Pitt is not a deep-pocketed SEC or B1G program. Can we all agree on that? There is no Michigan Money Cannon to fire. There is no crazed, big-money booster that will cut a check in exchange for more influence like at Auburn. Pitt also does not subsidize the athletic department on the back of the students or from the academic side of the university (Rutger, UConn — how are things going?). Nor is the athletic department about to take out ridiculous loans that put them so deep that they will head to conferences they don’t fit (What’s up, Maryland?).

Pitt is a fiscally conservative athletic department that is only now starting to receive the full share of ACC revenue. This is only year four of being in the ACC, and Pitt did not leap into full cuts in year one. They also had moneys to be paid to the Big East/AAC upon departure. To say nothing of the new outlays required to be a part of the ACC.

If Pitt wants to fire Stallings after two years, and hire someone with any sort of pedigree/upside; Pitt will need to have a lot of boosters coordinating the cash.

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We had a nice, anonymous bombshell of something this evening.

More legal charges still could come, but what’s becoming increasingly clear as the discovery portion of the case comes to a close is that the breadth of potential NCAA rules violations uncovered is wide enough to fundamentally and indelibly alter the sport of college basketball.

The soundtrack to the three federal basketball corruption cases is essentially a ticking time bomb, which will inevitably explode. It will impact every major conference, Hall of Fame coaches, a score of current top players and some of the nation’s most distinguished and respected programs.

Multiple sources who’ve been briefed on the case and are familiar with the material obtained by feds told Yahoo Sports that the impact on the sport will be substantial and relentless. Sitting under protective order right now are the fruits of 330 days of monitoring activity by the feds, which one assistant US Attorney noted Thursday was “a voluminous amount of material.” That includes wiretaps from 4,000 intercepted calls and thousands of documents and bank records obtained from raids and confiscated computers, including those from notorious NBA agent Andy Miller.

“This goes a lot deeper in college basketball than four corrupt assistant coaches,” said a source who has been briefed on the details of the case. “When this all comes out, Hall of Fame coaches should be scared, lottery picks won’t be eligible to play and almost half of the 16 teams the NCAA showed on its initial NCAA tournament show this weekend should worry about their appearance being vacated.”

Oooooohhhhh. Juicy.

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I don’t know how Pitt comes up with the buyout money, and then have enough to hire a promising coach and staff.

Part of me still wants to let him have one more year. Not because Pitt basketball will improve dramatically, but because the buyout becomes more manageable (meaning more money to hire a better coach and staff) and I would have more confidence that the players would be much more responsive to whoever came next.

But it is at that point (I know, well past for many fans), that Pitt’s administration may have no choice.

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Unfortunately, we all know what will.

7pm. ESPN News, if you dare.

Here is what is at stake.

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0-ACC looks more likely every game.

Sorry about the lack of open threads. Big family visit this past week into the weekend. Upside is that I didn’t get a chance to watch either game. More then a little bit of an indictment of the state of Pitt basketball when they guy running a blog devoted to Pitt football and basketball had no urge or desire to carve out time to watch two Pitt basketball games. Didn’t DVR it. Not even checking the phone for updates.

Two weeks ago I would have (and even might have) said that Pitt can’t/won’t fire Kevin Stallings after two years.

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8pm

As if this were a nooner on the ACC network affiliates. Or  when reality kicks in elsewhere and it is ACC Digital Network Extra/WatchESPN.

The storyline if there was any drama to this game would be Cam Johnson  facing off against his former team.

Meh.

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7pm

Various RSNs and ACCDN Extra/WatchESPN.

I kind of would prefer it, but there is a game tonight. So…

Miami has a big injury in the form of Bruce Brown.

The sophomore leads the team in minutes played, and ranks second on the team in scoring (11.4 points per game) and leads the team in rebounds, steals and assists.

Brown is out 6 weeks, after suffering an injury to his left foot in practice. Miami should still have more then enough to handle Pitt, unfortunately.

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27.7%, 18-65, 9-34, 9-31

Those are the shooting percentage, overall shooting, 3-point shooting and shots from inside the 3-point line in the loss to Syracuse on Saturday.

Individual players may have run hot and cold between halves, but the overall bad shooting was consistent. 8-27 in the first half; 10-38 in the second.

It’s been a bit lost amidst the inability to rebound, turnovers and bad defense. But this team just can’t shoot.

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4pm

ACC Network Affiliates and ACCDN/WatchESPN.

Retro uni day for Pitt basketball. Honoring past greats from the 80s. All wonderful. All nostalgic. Pay no attention to that 5-13 record versus the Orange in the 80s.

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0-ACC seems less unachievable then ever.

25.

That’s the number of points Pitt scored in the second half. After exploding for 43 points in the first half with the 3s falling and just as much penetration and attacking inside. The offense for Pitt looked like a real thing.

Sure the turnovers were still there. As was the poor rebounding that allowed NC State lots of second chances off of offensive rebounds. But there was flow. Good spacing, ball movement. There was hope.

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9 pm.

Various RSNs and ACCDN/WatchESPN.

This week has sucked the life out of me, and it is only Wednesday. Oh, and it’s a 9pm game of seeing if Pitt can break 60 in an ACC game (baby steps, right?)

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4pm

ACC Network Affiliates or ACCDN/WatchESPN.

I went to the dentist on Tuesday, after a couple years. Not good, I know. No cavities or major issues, though. As I’m getting scraped down, however, the dentist tells me that my molars look rather worn down. She asks if I grind my teeth when I sleep or in general. No. I don’t. Never been an issue as far as I’ve known.

After a trip to the dentist, naturally you are more aware of everything involving your teeth and mouth for at least a day. As I was watching the Pitt-Syracuse game that same night, guess what I realized I was doing? Yep. Pitt basketball the last couple of years has had me in the most literal sense, grinding my teeth. One more thing to blame on Scott Barnes.

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A 14-point loss in an ACC game for Pitt is nothing shocking. Sure the final score of 59-45 is on the stupid low side. Even for Pitt, but Pitt has now dropped to 0-6 in the ACC with the average margin of defeat being about 17 points.

But if you put yourself through the pain of watching this game on a Tuesday night after 9pm (Eastern). Well, you know that this was a game Pitt could have won. And, forgive me for going cliche, the game was a lot closer then the final score indicated.

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9pm.

Various RSNs and WatchESPN.

The quest to achieve 0-ACC continues.

For the last two games Pitt has come out to the court either unwilling or unprepared to play. Maybe they can be excused for being blitzed by Duke. But to follow that up with a 21-1 hole over the first 6 minutes or so against Georgia Tech? Nah.

All too often — even in a few of the non-con wins — this team has come out completely unprepared. Coach Kevin Stallings has rightfully taken the blame for these bad starts, but has yet to offer any solution.

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2pm.

ACC Network Affiliates (if lucky) or ACCNetwork Extra/WatchESPN.

As you know by now, Ryan Luther is out for the season. Pitt seems confident that he will be given a medical hardship waiver for an additional year, as the NCAA seems to have gotten a little more relaxed over the years (still bitterly seething over the rejection of Mike Cook’s waiver).

“It hurts not to be out on the court and in practice with my teammates,” Luther said in a statement. “We have a good young core of players that I believe are going to continue to improve each day.

“I was hopeful that the latest MRI would show solid improvement in the foot, but it was pretty clear that it has not responded well enough to return to action without the threat of it becoming a stress fracture like last season.

“I am going to apply for a medical hardship and hope to remain at the University of Pittsburgh for another season. I love my coaches and teammates and believe in what we are building. This university and the city of Pittsburgh are home to me. I am anxious to get healthy and look forward to doing something special here next season.”

Said Stallings: “Ryan’s injury has not responded as well as we had hoped, and our medical team has recommended shutting him down for the remainder of the season. I know Ryan is frustrated with the injuries to the foot the past two years, but everyone involved agrees that it is in his best interest to rest the foot and allow it adequate time to make a complete recovery.”

It makes sense for the program as far as this year to next. It also makes what was already a tough, transition season filled with losses all the worse.

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