Akron?

A better campus?

Maybe he can room with Andrew Johnson!

Isn’t it interesting that Marshall makes the comment about players sitting on the bench at big schools. In light of the Caassin Diggs incident at Pitt recently I wonder which sharp recruiter put that thought in his head?

If Pitt does not land Kane from Schenley that will make them a whopping 1-8 with local prospects.

And I don’t see this as mild at all, actually — I think Marshall was their top priority.

Sure the burgh had a nice bumper crop with the class of 07 but lets not pretend that it’s now a basketball hotbed. Pitt is continuing to target a lot of national kids from NY and DC, the same types of players who have helped build this program. Marshall is a project who would be playing behind McGhee whose annother project. Don’t think Marshall was necessary.

200 pound kid who doesn’t score in high school? If he was a great player, he should score 30 by accident against the 6′2″ white kids playing center and forward in schools in the Pgh area. Then he insults the campus … in favor of Akron? A place that makes Youngstown look good? I’m not even sure I’d want Pitt to take this kid as a walk-on, so thank goodness he turned down a precious commodity like a hoops scholarship. Pitt certainly needs to give lip service to local kids to keep the yinzers happy, but not actually offer them unless they are elite like Blair.

Akron … that’s priceless.

Pitt’s city campus also positions it very close to Google. I hear that’s kind of a big deal if you want to go into software engineering… another misinformed 17 yr old. I understand if he doesn’t feel like Pitt’s not the fit for him, but he ought not to be saying things like “If they had a better campus” - it makes him sound like an idiot.

Who made Marshall their top priority? Surely you don’t mean Pitt.

And define the 1-8 on local recruits in hoops for me. Are we going back 30 years to get 8 top-ranked local prospects?

You all have got to be kidding me. What have you all been smoking??? First of all, Marshall was PITTS #1 recruit. Don’t get it twisted…NONE OF YOU know this kid personally and therefore have no idea how he thinks or how he feels. He doesn’t like the campus, he doesn’t like the Computer Science program that Pitt offers. Who the Hell are you people to judge him because he didnt’ pick Pitt?? And for the idiot who doesn’t understand about the 1-8 comment…Pitt lost Pryor to Ohio State for football, Kennedy to St. Johns for basketball; Walsh to Xavier for basketball; McCulley to NC State; Brandon Fuss to Ohio State…and so on. Marshall has a right to say that Pitt’s campus is not a good fit for him. He don’t want to live in the MIDDLE OF OAKLAND–not having a true “campus” environment so who the hell are you all to criticize the fact that he doesnt like the campus. Sounds like an idiot..no GREGG from Columbia–YOU SOUND LIKE AN IDIOT!!! Get the hell of this kids back…I will repeat myself–NONE OF YOU KNOW HIM PERSONALLY so shut up and leave this kid alone!!!

Ladies and Gentleman,
Please welcome Zeke Marshall’s mom (aka Daboss) to the Blather!!! If he’s going to make comments about our campus, which he doesn’t seem to know PERSONALLY, then he needs to be prepared to take some shots.

I’ll take the recruits we have…and for the record I love Pitt’s campus…because unlike other city schools (like NYU) we actually do have a defined campus, coupled with the fact that the city (with all of its computer science glory)is only a couple miles down the road. Enjoy the MAC

Hey Daboss,
You don’t have a clue. Marshall is not/was not Pitt’s #1 recruit. Not at all. There’s at least 4 front court players Pitt would rather have. That said, I respect Marshall’s reasoning…..he seems to have his head screwed on straight and his reasoning made sense to me. By the way, since we’re talking basketball here, what does Pryor have to do with the “1-8″ comment. Aside from McCauley, what local stud basketball prospects has Pitt lost during the Dixon/Howland years? Kennedy left Pittsburgh for personal reasons (by his own account), ditto for Herb Pope (schools all over the country backed off of him also), and Pitt wasn’t drooling all over Walsh. So please explain this to me…..and by all means, place words in all caps for emphasis just in case I don’t get it.

I’m inclined to agree with Paul on this one. Off the top of my head in the last couple of years, here is the list of “local” kids:

Blair: Obviously our 1 commit
DJ Kennedy: St. John’s, would have been a nice catch, but decided to leave town after a close relation was shot. Not much we can do there.
Herb Pope: After getting shot/arrested for DUI, he is presently chilling somewhere in New Mexico
Brian Walsh: Wish him all the best, since he is from my old high school. Best of luck to him and Coach Miller, but how many guards can we carry on a team?

Other talented basketball stars that we didn’t land:
Jonathan Baldwin: Opted to play football at Pitt. May walk on.
Michael Shannahan: See above.
There was also a gentleman from Jeannette whose name escapes me. I wonder whatever became of that kid?

My point is that it looking at the bigger picture, I think that we still have some nice contacts in NYC and it looks like we are expanding our base further into the Commonwealth on the Philly side of the state.

Wow,

Since I awesomely failed to hit refresh since this morning, it turns out that my comment was pretty redundant. So let me take it from a different angle and paraphrase Daboss. We need to leave Britney alone!

Wow, I’m speechless…..

Lost Kennedy? Apparently you don’t follow recruiting very much.

Actually, you think Marshall was their #1 priority, so I know you don’t follow recruiting very much.

McCauley? Fuss? Are you kidding? You are going back 40 years.

Pryor is football, try keeping up DaBoss or Sara or whoever you are.

leave Daboss alone. He’s got some man love for the kid.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought we failed to offer McCauley a scholarship. I remember reading a quote on this blog a while back where the pittsburgh AAU coach has his panties up in a bunch about it. We backed away on Pope when we realized he was crazy. Whose to say we would have lost Pryor if he chose basketball. And as previously mentioned I don’t know how high the staff was on Walsh. Kennedy was the only real loss. “1-8″ might be a blessing in disguise, who knows what current players we don’t have if we get the 7 we apparently lost. I doubt we’d be in the position we’re in going into next season.

Unfortunately, kids say stuff like this, proud mommas too. I am sure he will realize in time, that he should have just said “I am going to Akron”, and that’s it!. He’s 17 years old and doesn’t know about these things yet. Still, it makes him sound a bit idiotic and immature.

Cruz, an incoming freshman TE, said some things that bit him in the butt later on. He decommitted and talked about Akron as well. He ended up signing with PITT anyways. Kids say stupid shit and then they feel bad about it. Heck, Marshall might have lost a few minutes of sleep afterwards, when local folks ragged on him about the comments.

I think he was too raw to do anything for the program until his junior year, with a redshirt. I think losing Creek to Indiana is a bigger hit on us. I am sure Marshall will shine sooner than later in the MAC, but in The Big East, he would have gotten his butt kicked, sooner and maybe later.

It’s not over yet though. When he sees us on T.V., he might want his mom to see him too. Too much time until you can sign on the dotted line, so anything can happen with anyone. If he stays with Akron then good luck and God bless.

Panthoor he did say: I’m going to Akron. YOU ALL are the ones who are making a huge deal and sounding (using your ever so eloquent vocabulary (idiotic and immature). The coaching staffed loved Zeke…and while I was on the phone with Dixon and Antiqua they BOTH SAID that he was their top priority. I frankly dont give a darn what any of you have to say…because NONE OF YOU will have to live out his 4 yrs of college, his NBA career (if he so chooses to pursue it) or his life afterward. If anybody sounds stupid, immature and idiotic it is all of you. All of you seem to forget that he is a STUDENT first ATHLETE second…and his ACADEMICS is a crucial element in this whole thing. You all can rag him all day long..but I can guarantee you this much….HE WILL BE SUCCESSFULL in EVERYTHING he will do…so thank you for the blessings..we appreciate it and I will see him on TV as will all of you….THAT IS A GUARANTEE!!!!

Daboss, you are a dooch bag.

See what I mean…thanks Mike..you are a TRUE EXAMPLE of the idiotic, immature person Panthoor referred too. If you are an example of the kind of students at Pitt…thank goodness Zeke didn’t commit to them. DON’T HATE THE PLAYER…HATE THE GAME!!!!!!!!! Oh, my bad, you-dear Mike- don’t have any game..hence your childish comments.

I left the PITT campus in 1968, loving it but needing to make a career for myself, and would love to go back, even now at 63. I am trying to gently talk my wife into retring back to Pgh in 2 years when I hit 65. PITT is has a flavor that no other campus i have seen can match. The Burgh is one of the best cities to live in, year after year. And PITT sports are on the rise, all across the board. Zeke and his mom are trying to justify what he wants to do. Some kids don’t have the fortitude to gut it out 3-4 years before getting significant playing time (like what Aaron Gray had to go thru - it was not easy). So they choose the ‘easy way’. Sometimes the easy way leads to nowhere or to somewhere that is not all that great. But that’s OK. God bless him and best of luck to him. But if I am a 7ft BB player who was truly offered a great scholarship to PITT, I would have chosen the PITT campus (if it were really offered to me)…

Daboss: First off, don’t make fun of people that went to Pitt because Pitt is one of the best public universities in the country. Second of all, Pitt’s computer science program is in the top 50 in the nation and Akron isn’t even in the top 100. I don’t know this kid personally so I’m not going to say anything bad but if he was a student first, wouldn’t it be smarter to pick the better school? Just throwing that out there.

Look, Daboss, I have no idea who the heck you are, but you have no idea what you are talking about with half your comments.

And what you’ve said about Pitt’s recruiting is flat out wrong. DJ Kennedy wanted to leave the area after someone close to him was shot. That’s fact. Ben McCauley said openly that Pitt stopped recruiting him after we got Sam Young. Again, fact. Brian Walsh also stopped getting recruited by Pitt after we got Dodson and Wanamaker. Fact. Pryor was a f-ball recruit. Herb Pope was a disaster waiting to happen. Pretty much every major program backed off recruiting him after he punched a ref in an AAU game. Trouble just follows that kid.

As for Dixon and Antigua saying that Marshall was their #1 priority, I’ve got news for you: Coaches say that to a lot of players in recruiting. It’s part of the game.

Now, you may be Marshall’s mom or his coach, I don’t know. But don’t ever bash Pitt academically. Pitt and Akron aren’t even close in that perspective. Go look at any rankings of public universities. I’ve got nothing against a kid making a decision. But don’t come on this site and bash Pitt. Academically and athletically, it’s already accomplished far more than the school that your boy just chose. So either start putting forward intelligent arguments or go somewhere else.

How will we see Marshall on TV?

With all respect to Mr. Marshall, I wish him the best, even if he may have given Pitt a backhanded remark while trying to pump up his future alma mater. I’m sure that he meant us no overt disrespect. It was actually refreshing to see a student-athlete paying more than lip service to his future educational plans.

I also think that it was refreshing on our side of the debate that we did not seem to bash Mr. Marshall for his choice of playing for another school, or a “boo different jersey” kind of argument. Instead, the comment about the quality of academics at Pitt was what raised our eyebrows.

As a former CAS man, I can’t speak to the quality of our School of Information Sciences, though I hear that it is pretty good. However, I do realize that our School of Engineering is rapidly gaining national prestige, especially coming off the heels of Mr. Swanson’s 41+ million dollar gift and the most recent US News rankings, which placed it in the Top 50 for the first time that I can remember.

At Greg in Columbia, for whatever reason I read that “I hear that [Google is] kind of a big deal” comment in a Ron Burgundy voice and cracked up.

Also, there is only one person who I recognize as “Daboss” and it’s this cat here:

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/a/a7/Tony_Danza-300×380.jpg

First off, I understand the kids decision, even if it happens to be wrong *shrugs*, whatever. I wish him the best, as I said before. But his words came out poorly, even if he didn’t intend them to. There is no need to burn bridges you might want to cross later. “If they had a better campus, I would’ve considered them” … that’s burning your road back home man.

If he would have said something like, “I really love the atmosphere at Akron” or “I was sold when I saw the campus”, then it’s all good. The kid, unfortunately for him had no tact, SO, his words were immature and idiotic.

I don’t hate him or despise him because he likes Akron more, shit more power to you brother. He’s going to start in a Zip’s uniform and probably be proud of it, good for you, kangaroos are fun. Don’t however bad mouth a campus because it’s blue and not your favorite color. That shows no class.

With that said, I think he is going to be a good project for any team. Maybe he gets lucky and Akron or someone else redshirts him, and that year off makes him the man in his dreams.

Daboss, if you want to defend your friend or family member, or whatever he is to you, then it’s probably best not to make him out to be a fool. You have done nothing to help him, as a matter of fact you have made him look weak. Don’t do that! *hits Daboss with a rolled up newspaper*, bad!.

If he ever changed his mind and decided that PITT is it, I would love for him to be our backup center for a few years.

Some advice, don’t go blowing your whistle over the loud speaker…. coach, people are going to yell back.

OMG WE FUCKING SUCK!!!11!!!111

This is why we can’t compete in a second rate league…lose all the top national players to teams like Akron.

Wait, what? We won the best basketball conference in the nation last year? Who knew!

I’m most pissed off, as a former CS major, that he said our CS department sucks. The kid obviously doesn’t like the campus - and i’m fine with that. But he is a FUCKING MORON if he thinks AKRONS CS dept is in the same HEMISPHERE as Pitt’s. If he went to CMU instead, i’d understand. But AKRON? Guess they don’t grow em too smart down in the Mon, and he’s taking advice from a fool.

First result for “computer science rankings”:

http://www.greguide.com/comps.html

Pitt: 41 Akron: they stop counting at 105…no mention.

All the rankings read the same.

I could care less we lost a recruit. We don’t win em all. We’ll still put a couple kids on the floor next year, maybe we’ll even win a few games.

Akron’s Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering program is ranked second in the United States, ahead of such highly regarded universities as M.I.T. and Caltech.

According to Intel Corp.’s latest survey on wireless Web access at U.S. colleges and universities, The University of Akron is ranked third in the nation among the top 50 campuses with the greatest wireless capabilities.

n May 2006, The University of Akron was identified as one of six leading media colleges in the country by Avid Technology, Inc., a world leader in digital nonlinear media products used in film, video, audio, animation, games and broadcasting. UA’s School of Communication is ranked with programs at Emerson College, the University of Southern California, Columbia College, Howard University and New York University.

The University of Akron is one of the Top 100 entrepreneurial colleges and universities in the U.S., according to the May 2004 issue of Entrepreneur magazine. UA is ranked in the first tier of the top 50 regionally recognized academic programs. The rankings are based on more than 70 criteria, including course offerings, teaching and research faculty, business-community outreach, research centers and institutes, and the degrees and certificates offered.

In early 2006, Campus Activities Magazine singled out The University of Akron for having the “Best Campus Program” in the United States. It is the third time since 2000 that the magazine has selected UA for this exceptional honor.

The New Landscape for Learning campus enhancement program has earned national recognition. The Student Recreation and Wellness Center is featured in the “Outstanding Designs” section of the August 2005 issue of “American School & University,” a magazine that reports on the planning, design and operations of educational facilities. In 2003, the publication honored the design of the Buchtel College of Arts & Sciences building.

I am a former Pitt CS student and I am currently receiving my Masters at Akron and I can personally say that Akron’s campus is much safer and better than Pitts. Most of you commenting on this site probably have never even seen Akron’s campus…but personally for me it is far better than Pitts, it certainly is more safer than Pitts and much nicer looking. Say what you want…but I agree with the comments made by DaBoss. Noone is bashing Pitt, not even the Marshall kid..but if a reporter asks you why you choose one school over another and he gave an “honest” answer…who are any of you to condemn him or call his comments “idiotic” or “immature”. For him, if they had a better campus than perhaps he may have chosen Pitt. It seems to me that you all are doing the bashing here. Dont get me wrong I love my alma mater…it was good to me and for me…but it doesnt fit everybody and we all should respect that. Lets just end this by saying..he choose the school that HE felt would best meet his needs. Perhaps if some of you did some more research about the Akron as I have done…you may not be so quick to judge. Be careful what you all say…if I was this kid I probably wouldn’t want to come to Pitt either if I had to deal with people who say some of things you all have said about him. One minute you like him..now everyone wants to hate him. It is what it is…Go Panthers…Fear the Roo. Too each his own. I say good luck to the kid…who knows what the future holds

I too received my MBA at Akron back when (get this!!) a guy by the name of Bob Huggins was their coach. My memories of Akron were pleasanr, and the MAC is a decent conference, but of course is not the Big East.

Whether Z Marshall selected UA because of academics, campus environment and/or playing time, I wish him well …. but can’t imagine this having a major impact on the Pitt bb program, which I expect to continue to do evry well.

very informative, zooreview. thanks for that… WTF?

hey chaz, how about a new post to comment under?

You can prefer Akron’s campus to Pitt’s, but how do you qualify “Better than”? It is opinion, not fact.

daboss, bite me!

come over here and bite me. bite me hard…dooch bag.

if you pick a school based on how it looks, you are one sad sucker. safety i can understand but Pitt is no less safe than State Penn. You can get mugged or killed anywhere people. academics is another story and if true, good for the kid, but Pitt isnt second tier. I think it has more to do with being a big fish in a small pond. And, that is fine. Wish him luck. Daboss, you are the one with issues. And i can call it as i see it…dooch and man lover.

A lot of bashing of a kid who purportedly isn’t good enough to wear a PITT uniform. Zeke seems to be a player with a great upside potential. He should do well in a Zips uniform. As for playing time, the Zips have a couple of capable tall trees ahead of Zeke. He will earn his playing time.

What a crass comment regarding not getting TV time. Writer, I presume that you do not have cable TV. Akron made a number of appearances on ESPN this past season including a win at Florida State and a season ending nail biter at UMass. Both on ESPN, not an affiliate. Wise up.

Akron’s campus went from ho-hum to razzle dazzle under the leadership of current university president Luis Proenza. Ask a PITT track team member about Akron’s facilities. The Big East has held their indoor track championship at Akron the past several years.

The men’s basketball program is on a huge upswing. The Zips finished 24-11 this past season and are 92-38 under coach Dambrot. For the past three years Akron has successfully recruited the best high school point guard in Ohio. Akron has become a perennial contender for the MAC title.

Zeke is not headed for the dumps. He is headed to a program that is vibrant and improving. Perhaps if PITT is as good as you chest thumpers claim we will see a home and home series between the Panthers and the Zips.

Hopefully Dixon will actually schedule the Zips instead of ducking and opting for lowly Buffalo.

I guess we shouldn’t get too worked up about a kid who a) probably won’t be all that good anyway b) probably won’t complete a degree in computer science while playing DI sports c) will be the Pittsburgh Xplosion’s 3rd round draft pick in 5 years.

If I do ever meet young Zeke in Mckeesport (I frequent Tilley’s every time I’m back in the ‘burgh), I will be glad to let him know in person that his comments made him seem like an idiot. So, don’t worry Daboss that I don’t know him personally, but I’m sure he’s thrilled you’ve got his back with your amazing posts in his defense. If anything, Daboss, you running your mouth on his behalf on this site has lowered my opinion of this kid even more.

It’s amazing how mad some people can get over a 16 year old’s comments. You guys need some self-esteem, and quick!!!

Someone will need to actually quote for me where he bashes the Pitt computer program. I am not seeing it anywhere. Are you guys just jumping to the conclusion that he didn’t like the program just because he chose another one? I’ll wait and see if anyone can post the purported bashing, but if he didn’t say anything bad, then perhaps the Pitt program is overrated, if that’s the type of logical conclusions its students make.

Fear the Roo:

Wow, you are a bright one. I didn’t know that Akron’s 2 games on tv equal the number of Pitt games on tv. I believe that Pitt was on national tv for 4 days in a row in March. It was when they were winning the Big East championship. That doesn’t count the other many games on national tv throughout the year. Including a game against Duke, which probably got a slightly better rating then the Akron v. Umass game.

I didn’t mean to offend Mrs. Zeke or anyone else. First, if a kid insults his suitors after committing elsewhere, he can expect the fans of those schools to rip him. That said, I know kids can say insulting things without thinking, and media know the buttons to push in how they quote them. Nuff said. Living among untold racist Nit fans in the northern suburbs of Pgh, I am hardened to stupid comments about Pitt’s campus. Who cares.

But I stand by my comments on the kid as unworthy of a Pitt scholarship The stats vs. the level of competition make me very happy he didn’t accept. Guys destined to be towel-wavers at the end of the bench should be walk-ons at most. But I do understand with the (dismal) level of play in this area, Dixon is obliged to offer the “top” prospects, no matter how mediocre they are, to keep the local coaches and the f**king scumbags running local JOTS and AAU to sabotaging us when the next Blair comes along.

Good luck at *snicker* Akron. Love the tires.

I’m sorry, I must have missed the Akron TV games. What ratings did they pull? 0.1?

As for “ducking” Akron, you’re an idiot.

Fear the Roo: “Perhaps if PITT is as good as you chest thumpers claim we will see a home and home series between the Panthers and the Zips.”

This might be one of the funniest comments I’ve seen on here. Do you really think Akron deserves to be on the same floor as Pitt because they beat Florida State and had a season ending nail biter with UMASS on tv? Whoaaaa, I’m shaking in my boots now.

Until you have wins over Duke and run through the teams Pitt did to win the Big East title, then you can talk. Don’t come on here and say “Akron has become a perennial contender for the MAC title” because no one cares about the MAC. Think logically before you make ludicrous comments like the ones you posted above.

HAHAHHAhahaha….akron an “amazing college”…unreal…let’s take a look…

“Akron’s Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering program is ranked second in the United States, ahead of such highly regarded universities as M.I.T. and Caltech.”

First off, fool, polymer science is NOT computer science - hate to break it to you. Thats like saying because PSU’s ice cream major is the best in the country that means EVERY program there is the best. You’re a moron for equating the two.

“According to Intel Corp.’s latest survey on wireless Web access at U.S. colleges and universities, The University of Akron is ranked third in the nation among the top 50 campuses with the greatest wireless capabilities.”

Congratulations. And every Panera i go to has wireless, so i guess i get a better education at the local restaurant than Akron. Once again, that does not mean SHIT about their CS program.

“In May 2006, The University of Akron was identified as one of six leading media colleges in the country by Avid Technology, Inc., a world leader in digital nonlinear media products used in film, video, audio, animation, games and broadcasting. UA’s School of Communication is ranked with programs at Emerson College, the University of Southern California, Columbia College, Howard University and New York University.”

Wait, which of those is the computer science department? Media? COMMUNICATIONS? YOU’RE COMPARING COMMUNICATIONS MAJORS YOU MORON? You sound like you belong at Akron.

“The University of Akron is one of the Top 100 entrepreneurial colleges and universities in the U.S., according to the May 2004 issue of Entrepreneur magazine. UA is ranked in the first tier of the top 50 regionally recognized academic programs.”

Regionally? At Pitt, we compare ourselves to the nation, not the mon valley. Entrepreneur magazine? Unreal. Be sure to take the issue with you to every job interview. Oh, that’s right, you’re all going to own businesses. I forgot… You should see the list of colleges that get ranked by them. Its a fucking joke, and we all know it. Also funny how you mentioned 2004’s magazine…couldn’t quite find you in 05, 06, 07, etc.

“In early 2006, Campus Activities Magazine singled out The University of Akron for having the “Best Campus Program” in the United States. It is the third time since 2000 that the magazine has selected UA for this exceptional honor.”

CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE? Way to avoid the low hanging fruit. Harvard should rip up their degrees cause they ain’t got nothin on FUCKIN AKRON.

“blah blah blah…more inane ratings…bash pitt’s campus…blah blah blah…”

If you want to say you prefer the rural akron campus to pitt’s urban campus, thats fine, that’s personal preference. But to insult Pitt’s campus and call Akron’s better - GTFOOH. I don’t have to visit every rural cow tippin dump to tell you they all smell like shit. Some of us prefer life, not farm life. You’re a moron for trying to tell us their campus is “better.” And then to compare a degree from Pitt to a degree from AKRON…AKRON FOR CHRISTS SAKES - you’re a moron. There is no comparison and only Akron rejects would even ATTEMPT to argue this bullshit.

I’m sorry you couldn’t get into Pitt’s grad programs and had to go to akron for your masters. Better luck in your next life. Keeping this line of reasoning up is DISGRACING our university - you should be embarassed, and how about never mentioning again that you attended Pitt. Tell everyone you only went to Akron. I can’t understand people who attended our school insulting it publicly…unreal. Your jealousy is showing…

And if anyone wants to know where that fool got all his akron loving info, it was right off the akron site.

http://www.uakron.edu/president/resrc/nat_rankB.php

Here’s my favorite line from their “achievements”:

“The University of Akron is classified by U. S. News & World Report as one of the 228 national universities in the United States.”

That’s right, they *are* a university.

Can someone please tell us all how tough it is to get into the academic powerhouse that is AKRON? Anyone?

Wait, i found it.

Men applied: 5445
Men admitted: 4475
Women applied: 5965
Women admitted: 4839

See, not *EVERYONE* gets in.

Only SEVEN PERCENT, 7%, OF THE MORONS WHO WENT TO AKRON SUPPLIED SAT SCORES.

25th-75th percentile?

880-1140

They LET IN KIDS WITH 880 SAT SCORES.

Please, tell us more about how wonderful they are..i’m dying here….please….go on…

It gets better…over TEN PERCENT OF THEIR STUDENT BODY DIDN’T SCORE OVER 800 ON THE ENTIRE SAT, THAT IS 400 + 400…COULDN’T DO IT…IT’S TOO FUNNY…US news should look into whether or not they’re actually a national “university”….

You people would be better off going to WVU…

I am disturbed at how sensitive Pitt folks are about this. Someone chose not to come to Pitt. Pitt will survive, the bball team will survive, get over it. My goodness, what’s going to happen when something that really matters happens in your life. Rather than wishing the kid (KID!!!) well, many of the comments posted here are very sophmoric and defensive. If Pitt is so great, we don’t need to defend her becuase ONE kid chose a different school. Just move on…

Comrade STUART you have now provided sufficient fodder to allow any intelligent soul a vast array of reasons to avoid attending PITT. What a shame. Previously I thought PITT was a university. Now PITT seems to be a cesspool for the arrogant, vain, childish morons.

What purpose is there in trashing the University of Akron? No one insanely attacked PITT. Now you show your incredible lack of grace and wisdom.
If you are a product of PITT your presence on this blog defames that institution, but good. Perhaps you should proof read your rants. Include chilling for an hour or two before clicking on “submit”.

Fortunately for you Comrade, there are a few others lobbing foolish and incorrect statements.
First thing that comes to mind when I read their posts that as a group, and this includes you, are in terrible need of a reading comprehension course.

Comrade JARED, no where did I compare Akron’s TV exposure to PITT’s. In fact, I used the word “including” to point out that TWO of Akron’s national TV appearances were on ESPN during the lowly NIT. No where did I mention or compare Akron to PITT. Try reading the post before going off on a rant. You made yourself look the fool.

Comrade Mike, you single handedly insured that you will never see Zeke Marshall wearing a PITT uniform. Speaking of morons, sheesh.

Comrade JTADS, here’s some news for you. PITT had a nice win over Duke at a neutral site (MSG).
Followed by getting their heads handed to them the next game over in Dayton by that mid-major Dayton Flyers. You do remember that 80-55 ass kicking don’t you?

Now, normally that loss would mean nothing to a Zips fan. But, this time out its quite significant. Just three days after PITT’s national embarrassment at the hands of the Flyers
those lowly, unworthy to be on the same court with the mighty Panthers took Dayton into double overtime eventually losing 83-81 on a controversial call.

By the way, that blow out loss garnered PITT a far more talking head exposure than a one point victory over Duke.

Comrade “In My Seat 90 Minutes Before Kickoff” is the reason for your nic due to the fact that no one lets you participate in their tail gating? Try confirming with coach Dixon before you run your ignorant mouth. Dixon DID back out of an agreement to play Akron last year. It was common knowledge through out the MAC and showed up on several MAC boards.

Life is tough. Get a brain and a heart.

Mike=asshole

Fear the Roo,

“Comrade STUART you have now provided sufficient fodder to allow any intelligent soul a vast array of reasons to avoid attending PITT. What a shame. Previously I thought PITT was a university. Now PITT seems to be a cesspool for the arrogant, vain, childish morons.

What purpose is there in trashing the University of Akron? No one insanely attacked PITT.”

So before you even GET to the part about the fact that no one is attacking PITT, you breakdown our university as a “cesspool for the arrogant, vain, childish morons”, which first of all, is terrible grammar. Maybe you should proofread your attacks before you submit them? Second of all, and more importantly, you provide our University with a blanket description based on one person’s online post. What is that supposed to be, a compliment?

I guess we know who the arrogant one is now. Wow!! Referring to people at comrade. That is a new one.

You mentioned about the exposure for Akron on national tv. I just pointed out that 2 appearances doesn’t begin to compare to Pitt’s exposure. The whole tv argument came up from Daboss (zeke’s mom). She said she can watch Zeke on tv. I am just pointing out that there is much more tv exposure at Pitt then Akron.

I also didn’t know that one game defines a season. Since Akron beat Dayton and Pitt didn’t, then Akron is better then Pitt? That is what you are implying. That is silly. When is the last time Akron was in the NCAA Tourney. That is kind of a big deal and Pitt has been there regularly. And the win of Duke in MSG was a little bit better then ‘a nice win’, as you put it.

I have no problem with Zeke going to Akron. I wish him the best. I have not based the kid and will not. I hope he does well and makes it to the NBA. I have no problem with him saying he didn’t like Pitt’s campus and liked Akron’s campus. I have no clue whose computer science program is better, so I don’t have a problem with any of that. BUT, I do have a problem with people trying to say that Akron is even close to Pitt when it comes to basketball. That is just silly.

Stuart, I must say I loved your step by step ripping of Comrade (WTF?) Roo.

For the record, I have no problem with Zeke going to Akron. I have a problem with how he had to trash what seems to be a very generous offer from Pitt. While Jeff is right this isn’t something to get overly worked up about, Zeke (and his mom)did invite this as soon as the statements turned to “Why Pitt sucks.”

He never said Pitt sucks. You guys said he did. He didn’t even imply it. All he said was he prefered Akron.

Jared - Akron didn’t beat Dayton, they just “loss by less,” therefore they are better than Pitt. Akron logic at its best. Using both the “tranistive win property” AND the “closer loss means better property” all in one argument - and we all know how irrefutible those “laws of nature” are.

Roo - all I pointed out was that these two sentences were flawed:

“Secondly, it was for academic reasons. He loved their computer program and that’s what he wants to major in.”

They are just not true. Bad information. Where i come from “academic reasons” means “better program at better school” - and its just not true. That’s like saying you’re going to Hoopie U for “academic reasons…cause i ain’ts gots to work as hard to gets my degree! They jus hands em out!”

All i pointed out was that Pitt is SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER in CS. Then the “we love akron” crowd had to embarass themselves with their “regional rankings” and whatnot.

Now go fuck yourself.

Like i said, i’m not disappointed at all with him going to akron to play bball. That’s his choice. But stupid ass comments like “better campus” (subjective at best) and “academics” (laughable at best) are going to be brought to light. Its too bad he doesn’t have anyone intelligent around him to guide him a little better in life. Not my problem though.

I laugh at anyone that compares a university where over 10% of their fully admitted students are borderline retarded to Pitt. Please keep it up…

Stuart needs a hug

Marshall was indeed the staff’s top priority. Think what you want to, but the local recruiting has been a bust for Pitt basketball. Everything else has been excellent — but the local recruiting is NOT good. Someone asked what 1-8 meant on top local recruits:

Ben McCauley chose NC State. 0-1

Herb Pope committed to Pitt before JO Stright rescinded his verbal pledge. Pitt never stopped recruiting him, but he is now at New Mexico State. 0-2

Terrelle Pryor committed to play basketball at Pitt at one time. He is now playing football for Ohio State. 0-3

DeJuan Blair committed to Pitt. 1-4

DJ Kennedy is at St. John’s. 1-5

Brian Walsh is headed to Xavier. 1-6

Zeke Marshall is headed to Akron. 1-7

Hopefully they get Kane after a year in prep school. If they do that, they’ll have gotten the top two local prospects in Kane and Blair, but missed on the rest. And of the names above, the only one that did not go hard after is Walsh.

OK I think we’ve beaten a dead horse with these so called “top recruits” from the area…Herb Pope?? come on…Pitt got the best player on that list in Blair so I say they are currently 1-1, not 1-8 (even thought only 7 names are listed).

I wonder if Sara could perhaps start writing an insider recruiting blog, since she seems to know for a fact that Pitt went hard after all of these prospects. With all due respect, I’ll listen to Chris Dokish, who has written extensively about how Pitt backed off from recruiting Pope and Kennedy due to character issues.

And as for Fear the Roo, yes you’re right Jamie Dixon is scared of Akron that’s why he backed out of playing them. More likely it was cancelled so they could play the Washington’s and Duke’s of the world…or so our RPI didn’t go to hell. You say you graduated from Pitt, but your loyalties to Akron basketball are seemingly strong. I know I would never jump to the defense of Cal’s basketball team (my grad school) before I would Pitt’s, especially since Pitt is considerably better.

So my dear comrade, why don’t you, Sara, and Daboss go sit around and discuss Akron’s Polymer Science program (aka the study of plastics).

I went to the WPIAL playoff game between Mckeesport and Central Catholic last year. In all honesty, Marshall is not Top 100 in the country material. Someone said it above, if he was so great he would have scored a lot more. He was not even close to being dominant in a game he should have dominated. Central’s tallest player was maybe 6′5 and if he was any good he would have had 30 points and 20 boards. When i heard Pitt offered I couldn’t believe it, now it’s a relief he went elsewhere.

Sara:

This definition of top local prospects is crazy. Check some of the sources. Lets say we got all of the local prospects. How is a starting line up of Blair, Pope, McCauley, Walsh and Kennedy going to do? They certainly aren’t top 10 in the country this year. So we are better of without some of these guys. Just because they are local doesn’t mean they are better. Sara, would you rather have McCauley starting this year at the 4 over Sam Young? Please!! That is the choice that would have to be made. Recruiting isn’t done in a vacuum. If we take one person, we can’t take another. Sam Young was the most improved player. What is McCauley in the ACC?

And please quit mentioning Pryor for basketball recruiting. He isn’t playing basketball so it doesn’t matter.

courtesy of Mike White from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette….

“Marshall, who weighs only 205 pounds, averaged 10 points and 11 rebounds a game for McKeesport as a junior and is an excellent shot blocker.

Although some knock his offensive game, Marshall said, “I’D RATHER PLAY DEFENSE than offense. With McKeesport, we had lots of scorers.”

since it is obvious most of you do not know this kid too well, after speaking with both his high school and AAU coaches, they both said that Marshall is a very unselfish player and that he prefers to play defense “especially when he is surrounded by players who are HOT at the 3 point line”. I was at the Schenley vs Mckeesport game and although Marshall could have scored big time..he chose to give up the ball to the 6′5 guy Devon Alexander (which is why HE had 22+ points). Say what you all want…but I would rather play with a big man who is unselfish and who can dish the ball to his other teammates. His high school coach told me that Marshall’s philosophy is…if they have a “hot hand” I’ll dish to them all night and get the rebounds or block the shots…which is why McKeesport never lost by any double digit numbers during their season…the big man did what he was ASKED TO DO by his coach…change their opponents shots, get the rebound and block everything. Give the kid a break….

Dokish is the only local recruiting writer who wrote that Pitt DIDN’T back off Pope. They were on him till his name on NM State’s LOI.

http://www.pghsports.com/PSR-News/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1163606499&archive=&template=Keystone

And an excerpt from August of 2006:
“Pitt, once the hometown team, is one of the few that haven’t abandoned Pope yet”

As for Kennedy, there were no character issues.

Pitt got involved with Young precisely because McCauley was not showing much interest in them. That, too, is a fact. It worked out in Pitt’s favor, but the fact is they tried and failed to land McCauley.

Look, I think the Pitt basketball program gets an A in most areas. I think they are undervalued locally by the media. But its possible to criticize elements of the team and still recognize that the overall value is high.

And the fact is, their local recruiting has been poor. I explained it above — Pitt offered each and every one of the above players and simply failed to land them.

And their were 7 players listed, with Kane being the 8th.

My point is: Who cares if the local recruiting is poor. Pitt would be in a worse position if it was great.

I don’t claim to be a recruiting expert. But I think most things people write about recruiting is speculation. How do we know that McCauley was not showing them interest and not vice versa? I haven’t seen anything where that was stated. I don’t know either way, but I am not claiming to.

I don’t think bringing in Kane is a good idea either. I am not saying that he won’t be a good/great player, but we don’t have room for him. The scholarship would have to come from Austin Wallace this year. That leaves us with one scholarship for a big man next year, which leaves us very thin in the front court and wouldn’t be smart. Now if it were taking Kane instead of Dixon, then that would be a conversation worth having.

Again, recruiting isn’t done in a vacuum. So we could be better with local recruiting if we get Kane. But what if that means we don’t have room for an Aaric Murray, who plays a postion of need? Is that better because it makes our local recruiting look better? I don’t think so.

After reading those articles from Dokish, it seems like Pitt would take Pope if he wanted to come, but weren’t exactly going all out for him. That’s not really losing him. Like Dokish wrote recently, it was more bad luck than anything as to why they haven’t gotten a lot of local kids. Pryor went for football, Pope and Kennedy wanted to get away, Marshall didn’t want to go to school in Pittsburgh, etc. Not much you can do about any of that.

This is why we suck. We can’t get local recruits and have to “settle” for garbage from other places that have only gotten us to 7? (shit i can’t remember) straight NCAA bids, 7? (damn, lost count again) big east final games, 2 BE championships, and the best winning percentage in the best basketball conference in the nation.

Keep bringing on the “second rate” players and let all those NBA bound picksburgers go elsewhere.

Out of those other 7, can someone please tell me which has done the best? Who has done better than they would have at Pitt?

None of these local kids were a great loss, but the truth is, Pitt did offer them all and Dixon himself said he would like to have some good locals. Well, there were some and for whatever reason, all but one went elsewhere. So I wouldn’t totally dismiss the situation in such a cavalier manner. No matter how you look at it, any program would love to cash in on local talent.

I understand the whole ‘wanting local talent’ arguement. Sure it would be great, but I think winning is most important. I wouldn’t care if every local kid goes to another school, as long as we keep winning. And hopefully win some more.

Our football team sure has a lot of local talent…

It seems like Pitt’s ‘local’ recruiting base is NYC. We have been hearing stories for the last several years about St. John’s, Rutgers, and even Syracuse having trouble with top NYC recruits because they come to Pitt.

Pittsburgh is not a hotbed of hoops talent. It would be nice if we could land the real studs. But since not many good players come from the area, it isn’t worth spending a lot of time developing relationships with coaches to get mediocre players, when that time could be spent in Philly and NYC, true hotbeds of talent, where the depth is great and we have had great success.

Of all those local kids, the only one with any track record is McCauley. He’s a good-to-very good player.

The rest are too young to comment on, but I think the most talented of the entire group is Dre Kane. I already admitted that if Pitt gets Kane, they’ll have landed the two best local players since the excellent run by Blackhawk.

Not landing the local guys is not going to crush the program by any means. I never meant to insinuate that it would mean that.

But come on — it IS disconcerting to see Pitt coaches strike out not only with national elite talent, but also with the local elite talent — the local kids should be DROOLING to come to Pitt.

So what does that say about the local talent then?

I know Jamie Dixon from his days as an assistant to Hawaii’s Riley Wallace, and can say that he is one classy, quality person. He wanted Ezekiel Marshall to be HIS project, not Keith Dambrot’s. But he will accept Zeke’s decision with all due humility. That’s a lot more than seems the case for some Pitt fans. You are not earning respect for the University of Pittsburgh, a national caliber academic and athletic institution, but not the only one. One that is rising into bigger days, athletically and academically is the University of Akron. As the inventor of the phrase, let me say to my Panther friends, “Fear the Roo”!

What is it about Akron athletic blogs that makes their “fans” keep coming back to the Pitt blogs?

after talking with Antiqua and other local college coaches….the one think that they were emphasizing about “recruiting locally” is that they get INTENSE pressure from alumni and especially those higher up in the universities when it seems as though they cannot keep local talent. According to several coaches that I spoke with..they all said the same thing, whenever they lose a “local recruit” especially one that is considered to be a “highly ranked” individual…they get an “earful” from the “powers that be”. That is why it is a hard blow, to the coaching staff, whenever they loss these kids to out-of-state programs.

I also heard, through the “perverbial coaches vine” that Antiqua is leaving and taking the Memphis job. That is why they promoted the other guy to Assistant Coach..so he can take over Antiqua’s spot. I heard that an “official announcement” is supposed to be released on Thursday…I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

We accepted the kid wanting to play for Akron - no one here gives a shit. We laughed at people saying Akron was a better college (including his family). We still didn’t give a shit, it was so absurd. The only ones that give a shit are the pathetic, whiney, “us too!” bitchass akron retards…er, “students.” Don’t get so uptight when we laugh at your joke of a community college. I would have never laughed out loud had i known i’d offend so many slow children. Too bad you mistake “laughing at the shitty school” as “caring.”

Strictly for ego purposes, the kid made the right move. He’s gotten far more attention for choosing a laughable school and then dissing Pitt than he ever would in 5 years for picking Pitt. As I said originally, everyone wins. He goes to a place he might get some PT. We get to use our scholarship on a legitimate player, without being accused by local coaches or JO Stright of ignoring local “prospects.”

Those who highlighted / capitalized the words from the quote that kid “preferred” to play D. That was always my quote when I’d strike out 4 times in pony league most games … “I’m out there for my glove, dad.” I repeat … a kid from McKeesport with that size, if he’s all that, he should score 30 (and allow me to capitalize my key words) BY ACCIDENT against Wonder bread programs like Fox Chapel or Shaler. And play MAC-level D like he does.

Aesop had you comrades pegged. The grapes must be sour.

Oh, and here is a late baseball score. Akron Community College 4, the mighty Piss Kitties 2.

Life’s tough. Get a brain and a heart.

OH NO BASEBALLL….reminds me of when State Penn fans brought up wrestling to combat their losses to us in football and basketball.

You’re a moron if you think its sour grapes. We’ve tried explaining it, but you’re obviously too stupid.

Stuey - you are one angry monkey…

…and jeff you’re the antagonist stirring it up

predictably, the jeff method is as follows:

poke, poke, argue against a straw man, respond to criticism with ‘holier-than-thou’ comments, chastise others and name call

that just needed to be pointed out.

These are not the be-all, end-all… but the Zeke Marshall so many Pitt fans are quick to dismiss is now ranked 37th by Rivals.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/v….009&ra_key=1642

Maybe this one works:
http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?SID=910&Year=2009&ra_key=1642

In case the link is not working, he is now ranked 37th.

BETTER THAN THAT SARA:

ZEKE MARSHALL IS RANKED HIGHER THAN THE “ALMIGHTY”…WE WANT HIM SAITH THE PITT FANS…FITZGERALD ranked lowly #102 AND wait hold on…JENNINGS…lowly #`116 AND WAIT A MINUTE PITT FANS…especially you STUART–hold on..wait a minute..OH MY…ZEKE IS #8 CENTER IN HIS CLASS AND where is Fitzgerald–NOT LISTED!!!!! Oh my and JENNINGS is #14 Center!!

WOW….I LOVE IT…ok Stuart..lets the world hear your ever so “eloquent” college vocabulary……HOLLA BACK YA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, i guess we should disband the basketball team, we’re never going to win another game. Look at what a joke our program has turned into cause we can’t recruit.

For the 1000th fucking time morons, no one is pissed that he isn’t coming to Pitt. No matter how great you think he is. You people should build a monument for him, he’s the best you’ll ever do. You people want him so bad, you have him. Why the continued insistance on trying to convince us of how good he is? Why does that matter so much to you?

Some of us know talent when we see it. I’d love to see D Blair one on one with this kid. Maybe Zeke will get out of the mon for long enough to come to the summer league - i’d love to see it.

Now, can we get back to the fact that A QUARTER OF YOUR COLLEGE CAN’T SCORE OVER 440 ON EITHER HALF OF THE SAT? 880 TOTAL? Wait, tell me again what an “amazing” community college you have there.

Oh, and if we go by that list, we also got the #15 player in the nation. Nice.

Here there is no difference between him and Fitzgerald: http://pittsburgh.scout.com/a.z?s=141&p=9&cfg=bb&c=4&yr=2009

I heard all those lists are always right.

“Look at what a joke our program has turned into cause we can’t recruit.”

YOU SAID IT…I DIDN’T. Aahhhhh sooo true Stuart!!!

Calm down, Stewie. Take a deep breath. No need to resort to calling people effing morons, although that kind of response does give us a good peak into your head.

Take the time to actually read these posts you are responding to. No one said the program is a joke; in fact I said exactly the opposite. At the same time, it’s just humorous that you are defending your flawed position so vehemently. Pitt thinks the kid has potential; that’s why they offered him a scholarship. He was Tom Herrion and Orlando Antigua’s top priority. They missed on him.

That’s really the extent of it.

Sara and Zooreview:

I have an honest question for you. You both seem to have some affiliation with Zeke. Do you feel that is the the 37th best player in the nation at this point in time? I am not trying to stir the pot, just get your opinion.

I’ll say it this way: I know, from talking with his mom, that Zeke didn’t start playing any kind of basketball until he was in 7th grade (and that was with the AAU team EastEnd). While he did play on is high school’s JV team in his 9th grade year..he really didn’t see any REAL PLAYING TIME on the Varsity until THIS YEAR.

Having said all of that…EVERYONE who has seen him from his 9th grade year until now has seen TREMENDOUS growth and development in him as has he, himself. What I know about him is this…Zeke takes his playing very, very serious…but just like anybody playing an organized sport…you have to be TAUGHT how to play the game and unfortunately, most WPIAL coaches (including his current coach) dont know how to coach a TRUE “big man” which is why he didn’t put up ALOT of points..because that’s not what he was asked to do.

So to answer your question Jared…do I think he deserved the 37th spot..ABSOLUTELY…because while most of the people on this blog want to berate him and say he is no good…most of those same people probably did not see him play when he dropped 15 pts, 10 rebounds and 9 blocks during the morning game on Sat. AND 18 pts, 9 rebounds and 8 blocks against Blessed IJN (who by the way have a 7′1 kid and a 6′10 kid)at the Pitt Jamfest. They also probably didnt travel to Akron for the King James Jamfest when he dropped 14 pts, 8 rebounds and 8 blocks against Buckles of the Florida Rams nor did they see him when he dropped 16 pts, 12 blocks and 8 rebounds against Lou Will Elite (where..by the way..Coach Dixon was sitting “center court”) therefore it is understandable to see how all of the coaches and scouting services have rated him so high. ALL OF THOSE COACHES, SCOUTING PEOPLE AND POWERS THAT BE..CAN’T ALL BE WRONG. Lastly, I talked with his mom after the King James tourney and was told that immediately after that he got phone calls from Kentucky, Florida, ODU, Vanderbilt, Arizona, Maryland and Xavier.

And BTW…although everyone seems to think that putting up a LOT of points is the only way a player can be defined as “good”…noone is willing to look at the fact that this kid was one number shy of having at least 3 triple double games during this years WPIAL season (that includes points, blocks & rebounds).

I appreciate you asking the question Jared.

Thanks for the thorough and well thought out answer. I just want to have a conversation based on where Zeke is coming from. I think that is what most Pitt fans really want. Some just say it the wrong way.

I said in previous posts, that I want Zeke to do well. So I hope you don’t take it any other way. If he were to come to Pitt I would be happy, but am also not crushed that he is going to Akron, because Pitt is on other highly rated guys as well. That isn’t to say they may have been better with Zeke in the long run. Time will tell.

So based on your response, you feel that Zeke is worthy of the ranking. You know better then me. I have never seen the young man play. The thing that strikes me as odd though is the selection of Akron at this point in time. As you said in your post, his recruiting is just heating up. It seems that he could have waited and gotten a lot of other offers. I know he wanted to stay close to home and that is fine. But it seems like he could have waited out the process and maybe gotten better offers then Akron (no offense to Akron). I am sure he could have committed to Akron in 6 months from now. You also say that Zeke takes his playing very, very seriously. I am glad to hear that and hope that he puts in the work necessary to make it to the NBA. But if he takes it that seriously and it is that important, why would he play in the MAC and not challenge himself more by playing in the Big East or Big 10?

These are just some things that don’t add up to me. Thanks.

Sara and Zeke’s mommy - neither of you can read obviously. Look at my first post. Look at one of my last posts:

“For the 1000th fucking time morons, no one is pissed that he isn’t coming to Pitt.”

I did not attack his BASKETBALL SKILLS. DO YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE WORDS I AM TYPING?

I made 2 points: A) his mommy and him comparing Akron and Pitt in academic terms is LAUGHABLE, and B) made light of the fact that some of you people think him coming to Pitt is somehow important to Pitt’s basketball future, or even matters ONE BIT.

Now, instead of putting words in my mouth and attacking positions i have not taken and am not defending, attack what i said.

Sara, i’m especially dissapointed in someone from Pitt not being able to understand what i wrote…

Now quote what i said that is a “flawed position” (your words) and explain why.

STUART…you stupid little piece of NOTHING…NOBODY WAS TALKING TO YOU…I was answering a question posed to me by STUART. Apparantely YOUR MOMMY needs to by you HOOKED ON PHONICS–you idiot!! SHUT THE HELL UP AND GO SIT DOWN SOMEWHERE. If you are going to make comments–please try to do so intelligently!!

I WILL REPEAT MYSELF–FOR THE LAST TIME—NO ONE WAS TALKING TO YOU. I WAS SPEAKING TO JARED. And for the freakin record..Zeke’s mother has WAY TO MUCH CLASS to be on sites like this one and respond to IDIOTS LIKE YOU!! FOR THE LAST TIME—I am NOT HIS MOTHER. I know her and I know Zeke very, very well. END OF THE DISCUSSION!! GET A CLUE YOU FREAK OF NATURE!!!!!!!!!

To answer your question, I have absolutely NO affiliation with Marshall, I am only stating facts and not wearing blue and gold glasses.

And for the record, I’ve seen him play in person 5-6 times, and if anyone wants to question my basketball knowledge because I am a female, that’s fine, but I played at the HS level, briefly at the college level and I currently coach youth league teams for both boys and girls.

Having said that, all of it means nothing in this argument because it’s not about X’s and O’s.

Is Zeke Marshall the 37th best player in the nation?

No, I highly doubt that he is.

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t the 37th best PROSPECT. These are not lists of the “best HS players” — they are lists of players who, in the writers’ opinions (which are ALWAYS highly subjective) have the skill sets to eventually become the top Division 1 college players

To note — Roy Hibbert did not have as good a skill set as Marshall at this point in his career. Pitt fans will scream about Hibbert being overrated, but the fact is that he became an All-American.

Marshall is athletic, he can run and he is a great shot blocker. Those players change games.

Look at what Thabeet did to Blair in the game at UConn this past season. He completely altered Blair’s game - that’s the reason Pitt lost the game.

His defense is there and will be there at the college level. If he ever adds ANY offense to his skill set, its all gravy.

Pitt took Austin Wallace and Cassin Diggs — two projects at center — and neither worked out. I would MUCH rather take a center project who is much higher-rated than those two — which Marshall is. And further, he is a local kid. It’s almost moot at this point because the wave of local talent is beginning to disipate, so good ties to the local programs likely means less right now. But it would have been nice to add more than one.

(And Stewie, I do get a laugh out of your hyjinks on The Family Guy. Nice to confirm that’s the real you.)

Good response Sara. I think Zeke being a project is what most Pitt fans are worried about. Pitt really isn’t in a position to take that much of a chance on a project at center. Pitt needs proven players to come in and contribute right away. You bring up Wallace and Diggs. I think those players are the exact reason that some Pitt fans aren’t too upset about losing Marshall. Diggs is obviously gone, and we don’t know what will happen with Wallace. Pitt has one more scholarship for 2009, at this point. They need more of a Dante Taylor type for this scholarship. He has been described as a player who will contribute right away, and this doesn’t seem to be the case for Zeke. So where would the schollie for Zeke come from. Either a transfer or Wallace would be out, one way or another. I think the concern would be replacing one project center with another, even if the upside is great.

I understand that you defended Zeke on a message board and felt that you had to keep doing that because some others on here attacked you. That makes sense. But to tout that he is ranked 37th of Rivals when you don’t think he is 37th best player is silly. You have to understand where other people are coming from. Pitt fans feel that have been burned by rankings and potential in the last few years. Of course, not everyone is going to work out. I personally don’t care about rankings. I am not any more excited for Lamar Patterson today then I was last week, just because his ranking is higher. The only thing that excites me is that a higher ranking could translate into being a McD’s AA and that would be great exposure for Pitt. But I don’t think he is any better of a player. I was excited about Patterson because he seems like a complete player and one who will contribute right away and could be great at Pitt. From what I have read, Zeke can’t contribute right away and would have to deveop. That takes time.

Sometimes I read into things to much but I worry about competition for Zeke. If he truly wants to play basketball and he is taking it more seriously, why is he going to play in the MAC? This is suspicious. Most great players want to challenge themselves and play the best. Obviously Zeke isn’t going to do this. Again, this is fine. But it can’t be both ways. Zooreview has said that he is taking it seriously and you have saved he is the 37th best prospect. I feel that if that were the case he would be challenging himself more by playing in a better conference.

So after all of this. My conclusion, right or wrong, is that he maybe taking basketball more seriously, but it isn’t number one priority. His priority seems to be location to home, computer science program and comfort. I don’t think basketball is in his top three criteria. I think his drive to be successful in computer science is higher then that to be a great basketball player.

I look forward to your responses.

I absolutely think he is the 37th best prospect.

Those lists are NOT of the best players in the country — a lot of people think that’s the case, but they are not. They are lists of the best PROSPECTS and that’s a huge difference. There are kids who will play D-3 who are better HS players than kids in the top 150. But for a variety of reasons — size, footspeed, strength, basketball IQ — they are not D-1 prospects.

Pitt is not likely to get someone who is a better PROSPECT than Marshall.

And understand that he is NOT a project on defense — not at all. The work with Marshall will have to take place on the offensive end, which is the case with 75% of high school seven-footers.

And as I said, there is not a doubt in my mind that at this stage, Marshall is further along than Hibbert was and MUCH further along than Thabeet. He is probably farther along that Aaron Gray was as well simply based on athleticism.

The main reason Marshall shot up the charts so much this off-season was because of his desire. I think a lot of that was due to confidence, but his newfound drive has been a pleasant surprise. Whether or not that continues is debatable, but that’s alos the case with 75% of the kids ranked in the Top 10 — usually that’s the biggest issue for the elite kids.

Sara:

You really didn’t answer my question. You filled it up with other things to support your view, but didn’t answer the question. I understand that is the 37th best prospect. And that is probably deserved. There aren’t too many 7 footers that are athletes and can run. We agree on that. I know these rankings are done on potential. The fact is that probably half of these kids that are ranked on ‘potential’ won’t come close to fulfilling that ‘potential’. I think we would agree on that.

My concern is his ‘desire’ and ‘drive’. You brought up Aaron Gray, Thabeet, and Hibbert. I have seen quotes from all of there coaches about these players challenging themselves and being the hardest working players on the team. Development doesn’t happen by itself. You have to work for it. This is my concern for Zeke. If he feels he can put in the work and develop to reach his ‘potential’, then why would he go to play in the MAC? It is a pretty simple question. Elite playes who feel they are elite want to play the best.

Again, my conclusion is that either basketball isn’t the most important thing to Zeke, or he doesn’t feel that he has the potential to reach the level everyone else does. If he did feel he was that good (or could be that good) and basketball was the most important thing, he would be playing against the best possible players he could so that he could be the best possible player.

Passing out chill pills. Why so riled up over a single HS kid?

I believe that the real reason is an elitist attitude by a few folks. “How can lowly Akron dare compete with Big East thunder power PITT?”

It seems to me that those posters who hold such views actually need to enlighten themselves as to who Akron really is. ZOOREVIEW and a couple of others have accurately portrayed who the Zips are and where they want to go. Akron’s head coach, Keith Dambrot, has a good set of credentials along with a history of winning. He seems hell bent on the idea he repeatedly utters. That is, Dambrot wants to make Akron the Gonzaga of the East.

Thus far, in four seasons, he has moved Akron’s program a long way toward that goal. 92-38 record that includes several big time wins and a some darn close losses.

Dambrot has recruited well. He has found more than his fair share of diamonds in the rough. He also has a close relationship with LeBron James. Poo poo that all you want. Ask a HS kid who plays basketball just how much he would like to be in the company of LBJ. Its great currency.

Attendance at Zips games is steadily climbing. Talk of a new, larger arena is going on. The now
being built on campus football stadium draws interest. Akron now has one of the finest field houses in the nation. If you have not at least seen pictures of its interior you owe yourself to peruse them. They will make you envious. To claim otherwise is pure sour grapes.

Akron is a coming program. Frankly, its no big secret in the Akron community that the University wants up and out of the MAC. The coming realignment of the Big East in 2010 may be something that Akron shakers and movers may be looking at. There is talk of joining the C-USA.
The soccer program, a perennial top twenty-five team, may need a new home as only five MAC schools play men’s soccer. Hartwick is the sixth team. Previously Kentucky was the sixth team.
The MAC’s automatic soccer bid is hanging by a thread.

So, you see, there are a lot more factors than just getting a verbal from a quality HS kid. Every effort will be spent to capitalize on this commitment. They are not PITT, but that does not make the Akron staff stupid. Realize that the Akron coaches invested many hours in Zeke. They were on him early and stayed with him.

Go read the Akron fan blogs especially ZipsNation.Org - The Web Home of Akron Zips Fans Find out what drives them. There surely are lessons to be found there. Just as Akron fans learn from reading PITT blogs.

I find that stating facts is far more worthwhile than bluster. Its great that there is a lot of passion for PITT sports. Do not diminish that capital by belittling your opponents. To be the best you must beat the best. Like PITT, Akron strives to be the best.

So your question is why did he choose Akron over Pitt and Xavier?

Akron did a better job recruiting him. I said that from the beginning — Pitt screwed this one up. They clearly wanted him and failed to land him. I gave a ton of reasons for this early on in these series of posts.

As a player, if you feel comfortable with coaches, then you feel you can develop to your potential under those coaches. Maybe that’s what the kid felt.

When you say elite players want to play the best, that’s hardly the case across the board. There are a million reasons that go into why a kid chooses one school over another.

Why did JR Bremer play at St. Bonnie’s? Why did Delonte West and Jameer Nelson play at St. Joe’s? Why did Kojo Mensah, one of the most talented guards in his class, play at Sienna? Why did Lionel Simmons play at LaSalle? Why did … that list can go on and on and on.

Who cares about Zeke Marshall and Akron? Why are his parents and fans who think he will make them rich coming on the Pitt website to talk him up. You all can have fun driving to Akron to watch him play. I’m sure they have a facility that is better than the Peterson Events Center. Let us know when he plays against a top-25 team.

Omar, I too love trolls. We’re jealous of this one kid in HS, that’s why we’re over on their site trying to get a rise out of them. I could name half a dozen kids i’m more upset we didn’t land.

Sara - exactly. You said i had a “flawed position” and I asked you to explain exactly what it is. You have nothing to say. Why don’t you read what i wrote before you take shots or put words in my mouth.

Like i said, the only two people that seem to care about not landing one single prospect are you and the akron child. No one else gives a shit, and our program will go on. In 2 years no one will ever remember who this kid is.

Ok, i’m not posting regarding Zeke anymore. I have already said that I am not broken up about him not coming to Pitt. All I can say is that I think it is laughable that Akron fans and Zeke apologist bring up any kind of info to make themselves fell better. Bringing up Akron’s soccer team when we aren’t even talking about that. Crazy. Maybe Akron’s team is making strides. Good for them. Hopefully they will continue to do so. But they aren’t as good as Pitt. That is not my opinion. That is fact. Pitt has the best record in the best conference for the last few years. How many NCAA tourney’s has Akron been to in a row?

Good Luck Akron!!

This is better than any sitcom. Like I said, what an ego boost to a mediocre kid who knew in his heart he couldn’t compete at a top level program.