That doesn’t mean anyone is really feeling good about things.

It’s been a few days since there was an angst-y post on the offensive line.  Clearly I am slacking.

Alex Karabin has locked down the starting center position.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt proclaimed Alex Karabin “the starting center right now” Monday and called the fifth-year senior walk-on from Greensburg Central Catholic “a top candidate” to earn a scholarship.

Offensive line coach Tony Wise said the 6-foot-1, 290-pound Karabin, who turns 24 in October, makes up for his height and range shortcomings by using his football sense, lower-body strength and effort.

“The guy has overcome a lot. He’s waited his turn, and he’s taken advantage of it,” Wannstedt said. “Tony Wise, he doesn’t say things to say it. When he makes a comment about a player, it’s usually a comment that’s been thought out and well-documented.”

Well, I hope the scholarship gets free. Karabin has definitely earned it.

He will also probably be subject to a lot of abuse by fans if he can’t handle the position. Still, it’s hard to blame Karabin for being put in this position. That goes to big whiffs and errors by Coach Wannstedt in recruiting. It has been beaten into the ground, but there is no excuse that the only players available for center are a walk-on senior and a redshirt freshman converted from the D-line. That’s just absurd. There were no injuries to the spot. There were no academic casualties. Just poor recruiting on the O-line. (more…)

UPDATE: Putting this at the top to be clear to all who come to view. This is not the actual Nike Uniform. Reader JSS tracked down the actual source of the photo. They date back to at least December 2009. Ah, well.

At the risk of jumping the gun or simply posting a photo from someone’s photoshop wet dream or an EA Sports NCAA Football mock-up, I received this image a short while ago .

I think I could be quite happy to see that be the Pitt Pro Combat Uniform, “Heritage” series.

It doesn’t take much sometimes. Brian Bennet’s Tweets should do it.

So does this mean a special uni with the present colors and the “Script Pitt”? Does it mean the old colors and the present style? Does it mean complete throwback?

Two weeks until we find out for sure.

Last year Dion Lewis grabbed the starting tailback job as a true freshman. A lot of attention was on how he beat the more heralded Ray Graham — also a true freshman. Really, though, it was that he also beat Chris Burns and Sharif Harris that made it surprising. Before the season started, this seemed like a bigger concern. I mean, Lewis didn’t even have the starting job at this time last year in camp. It was still open.

Hindsight (or even just a couple games into last season) made it obvious that Dion Lewis was a special player that was somehow missed by nearly everyone as Pitt was his only 1-A offer when he accepted. A mix of luck, shrewd evaluation, and late realizations by other programs.

Now that theme is being promoted with true freshman CB K’Wuan Williams.

“If he continues to improve he has a shot to help us,” said defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley. “We still have a long way to go before that first game, and he has a lot of work to do with the rest of us. But he’s putting himself in position to battle for a spot. There is no question about that.”

That’s quite an accomplishment for someone who did not receive another scholarship offer coming out of St. Joseph Regional High in Paterson, N.J.

Williams appears to be another recruiting coup for Hafley, who is gaining a strong reputation for being able to identify high school players out of New Jersey. Hafley is the coach who is responsible for landing another lightly recruited player from New Jersey, Heisman Trophy candidate Dion Lewis, and many other New Jersey-bred players on the roster.

One of the reasons Williams was overlooked by major-conference schools was his height. He was only 5 feet 8 as a senior in high school. He has grown a full two inches since signing day in February, which has been an added bonus for the Panthers.

It’s not to say that Williams will be starting in the first game. Antwuan Reed has one spot locked-up. Ricky Gary is a senior and has played well in training camp, so he looks like the other.

(more…)

A scrimmage on Saturday and for the next two practices, players have been held out of practice.

“We had a couple of guys get banged up in the scrimmage. Henry Hynoski had a mild concussion, so we held him today. Dion Lewis has a touch of the flu, he was sick, so we held him. Ray Graham didn’t practice today. He sprained his knee, so we held him. The only real significant injury is Bryan Murphy. Unfortunately, he got stepped on, and broke a little bone in his foot. He’s going to have surgery tomorrow, and it’ll probably be six weeks before he’s back with us.

It was a good practice today. We’re into it now. We haven’t had a break, we haven’t had a day off and we got better today. I liked what I saw. We had some new guys getting some opportunities today because of the guys that were missing, and they took advantage of it. Today was a good, solid camp practice.”

Murphy was the most noticeable injury. The true freshman DE actually stood a chance of breaking into the depth chart with the way he was playing. He is almost certainly heading for a redshirt year. That means the 4th DE spot on the 2-deep will come down to Nate Nix or Shane Hayle.

(more…)

Your 2011 Pitt basketball recruiting class has an abundance of Johnsons with Durand Johnson joining the John Johnson and Jaylen Bond.

“Pitt,” said Johnson of his choice. “It was the perfect fit for me.”

Johnson chose Pitt over Marquette, Louisville, St. John’s and Seton Hall. Johnson visited Pitt last fall and they have b.een his leader ever since.

“It was just a family to me,” Johnson said. “They showed me a lot of love. It’s a great fit all around for me.”

While Durand Johnson is ranked as a 3-star recruit by both Scout.com and Rivals.com, there is no shortage of recruitniks raving about him.

(more…)

Michigan under Rich Rodriguez has struggled with depth and transfers. Especially on defense. It doesn’t look to be getting much better.

Today’s announcement that redshirt freshman cornerback Justin Turner is leaving the Michigan football program shines an intense spotlight on one of U-M’s biggest concerns for this season — secondary depth.

Turner, from Massillon, Ohio, asked for and was granted his scholarship release Tuesday, according to U-M spokesman Dave Ablauf.

The 6-foot-2, 198-pound Turner, the top-ranked recruit in the 2009 state of Ohio class, was expected to compete at either safety or cornerback, depending on his skills or the need.

Turner was a 5-star recruit and he’s looking at his options now that he is free.

…Turner is looking over more than a half dozen offers from Division I colleges since he announced he would leave Michigan. Turner fell out of Rich Rodriguez’s good graces this summer because, reportedly, he missed some summer workouts.

That probably isn’t the end of the story and there is likely a Justin Turner side to this, too. Turner has not spoken publicly about it.

People close to him say Pitt and Cincinnati are the two schools most likely to attract Turner.

Now few programs in their right mind would turn down this kid. There is one red flag, however, relating to Turner.

It sounds like the 11 pounds Turner put on in the offseason were not the good variety, and that he was never in a position where he was physically ready to play because of sheer lack of desire.

Turner ended up redshirting in 2009 because of some delays because of academics.

You hope it was just a clash with Rodriguez and the coaches there. If it is a conditioning issue and Turner isn’t willing to put in the time, then he wastes his own talent. I don’t see how Pitt wouldn’t at least take a shot at him.

It isn’t quite the minimal risk that Josh Marks was (and failed), but it’s worth a scholarship spot for the potential.

A little odd by the end of last week. Deonte Gibson, a Cleveland-area DE had committed earlier and by Thursday/Friday two more DEs had made verbals to Pitt.

First Max Isska out of New Jersey picked Pitt over Rutgers.

The deciding factor in making a nonbinding commitment to play for the Panthers, who are picked to win the 2010 league championship in a Big East media poll, was that Issaka simply wanted to be farther from home.

“Believe me when I say it was so tough,” said Issaka, who announced his decision to become the fifth New Jersey player to commit to Pittsburgh’s 2011 recruiting class on Friday.

“Everybody wanted me to go to (Rutgers). I wanted to go there for a certain point. It was like back and forth. So I finally decided what I wanted to do was stop talking (to others) and just think for myself for one minute about where I want to go, where I can start new.”

Issaka (6-foot-3, 240 pounds) had several scholarship offers, including ones from Michigan State, Maryland, UConn, Central Florida, Duke and Temple. He was also being recruited by Miami, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Cincinnati.

Issaka is a 3-star DE by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. Rivals.com also ranks him the 13th overall recruit from NJ. Issaka is something of a tweener, almost certainly will be redshirted. Depending on his development in the weight room could stay at DE or end up at linebacker (Insider subs).

Issaka is a prospect who could play defensive end in college or make the move to linebacker. He has solid size for both positions and which spot he plays will likely have to do with the scheme and needs of the program he attends.

After Issaka committed, another 3-star DE narrowed his choice down to Pitt or Iowa (Insider subs). Quinton Jefferson out of Woodland Hills made it known that he had eliminated schools like WVU, Wisconsin, BC and Cinci.

(more…)

The one area where there just doesn’t seem to be any angst over the position — now or into the future — is in the receiving corp.

It starts with Jonathan Baldwin, as the star of the crew. Realistically he is gone after this season barring some catastrophic injury, but there is such depth there.

Mike Shanahan has a lot of us excited because he is just as tall and opposite Baldwin. Both were basketball stars with offers from BCS programs. That size and athleticism is one of the reasons why there is a touch less worry about the passing game with a new QB behind a line that will likely be weak up the middle.

(more…)

All the attention seems to be on the offense. Which really is typical for the first week of camp. There are concerns. There have been articles about players or spots of concern on the defense. But there just doesn’t seem to be nearly the angst. If anything, a bit of swagger on the defensive side that things will be fine.

Even at cornerback, where Saheed Imoru has not grabbed the starting cornerback spot like everyone has expected from the JUCO transfer. Ricky Gary struggled early as well (“…somewhat of a disaster as neither Saheed Imoru or Ricky Gary has played particularly well. In fact, this morning both were beat several times each on long passes by insert-receiver not named Jonathan Baldwin’s-name-here”), but is now getting lauded (or puffed).

“I feel like I have to step up,” he said. “I’ve got to compete harder.”

Gary is working opposite junior Antwuan Reed as the Panthers break in two new cornerbacks following the departure of Aaron Berry, a two-time all-Big East pick, and Jovani Chappel.

Gary was one of the defensive heroes of Pitt’s practice Wednesday when he helped break up a pass intended for Jon Baldwin on a fourth-and-5 red-zone drill to end practice. As Gary was mobbed by his defensive teammates, everybody in white jerseys (offense) did 10 up-downs for losing the drill.

“He’s competing right now like I’ve never seen him go,” Pitt defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley said of Gary. “This is it for him. This is his last year here.”

Not that Imoru is the only guy that is vaguely disappointing right now. Buddy Jackson has been at Pitt seemingly for 7 years, yet never seems to make an impact after training camp.

(more…)

They take less and less meaning as the start of the season gets closer, but here are some more preseason rankings, power polls and other rating-esque things.

First up, the NY Times backed Pre-Snap Read ranks Pitt at #29.

Why No. 29 and not, say, around No. 15, where Pittsburgh ended last season? I understand your puzzlement. Bear with me as I attempt to explain this point: Pittsburgh can still win the Big East. Getting West Virginia at home is key, with that game again going far towards determining the conference champion. In fact, it hard not to view the Panthers as the Big East favorite, what with this team’s high level of returning talent on both sides of the ball. … Still, the lack of a proven quarterback is a concern. So is the interior of the offensive line; the interior of the defensive line will also break in new starters, but that’s far less of a worry. The Panthers must find two new starters at cornerback: it will be enormous for this defense if Imoru can step up immediately. All told, while I wouldn’t be surprised in the least to see the Panthers take the Big East, the handful of new starters and a difficult non-conference schedule will make it difficult for this team to match last season’s win total.

The question marks and the non-con are the issue. That is also why Phil Steele has Pitt at #27 even as he picked Pitt to win the Big East.

(more…)

Another practice, another day with Romeus sidelined. But don’t worry, he is getting closer to returning.

Greg Romeus is much improved. He was active today, he worked out hard inside and I expect him to be out there tomorrow practicing.

And the day before that?

He’s fine. He’s just stiff. Hopefully tomorrow he’ll start doing something.

And before that?

Greg Romeus is just sore, I’m not worried. He worked out inside, he’s out here and he’s doing fine. If he feels better, we expect him back out here tomorrow.

Coach Wannstedt is going to be a lot of fun when it comes time to issue weekly injury reports.

(more…)

The big man from New Zealand won’t be at Pitt until the 2012, yet his legend seems to be growing every day. By the time he gets here, he’s going to be expected to single-handedly lead Pitt to the Final Four in his freshman year.

Every time that 2012 Pitt commit Steve Adams goes up against better competition, you cannot help but be more impressed with his skill level as his performances do not drop off in the slightest.  This time, in his first test against true elite competition, it was at the Adidas Nations event in Chicago.

Yes, Steve Adams was continuing to play in the US, and getting noticed. This from Rivals.com’s view of his potential based on the Adidas Nations:

Can’t say enough about the job done by Jamie Dixon and his staff at Pitt to identify and lock up New Zealand big man Steven Adams. A physical, athletic and strong 6-foot-10 center, Adams plays rugged basketball on both ends of the floor and doesn’t stray from the paint. From start to finish he was the event’s best rebounder and maybe the most physical player.

The closest thing to a negative evaluation came from NBADraft.net.

Pitt bound New Zealand center Steven Adams doesn’t have the greatest hands, seemed to miss a few easy rebounds. He’s still raw but shows a lot of potential.

So there is that.

The open browser tabs keep piling up, and it is getting out of hand.

The post on seniors graduating spurred some more good comments and discussion. There was also a Trib article on Coach Wannstedt keeping a close eye on the players and their academic performance. The anecdote is on Ray Graham being consistently late for a class and Coach Wannstedt dealing with it. But here’s the stuff on how the senior class is doing.

This year, several key players have graduated before the first snap of 2010 season and are taking post-graduate credits. They include fifth-year seniors Greg Romeus, an All-American candidate at defensive end; kicker Dan Hutchins; cornerback Ricky Gary; nose tackle Tyler Tkach; and senior wide receiver Greg Cross, a junior-college transfer. In addition, seniors Dom DeCicco, Nate Nix, Jason Pinkston and Jabaal Sheard are close to graduating.

“It would be neat to go nine-for-nine,” Wannstedt said.

Meanwhile, redshirt junior quarterback Pat Bostick earned a bachelor’s degree in communication in three years and is working toward a second degree in media and professional communication.

The dismissal of Elijah Fields certainly increased the odds that all seniors will graduate.

(more…)

Considered something of a surprise in the midst of training camp, but hey.

Pitt received a verbal commitment from St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) defensive end Deonte Gibson tonight.

Gibson (6’3”, 225 pounds) chose the Panthers over scholarship offers from West Virginia, Stanford, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Colorado, Louisville and Kansas.

I expect that the Plain Dealer will have something at some point, but nothing at the moment. Gibson is a solid 3-star recruit. Rivals.com lists him at #36 in their top-50 Ohio recruits.

ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. also has him in the solid 3-star range (Insider subs.) that will likely take a redshirt in Pitt’s program.

He plays defensive end and while there could be a possibility that he moves to linebacker in college we feel he will most likely stay at end at the next level. He displays the frame to be able to add more bulk once he gets into college weight program. He can help himself at times by crowding the ball more, but displays for the most part a good get-off.