The meme on how loaded the Big East will be in basketball for 2008 continues to worm its way around. Per Jay Bilas at ESPN (insider subs.)

It’s still too early to put together a coherent Top 25 for next year, but it is not too early to determine that the Big East will be the best league in the country.

By October, expect the backlash. At the first stumble of an expected top team in the Big East there will be the “ah-ha, see the BE isn’t that good!”

One of the stories I have always been fascinated, because of the consequences and that shows how effed up college sports can be has been the Baylor-Dennehy scandal. This was where a Baylor basketball player was shot by one of his teammates in the off-season. As the investigation was getting underway, the then coach, Dave Bliss, wanted to cover-up how he was secretly paying the way for walk-ons who had transferred — including Dennehy. That included trying to mislead investigators that Dennehy was shot because of a drug deal — despite Dennehy having no involvement in that. He even wanted the assistants to help with the cover-up. One young assistant and former Baylor player was so disturbed by this, he taped one of the conversations.

He went to see a lawyer who eventually leaked the tape, and helped blow the whole thing up. In the fallout, Abar Rouse became blackballed in D-1 because he “betrayed” his head coach. This long piece on what has happened to him is a hell of a read.

Many coaches, including Hall of Famers Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski, have said that Rouse had crossed the line. “If one of my assistants would tape every one of my conversations with me not knowing it, there’s no way he would be on my staff,” Krzyzewski told “Outside the Lines” in 2003. The rank and file has fallen in step.

Despite beating down seemingly every door and mailing out countless résumés, Rouse has had only one basketball job in the past five years, a graduate assistant position at Division II Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. In October he made the agonizing decision to quit, unable to survive on the $8,000 annual salary.

…

Assistant coaches are basketball’s Secret Service, there to step in and take a bullet when one is fired at the man in charge. Indiana’s Senderoff was sent packing long before the NCAA’s tentacles reached Sampson; Dwane Casey took the initial heat for Eddie Sutton at Kentucky in 1989. Taking the fall is an act of honor, despite the fact it usually means some sort of violation occurred.

Turning a coach in, deservedly or not, is viewed through an altogether different prism. Among coaches who pontificate about integrity and ethics — the NABC, then headed ironically enough by Sampson, called an emergency summit the fall after the Baylor scandal to discuss the very thing — there is a hypocritical silent code: Thou shalt not drop a dime on one another. Or at least get caught doing so.

And in a career in which networking is critical for job placement, those who go against the silent code are exiled, left to scrap their way back or wait in hope that someone offers a lifeboat.

Bliss, by the way, got to coach in the NBDL for a year and actually felt like he has re-habbed enough to start showing up at the Final Four once more. Read it all.

East Carolina desperately has wanted in to the Big East since the re-formatting a few years ago. They still want to find their way in. Even if just in football.

OK, but what if a deal too sweet to beat existed? Just for kicks, let’s put one on the table in the form of, say, a job application. The school should be willing to:

• Play a conference football schedule with zero compensation from the Big East so current members don’t have to give up any of their share of revenue.

• Be responsible for negotiating a television contract for home games until the league wants the school to be a part of its package.

• Not expect any of the league’s BCS revenue until earning a BCS bid of its own representing the conference.

• Come in as a football member only. Other sports would play in another league in order to not interfere with the league’s current 16-member setup for all other sports.

• Show a solid track record of putting fans in the seats at home, on the road and at bowl games — all on a trial basis for a few years.

The Big East still won’t bite. They don’t have to. As much as it makes things difficult to schedule in football,  even a provisional, part-time new member would likely upset the delicate balance with the basketball schools. Until the conference realizes it has to split, ECU has no chance.

Finally, congrats to Dick Groat and Pitt great Don Hennon on being included for induction into the WPIAL Hall of Fame. That they weren’t been inducted years ago is more of a shock than anything else.

While I try to shake the idea of Playboy planning a “Girls of Olive Garden” pictorial out of my head — strategically placed bread sticks — a couple recruiting kudos for the 2008 class.

Nasir Robinson was named to the Second Team EA Sports All-American squad. Granted, the 1st team had 20 members and there are 30 players listed for the second team. Still that puts the Pitt commit in a top-50 class. I mean, if you care about these things.
Meanwhile, one of the gems of Pitt’s football recruiting class continues to make noise about walking on to the basketball team while at the State Farm Roundball Classic.

One of those players who definitely showed he belonged to be considered among the best around was Aliquippa’s Jonathan Baldwin, who captured MVP honors for the winners, scoring 27 points, including five 3-pointers.

“This was my last high school game so I wanted it to be a good one,” said Baldwin, who earlier in the day had set a record at the Center Trojan Track Classic as part of the 400 relay team. “Everyone wants to win and we’re all hard-nosed about it.

“I wanted to show everyone I could shoot three-pointers. I’m thinking about walking on at Pitt to play basketball, too, so I wanted to work on my threes.”

Baldwin is already committed to playing wide receiver at Pitt, but based on what the fans saw at Geneva College’s Metheny Fieldhouse, it’s hard to say his basketball career should be over.

With him and Mike Shanahan, it looks like there will be some real competition for the walk-on spots this year.

Belated congrats to Sam Young for making the AP All-American Honorable Mention list. Reminder that the declaration date for declaring for the draft is April 27.

Tyreke Evans is one of the top HS guards in the country. He’s the top unsigned guard. He’s not considering Pitt (unfortunately) but the Philly kid did another interview and this was worth noting.

Evans has played with a number of great players at American Christian, so I asked the star who he felt was the best of all, and he told me it was “Nasir [Robinson].” Although Robinson is currently at Chester (PA), he did spend some time at ACA with Evans. I asked Evans if he knew why Nasir left the school, and he simply said “no.”

Some of the players he’s played with at ACA included Martez Walker (decommitted from Louisville), Jerimiah Kelly (signed with DePaul), Kennan Ellis (UAB), Oscar Griffin (undecided SG for 2009), Lamont Jones (decommitted from Louisville).

The ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. profile of 2009 Pitt commit Lamar Patterson is most encouraging.

A strong and athletic wing scorer with a solid handle. Patterson has three-point range and a nice mid-range pull-up. Given the slightest bit of daylight, Lamar will attack the rim with his long arms and explosiveness. He also has fine court vision to find open teammates.

Lamar is a strong and skilled wing. He is a good shooter and rebounder for his size. He is very talented and a better than average athlete. Lamar is also a very good passer with a decent handle. Rebounded and scored inside here. Talented with a great upside. Lamar is a top 75 talent in the 2009 class nationally.

There are days when I really despise the absolute prohibition by the Big East on recruiting any player who has even so much as signed a letter of intent with another Big East school. The BE has the harshest rule in all the conferences. Even in the Big 11, if a player wants to transfer to another member school he can as long as he pays his way.

This is a rule that dates back to the Conference’s earliest days. When recruiting was even more local and just as vicious. The fear was that teams would actually seek to raid each other to get players. The BE rejected even a minor tweak last year to allow players who had only signed the LOI, but was released following a coaching change.

PG Tyshawn Taylor wants to at least explore options now that Crean left Marquette. I have to believe that if the rule wasn’t there, ND would never been able to get McAlarney to come back after they kicked him out of school for a semester for Pot possession. They had to re-recruit the Long Island native, but no BE team could even approach him.

More attractive, though, would be the now former Villanova SG Malcolm Grant. He’s the one who torched Pitt from outside in January, and shot 46.6% from outside on the season. For whatever reason, he got buried on the bench by Jay Wright later into the season, and with it looking likely that he would stay there has asked for and received permission to transfer.

Sundays are part of the weekend, but it never feels like it. The thought that Monday is around the corner sticks in the back of my mind all day. Ah.

A large number of football recruits visited this weekend for the hoops game against Seton Hall. The list includes verbals like Nix, Burns, and Sunseri plus some hopefuls (most notably AJ Alexander). They were able to pick up their 17th verbal from TE Justin Virbitsky.

Jim Snyder of Pantherlair.com is reporting that TE Justin Virbitsky gave the Panthers a verbal commitment today. Virbitsky is the Panthers 17th verbal commitment. Virbitsky is from Lakeland, Fla. and is being recruited as a “blocking” tight end. Virbitsky was a 3-year starter at Lakeland H.S. and was named to the 1st team Class AA as a defensive end. [PSI]

The “blocking” tight end style is more similar to John Pelusi’s game rather than Nate Byham. Byham is a great blocker but an even better pass-catcher.
Speaking of tight ends (there’s a dirty joke in there somewhere), Darrell Strong played in the Hula Bowl last night. The other Pitt player was Kennard Cox. Two other all-star games will feature former Panthers.

Two-time All-Big East defensive end Joe Clermond will play in the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 19 in Houston, Texas. The game will be a 7 p.m. (ET) telecast on ESPN. Pitt’s defensive captain, Clermond (Tampa, Fla./Chamberlain) finished the season as the Panthers’ leader in sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (13). His 53 total tackles tied for fourth. An outstanding pass rusher, Clermond’s .88 sacks per game ranked 11^th nationally (tied) and third in the Big East.

Pitt’s starting offensive tackles, Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn, will play in the Jan. 26 Senior Bowl, held in Mobile, Ala. The game will kickoff at 3 p.m. (ET) and be televised by the NFL Network.

All-star games have never really excited me; now really planning to watch these unless I find myself really in need of something to do. NFL Draft Countdown has Otah going near the middle of the first round and says this about him:

Otah is still very raw and only has two years of division I experience but he has mind-boggling size (6-6, 340) and great athleticism with almost unlimited potential. In college he played left tackle and did a fantastic job but he might have to the right side at the next level and a good way to think of him would be as a poor man’s Jake Long with more longterm upside.

Teams and Detroit and Philly would be two teams drafting in the middle of the round that could use him on their o-line.

Things that I just haven’t gotten around to linking or posting.

Bruce Feldman at ESPN.com lists 10 teams he expects to take a big step forward in wins.

2: Pittsburgh

All hail the ’stache! The Panthers emerged from a four-game losing skid to upset No. 23 Cincinnati and finished off the season by wrecking the title hopes of West Virginia in Morgantown. Pitt will return many of the leaders of the nation’s No. 7 defense as well as one of the country’s top young running backs in LeSean McCoy. They also hope to get back smooth WR Derek Kinder, an All-Big East pick in 2006, who underwent season-ending knee surgery during training camp. QB Bill Stull, another former starter, also will return from injury, and he will try and beat out Pat Bostick, the talented true freshman who finished the season as Pitt’s starter. DT Gus Mustakas, a rugged inside presence, missed the final 10 games of the season after knee surgery and also should be back, as will tackle machine Scott McKillop. I think the Panthers’ patience with Dave Wannstedt will pay off with a return to the Top 25 next season and maybe even a Big East title.

A few individual honors. The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) — which is essentially the Eastern schools from UConn, BC, Syracuse, PSU, UVa, WVU and such — named LeSean McCoy the rookie of the year (PDF). In addition to McCoy also being named to the all-star team, Jeff Otah, Greg Romeus and Scott McKillop were also named to the squad.

Romeus and McCoy were also honored by being named to the Football Writers Association of America All-Freshman team.

A couple days ago, I noticed a slew of hits from a premium WVU message board. Oddly enough, they concerned a post that had nothing to do with them and was 18 months ago. The issue was Charlie Taaffee who served as a Pitt assistant in 2006. Taaffe left to go back to being a head coach in the CFL. He had a disasterous first year back, but there was nothing to suggest he was leaving. He had even hired some new assistants.

Turns out he was big in the rumor mill to be hired as offensive coordinator at WVU. Those reports later turned out to be false and recanted.

Therefore, if the reports are credible, recently fired O-line Coach Paul Dunn is now a candidate for the job in Morgantown.

The kickoff time for Pitt and Syracuse’s November 3 game at Heinz Field has been set for noon. Similar to Saturday’s game against Cincinnati, it will be televised on ESPN Regional as the “Big East Game of the Week”. It can also be seen locally on WTAE.

Also, kicker Conor Lee was recognized as the Big East Special Teams Player of the Week (to be known as the BESTPOTW from now on). Lee accounted for 10 points against Cincinnati which ties his career high. He was perfect on three field goals (41, 25 and 37 yards) and one extra point. Lee, who is a candidate for the Lou Groza Award, extended his school-record PAT streak to 66.

Come on, even those homers in Happy Valley can agree with that. As PSI notes, Shady is looking like the favorite to win the Big East Freshman of the Year award.

Rushing Yards
1) Ray Rice, Rutgers: 204 carries, 999 yards, 4.9 yards/carry 142.7 per game
2) LeSean McCoy, PITT: 141 carries, 805 yards, 5.7 yardsd/carry 115.1 per game
3) Steve Slaton, WVU: 135 carries, 752 yards, 5.6 yards/carry 107.4 per game

Total Offense
1) Brian Brohm, Louisville: 372.2/game
2) Mike Teel, Rutgers: 282.1/game
3) Ben Mauk, Cincinnati: 255.1/game
9) LeSean McCoy, Pitt: 117.6/game

Touchdowns
1) Ray Rice, Rutgers: 14 TD’s
2) Steve Slaton, WVU: 11 TD’s
3) LeSean McCoy, Pitt: 9 TD’s

Very impressive stats, especially considering the team he plays on.

Coach Jamie Dixon is in Ft. Worth, Texas today, to be formally inducted into the TCU Hall of Fame.

The group will be inducted tonight during a ceremony at the Kelly Alumni Center. Dixon will be accompanied by his wife and two children, who will be visiting Fort Worth for the first time.

They’ll catch their first glimpse of the place where Dixon’s life in college basketball started.

“I was very excited when I got the phone call from Donny Ray,” Dixon said Tuesday from his office in Pittsburgh. “I was excited and honored, and it also made me think back to the days way back when.”

Dixon’s old head coach at TCU passed away this past year. Dixon will also be honored at halftime of the SMU-TCU game on Saturday. Mildly surprising that he has never taken his family to see his alma mater.

It didn’t get a lot of attention immediately after the game, but Punter Dave Brytus did a fine job. He had been disturbingly inconsistent in training camp. His kicks were erratic and often short. It started coming together near the end of camp.

Brytus kicked well in the game and earned Big East Special Teams Player of the Week honors. Brytus had five punts in the game averaging 45.6 yds/punt.

It was the first POW of any Pitt football player since Palko got Offensive POW after the Citadel game. Session got Defensive POW after the season opener against Virginia. The last time a Pitt player was named Special Teams POW was Josh Lay in November 2005.

Chas mentioned that Pitt released the 2007 football media guide for download — so I read it from electronic cover-to-cover. Things that I liked/caught my eye/were interesting/etc…

Page 6, “This Is Panther Football” –

Dave Wannstedt and Stillers’ coach Mike Tomlin posed for a picture together. There was talk that Wanny only took the Pitt job as a way to eventually get the Steelers job. Oh, the irony.

Page 6, “This Is Panther Football” –

We were in a staff meeting and I’m sitting at the far end of the table — it was the ‘76 year, the year we (Pitt) won the National Championship — and I think my job that day was to make the coffee. I’m looking at Coach (John) Majors and said to myself, “Someday, I will be the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh.” -Dave Wannstedt

Page 7, “This Is Panther Football” –

I believe I can make a difference on the football field, but just as important, I believe I can make a difference at the university and in the community. I think all those things are vital and all those things are very important.

I hardly believe any college football player would say this without having it written down for him.

Page 8, “This Is Panthers Football” –

With 49 consensus All-Americans, Pitt is 7th among Division 1-A programs. And Penn State fans tell us we have no history.

Page 9, “This Is Panthers Football” –

The outfit Tony Dorsett wore to accept his Heisman Trophy was spectacular. Must have been a ’70’s thing, I guess?

Page 10, “This Is Panthers Football” —

On a page subtitled “Championship Caliber Staff” lies a picture of Paul Rhoads.

Page 13, “This Is Panthers Football” —

A collage of Pitt players in the NFL including Kevan Barlow in his Steelers practice uni. There’s some doubt as to whether he’ll even make the team.

Page 15, “This Is Panthers Football” —

Tyler Palko makes two appearances on the “Pitt Is So Great Because We’re Community Minded” page. Seriously though, Palko is known to be a great guy and his love and care for a friend with Down Syndrome are well documented.

Page 17, “This Is Panthers Football” —

The point in having a page about the Petersen Events Center is what…? I don’t seem to be able to recall the last time I saw a Pitt football game played at the Pete.

Page 20, “This Is Panthers Football” —

The player’s lounge in the Pitt locker room at the UPMC Center looks like a pretty nice place, yeah?

Page 22, “This Is Panthers Football” —

The U of Pitt was founded in a log cabin back in 1787. Our school was founded in a log cabin and I’m damn proud of it.

Page 23, “This Is Panthers Football” —

While Pittsburgh used to be called Steel Town, they need to call it Knowledge Town. -President Bush

That President of ours, always good for some comedic relief.

Page 26, “This Is Panthers Football” —

On a personal note, I almost got my own picture in the media guide (sort of). At College Basketball Gameday back in January I was in the front row, dead center…but in the picture they used, a giant flag is being waved and blocking me from view. Grrr…

Page 41, “2007 Preview” –

The title page of the section about the upcoming season features the picture above. Offensive lineman Jeff Otah blocking…his own teammate?

Page 42, “2007 Preview” –

The QB section notes that Tyler Palko took all of the meaningful snaps of the past three years and I become more and more unsure about the 2007 season.

Page 46, “Preseason Depth Chart” –

The preseason depth chart they have does not include the incoming recruiting class so it’s not really what we’re looking for.

Page 48, “Preseason Honors” –

I never knew that there were s many preseason awards and lists out there. It seems like every player on the Pitt roster is listed with some sort of award they could receive.

Page 64, “Coach Profiles” –

Fact you didn’t know: Chris LaSala, assistant AD and director of football operations, is a graduate of West Virginia.

Page 69, “Coaching Staff” –

Yet another fact you didn’t know: There is such an award called the “Big East Video Coordinator of the Year.” Our video guy, Chad Bogard, is a two time recipient of the award.

Page 73, “Player Profiles: Chris Bova” –

While scanning the profiles I came across the word matriculating. If you know what that means without looking it up then I’m impressed.

Page 92, “Player Profiles: Austin Ransom” –

I think Austin Ransom wins the award for the best hair on the team.

Looks like a certain Simpson’s character.

Page 99, “Player Profiles: Oderick Turner” –

In high school, Turner was the NJ state high jump champion. Jumping over a height of 6-4, he can clear me by 2 inches.

Page 107, “2007 Rosters” –

The pronunciation guide clears up a debate I had with someone last year about how to say Jovani Chappel’s last name. For the record, it’s “sha-PELL”.

Page 113-130, “2006 Season in Review” –

This whole section is just stats from a disappointing year and is pretty dull in general.

Page 134, “Team Records” –

All kinds of fun info in this section and especially on this page.

Longest play from scrimmage in team history: 91 yards (George McLaren in 1917 and Alex Van Pelt in 1992)

In 1914 we beat Dickinson by a score of 96-0. More recently, we pounded Rutgers 76-0, back in 1977. On the other hand, the biggest margin of defeat came in a 72-0 loss to Ohio State back in 1996.

Page 135, “The Last Time…” –

The last time we had a punt return for a TD is Revis’ against WVU. I don’t think we’ll be forgetting that one anytime soon.

Page 131-164, “Team Record Book” –

The above two items were just a small sample from what I think is the best section of the guide. If you’re going to read one section, this is the one.

Page 166, “Pro Football” –

The guide lists 23 Panthers on NFL teams, however it was done before Curtis Martin retired so the actual number is 22. The most former Panthers on one team is three: Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Lee, and Gerald Hayes of the Arizona Cardinals. The Jets (Darrelle Revis, Hank Poteat) and the Saints (Tyler Palko, Rob Petitti) are the only other teams with more than one former Pitt player.

Page 183, “Postseason Games” –

They have picture of Palko from last year’s Senior Bowl…but not one of the ones with him in a script Pitt helmet.

Inside back cover —

Forget the words, I just really like the actual photo they used.

So there it is, (most) of the good stuff to see in this year’s football media guide. The season is just around the corner.