It’s a standard thing. The NCAA Tournament gets everyone’s attention. So every local paper suddenly remembers that a local product is playing somewhere and if lucky for an NCAA Tournament team.

In Indiana, the local paper tracks down Gary McGhee.

“The whole Big East has tough big men,” said McGhee. “I played against Pittman and Monroe. And going against DeJuan (last year), it was a battle every day to keep him off the boards; it made me tougher and prepared me for this year.

When asked for a favorite game this season, McGhee pointed to the Panthers’ triple-overtime victory over West Virginia on Feb. 12.

“We were down six with 34 seconds (in regulation) and we tied it,” said McGhee. “Then we hit our free throws to win it.”
…
While McGhee’s basketball goals are short-term, his overall goal for his time at Pittsburgh remains on target.

“I’ve got to get my degree, I promised my mom and dad that I would,” said McGhee, who majors in communications. “I just want to keep working hard and see where it takes me.”

How do you not root for him when he says exactly the right thing?

Dante Taylor may have left home to go to high school, but he isn’t forgotten.

It has been a learning season, especially for someone who had preferred facing the basket at power forward. He has made the most of practicing against 6-10 center Gary McGhee and 6-7 forward J.J. Richardson.

“Coach has got us getting better; he’s got me getting better,” Taylor said. “Going against Gary and J.J. and all the big guys is helping me get more physical. This first year was an opportunity for me to watch a lot of things on the bench.”

Taylor hasn’t lost sight of his roots. A young group from the community center came down to MSG for a Pittsburgh-St. John’s game a few weeks ago. Afterward, Taylor came out onto the bus to talk to the kids.

We’ve all been wishing for more, frustrated, disappointed, and/or wanting Taylor to have done a lot more this first season. Nothing he has said or done, though, has me thinking he won’t be working hard and getting better.

In Lancaster, PA they check in with redshirting freshman Lamar Patterson.

“It’s not that bad (to sit and watch),” he said Wednesday. “I’m still having fun.”

He sees the big picture, after all. And the way he looks at it, redshirting can only benefit him in the long run.

“I feel I’m ahead of the game,” he said. “I got experience, and I’m coming back (next year) as a freshman. I’ll be ahead of every other freshman. I’ll be fine.”

He is already up to speed with his teammates in one regard — he has his own Twitter account, LPatterson21. He regularly takes questions from others, like how he settled on No. 21 as his uniform number (it was the same one he had at McCaskey, so he stuck with it), who else recruited him (Arizona State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami and Marquette — but as he wrote, “I didn’t even give other schools a chance. Pitt is where I wanted to be at.”)

Patterson is likely to stay in Pittsburgh for the summer like most of the team usually does. It also comes out at the end that Pitt might take a sanctioned overseas trip. Teams are allowed every so often to do this. They play some exhibitions and get a chance to play and practice together under coaches supervision — usually a prohibition.

If so, I would consider that to indicate Coach Dixon is really optimistic about the potential of the team for next season.

Two days before, it was Pitt’s pro-day. Not looking for a lot of draft picks from Pitt outside of tight end.

Dickerson, an All-Big East selection last season, posted a 4.4-second clocking in the 40-yard dash and ran near-flawless routes Tuesday during pro timing day at Pitt to enhance his NFL Draft stock.

Dickerson, who totaled 49 catches and 10 touchdowns in helping the Panthers record their first 10-win season since 1981, figures to be an early-round draft pick next month, according to several draft analysts, who compare him to Indianapolis tight end Dallas Clark.

Already, the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals have seemingly committed to adding Dickerson to their draft boards.

“I’ve been talking to almost everybody (in the NFL),” said Dickerson, who became the first Pitt tight end to be named first team All-America (Football Writers Association of America) since Mike Ditka in 1960. “So, it’s been hard trying to get a feel for which team will pick me up, but everyone has some interest.

“My interviews went well and we got along well. They (Cardinals and Patriots) use the tight end in a versatile way, so we’ll see what happens. I did everything they expected me to do at the NFL Combine, and I turned some heads.”

27 teams had reps on hand. Nate Byham is also looking forward to his opportunity in the NFL.

The other players like Adam Gunn and Bill Stull just want to make sure the scouts take note of them so they can at least get an invite to sign as a free agent after the draft. They hold no illusions that they will be drafted.

Today starts spring practice. Already we know that there will be some more competition at the center spot.

The “big” news of the day (which should tell you what a slow news day it was) is that Jack Lippert, a redshirt freshman defensive tackle from the Harrisburg Area (Central Dauphin), has been moved to center and will compete, at least according to Dave Wannstedt, for that starting position. This is a good development because, as we’ve discussed, center is a trouble spot in terms of a lack of depth, and by moving Lippert to center it means Greg Gaskins, who is the third best tackle on the roster, can stay at tackle. At least for now. Wannstedt said he likes Lipperts athleticism and his quickness and at 6-foot-4, 270 pounds, he has good size for a center.

If he can play it great. It is a somewhat surprising position move, since Lippert was one of the bigger gets from the 2009 recruiting class. Of course, DT is a position of depth, so it is not a bad choice for Lippert.

It really wouldn’t feel like spring (or even summer training camp) without concerns about the O-line.

Pitt also will try to replace two starting guards along the offensive line as well as two NFL-caliber tight ends.

In all, there are 11 starting positions that need to be filled, but Wannstedt said that is the nature of spring football as it is a time to reload and get ready for the fall.

“We [had] a big group of seniors so there’s a lot of opportunity for younger players, and most of these guys see this as an opportunity to get in there and an opportunity to play,” Wannstedt said. “Offensive line is the biggest concern. [Offensive line coach] Tony Wise has a challenging job trying to figure out not just the starters but the depth.

I mean, as much as I look forward to the season where I have no worries about the O-line other than fear of injuries — I’m not sure I won’t default to worrying about it from habit.

Then there is the guy putting it all together for the offense, OC Frank Cignetti who spoke positively about both QBs.

Sunseri was Stull’s backup last year and has long been a fan favorite.

“First of all, I like his mental makeup,” Cignetti said of Sunseri. “He’s competitive, he’s tough, he’s functionally intelligent, he expects to win. He’s a very good passer who can make all the throws. He can throw the ball deep, he can throw the intermediate route. And I like his mobility — not only can he play within the pocket, but he has good movement outside the pocket.”

Bostick has won big games in his career already (at West Virginia in ’07, at Notre Dame in ’08) and spent last year honing his game while redshirting.

“He has made tremendous strides,” Cignetti said. “When you talk about functional intelligence, he’s got it. Pat can think and react as fast as anybody, and that’s why probably why, in practice when I’ve been around, he completes so many balls. He’s a decisive decision-maker and he has tremendous leadership skills and the respect of all his peers.”

I also like what Cignetti said about making sure that Baldwin is not forgotten (if that’s possible) or wasted.

“It’s my job and my responsibility to make sure Jon gets his touches,” Cignetti said. “He’s legitimately as good a playmaker as there is in the country. We’re looking forward to increasing his production.”

Should be quite the information overload in the next week or two.

Just to make sure that everyone who wants to play, has signed up for the PittBlather Bracket game. Luke is running things, and if you need to know what the prize is, how to play and where to play, go here.

There is a new writer on the blog. Merlin — a regular on the liveblogs and in the comments will be posting at some point. Merlin is in Philly,  doing grad work at Temple. I don’t hold it against him and neither should you.