Chad Voytik is probably going to commit to Pitt at some point. That seems to be the consensus. Pitt is leading for his services, and he is down to Vanderbilt and Pitt at this point.

“It’s Pitt and Vandy,” Voytik said. “I’m down to those two schools for the most part. I really like Pitt right now. They’re probably the leader. But Vandy’s close behind.”

New Panthers coach Todd Graham has not been afraid to expand the program’s recruiting to grab quality prospects such as Voytik. On the quarterback’s end, the school has plenty of things going for it as he looks at the positives and negatives of each option.

“It’s just the fit, the coaching staff and the kind of offense they run,” he said. “They opportunity (to play early) is the main factor. I’ve been there twice, and I loved it when I was up there.”

In-state program Vanderbilt has built some momentum on the recruiting trail with a string of quality commitments recently, and that is certainly something working in the school’s favor.

“They’re getting some great recruits,” Voytik said. “They’ve got a bunch of Tennessee kids like (running back Brian) Kimbrow. That’s a good program, I feel like they’re on the rise. It may be a year or two, but I feel like they’re going to turn things around and it’s a good school.”

Based on all indications however, it looks like the Tennessee native will head to the northeast to play his college ball.

Voytik lives in Cleveland, Tennessee, though, it would seem he does have some family in the Pittsburgh area.

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Ever since Levance Fields graduated, the concern coming into any season has been who will be the point guard. Pitt hasn’t had a true point guard since. Woodall was thought to be the guy once upon a time. Then Epps. Heck, John Johnson hasn’t even taken part in team practices yet, and most have written him off as a point guard for Pitt.

I made this point at the end of last week, there just aren’t a lot of good, pure point guards in college right now. If there was, Ashton Gibbs wouldn’t be a lock to help run the point for Team USA in the upcoming World University Games.

Coach Jamie Dixon doesn’t deny that the issue of point guard is up in the air coming into the season.

Jamie Dixon will bring in arguably the most heralded recruit in his 11 years at Pitt — Khem Birch, a 6-8 shot-blocker from Canada and a McDonald’s All-American. That will bolster an already-loaded frontcourt that includes another former McDonald’s All-American in 6-9 junior Dante Taylor, as well as promising 6-9 sophomore Talib Zanna, who missed the final seven games last season with a broken thumb.

The biggest question will be at point guard, where Dixon will have to find a suitable replacement for the graduated Brad Wannamaker. Travon Woodall, a 5-11 junior, has come off the bench at that position in the past, and senior Ashton Gibbs has also spent time there, but there is no clear incumbent for the position. “Last year we had things in place. We knew where we stood,” Dixon said. “This year some things have to play out.”

For all his regular-season success at Pitt, Dixon has still not had that breakthrough run to the Final Four. The Panthers’ second-round loss to Butler might be the most memorable since it ended with that odd foul-and-free-throw sequence. A lot of coaches decline to watch video of such wrenching losses, but Dixon told me he did watch that game to learn what went wrong. “You learn by watching wins and losses,” he said. Dixon also said that game no more painful than any of the other postseason losses his team has suffered. “The more you win, the bigger the loss,” Dixon told me. “We’ll never be happy just to make the tournament. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.”

Coach Dixon’s refusal to complain about the bitter losses. To try and put them in perspective and, (at least publicly) remain even-keeled about it both increases my appreciation of him and enrages me.

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