It’s safe to say we’ve never had over 150 comments on one article over at The Incline (shameless plug), let alone that many in less than 48 hours. Quite impressive. Nothing to see here Nitters, move along to your true rivals’ (OSU, MSU) blogs. Ok, I’m done mentioning PSU. This post is all about Pitt.
Over the weekend, Coach Graham’s staff received 3 more commitments. Of course, if you read the message boards, you’ll find out that Graham is a great college coach, but a terrible recruiter. These posters know this before one kick of the ball in the 2011 season. Let’s just give Graham and his staff some time to coach the players, get into homes and meet parents, and most importantly, coach a football game for the Panthers before we jump to conclusions. Welcome to Oakland:
- Trenton Coles, WR, Clairton HS
- William Parks, DB, Germantown, PA
- Brandyn Cook, OL, St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH)
Among them, some nice offers, some okay ones, some questionable. Only time will tell. Give Graham a chance and let’s see what happens before being negative. I don’t follow the recruiting as closely as I used to because I’ve seen so many highly rated guys bust and lesser known players flourish under certain coaches and systems. If you know these kids and want to discuss the matter of “stars”, have at in the comments, hopefully you’ll be Nitter-free.
Later this week I’ll be doing a little piece on the attitude and mindset of Pitt fans, and what I’d like to see change. It should be a fun read. Hail to Pitt!
The NFL has a hard time predicting what 21 & 22 years olds will do. Why should we expect a scouting service to be foolproof with predicting the future of 16 & 17 year olds?
As much as we may want to believe otherwise, it’s no coincidence that the Auburn, Texas, LSU and Alabama already have two to three times as many 4* commits as we have total commits.
Fortunately TG and his staff/system are all about putting people in positions to be successful as opposed to needing superior talent.
We will have to do more with less,
Hell, all you have to do is look at USC and OSU’s recruiting when they had scandals and NCAA sanction to see that they were still getting better recruits then we ever will – across the board.
PITT doesn’t have that cache… and yes, even with our illustrious past, the only thing recruits and their parents know about PITT is that it has been a rather average football school since 1982.
We’ll pull a highly ranked kid every once in a while but PITT’s strength will have to come from getting the 2 & 3 star kids and coaching them to fit into a system that works.
There is also the concept of recruiting the kind of players that will fit your system .. and hopefully the new staff has a good idea of what people to recruit.
Paul Zeise’s blog in today’s P-G brings up some interesting discussion of the new reccruits and other Pitt FB issues. As usual, what Zeise lacks in far as the number of blogs/articles in te offseason, he usually offers some interesting tidbits and not all of it is the usual positive fluff that you see in other places.
Also, I know it is early but it is a bit troubling to see the low ratings of our recruits, but once their senior seasons start they can become “re-rated”.
It kind of reminds me of the WLAT years but I agree, ratings are based on potential you need time to evaluate.
Pleas don’t add in my lack of enthusiasm as a fan. I’ve had season tickets 4 out of the last 6 years. It’s just not going to happen now as I won’t be able to take the 45-37 losses each week.
On a side note…..Omar Calhoun may be a tough loss for the basketball team. We seem to be always one great guard to making that final four run. Ashton Gibbs is amazing, but he is a point guard.Until we get a 5 star shooting guard, I worry the final four will always be just slightly out of our reach. Can we still go after Ricardo Ledo or is he off the board to another team at this point. I think someday, we as Pitt fans, should help the team and do a full on press to grab the attention of one of these types of players. Anyone know how to start a rally? I really think it might work.
Beanboy- Trust me a huge Pitt follower and devotee, just not in sync with the football program since the early eighties….
@beanboy: Semi-disaster? Overreact much? We’re 5 verbals in out of 20 or so. I’ll take 8-4 this year. It’s a new staff and system with another tough schedule. I don’t think that’s failure by any means. Much better than Wanny’s first season. 45-37 losses will be entertaining at the least. More so than 27-17 losses to Bowling Green. And don’t assume so many things, you know the saying.
Lewis & Greg Romeus are good examples of lightly recruited players who benefited from some combination of opportunity, a perfect system for their talents, being coached up and hard work. If recruiting stars were the end all, then I’m glad Charlie Weis & Notre Dame were able to win multiple national championships…
Would I trade Wannstedt’s recruits for Nick Saban’s? Absolutely. Mostly the same system but Saban had far better recruits. Would Alabama’s class be better in a Boise St or Tulsa offensive system, not a sure thing.
Two cases in point: Greg Cross & Brandyn Cook. Although not a traditional recruit, Greg Cross was one of the most highly regarded dual threat qb’s from JUCO. When he committed to Pitt we were ecstatic and started to ask the question how Cavanaugh & Co. would adjust our system to fit him. The answer: They didn’t . Through no fault of his own Cross took up a scholarship for 3 years and touched the ball maybe 8 times. Highly evaluated, but did not fit our system. Brandyn Cook – he will be lucky to be a 2 or 3 star recruit for us. But he seems like a perfect fit for our system. He plays CENTER which is noteworthy itself considering our refusal to recruit centers. He was a successful player on a strong high school team that played against top competition in a strong football state. But, he’s only 6′ 2″ and will never be a 4 star OL recruit. But, he is a good solid zone blocker who has much experience in the shotgun formation. Seemingly a perfect fit for High Octane.
We would all love for Pitt to rake in the 4 & 5 stars. Until we prove it on the field, we need to find the best we can who fit our system.
I think Price would be a great addition at a position of need and may well get some PT this year, especially if Mason is not 100%
Isaiah Epps is a point guard who can score. My guess is that he will impress at Greentree. My prediction is that he takes mucho minutes from Woodall.
This does give me some hope that this kid will be an excellent backup and even possibly a starter somewhere in the season. He will be raw, but I think he will give Woodall all he can handle at keeping the position.
Again for the football team, I wish I was more of a optimist. I just can’t buy into this philosophy and don’t see Graham as being a coach who will keep us at the top in the Big East. I so hope I’m wrong.
Are we on?? Let’s make it friendly stakes of some sort.
I’m not trying to sugarcoat, if this was Todd Grahams 3rd or 4th year and this is what we have at this time, yes, time to set the couches on fire.
I’m willing to sit and watch a little bit and see what transpires. Again, I’m aware it’s not a great thing, but, 6 months in I’m willing to let him have a year on the field and a year and two to make some connections around the Pa, Oh, and NJ.
@ Dan – I agree. Way too premature to evaluate a class of recruits. I would even go so far as to agree with previous poster that you should wait a year or 2 to really do so. However, I do think we can look at some of the players giving verbalsand speculate on their roleand fit in the program
I also completely agree that this season will be heavily scrutinized by potentail recruits, more so than Wanny’s first season was. Coach Graham and his system are great unknowns for the athletes. They want to see if the style matches the hype and if the results are there on the field.
I was asked to do this for Wanny for the first 3 or 4 years and even though we got smoked by most teams that were better and beaten by many teams that were not. I said nothing for the first 2 years. After the second year and after falling asleep in my seat a couple times I was on the can Wanny bandwagon. I never liked him as a coach but I felt he needed gave him a chance to fail before writing him off.
Why should Coach Graham be treated any different? The guy hasn’t coached a game yet and a few people are ready toss in the towel? All he has done so far is get the kids excited both on the team and in the student body and give all the right answers to the press.
I am fired up to see this team on the field and if you’re not think back to the Miami game last year? Our team quit in the second quarter and they had NO chance of winning that game. They knew it Miami knew and we knew it.
I don’t think we will be out of many games by halftime anymore. I’m not saying we will win them all but there will be a reason to stay in your seat even if we are down by two scores.
Frankly, I am happy we actually are recruiting an O LINE. That was what really broke Wanny for me all together. Not only was he miffing on last season, he was miffing on the next 4.
I am excited to see what TG brings, I’m not going to doubt him until he gives me a *real* reason to.
If you go by star rankings then you’ll like Ejuan Price (4* Scouts and 14th nationally at LB) and Cullen Christian (4* Rivals and 8th rated nationally at his position). Throw in Brendon Felder (3* fast WR), Ray Vinopal (3* DB stater from UM) and Zach Brown (starting RB at Wisconsin; 4.8 ypc average)
All those kids are 3 stars or better; some have already played, and some started, at the BCS level.
When you factor in that PITT has had 4 and 5 star recruits in the past; Dickerson, Hale, Matha, Tucker, Mo Williams, C. Burns, Antwuan Reed, Greg Cross, – all 4* players or better who didn’t make much of an any impact in their first two years, if at all… then you have to appreciate these kids Graham is bringing in. Even if they have to sit out a year they will be ahead of the game when they can play… and Price & Brown may be able to play in 2011.
Combine them with the recruits we already have verbals from and this class, so far, looks pretty good IMO.
DW was recruiting Banks, Felder, Price, Christian and Z. Brown very hard when they were here.
TCU may recruit a highly ranked player once-in-a-while but they usually average 3 stars, I have lived in DFW and watched this program rise. They usually are ranked around 50 in recruiting circles, I think last year 2011 they were 26 to 30 depending on the site.
2011 class average stars 3.08
2010 class average stars 3.11
2009 class average stars 3.00
2008 class average stars 2.25
2007 class average stars 2.54
TCU is a very well coached team that plays within their system.
If Pitt wants to be competitive with TCU it needs classes equal or better than TCU’s 2009-2010-2011 classes and not ones like TCU’s 2008 and 2007 classes. The 2009-2010-2011 TCU classes were the level Wannstadt was landing. The 2007 class for TCU was about what Graham got for 2011. Graham gets a pass for 2011 under the circumstances. However, his 2012 and subsequent classes need to be back up to averaging 3.00 stars per recruit (or better) or he won’t be able to be competitive with TCU on the field.
So, we should wait and see what develops over the next several months, at a minimum, before writing off 2012 recruiting.
IMO, there is little reason to go completely pessimistic on recruiting at this early stage. The “nabobs of negativity” ought to hold off until we really see what the class of 2012 is going to look like. IMO, that will be around late November or early December, when the influence up or down on recruiting of the 2011 season’s results are known, and the commit list is much larger than five in number.
Finally, the transfers coming would seem to be compensating significantly for the apparent weakness of the 2011 class signed last February. That is a recruiting plus as well, IMO.
I do think Pitt will start the season with Woodall and Gibbs as the starters. The obvious concern with that back court will be defense. They are both short and neither has distinguished himself as a good on ball defender.
My hope is that Cameron Wright steps up to grab that third guard spot. He was impressive in Greentree last summer. He has a decent shot, good feel for the game and good size (6’3″+) and athleticism. As always under Dixon, defense will be the key. If Wright can turn into the defensive stopper that many think he can be, then he will get a lot of time.
If neither Epps or Wright steps up, then look for Jamie to go big and play both Moore and Patterson at the same time, with either Gibbs or Woodall at the point.
Going to Greentree tonight. Here’s what I’ll be looking for:
1) Birch – With both Blair and Taylor, it was pretty obvious in Greentree what they were going to be able to do as freshmen. Blair was physically dominant, Taylor was not. I think we’ll know pretty quickly about where Birch falls in that spectrum. Hoping it is more towards the Blair end.
2) Moore – He needs to be a big time player for Pitt next season. Has he developed his body? With Brad and Gil gone, he should be the most dominant player in the summer league.
3) Epps – A lot talk about him being less than advertised/expected last season. I had low expectations going into tonight, the comments from Beanboy, WBB, Big Guy and Brad Wannamaker have sparked some interest.
4) Other new guys (Gilbert, Johnson, Johnson) – Any big surprises? Or are we looking at redshirts?
5) WVU players – Huggy Bear has a lot of new talent coming in, interested to see if there’s anything to worry about for next season and beyond. Other than the big turk and truck, it doesn’t look like the WVU team will be there tonight.
Last on basketball front. I mentioned it earlier and I’ll say it again. I hope the day comes when we can recruit a high 4 or 5 guard who can penetrate and take a game over. I still think it’s the last ingredient to us losing in 3rd round of NCAA each year, and cracking that final 4 berth.
In the case of TCU, it is quite possible these days that a 2-star recruit from Texas (or Florida or California) is better than one withthe same rating in PA. There are just so many prospects in these states that the big schools can all go after the best prospects, and there is still much quality left to take .. and it is quite possible that a kid from Texas who didn’t bloom until his senior and/or only runs a 4.5 or benches 200 lbs is not pursued be either Texas or Oklahoma because they have already have almost all of their recruits committed by the summer before.
Pitt should be a far easier school to recruit for than Tulsa. The 2011 results given the Haywood and very late Graham hiring fiasco (which also included Pitt’s lead New Jersey recruiter gone and taking his recruits with him) is hardly an objective measure as to how Graham will be able to recruit at Pitt. It is also way too early to assess 2012 results with only 5 recruits committed (two decent ones + three unknowns who may/may not prove better than perceived). There are probably 20 more to go over the next 6-8 months.
Whether I will ultimately share (or reject) your opinion of Graham’s recruiting abilities will have to wait until at least November or even later when I see what the class of 2012 is really going to look like.
Newbie at my local dog park (owning a silly Goldendoodle no less) is a fanatical WVU grad with a gazillion anti-Pitt lines.
Need a bunch for next time I see him.
Thanks.
Nobody has any dental records and they all have the same DNA
If you go back, you’ll see, I didn’t leave the comma button feeling blue in above post.
In fact, I used it 13 times compared to 5 ?’s.
What you should have said was, “Dan, shouldn’t you have used one of those ?’s at the end of your question, ‘isn’t the signing day in February'”.
Funnier would have been, “Dan, wouldn’t one of those excessive ?’s have been better served at the end of your question, ‘isn’t the signing day in February”.
Now, that would have been hilarious! LMAO
Pumpkin!!
LMFAO!!
Either way, someone is losing a trailer.
The front row at Milan Puskar Stadium!
Boom, roasted.
– They let their twelve-year-old daughter smoke at the dinner table in front of her kids.
– they wonder how service stations keep their restrooms so clean.
– they’ve been married three times and still have the same in-laws
– they think loading a dishwasher means getting the wife drunk.
– they think a woman who is “out of their league” bowls on a different night..
– they’ve been too drunk to fish
– their family tree doesn’t fork
– they hit a deer with their car … on purpose
– their mom taught them how to sneak booze into Puskar stadium
Remeber to tip you waitress!!
Did you know that they invented the modern toothbrush at the WVA School of Dentistry? Proof, if it has been invented ANYWHERE else it would have been called a teethbrush.
What do they call a virgin bride in West Virgina? A girl not pretty enough for the home folk.
What’s the difference between a West Virgina graduate and a person with Downs Syndrome. The Downs Syndrome individual actually realizes that they are retarded.
I have more but why bother. It’s just not fair.
The Down syndrome one is one of those “so wrong but so right” comments. I thought I was kind of funny, but you guys win. Hilarious… Now if we can just get Rev.George to do a nice innocent cheapshot, I’ll be on the floor the rest of the night.
link to blogs.sites.post-gazette.com
Note that getting Price is better than a new recruit … he can actually strap on the gear in about 6 weeks or so.
From all the clips I’ve seen, he’s the most exciting guard recruit Pitt has had in a while. You guys know from my past posts that I think Dixon’s recent backcourt recruiting (Woodall, Epps) has been suspect, but I’m hoping he’s turned the corner with Johnson.
One night in Greentree doesn’t prove anything, but here’s hoping…………
Wool…
Wool…
Good luck Jamie in trying to allocate playing time.
This is a little off topic, but Pitt is eroding its local recruiting base in favor of Louisiana and Texas. PA was supposed to be stocked this year and Pitt swung and missed. Why are we spending time in Louisiana after no stars to 2 stars? Go to LA and you have to fight off SEC plus all the rest. Go to PA and you should find recruits that at least heard of PITT which should be an easier sell.
Why have we gone to a national recruiting trend which is terrible executive management? You can only be successful recruiting big time talent ntionally, when you win. You don’t win with 2 nd 3 stars in a gimmick. Wanny had the ability to land the 4 and 5, but he needed a bench coach to actually manage the game with complete autonomy. I fear this is a cluster.
Now I heard on a WV talk radio show that Tony Gibsons brother is indicating that Tony will be joining rich rod next year, so expect fewer big time recruit signings from him. Look for Clemson to be strong recruiting this year because all indications are that the rich fraud is heading there with Gibson in tow. DB’s to Clemson = count it. Peace out ladies and gentlemen.
