They may never meet, but given that they essentially chose Pitt within a day of the other, they will get linked in my mind for quite some times.

Chase Adams bids farewell to Centenary. Not that the beat writer down in Louisiana can blame him.

The exodus begins.

Senior Chase Adams on Monday became the highest profile athlete to announce he is leaving Centenary College due to the board of trustee’s recent ill-conceived vote to drop the school from Division I to Division III.

Adams, a fan favorite and the team’s second leading scorer from last season, will transfer to the University of Pittsburgh and play for coach Jamie Dixon in his final season.

Also departing the men’s basketball scene is Gary Redus II, who is headed to South Alabama after finishing third on the team in scoring at 12 points a game. With Nick Stallings and Lance Hill graduating, the Gents will be without their top four scorers from last season.

Adams was also the Summit Leagues Defensive Player of the Year. The beat writer covering Centenary has to be bitter. There’s a good chance his job is done and/or he faces reassignment. It’s one thing to cover a lower mid-major. At least there are the games against really good teams as fodder. The rare rising to the NCAA Tournament points. There are the other teams and their moments. It justifies having a beat writer. Now? Pfft. It’s D-III. No one will care. If anything good happens, the copy desk will just rewrite the press release from Centenary’s SID.

Of course, that’s their problem.

Pitt is getting a solid player for a year that can help.

Adams said he thought about transferring to a bigger Division I school after his sophomore season, but was more serious about it this summer because Centenary went on NCAA probation in May and cannot play in any postseason games this season.

“I felt like it was a good decision for me to go to a small Division I school coming out of high school,” Adams said. “But I kept getting better and better. If I play with better players I felt like I would have a better opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament. Looking at Pitt, I like the team chemistry. I felt like it was a good fit for me. I saw them play on TV a lot and I liked the coaching style.”

Adams is a Baltimore native and played on an AAU team with Pitt senior shooting guard Jermaine Dixon during their high school days.

Of course, the day before it became clear that Adams was definitely coming to Pitt, there was the commitment of Cameron Wright to Pitt.

“I like everything about the program,” he said. “The coaching staff was great. They seemed to be real. I got a great vibe and so did my parents. The coaches seemed to be honest, and that’s what we were looking for.”

Considering he feels he wasn’t getting the honesty from the OSU coaches, that would become a major factor. His defensive potential is especially promising.

ESPN.com recruiting coordinator John Stovall describes Wright as a slashing wing.

“He needs to be more assertive because he has a tendency to disappear at times in games. But no one has ever doubted his talent,” Stovall said. “He can be a good rebounder for his position, with his athletic ability being a great asset. Defensively, he should be a lockdown defender with his length, size and athletic ability.”

Chris Dokish had the story on Adams before anyone else did. He expects Adams to fit right in.

Bottom line, Herrion would not go all the way to Shreveport, LA in the middle of very important summer evaluations just to bring in fodder for practice. If Adams commits, and the chances are that will happen, then he has a very legitimate chance of winning the starting job.

He also has info on Pitt looking at the Canadian prep center, Cameron Wright’s potential and Isiah Epps is still a major talent.