A bunch of stories that just need the links, in the wake of Pitt media day and the start of practice beginning today.

Pitt at NC State, 3:30 pm on ESPNU. I will be ticked if the home game next year is at noon.

Aaron Berry is on the Jim Thorpe Award watch list for best defensive back.

The Sporting News preview of Pitt has the Panthers at #28.

Hugh Green missed his ride to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Apparently they are ticked about it and won’t enshrine him now. Green apologized.

Pitt verbal commit, WR/CB Kevin Weatherspoon out of Clairton gets a story. He chose Pitt because of the closeness to home and that Pitt came the hardest after him.

Greg Romeus swears he isn’t even thinking about the NFL as he heads into his junior year. His only focus is on Pitt, this year.  What else do you expect him to say?

It’s expensive and tough trying to schedule 5 non-conference games every year.

Coach Wannstedt’s first recruiting class are seniors. My how time flies.

Still, that class produced nine starters (Byham, Berry, Romeus, Fields, Pinkston, Dickerson, Malecki, cornerback Jovani Chappel and guard/tackle Joe Thomas), and a handful of other players like Nate Nix and Tyler Tkach who have been special-teams starters and/or reserves at their respective positions.

Wannstedt said the fact that this team will not have any big-name superstars is not a negative because it has a lot of good players to complement a few players with superstar potential, like Romeus and Byham.

He said he chose Romeus (a redshirt junior), Byham and Malecki, who was one of the first players to commit to the Panthers that year, to bring to media day because they exemplify the character he believes this team will have.

And to spare Bill Stull repetitive questions about his performance in the Sun Bowl. Not that Stull isn’t aware of it.

“You can’t really help but be aware of it, whether you’re looking at (the Internet) or not,” said Stull, a Poland, Ohio, native who played at Seton-La Salle High School. “I know my hometown, the people in it. I’ve played football here since I moved here in middle school. I’m used to it. I take it. I have no problem with it. It’s not the greatest feeling in the world, but I’m mentally tough enough to put that aside and use it as fuel.

“One minute you’re on top of the world, winning football games left and right. You throw a couple picks, and people are calling for your head. It comes with the territory, the consequences that come with it. You’ve got to put those things aside mentally and worry about what does matter: it comes down to winning football games.”

You know, it wasn’t the picks so much as the arm strength and accuracy.