in the final five games.

Way too early prediction for best team in 2007:

USF.

I think USF might be able to challenge next year — assuming their players can avoid arrests and drug suspensions. They’ve got the coach, and the talent is starting to fit into place. It’s going out on a limb, but if you really want to make predictions about the 2007 season in December, then why not go on the crazy side. Why take the easy call with Louisville?

It’s unfair. It isn’t right. Two very different games, differing amounts of personnel and everything else. Having typed that… Geez you would hope the football team would get the memo as well.
The article about the team making adjustments at halftime to how to defend Buffalo.

“They kind of have a unique offense,” Dixon said. “We don’t see it a lot. They have big guys who play out on the perimeter and pass the ball and handle the ball so well.”

The combination caused problems for Pitt’s defense, which is predicated on hedging, or faking a trap.

Assistant coach Mike Rice Jr., based on his film study, suggested a slight change. The adjustment worked.

“Instead of hedging all the way out, we just hedged flat on ball screens and handoffs,” Cook said. “That made it easier for the guards to recover.”

The Panthers allowed only 25 points in the second half. They held Buffalo to 33.3 percent from the field, including 1 of 11 from 3-point range, and forced seven of Buffalo’s eight turnovers in the final 20 minutes.

“Coach Rice did a great job on scouting,” Dixon said, “and our guys made a great adjustment.”

No one is going to accuse Coach Dixon of being a master tactician, but he has shown greater flexibility in how to adjust to things as he has gotten more comfortable as the head coach. There is a style of play that he prefers to use, but he adapts it to better use the players and their strengths and weaknesses. He has understood that certain teams have to be played in different ways and the same approach every game is not going to work.

Just starting to immerse myself in the DirecTV. Yay. Naturally I pick the week when the teams have to actually be students and take finals. Not a lot of games this week. Still, I have the DVR, have all the local Fox channels. Definitely better.

Just to pass this from the Andy Katz chat (Insider subs.).

Rusty(Long Beach, NY): How about Buffalo this weekend? That was a tough loss. Do you think that they will be better in the MAC than people anticipated? Thanks

Andy Katz: Yes. Buffalo already has a neutral court win over Miami, too. Still, that was a home game. I always believed Buffalo was going to be a tough out at home. Reggie Witherspoon helped save that program after taking over once the season already started a few years back.

…

Bob (Pittsburgh): Hey Andy, even though they’re ranked #2, the Panthers have not looked dominant. Are the expectations for this team too high or are we actually that good? Each year Panthers fans’ hopes are built up and then crushed. Will this year be any different?

Andy Katz: Please don’t get hung up on rankings. They mean NOTHING. Pitt has the talent, the toughness, the defense, and the depth to win the title.

A couple of stories I haven’t had a chance to link that are still interesting or worth noting.

Going back to Buffalo, a little bit of history regarding how Curtis Aiken got from Buffalo to the ‘Burgh.

Aiken was so sure he was attending Kansas that he called a news conference to announce a verbal commitment. But after longtime Kansas coach Tom Owens was replaced by Larry Brown, Aiken was advised to re-open his recruitment. Aiken’s grandmother raised him and was getting up in age so he wanted to stay close to home.

Aiken considered Syracuse but the Orangemen had already signed point guard Dwayne “Pearl” Washington. The best option was Pitt.

“[Washington] and I had a strong rivalry and I wanted it to continue,” said Aiken, who scored 1,200 points and handed out 378 assists. “Pitt was the best fit for me because I thought I could have the biggest impact and it turned out to be a good situation for me.”

Aiken, who is a friend and neighbor of Dixon’s, said Dixon likes local players because of their toughness and their head-in-your-chest defense.

“He respects the players that come out of Buffalo because they’re not only talented, but they’re never going to back down,” Aiken said. “They’ll get up in your face, play “D’ 94 feet. That’s the kind of kids he tries to recruit and Buffalo produces those kinds of kids. That’s why he wanted Paul Harris in the worst way.”

Since there are plenty of comments about the physical development of Antonio Graves and other Pitt players, the article from yesterday about Pitt basketball’s strength and conditioning program is worth reading.

One reason for the staying power of the undefeated, No. 2-ranked Pitt men’s basketball team is the behind-the-scenes work of members of the team’s conditioning and nutritional programs.

Pitt strength coach Tim Beltz and UPMC nutritionist Leslie Bonci provide the players with a game plan to either gain or lose weight — depending on which will enhance their play — while adding muscle mass.

“It is unique that we take weight off and change their bodies,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “We’ve had a lot of success in that area.”

The conditioning plan has helped a program that doesn’t often land high school All-Americans and top-20 recruits to become one of the nation’s most consistent teams.

While on the subject of Graves, it is interesting to recall the circumstances of how he got to Pitt (since that has been a question recently). Pitt had a commit from Walter Walters out of Detroit. He was struggling to qualify academically, and with the change in coaches, bailed in August 2003. This opened the door for Pitt to recruit a back-up point guard for Pitt. Especially with a recruiting class that had two big men in Taft and Gray and a forward in Dante Milligan.

Milligan of course eventually transferred to UMass because of lack of playing time. Where he is now playing under 15 minutes a night off the bench. Walters failed out at Cleveland State. Chris Taft left early, and after an unfortunate back injury is now out of the NBA. Quite the “where are they now?” for the class of ’03.
This late opening for a recruit timed out just right as Antonio Graves had finally qualified academically. Graves was an all-Ohio first teamer, but had his offers limited by academic issues. Teams like Rutgers and Charlotte were the only offers until he qualified. At which time, Pitt beat out Cinci and Ohio State for his services.

Since Graves signing with Pitt happened the same month PittSportsBlather began, there’s always been a bit of fondness for Graves at the Blather.

Well, it is that time of the year. The recruiting stuff picks up and the newspapers which try to keep an arms length from such sordid stuff, begin reporting on it with little else going on in college football. Story on the linebacker commits over the weekend.

Lindsey is looking forward to settling in at linebacker.

“It’s going to be an easy transition now that I only have to play one position,” Lindsey said. “I’m still learning. In the next two or three years, though, I should be one of the top players in the country. I’m quick to the ball, I get off blocks well and I have a nose for the ball.”

The 6-foot, 206-pound Roberts, who chose Pitt over Bowling Green, also played linebacker for the first time as a senior after spending his junior year at safety. Roberts, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, met Sunday morning with Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, who also will coach linebackers next season.

“That’s what they kept emphasizing, that they need linebackers with speed who can recognize plays,” said Roberts, who has a 4.1 grade-point average and scored 1,390 on the SAT.

It didn’t hurt that Roberts had a Pitt connection. His father, Richard Roberts, is a first cousin of former Pitt defensive backs Tim Lewis and Louis Riddick.

It also appears that Shariff Harris, a RB out of New Jersey will make his verbal to Pitt today — must have been a good time for the recruits this past weekend. Harris is a 2- to 3-star recruit with offers from UConn and BC.

The coaching carousel has opened things up for Derek Moye, the 3-star WR out of Rochester (PA). He seemed rather set on going to BC, but with O’Brien going to NC State, things have changed. He’s not just looking at NC State now, but also PSU, Michigan State and Pitt.

Meanwhile, Kyle Hubbard out of St. Edwards in Lakewood, OH (Cleveland subub) is still firm in his verbal to Pitt.

“The biggest influence I had was Joe Thomas,” said Hubbard, referring to St. Edward’s former All-Ohio offensive lineman, who starts at guard as a true freshman for Pittsburgh. “He was in my ear all day [during the visit] – ‘Pitt, Pitt, Pitt is it.’ I went down there on my official visit and just loved it, because it’s a lot like Cleveland. The people are the same, dedicated fans and such.

“People have asked me if I go to Pitt, who am I going to root for, the Browns or the Steelers? I said I’m just going to stay neutral and go to the game.”

The 6-5, 220-pound Hubbard, who totaled nearly 60 receptions over the past two seasons, said Minnesota and Kentucky also were high on his list and North Carolina and its new coach – former Browns head man Butch Davis – are making a late pitch to get him to make a visit. But he says his commitment is to Pittsburgh. Hubbard also is a mainstay on St. Edward’s highly ranked basketball team.

Just hard to believe a Cleveland kid would consider Butch Davis.