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April 16, 2014

It’s not the same, I know.

Tyrone Haughton signed his letter of intent today, to become a member of the Pitt’s 2014 recruiting class. Haughton is a 6-9 C-F who came from the JUCO ranks.

Originally he was a 3-4 star recruit who signed to play with South Carolina. After Darrin Horn was fired and Frank Martin came in, things changed. Martin had a verbal from another big man at K-State. The player switched to South Carolina. Suddenly, the scholarship numbers weren’t right and it seems that South Carolina suddenly had a problem with Haughton’s grades.

Oh, but SC and Martin didn’t want Haughton to completely go away. Just go to prep school for a year and see how things look next year. Haughton said no thanks and went to junior college. Isn’t recruiting just a lovely thing?

Here’s some of his old scouting report from ESPN.com (Insider subs):

We should all be so fortunate to be this athletic and own the kind of wingspan he does. Haughton throws down what he can in the lane and with his length, extension is easy. Runs the floor and rejects shots. Best attribute is his ability to strong for rebounds and get high on the glass in traffic. Definitely a prospect with long term possibilities.

His biggest issues come on the offensive end, but raw potential is apparent. Tennessee, Memphis and Wichita State also pursued him this past year.

The other news is still unofficial, but Barry Rohrssen is going to Kentucky as an assistant. Again, this was a no-brainer for him.

Chris Dokish has an interesting breakdown on recruiting gets from Dixon and the other assistants in the past 10 plus years. Looking it over the first thing I think is, how is Bill Barton still on the bench? Best guess is that Dixon really doesn’t want to change more than one assistant in a year if he can avoid it. If so, that would bode well for Barton surviving another year. But he better get moving soon. Letting go of Pat Sandle last year should have put him on notice that he has to do something on the recruiting trail.

Again, there are plenty of good assistants available that could do a great job of recruiting. Not simply Tom Herrion. David Cox was at Pitt for a brief spell before going to Georgetown and then Rutgers. He has strong ties in the DC area and is considered an excellent recruiter. Rasheen Davis is another name of note that has been mentioned.

As a side note, Orlando Antigua added his brother, Oliver, as an assistant at USF and made Jerry McCullough Director of Basketball Operations. Quite the Pitt flavor to that staff. I guess two more reasons to pay attention to USF.

Colorado’s head coach still isn’t ready to watch tape of the the game against Pitt.

A look at coaching salaries in the ACC.  If you want about Dixon’s contract in terms of money or length, it looks rather reasonable based on production and accomplishments.





Is there some kind of advanced analytic that tells us about missed lay ups, missed dunks and blocked shots? If so I would bet Dante Taylor would be slightly ahead of Zanna on the career all time list.

Comment by Boubacar Aw 04.18.14 @ 11:04 am

@ alcofan, Ed Conway was a long way back in the Pitt announcer history archives. I wonder how many Steeler Nation newbies know who Myron Cope is?

Comment by Dr. Tom 04.18.14 @ 11:15 am

@GC, Sorry but Z was dwarfed in missed lay ups by both Grey and McGhee. He had his futile moments in the paint but Grey led the conference in offensive rebounding on his missed lay ups alone.

Z didn’t dunk that much and I don’t recall him missing that many dunks or getting blocked that much. I do remember wishing he would have just dunked some of the missed lay ups though.

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 11:52 am

Dr Tom, I would guess most newbies know Cope for the Steeler broadcasts but I bet not many know of his radio show which was sensational. There is nothing like it aired anywhere in any media today. I loved that show and maybe because I was able to enjoy it, I am able to recognize how pathetic talk radio is today. I am sure some of those posting here share my opinion.

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 11:59 am

Too bad they don’t keep those stats. Taylor, McGhee, Grey and Zanna would all be contenders. One thing for sure they all improved over their careers.

Zanna would lead in how many times he hit the floor.

Comment by gc 04.18.14 @ 12:39 pm

Player senior junior soph fresh

Zanna 0.586 0.498 0.571 0.563
Taylor 0.561 0.577 0.616 0.584
McGhee 0.567 0.623 0.517 0.522
Blair 0.593 0.537
Gray 0.565 0.526 0.576
Troutman 0.566 0.643 0.718
Lett 0.608

The headings slid to the right but you get the picture. Troutman slid to the right.

Anyway, comparison of shooting percentage. Not sure how to interpret, but interesting.

Junior and Senior years most relevant.

Probably not statistically significant but fun.

Comment by gc 04.18.14 @ 1:06 pm

Zman and Taylor actually played substantial minutes during 4 seasons, while Grey and Mcghee jammed there missed shot totals into mostly 2 seasons of misery under the hoop. My guess is they have a combined total of rushed/missed how could you miss that ineptitude, that ranks highly by anyones futility barometer.

I think we should create a new statistic and record Missed layups-put backs-dunks. I suggest we call such efforts lumps.

Using the new definition I would have to say that Zanna, Mcghee and Grey were the best lump layers in recent Pitt history.

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 1:09 pm

Gc, The relevant statistic for comparison would be ll/pg avg. Lumps layed per game average. lol

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 1:13 pm

Haughton has some big shoes to fill as he will need to go some to match lump totals with some of our recent big men.

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 1:15 pm

In most all our losses we shot in the 30-38% range, with the lows being 31 % against both Cincy and UVA (regular season game). Wasn’t much better against UVA in the tourny at 37%. Amazing that game was a close at it was since UVA shot 47% in that game.

The number of missed bunnies this season was incredible, as we used this term more frequently this year than ever before. We used it so much we had to explain to a few what it meant ! haha

Most of the reason was because, for most of the season we were not strong with the ball underneath. While Z was great late in the season, he struggled a lot during the season with finishing , yet still shot 58% from the field, with all the great passes he received for cripples.

His only way of playing in the NBA is to be able to also play on the perimeter and I do think he has the talent to play out there. He was just not able to show that talent this past season in JD’s system.

Young & Artis were also weak with the ball underneath and also missed their share of bunnies.

We really haven’t had that strong with ball type of players at the 4 & 5 since 2009. And we even had a super strong player at the 3 back then.

Herrion is supposed to be a good coach with big men, I really hope they bring him back. McGhee made huge strides when Herrion was here with limited talent.

Comment by Emel 04.18.14 @ 1:41 pm

I think all of the above missed and/or had shots blocked frequently because none of them were quick jumpers but had to flex their knees before going up. Also, most of them never learned to keep the ball up high after a rebound but instead broguht the ball down to waist level before jumpin again to shoot.

Troutman was a master of using his body and strength (I thought even more than Blair) of not getting his shot blocked and finishing.

Comment by wbb 04.18.14 @ 1:46 pm

sos22, I’m not so sure I agree that Haughton will have to match the lump sum totals.

I expect both Young and Artis will get some weight training and be stronger … and Young will (hopefully) not be playing with a broken back.

Further, Newkirk will be in his 2nd year and a healthy DJ will provide more scoring support .. and I haven’t even mentioned Jeter yet.

I expect next year’s team will be much less depended on just a couple of players, but instead we will see much more balance.

Comment by wbb 04.18.14 @ 1:52 pm

l.u.m.p.- Lay ups missed percentage , I always knew if I lived long enough I could add something to the game.

We have had our fare share of big time lump layers at Pitt. I noticed the Florida St. 7′ kids showed potential in that area as well.

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 1:54 pm

WBB, l.u.m.p. “sum totals” LMAO

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 1:58 pm

Parker and Hood both declared for the NBA. Sounds like Coach K will have some work to do next year.

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 2:14 pm

Duke has, by all accounts, the number one 2014 recruiting class in the country. Coach K has 2 of the top 5 prospects, and 4 McDonalds all-Americans coming in. Looks like he’s going the Calipari route. Hope Pitt plays Duke early next year.

Comment by Boubacar Aw 04.18.14 @ 3:34 pm

@Boubacar, Sounds like Coach K was lucky to get rid of the NBA players to make room for next years inbound recruits. Slice is going to have his work cut out for him at KU with that type of competition.

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 4:43 pm

Oh for crying out loud I can’t take it anymore… it is UK not KU. KU is Kansas University. Slice is going to the University of Kentucky.

Comment by kanyon40 04.18.14 @ 4:50 pm

sorry Kanyon

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.18.14 @ 4:51 pm

🙂 Not trying to be a jerk. Just keep reading it and it was driving me crazy lol.

Comment by kanyon40 04.18.14 @ 4:52 pm

Duke is having to transition into one & dones in order to keep up with the Jones’s.

Coach Alphabets is also sort of learning on the job with this manner of building a team. Witness Duke’s first (second) round loss playing basically at home in Raleigh, to a middling Mercer team. Who was promptly blown out in the next round by 11 seed Tennesshee (Mr. Toup Dentures). And in 2012 Duke lost to Lehigh again in the 1rst round at Greensboro.

Comment by Emel 04.18.14 @ 5:13 pm

You have a choice in this stupid college basketball, either one and dones or four/five year seniors.

Comment by Frank MD 04.18.14 @ 6:47 pm

I’m the one who compared Haughton to Lett. He shares two characteristics with Lett: (1) He’s a Junior College transfer and (2) He’s got long arms.

He has three inches on Lett, making him the equivalent of a 7 footer, but as Tallahassee Panther pointed out, Lett had great hands and was a great passer. I very much doubt that Haughton shares those characteristics.

I actually think that Young is going to be our starting center next year. He’s the only possible center who has good hands. In my opinion, the starting lineup next year will be:

1. Robinson
2. Newkirk
3. Wright
4. Jeter
5. Young

Comment by Howard 04.18.14 @ 7:39 pm

Nowadays, if you are going to recruit 4 and 5 stars, you are going to lose after a year or so .. unless you’re UNC where the students are not required to read

Howard, I can see Haughton starting at the 5 and Young staying at the 4. Remember, Haughton apparently passes the JD test — he can rebound and he can defend

Comment by wbb 04.19.14 @ 6:14 am

clarification — Nowadays, if you are going to recruit 4 and 5 stars, you are going to lose ‘them’ after a year or so

Comment by wbb 04.19.14 @ 6:17 am

If Haughton defends and rebounds he starts.
Can he shoot free throws?

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.19.14 @ 8:22 am

SOS22:

I does not appear that he can.
FT% in the 20s

Comment by xfmrman 04.19.14 @ 9:31 am

My 81 year old mother could hit 20%

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.19.14 @ 9:37 am

If free throws are any indication Haughton will probably help us keep our l.u.m.p. at the high levels we have grown accustomed to.

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.19.14 @ 10:08 am

As of this morning according to ESPN, Calipari would not confirm the Slice hiring. Why is this being held up? The article said we should have an answer by the end of the week. What is going on?

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.21.14 @ 10:41 am

No news is good news! I’m hoping that the deal falls through.

Comment by Howard 04.21.14 @ 1:37 pm

Spirit,

A lot of people are dismissing Uchebo because of his knee. I saw him come down strong with a couple of rebounds last year. From what you’ve seen, assuming his knee heels, how would you rate him?

Howard

Comment by Howard 04.21.14 @ 1:50 pm

@Howard, I can be counted with those dismissing Uchebo. He has had 2 seasons and the benefit of a major medical schools training staff to help him regain full use of his knee. Major college basketball is to competitive for players in his condition to be effective. We are a scholarship short and as unfair as it seems he has to go. I can’t rate him as you suggest because I never saw him play healthy. I don’t think I will either.

Young ,Haughton, and Randall seem to be the guys most likely get minutes at the 5 next year. I think Joseph Uchebo will transfer or be given some other kind of aid in continuing his education. I sure wish him the best.

Comment by spiritofsection22 04.21.14 @ 2:52 pm

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