Either way, bet on a redshirt and look at the latest commit as a project.

Tight end Brendan Carozzoni of St. Ignatius High School in Rocky River, Ohio, made a verbal commitment to Pitt this afternoon.

Carozzoni (6-4, 215) is the 14th player from the class of 2010 to commit to the Panthers and the fourth player to commit in the month of July. He chose the Panthers over scholarship offers from West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois and Purdue.

Small quibble. St. Ignatius is in Cleveland. Carozzoni is a resident of Rocky River — where there is an excellent brewpub and not a cheap place to buy a decent house in Cuyahoga County (sorry, house hunting creeps into everything I do these days).

Carrozzoni is not highly or at all starred by Rivals.com or Scout.com. ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. gives him a decent rank, but definitely evaluates him as a long-term project (Insider sub).

He has experience as an in-line player and if he can add needed bulk, tight end is where he will be listed. His best asset at this point are his receiving skills. He plays from an in-line position and flexed out. Displays solid speed and looks best suited for the short-to-intermediate passing game. … He is a solid blocker who flashes signs. He gives effort and will try and be physical. Flashes the ability to strike an initial blow with his hands and get placement. He will generate power from his hips and get into the defender. He needs to be more consistent in his technique with his hand placement and keeping his hips under him. Carozzoni displays the ability to be a solid tight end who can contribute as a blocker and receiver. Needs to keep developing and could be a kid who benefits from a red-shirt.

The video clips they have of Carozzoni definitley show little burst after the catch. If he is going to stay at TE in the long-term it will be for his blocking and as a safety valve TE.

Sam Young gets a puff piece in the Memphis paper. It focuses on his drive. Pointing to the air mattress in the locker room and already with Memphis he was the last of the rookies to leave the court.

It also seems to take a stab at getting into Young’s psyche a bit.

“I’ve always been the underdog,” he said.

The thread through all this is that he has excelled for those who have taken an interest in him. For example, at Friendly High in Fort Washington, Md., Young was not a blue-chip recruit. He was playing out of position at center and lackluster grades meant he would need to spend an additional year at a prep school to qualify. As a result, most top-tier programs backed off. He was high risk and not necessarily high reward.

So when the Pitt coaching staff began to show up at his games and then stuck around, Young committed on the spot.

“We were there when a whole lot of other people weren’t around,” Lombardi said. “He just wanted someone to give him some love.”

The Grizzlies hope there are parallels, though Young said he was hoping the team would take him at No. 27 — a pick they used instead on DeMarre Carroll. Still, considering all the other teams that passed on him completely, Young appreciates that the Grizzlies appreciated him, drafting him at No. 36. And now, among those close to him, there is the feeling — or even the expectation — that he intends to make the rest of the NBA pay.

Young will now be wearing #4 for the Grizz. Quentin Richardson has the 23 jersey there.

DeJuan Blair gets to keep his #45 and is ready to grab boards.

Now that he’s headed to the NBA, Blair will need to polish the offensive parts of his game. He will have to work to learn the subtleties of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s defense. A 61.4 percent foul shooter in college, Blair will look to improve in that area as well.

In the meantime, Blair figures he can always contribute by doing what he does best.

“I’m not worried about points,” Blair said. “I’m going to rebound. If this team has a rebounder, then there’s your championship. Because they have everything else.”

Aside from health concerns about key players.

The toughest game to date. Lithuania was in do-or-die with regards to a chance to get into the medal contention. The USA team prevailed 76-69 in a different kind of game for them.

The USA was outrebounded by 11, and shot poorer from the field than Lithuania. The 3-point shooting struggled with a sub-par 7-22 (31%), but it was better than the Lithuanians that could only manage 3-13.

What did it for the US team? Not turning the ball over. Only 8 turnovers compared to a whopping 23 from Lithuania. The USA squad had 13 steals.

This one was taut and tight throughout. Tied at the half, and the only game so far where the USA squad actually trailed in the second half.

Lithuania outscored the U.S. 10-5 over the first five minutes of the third and led 46-41. But Terrico White (Georgia / Lithonia, Ga.) nailed a much needed three, and John Shurna (Northwestern / Glen Ellyn, Ill.) then added a 3-pointer and a turn-around jumper that put the Americans back up 49-46. Lithuania regained the lead 50-49 and the USA five closed out the third stanza with six straight points from three different players to carry a 55-50 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Darius Miller (Kentucky / Lexington, Ky.) provided the U.S. with a much need spark early in the fourth quarter. With the USA clinging to a 59-56 lead and 9:18 left, Miller pumped in six straight points and blocked a shot at the other end as the U.S. moved out to a 65-56 lead with 6:26 to be played.

Lithuania refused to fold and over the next 3:20 outgunned the U.S. 11-2 to tie the game 67-67 with 3:06 left in the game.

Klay Thompson (Washington State / Ladera Ranch, Calif.) came up with a loose ball in a scramble and scored to break the tie and put the U.S. ahead for good 69-67.

Next it was Taylor’s turn to take charge. The Kansas guard hit a jumper just inside the 3-point line and on the following possession scored on a hook off a drive that put the USA up 73-67 with 1:40 remaining.

The desperate Lithuanians cut the gap to 73-69, but from the there the USA made the stops and secured the rebounds to walk away with the win.

Ashton Gibbs started for the USA team and finished with 8 points, but it was not a good performance by the numbers. Only 2-9 from the field and only 1 assist.

Still a win and the US goes to the quarters as the #1 seed from Group E. They take on #4 from Group F — Canada — Thursday morning/Friday night. The Canadians ended up edging out Spain for the 4th seed. The #1 seed in Group F is Australia.

If the US wins against Canada, their next game will be against the winner of  Croatia (#2 Group F)/Puerto Rico (#3 Group E). I’m guessing it will be the Croats.