Quick answer: NO.
The departure of Calipari fromo Memphis, raises a host of questions about his recruits (and something of a potential feeding frenzy for those that don’t follow him to Kentucky). For Pitt, the speculation seems to be about a JUCO big man, Will Coleman. Pitt had previously pursued Coleman.
First, all of the Memphis recruits have an addendum to their LOIs that allow them out if Calipari isn’t there. So, Coleman has choices.
The question, though, is whether Pitt should pursue Coleman? And if not Coleman, there is this other kid in Florida — Kyryl Natyazkho.
The reason, of course, is that DeJuan Blair is likely going pro. That would free-up one more scholarship. And of course there is this looming gaping hole at the 5 spot.
My feeling is that Pitt really should not bother with Natyazkho and I’m not that interested in Coleman. Part of it is that a JUCO is always unpredictable in how they translate to NCAA. That makes it a riskier gamble.
As for the larger picture, Pitt has plenty of guys coming in that are centers or can play the spot. They may not have the height, but Talib Zanna and J.J. Richardson are PF-Cs. And even Dwight Miller, who is redshirting.
Then there is this. Pitt only has one scholarship for 2010. Only Jermaine Dixon will be a senior. This, after coming off an Elite 8 run and a season in the top-5. That one scholarship is going to PG Isiah Epps. I think it would be best to hold any extra scholarships that open up for Pitt for 2010 and someone else.
I agree with the belief that Pitt should save a scholarship for 2010, especially considering that they are bringing in mostly big men in this next class and are lacking an elite SG in recent classes. Also, Pitt is involved with some other elite prospects in the 2010 class including: Will Barton, Doron Lamb, Adrien Payne, and others. However, I think the lone exception would be if Gary McGhee were to leave. Now I don’t believe on making players leave and removing scholarships. However, if the coaches spoke with Gary and said look we don’t see you getting anything but spot time here over the next two years, whereas if you went to a smaller school you would probably be a starter and big contributor. It’s your decision but we are just letting you know that with the young players coming we see this happen. If Gary decided to leave, then I believe they absolutely should go after Natyazhako. He seems to be a very good offensive player and this team is going to need some offensive threats.
To go from that…to having basically no team at all…well, that’s gotta be painful to say the least. Much like we would be hurting if Dante Taylor were to reneg if Dixon left. After FINALLY landing an All-American…that would be such a kick in the nuts.
As for Coleman, he would not be your normal Pitt juco. He is the No.2 juco in the country and was good enough for Memphis. They would be crazy not to go after them and it’s looking like they will.
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The rebounding would only slip slightly next year with Brown/Taylor/Coleman in the frontcourt, and the defense would actually be improved I think. Would it make up for less offense? Probably not, but remember, the Big East is going to be a bit down next year compared to this year.
If they can get Coleman to replace Blair, I think they’ll easily maintain the 20 win/10 BE win streak, along with their 9th consecutive NCAA Tourney appearance.
I’m not so high on Kyryl, though, mostly because it would be 4 freshmen bigs. I also don’t think he ultimately will have enough athletic ability to play in the Big East.
However, if Blair leaves, this will be the 1st time in a long while that we won’t have any returning big man with game experience. Thus, getting a top JUCO who is mature and should be able to adapt to college game than a natural freshman may be acceptable this year … especially when there appears to be much talent at the 1, 2 & 3 positions in addition to Taylor’s potential.
Ummm… they do know that Blake Griffin doesn’t come with him, right?
Maybe the other two McDonald’s All Americans WILL go with him. Capel brought two in that are playing in the game with Taylor.
Oh yeah, GET Coleman!!!
in the comments at the bottom of the article
If Floyd leaves USC, I would doubt that Dixon would consider being Ben’s biggest rival … and not sure there are any other major openings right now.
I think this is really a critical time for Pitt which will lose its best players and has its best recruiting class coming in. Should Dixon leave (and again, I doubt that he will), the incoming talent including Taylor may asked to be released which will be devastating.
