I saw a subscription only headline at both PantherDigest and PantherLair that JUCO Center Robb Houser has verballed to Pitt. Yay. A center. Please, at least be competent.
Shayne Hale got the McCoy treatment from the Oakland Zoo. From Kevin Gorman:
Shayne Hale is making an official visit to Pitt this weekend and if his interaction with the Oakland Zoo is any indication, the Panthers could be close to receiving a verbal commitment from the Gateway All-America linebacker.
Hale was sitting in the front row (behind the basket) at the Pitt-Oklahoma State basketball game with Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, defensive line coach Greg Gattuso and safety Eric Thatcher. At the 7:27 mark of the first half, Hale joined the Oakland Zoo, where the students were waving signs that read: “Shady+Shayne=BCS.”
Please understand, that I am a late-30s guy, married with children. There’s no way I can pull off referring to McCoy as “Shady.”
The tip-off:
Hale might have tipped his hand by donning a gold Oakland Zoo jersey during a timeout at the 3:55 mark.
Given the posting time stamp, that was still in the first half.
He was the center of attention the whole time
Got Houser, Hale next and then Holley. If we do that I’ll start to believe that DW might just be able to pull off magic with Pryor. It is astounding just how good Wannstedt is with these kids – and I truly believe that he convinces the parents to ensure the kid takes PITT seriously – then gets the kids on campus as a closing deal.
They’re really pushing hard for both and he said Alexander has really warmed up to Pitt. He was thought to be a PSU lock when he decommitted from Florida State earlier in the year, and there’s some speculation that he cooled on them because of the uncertainty surrounding JoePa and the future of the PSU program, as well as some concerns over the way they run their offense.
He also said that while common thought was that Hale wasn’t going to announce his commitment until the US Army Game, he may change his mind. That was contingent on this weekend’s visit.
We’ll see…
You havent been reading all the posts on pittblather have you??
im just playing with you stoosh. you are a constant and consistant poster than only posts quality stuff.
And Penn State sucks.
You bring up a really good point about Pryor, especially as it relates to WVU. Rich Rod is currently entertaining some thoughts of taking the Michigan job if the rumor mill is correct on this. If he bolts for Michigan, I can’t imagine there being any way Pryor keeps WVU on his list.
And what if Ohio State gets pasted in the title game? What’s that going to do for him?
I’m still not counting on him coming to Pitt. I think he wants out of the city and out of the greater area (and yes, I think Morgantown is something he would consider to be “far enough away”). I’m not sure exactly how far away he wants to go, but his decision to add Oregon to his list probably speaks volumes there.
I would be interested to see what the next few weeks will do for his recruiting as some of these situations evolve.
It is a huge long shot. I dont know why, but pryor just does not like Pitt. I honest to God feel that if he sorted stuff out and thought about it Pitt could be the best situation for him from the schools he is looking at, but whatever. If a player doesnt like the school there isnt much you can do.
Pryor is obviously great HS player and would be a great catch for PITT, but I’m not sure why everyone is so surprised he is consistent in his not wanting to come here. While everyone thinks “Who wouldn’t want to play alongside McCoy?”, that might be a big reason he’s looking elsewhere. My gut feeling is this kid wants & loves publicity – and that’s fine since he’s earned it. But at PITT, he’ll be in direct competition for it with someone who has been labeled as ‘the next Tony Dorsett’, has garnered strong national attention already and is pretty well established as the face of PITT football right now. At other schools Pryor might be the focus of the offense right off the bat. Do you think DW will take carries away from McCoy to give to an unproven freshman – playing in an offense we HAD to change to meet the recruit’s demands? He’d be a fool to any of those things after the debacle we had with a true freshman at the helm last season.
Pryor has consistently stated he wants to play in an offense similar to what he had in HS. That’s OK as that is what he is familiar with. Do you want DW to look at the situation we have right now – tell his offensive coordinator to change everything over the off season and go to an offense that is built around one player who – being as he’s human – is one injury away from having that new offense become an albatross around DW’s neck? WVU has at least two QBs capable of running their offense. Once Pryor went down – who’s PITT throwing in there to replicate Pryor’s talent?, – Cross, another unproven player at this level.
While there would be great joy should Pryor sign with PITT, I’ll not hold my breath – and apparently DW isn’t either based on his rather obvious recruiting efforts. This team shouldn’t live or die on the back of anyone player in the future – and DW has been firm in his belief since 2004 that the right way to succeed for the long run is depth at all positions. I think he’s doing it the right way now, and can’t see shifting around for one kid, especially since we are going to have the most talented PITT squad on the field in years without him.
I might be wrong with the above, but that’s the fun of being a fan. I recognize the talent Pryor has – I just don’t think we’ll see it on the field at PITT.
People that bring up the sophomore commit are unbelievable. The kid was a sophomore that was looking to play basketball. Look on the bright side. Pitt has had three very poor seasons and we still are recruiting a top 25 possibly 15 class. That isnt supposed to happen.
Pitt lands junior-college center
By Kevin Gorman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Pitt continues to cash in on the momentum of its victory over No. 2 West Virginia, as the Panthers have landed a top junior-college center and appear to be on the verge of adding another All-American from the WPIAL.
Robb Houser of Butte (Calif.) Community College made a verbal commitment to Pitt on Saturday, while Gateway linebacker Shayne Hale was enjoying the Pitt-Oklahoma State basketball game during an official visit.
The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Houser chose the Panthers over Syracuse, and he is expected to enroll in January and compete for the starting job. Houser is Pitt’s 14th recruit from the Class of 2008, its seventh in 10 days and second from the junior-college ranks (quarterback Greg Cross is the other).
“I was looking for a good program and a great opportunity to start,” Houser said. “They’re not just going to give it to me, but the spot is mine to take. I’ve just got to earn it.”
He can run to avoid the rush and he can throw with accuracy.
Pryor is not going to Pitt, he is going to tOSU, best of luck to the kid I hope he does well.
Looks like DW is going to have a top 25 recruiting class, hopefully they carry over the WVU win into next year and build because the have to have a good season and go to a bowl game.
Hell I’m fifty with 4 kids and say it after me SHADY, SHADY!!! because the kid is special.
Have Ditka call him!
The Pryor recruitment is more. When we landed the Nix brothers, Malecki & other TJ players PSU fans would say that they chose PITT because their coach is a PITT guy. When Baldwin committed it was because his Dad played for PITT. Also, Quip players always go to PITT. They believe Bostick only chose PITT because PSU was already loaded w/ QBs and just got Devlin.
I believe this started to change w/ the E. Fields recruitment. Both Bradely and Paterno went to his house only to be rejected.
After E. Field committed, PSU began to realize that PITT was now to reckon with. They could not explain away his committment. PSU then pounded their chest because they got Justin King. We also went into their backyard and took Berry and Shady. That was a travesty. I was living in Harrisbur at the time. Shady was bigger over there than Pryor is here. He was front page news. It was expected that he would only choose PSU.
Their theory is they will only take the top recruits from WPIAL and now recruit national. I believe their make believe world has hit true reality when they were not even considered by Hale. Both Hale & Saddler played at Gateway that is coached by a PSU man. It’s difficult to explain that away. They are also losing out on Holley from Easton.
This is why Pryor is so important. PSU has their next two QBs groomed and ready to go. They need Pryor just to pound their chest and pretend that they are the beast. Everybody knows their program is getting weaker. They scheduled the last three Div I teams from two years ago onto this years schedule. That certainly did well to pad Morelli’s stats but did nothing to hide the fact that PSU can’t develop QBs.
This has become a PITT and PSU thing. Coach W. against the real head coach at PSUcks, Bradely.
If TP were to come to PITT, he would immediately overshadow McCoy. I don’t think he is worried about who currently has the spot light.
We need to stop making excuses. Some people just do not want to stay at home, some people just do not want to stay in Pittsburgh. We have had a drop back passer, not a mobile QB, for the last 8 years.
Our recruiting class is great. DW addressed a lot of the needs (Houser fills a giant hole). We have about 27 quarterbacks on roster now, and I would like to believe that one of them is competant enough to effectivly run our offense.
I will bet $50 bucks right now that TP will never win a BCS Championship.
I’ll have to disagree on the overshadowing McCoy statement. Whomever starts behind center will do alot of handing the ball to McCoy’s hands.
I do agree about our depth at the QB postion. Coach W is trying to build depth at all positions.
How will the R-Rod departure impact the return of White and Slayton?
Rich Rod just couldn’t handle the thought of losing to PITT again next year. The Michigan job is 10x better than WVU anyways, and the money was probably too good to pass as well. Have fun in Columbus next year when tOSU beats you, what? 5 straight times?
If we beat Duke this week, it will have been one of the greatest months for Pitt for as long as i can remember…
So why can’t we win the big east next year? Who will be there to compete with us? USF?
Rodriguez gets beat by Pitt and bails out to Michigan effective Monday………..!!
Local boy, local recruit, local player, local coach, bolt the state that made you! RR you are a baby and a LOSER!!
IronHead- from the report from TP on scout, Michigan is going to implement the spread option and that gimmick 3-3-5 defense because that is all RR knows. It wont work. I guess, Ryan Mallet is not going to be their future QB running the spread.
Oh yeah- there is NO CHANCE at TP. TP dropped WVU and added Michigan. Plus… we need to be honest about TP’s true quarterbacking ability. Yes, he is rated the Number 1 or 2 player in the nation but he does play AA ball. He never went to any of the Elite 11 QB camps and he is playing against teams that are TINY. He is a great athlete and would be a huge signing for PITT but we should go after PLAYERS that want to be apart of PITT Rich and Ongoing Football Tradition. It is obivious that TP doesnt want to be apart of it and we should let him go and wish him tyhe best of luck.
I am officially off the TP bandwagon.
HALE TO PITT
And Michigan. They couldn’t find an alum that wanted to be their Coach. Harbaugh tried to give it to them straight and they brushed him aside as ridiculous. Ryan Mallet got to be saying WTF. This kid came in as a tru frosh and did extremely well at QB. The Michigan faithful are going to lose it when they line up in the spread. I can’t stop laughing.
As for Pryor. His family wanted him in the vicinity because they wanted to watch him grow as a player. WVU was a good choice because it was close and ran the spread. The kid has an amazing pair of legs. If he goes to Mich, he will end up eventually at WR.
I love it. PSU is falling apart. WVU is in shambles after the beatdown. Now Michigan is going through a period of instability that will last for years.
Now, can something only happen to OSU.
Hail To The Beast of The East…..PITT
The only question I got is WHY? He is leaving for .5 million more plus there is a ridiculous buyout of 4 million that R Rod has to pay.
This does not make sense. I actually feel bad for the players at WVU and their fans. They were so close and now they are so far.
Question- if Pitt hired Bo Pelini would he have done the same thing? YES!!
Hail to Pitt
Let strengthen our schedule. We chouls only play ONE pancake a year
Let’s face it…it’s not like he left WVU for Maryland, Virginia, Iowa or some other comparable program. He left for Michigan. That’s like a hoops coach being offered a chance to coach at Duke or UNC. There are maybe just a handful of programs that exist on the same prestigious plane as Michigan, so when an opportunity comes up like that, I can’t fault the guy for taking it.
I’m not sure how much the Pitt loss did to drive him out of town, other than maybe hammer home the reality that this team was his last really good shot to get to that point. The stars lined up perfectly for him down the stretch – especially given that they’d already lost one game – and there’s very little chance that would’ve happened again.
I CAN fault him for the way he handled this. Calling Pryor before telling your team? I don’t know…maybe some will say that’s a guy keeping his own priorities straight, as selfish as they may be. I just don’t think it would’ve killed him to wait ten minutes so he could sit down with his team and tell them first, since his players are the only people to whom he really owes a good explanantion.
KDKA said early rumors for replacements suggested either Terry Bowden, Jimbo Fisher, or the coach from Central Michigan…Butch Jones or something like that (he was a former WVU assistant).
The question i want answered is who would step into the WVU job. Im hearing the queers already talk about appalacian state coach like it would be some big slap in the face to Michigan… They are getting pretty desperate if that is the case.
I will say one thing. Rod wasnt a very good recruiter. THat was one nice thing about him
The UM followers must be biting their tongues right now with the quality of character they just hired. One thing about Michigan and Ann Arbor – everything is open to the public and roundly criticized, unlike fortress Morgantown – where even the Governor calls the shots and covers up discrepancies. Think about it Schlembecher – Carr – Rodriguez; which one doesn’t fit with the other two.
No, I think RR was hired as a last ditch, stop-gap measure because UM couldn’t get anyone else to fill the bill at this late point. Once UM is done with Rodriguez he’ll fade from view because his schtick with the gimmicky offense absolutely will not play in the NFL.
Rich will have to learn how to recruit though. he sucked at wvu. I guess it would be hard to be a good recruiter at wvu though
