Morning all. A week plus off for me to recharge the batteries a bit. Mounds of stuff piled up.  Have to say that the downtime from posting for me was surprisingly needed. A break that helps remind me that this should be fun to do — not a grind. A very big thanks to the boys of both the Incline Blog and Fighting Wannstaches for minding the place while I was doing other things. Judging by the volume of comments, I guess they stirred things up in this little sandbox. Don’t forget to check these guys out on their home blogs.

Also, thanks to Silver Panther in NYC for getting his Summer School series going. Judging by the number of posts in the draft queue, you can expect more of this in the coming weeks.

Lets jump back into it. The long (well, maybe a week or so) rumored transfer of Zach Brown from Wisconsin to Pitt for his final year of eligibility finally took place. Brown played three seasons — with diminishing opportunities — took a redshirt and is set to graduate by August. Under NCAA regulations, he can transfer to another school and begin taking graduate level classes if the school to which he is transferring offers a program not offered at his present school.

Brown will offer some needed depth at the tailback position behind Ray Graham without having to rely on converting some other player or putting too much pressure on any of the freshmen.

Somewhat amusingly, the news was effectively broken on the Twitter of Brown’s friend and old teammate (and present Houston Texan) JJ Watt.

And an opportunity to play any meaningful snaps in a final year of eligibility doesn’t hurt.

Brown is the fourth transfer from a 1-A program, including WR Brendon Felder from UNC along with Ray Vinopal and Cullen Christian from Michigan. Still haven’t heard if Felder will get a hardship waiver from the NCAA to make him eligible this season.

Not technically a transfer, but huge is Price getting his release from Ohio State and coming to Pitt. Also, it is now EJuan Price.

Glad to get that clarification now, rather than after the media guides go to press.

Now in the past week plus, Pitt finally got some commitments for the 2012 class. The most recent being Alkwan Williams out of Johnstown.

Williams, who has been timed in the 40-yard dash between 4.7 and 4.8 seconds, said Friday he will take his speed and quickness to Pitt, becoming the Panthers’ sixth commitment for the Class of 2012.

Williams, a 6-foot, 225-pound senior, will be a fourth-year starter this fall at middle linebacker and receiver. Pitt recruited him as an outside linebacker. Williams said he chose Pitt over Toledo, Kent State and Temple because he wants to remain close to home.

“We have had some great players here, but his game speed is unbelievable,” Penna said. “There is really not much Alkwan can’t do. He could play defensive tackle if we asked him.”

Williams fits the pattern with the other commits of the previous week. Not exactly high-starred, highly-sought recruits. Guys who had their best offers — prior to Pitt — from MAC schools.

I won’t say that I’m free of worry about the guys recruited. At the same time, there are ways to look at several of the recruits to at least rationalize and make some sense of it.

A guy like Geter seems as much about getting an extra edge in trying to land some more talented teammates from the same school. Brandyn Cook, is out of St. Xavier High in the Cinci area. One of the consistently best high school programs in the country. And somewhere Pitt hasn’t grabbed a recruit since — I don’t even know when.  Another place where Pitt is trying to make inroads, I would hazard a guess.

“Pitt is going in a great direction because it is being led by quality people doing it the right way,” Cook told Sporting News. “Coach (Todd) Graham explained to me that he doesn’t care how good a player is, the player must also be a quality person before he can play at Pitt. These are the reasons I believe we’ll be able to make it to the national championship. He explained to me that Pitt football is going to be a program based on faith, family and hard work … They have top notch-facilities, play in a great conference and are a great academic school.”

Er, I think the quality of the player matters a little.

Right now, this is probably going to be one of the better years in Western PA football talent. Only two of the commits to this point have come from the WPIAL. Part of it is that more talented players tend to wait longer to decide. They have more and better choices.

The other factor is the coaches at Pitt and the WPIAL programs. You may recall how excised many of them were at Wannstedt’s resignation firing. I think we are all acutely aware of how, um, parochial Western PA high school coaches can be.

Graham has only had five months to work to rebuild relations. He’s following a very popular local guy. He’s brought in an entirely new coaching staff. It’s an entirely different system on both sides of the ball. Even the assistants that the local coaches knew from WV and Michigan have to be viewed with caution since they were fired after 3 years.

Graham is a very, very good hire for Pitt. I like almost all of the coaching staff he’s assembled. He was one of the best coaches available to hire with head coaching experience. But he’s not local. He’s not well known. There is more than a little wait-and-see feeling going on right now. Just more pressure on the whole win now thing.