I’ve been inspired by Coach Todd Graham’s non-stop reference to High Octane for Pitt this year. He can’t stop using it — just listen to his interview from Friday. As such, I have decided I too need to raise my octane. As such, I’m changing my tailgate choice from Maker’s Mark to Bulleit Rye.

I’ll be getting to some very late, belated thoughts from Big East Media Day. Not to mention more Pitt recruits, the start of camp and plenty other football things. First, I’m clearing some tabs in basketball.

To the surprise of no one, Ashton Gibbs was named to the USA team competing in the  World University Games. Versatility is a key word for the squad.

“We do have some interchangeable parts, some guys at the three and four positions that can swing either way. We can play smaller and we can play bigger. It will depend on who we are playing against. I do think we can play a couple of different ways, and that’s always a positive.”

The one true point guard on the roster is Detroit’s Ray McCallum, who averaged 13.5 points and 4.9 assists playing the position for his father, Ray, as a freshman. Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs is nominally the Panthers’ point guard but operates primarily as a scorer; he did play the point for the U.S. squad that won the FIBA U-19 World Championships in 2009.

Painter was one of the assistants to Coach Dixon on the 2009 U-19 squad, so he and Gibbs have a bit of familiarity.

Gibbs continues to be mentioned as one of the top guards nationally when there are any rundowns for the 2011-12 season (factual errors aside).

One of the top shooters in the country, Ashton Gibbs emerged as the Pittsburgh Panthers top scoring threat, helping coach Jamie Dixon’s team to the top of the national polls for the first time in school history back in January.  The long distance marksman ranked third in the country in three-point shooting (.490) and fifth in three-point field-goals (3.3 made per game) as a junior last season.  The 6-2 Gibbs gives Pitt quality minutes at both guard positions and was an Associated Press All-America honorable mention selection as well as a Wooden Award nominee as a junior.

Closer to the opening of the season expect a bunch of stories along the line of this one that emphasizes Gibbs coming back to Pitt as a senior, being a leader and playing more of the point.

A bit more than a week ago, I wrote about how Steven Adams was not going to be on the New Zealand national team because of his school and other factors — including the rumored trip to the US to take part in a high-level basketball camp. Yeah, the camp happened. Here’s the official spin:

Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic wanted him on tour in China and Europe, the teachers at Scots College wanted him to stay home and hit the books, but instead the 2.1m teenager is with mentor Kenny McFadden in Los Angeles this week at an elite basketball tournament.

Wellington Saints legend McFadden says the decision to attend the adidas Nations tournament was a compromise between the Adams’ camp and Scots.

Adams needs to keep his grades up to ensure a scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh next year, and touring with the Tall Blacks would have meant five weeks off school.

Instead, he will miss just one as he suits up for the Asia region — as he did last year — in a series of games against some of the world’s best 18-and-under talent.

And some disturbingly blunt language from McFadden on Adams and school.

“They have a student-athlete theme to it, with guest speakers and mentors that come in and help out with education and life skills and time management,” McFadden said from LA.

“So it’s a huge opportunity for him to get mixed up with these boys but also get some off-court experience as well.”

McFadden said Adams, the National Basketball League rookie of the year, was disappointed Scots had prevented him making his Tall Blacks debut but he understood the rationale behind the decision. Adams was on track with his schoolwork but motivation was a constant battle.

“He’s not the brightest student and he’s trying to catch up on a lot of schooling. He’s not out of the hot water yet but what we hope is, when we do come back, his motivation to want to go to this damn school [Pittsburgh] will be a lot higher,” McFadden said.

“If you don’t pass your SAT tests and do your studies back in New Zealand, then there’s no way in the world — I don’t care if you’re Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant — they’re going to let you into the school.”

Hopefully the motivation will be there. The Team Asia went 0-3 in their games, including two losses to US teams. Adams, though, was a beast. Going against some of the best big men, Adams averaged 28 points and 17 rebounds. Unfortunately, not the one match-up everyone would love to see:

Big man Steven Adams out of New Zealand is one of the huge bright spots in camp. On Day 2 he posted a 37 and 14 in their early morning match up with 2013 Red. This was following a 12 point 20 rebound effort on day 1. His jumpshot looks much better than last year at adidas Nations in Chicago as it appeared to have a hitch in it. He’s got a huge wingspan, moves extremely well and appears to have a great motor and attitude. Unfortunately we won’t get a chance to see Adams square off with Drummond as Asia is not slated to play 2012 Red.

The 2012 class is loaded with quality big men, and Pitt potentially has one of the best — period. This could once again skew things, as more often than not, big men take a lot longer to develop in college than their size and hype lead people to expect. Here’s a theory on that from a former Pitt player:

[Dayton head coach Archie] Miller related that one cause for the typical big man’s delay in development was explained to him by Bobby Martin, a longtime pro in European leagues who was a teammate of Archie’s brother, Sean, at Pitt.

“He told me, ‘You guys see the game facing the basket. You don’t understand; we’re playing behind the basket. What would you do if you had to face the opposite way your whole life?’ ” Miller said. “It’s just a whole different world.”

Another reason big men progress at a slower pace is that, as young players, they get so little opportunity to look opponents in the eye. Archie Miller said that’s why in recruiting big men, “I think you have to take a chance on a guy every once in a while.”

In more belated recruiting news of the weird. Jaylen Bond, once considered the prototypical, scrappy recruit for Pitt’s 2011 class has changed his mind about going to prep school for a year. Instead he is heading down to Texas.

Through new Longhorns assistant Rob Lanier, Texas has been able to expand it’s recruiting map to the northeast where they were able to land 2011 point guard Sterling Gibbs of New Jersey after he decommitted from Maryland in the spring.

“When I was in Florida for AAU, my grandpop got a call from Rob Lanier and from there we came up to Texas for a visit,” he stated by phone on Tuesday. “I like the whole city of Austin. Coach Barnes is a great person on and off the court. The assistants are also great people. I loved the campus and it also has a strong academic program. Plus, I have the chance to come in as a freshman and contribute to the team in a good conference.”

Bond will enroll early at Texas. “Everything I wanted to have the chance to do after prep school I can have now at Texas.”

I’m not upset about Bond going to Texas. I think we all know he got crunched by the scholarship numbers for Pitt when Birch reclassified. I wish him well.

If you want to claim that Pitt is more of a basketball school than a football school, then this chart — based on attendance capacity — will back you up.