From what I’m gathering, there should be a contingent of Pitt fans invading the RAC for Saturday night’s game. In that group, is a subset of loyal readers, which is always a plus.

The game will be on ESPN2 at 8pm.

Pitt fans probably aren’t too surprised to see Rutgers already showing improvement under Mike Rice. We’ve seen him work hard to build Robert Morris. What has surprised me is how, even though he only spent one year on Pitt’s staff, he gives Coach Dixon as much credit (if not more) as St. Joe’s Phil Martelli for helping him along in his coaching career.

But if Martelli gave Rice the opportunity to resurrect his coaching career, Dixon afforded Rice the chance to become a household name.

“[Dixon and I] used to talk once every week,” said Rice, who took over Robert Morris after his brief tenure in the Steel City. “We talked early on in non-conference, but I haven’t talked to him in about three weeks.”

I suppose, but it seems to be overstating a little bit Pitt and Dixon’s role. Being on Pitt’s staff that year afforded him the opportunity with Robert Morris. The success there is what got him to Rutgers and a somewhat hot name.

Rice, though, was instrumental in getting two players to Pitt. Brad Wanamaker and Travon Woodall.

Rice deserves some credit for Pitt’s success. He was the lead recruiter for Wanamaker, Woodall and power forward Nasir Robinson. Wanamaker and Woodall knew Rice from the Hoop Group Eastern Invitational Basketball Camp that he helped run from 2001-04.

Rice also is close friends with Woodall’s high school coach, Bob Hurley of St. Anthony in Jersey City, N.J. Hurley’s daughter Melissa used to babysit Rice’s children. Rice recruited Woodall to two schools — St. Joseph’s and Pitt.

“I became real close to him, and we’ve been building a relationship ever since,” Woodall said. “He’s real close to my family now.”

Wanamaker, a senior having a season that could earn all-Big East honors, said Rice was the biggest reason he picked Pitt.

“We had a good relationship,” he said. “He wound up getting the Pitt job. I found out Pitt was recruiting me. I said, ‘Why not go there?’ Mike Rice was a main (reason) for me coming here.”

Speaking of Wanamaker, he is closing in on a significant achievement.

Wanamaker needs 43 points, 50 rebounds and 6 assists to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists for his career.To put such a feat in perspective, consider this: former point guard Carl Krauser (1,642 points, 526 rebounds, 568 assists) is the only player in school history who has accomplished that feat.

At Wanamaker’s current pace, an average 5.3 assists per game, he should get his 400th assist Saturday when the second-ranked Panthers (19-2, 7-1) play at Rutgers (12-8, 3-5).

He will need about four more games to reach 1,000 points (12.7 ppg) and about 10 games (4.9 rpg) to get to 500 rebounds.

With 10 regular-season games remaining and two — and likely more — in the postseason, it is reasonable to expect a healthy Wanamaker to reach that three-pronged milestone and join an elite category of players.

It is not at all ironic that the only other player to get to accomplish that at Pitt is Carl Krauser. But for Krauser, Wanamaker might be one of the more polarizing players for Pitt among fans in this present run. There are those that love him, and those that cringe when he has the ball. Ready to heap praise upon him for every pass or basket, or bury him for every foul or turnover.

“When we were recruiting him, the thing that stood out to me was his passing first and his ability to see the floor,” Dixon said.

“And also, his versatility — he could rebound, he could defend, he could get other guys’ shots, he could score, he could get to the basket and now his outside shot has developed every year since he got here.

“His play has been tremendous all year long. He brings so much, and the thing that stands out to me is how unselfish he is and how unselfish he plays. He just makes other players better on his team, and that is the best thing you can do as a player.”

At 6 feet 4, 210 pounds, Wanamaker is a big guard who is capable of defending some forwards and can present a matchup problem for smaller guards.

And while Dixon said that Wanamaker is not officially listed as a point guard, he plays that role often, or, at the very least, has many of those duties.

“You think of the two guys we’re talking about — Carl was a point guard that rebounded well, and those are hard to come by,” Dixon said. “And Brad is in many ways the same thing. Even though we don’t list him as a point guard, he plays like a point guard … you have to have some size, some toughness and you have to have the ability to score.

I don’t pretend to be anything but in the “love Wanamaker” group.

Back to Rutgers, the game won’t be pretty. Rutgers is undermanned and limited in talent at spots. Their game plan is literally to play ugly.

This is how Rutgers wins games under Mike Rice this season: keep it sloppy, keep the rhythm out of whack and keep the opponent off-balance. While Cincinnati doesn’t mind jumping in the mud either, the Scarlet Knights have become pros at it this year. Just ask Seton Hall.

Most Rutgers fans are watching this season as the one that lays the foundation. Rice has done a great job recruiting and has a large class of seven players that is ranked in the top-20 recruiting classes for 2011.

It’s not a trap game, so much as a game that Pitt can get caught up in being on the road and getting frustrated by the way Rutgers plays them.