If there’s one thing anyone who follows Pitt will notice, it’s that there are two dueling factions: optimists and pessimists. There are some, like myself, who look for the silver lining and inevitably take too long to see a problem. Then there are the pessimists who see the faults in everything and given Pitt’s recent history, end up right more often than not. While an optimist, I can’t argue that the pessimistic side of Pitt fans has sadly been correct a lot lately. This inspired me to create a new weekly column here on Pitt Blather. It’s called OvP: Optimist vs. Pessimist.

Today’s subject is Keller Chryst. For those who aren’t aware, Keller is one of the top QB recruits in the 2014 class and the son of Geep Chryst, Paul’s brother. Keller has consistently listed Pitt as one of his top 2 or 3 schools and the interest appears to be legitimate. Even with the family connection, if Pitt lands Keller it will be a huge addition and give the program a ton of positive publicity. The addition of Keller will enable the staff to recruit much more effectively with a top QB prospect on the way.

But is Keller sincerely interested or is he just helping his Uncle out by listing Pitt as an option? (more…)

Last spring, Monessen QB Chavas Rawlins was one of the first commits to the Hoopies. The athletic, dual-threat QB was so enthusiastic about the decision that he was an early enrollee.

Things have changed.

Freshman quarterback Chavas Rawlins will transfer from West Virginia, his former high school coach at Monessen confirmed with the Post-Gazette this afternoon.

Coach Andy Pacak said Rawlins was recruited by and had developed a strong relationship with former quarterbacks coach Jake Spavital who left to take a position at Texas A&M earlier this year.

“Everyone at West Virginia was great to him, but as you now he came in right when Jake left. His initial decision was I’m gonna go down there and make the most of it, but that (loss of Spavital) weighed on him a little bit,” said Pacak.

It also just happens that WVU took in a Florida State QB transfer, Clint Trickett this spring. Trickett is considered a talented QB who could have the job after sitting this year. Not to mention another highly ranked QB verballed to WVU this spring.

(more…)

If there was any doubt that J.J. Moore was leaving Pitt, Coach Jamie Dixon took care of that today.

Pitt men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon said Tuesday that he is trying to help forward J.J. Moore find a new school for his final season of eligibility.

Dixon said he doesn’t know if Moore, who turns 22 next week, has filed transfer papers with Pitt.

“We are trying to help him find a school,” Dixon said. “We are trying to help him find the right place.”

Unanswered is not simply where he is heading, but why. The obvious issue would be playing time, but it still doesn’t make sense for a senior to transfer when he has to sit another year. The fact that Moore may or may not have even filed transfer papers adds to the confusion. I have trouble believing Dixon is pushing him out of the program, yet there are so many missing pieces of information to this story that it can’t be considered a possibility.

Dixon also said Cam Wright is taking summer courses — but if you want to read into things, it isn’t exactly saying that Wright isn’t or didn’t think about a transfer. Of course, Wright lost his father this past season. It wouldn’t be outrageous for him to be thinking about transferring to a school like Akron, Kent St. or Cleveland St. if he wanted to be closer to the rest of his family in Cleveland.

Hope everyone had a good weekend and did something nice for their mom, grandma and/or mother of your child (children). We were down at the in-laws. Where there is no wi-fi and a poor internet connection.

On Sunday it finally became official that Deaysean Rippy was transferring from Pitt.

Rippy said he wasn’t totally sure about Pitt when he signed his letter of intent in February 2012.

“I was on the verge of being sure,” he said. “I was kind of overwhelmed. I was an 18-year-old kid at the time. That’s a lot of pressure.”

Rippy said he’s unsure where he will enroll this year, but he said he has been in contact with some Pac-12 schools, including Colorado.

And now he’s past the verge of being sure he wants to be somewhere else.

(more…)

I’ve mentioned here before that I firmly believe Paul Chryst wants to turn our football team into Wisconsin East and I think we’ve seen that so far in his recruiting methods. But, I’m not one to casually look at something. I’m a numbers guy; I like cold hard stats. What would recruiting classes look like if Chryst successfully builds Wisconsin East? (more…)

It’s not that I hate that DeAndre Kane is transferring to Pitt. Afterall, he is intending to be a graduate transfer so it is a one-year deal. Meaning he isn’t tying up the scholarship beyond 2013-14. That is assuming he passes the two courses he has to take, but why worry about academics with Kane. I mean he only needed an extra year of prep school and still wasn’t able to be academically eligible at Marshall (!?) as a freshman. How could anyone be worried?

Well, there are chemistry/personality issues.

It’s just a hunch, but I reckon Kane didn’t receive a letter of recommendation from Herrion after last month’s falling out.

Just in case you felt the statement from Tom Herrion on Kane leaving was nebulous.

Marshall coach Tom Herrion cut loose DeAndre Kane because he was tired of his act.

Now, just because he and Herrion clashed is not enough to say he’s a big risk. Herrion, himself, can be quite prickly. Especially when the team struggles. And Marshall was a big disappointment last year.

(more…)

Remember DeAndre Kane? A one-time teammate of DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy at Schenley? Jamie Dixon always liked Kane. He recruited him despite his academic struggles. Originally Kane was supposed to be part of (someone’s) 2009 class. But he needed prep school so it became 2010 when he actually was a freshman at Marshall.

He’s a graduate transfer. He has one more year of eligibility left, and it came down to USC and Pitt. The 6-4 guard has decided that his years of knowing Dixon and coming home was the pick.

The Marshall transfer, who hails from Pittsburgh, told CBSSports.com that he will commit to Jamie Dixon and the Panthers this weekend on a visit. Kane returned from a trip to USC this past weekend, and also considered Saint Mary’s, but said the chance to play at home and in the ACC was too much to pass up.

“It’s a perfect situation for me,” Kane told CBSSports.com.

Kane averaged 15.1 points and seven assists last season for the Thundering Herd…

He provides offense, but this is still a gamble in my view.

(more…)

Pitt had Joseph Uchebo as one of its top targets this off season. Even before Steve Adams decided to go pro, he was someone they were pursuing. They needed to find help in the front court.

I know it has been a rough end of the season and off-season so far for Pitt. It has frazzled and worn many of you down to the point where you can’t recognize an obvious, slightly sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek comment. So, just to clarify: the rehiring of Barry Rohrssen had nothing to do with finally getting a commitment from Uchebo. None. He is a good recruiter, but the idea that within a few days of hiring he could cold-call a kid he never met or recruited and been the one to sway him. I don’t even… You would have to ask how Pitt “only” got the players they did get when Rohrssen was working for Pitt before.

Several teams were after Uchebo. He had gotten it down to Pitt, Minnesota, Nebraska and Oklahoma State. Even NC State seemed to be making a push to once more get him (perhaps because another former NC State recruit and JUCO teammate, Torian Graham is someone they might still be pursuing).

(more…)

Clearly this was the immediate impact of rehiring Barry Rohrssen as an assistant. It certainly couldn’t have been anything else involved in recruiting a kid for the last few weeks. Uchebo is going to be coming to Pitt.

So, there is some help on the big man front.

Things really can change in a year. Last year Pitt basketball had its worst season in over a decade. Yet, the spring brought high optimism. A big-time Kiwi to man the middle. Depth all over the roster. Oh, and Pitt beat out the likes of Duke, UCLA and Michigan State for a transfer.

Now, after a good season (yes, with bitter disappointment in the Tourney) Pitt has a lot of playing time available — especially in the frontcourt — following transfers and an early draft declaration. Yet, they can’t give away a scholarship.

Last night power forward Lennard Freeman opted to go to NC State. Freeman attended Oak Hill Academy in North Carolina this past year, and choosing NC State wasn’t a huge shock. Still, Pitt could use anyone to help inside.

(more…)

Following the decommitment of Chandler Kincade, Pitt’s 2014 football recruiting class stood at zero for the last week-and-a-half. That all changed today. It’s back to having one name on the commit list.

The long-term reconstruction of the Pitt offensive line continued Monday when Connor Hayes of Traverse City, Mich., said he will enroll next year.

Hayes, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound guard, is the only recruit in Pitt’s Class of 2014 after Blackhawk quarterback Chandler Kincaide decommitted last month.
…
“He’s the most physical player I have ever coached,” Traverse City West coach Tim Wooer said of Hayes. “He will fit in perfectly into everything Pittsburgh wants to do.

“If you look up the definition of the word mauler in the dictionary, you would probably find a picture of Connor. He is a physical, nasty kid. He is going to try to embarrass you.”

Hayes is a consensus 3-star recruit per Rivals.com, Scout.com and 247 (ESPN.com has no evaluation at this time).

(more…)

Since the season ended there have been rumors that J.J. Moore would transfer. On its face it made little sense. Moore just finished his junior year. He did not graduate early so he couldn’t be a graduate transfer. If he left, he would have to sit out a year which seems flat-out odd for a kid heading into his senior year and only a year of eligibility left.

Yet the rumors and reports are getting stronger.

A report surfaced Sunday night that Pitt junior forward J.J. Moore has decided to transfer, but there was no official confirmation from the university.

An athletic department spokesperson said Moore has not yet asked for his release, and as of Sunday night, had not informed coach Jamie Dixon of a decision.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports Network reported via his Twitter account that Moore had decided to transfer per a source.

Nothing before or after that tweet. No follow up.

(more…)

The Severe post yesterday came from my phone, because I was in the midst of work. Just wanted to get the news out so I didn’t have time to get into it.

As I wrote back in March, late in the game recruiting, is a bit of a strange things. Kids like Severe who are borderline recruits between high mid-major to fringe-major get elevated as coaches have open scholarships to fill and limited choices.

That was the situation with Severe. A good, but undersized shooting guard at 6-2 (officially). He doesn’t play great defense. And he went from most of his offers being from the lower-half of the A-10 to getting offers from Pitt, K-State, Wake Forest and WVU. Yes, he was named Mr. Basketball for New York, but the runner-ups were not exactly 4-star recruits. His game didn’t get that much better from November, just the supply of available players went down.

(more…)

Sorry. Last week, well, last week was not one of the better ones. With the Boston Marathon bombing, the fertilizer plant in West Texas among other things; it just seemed the best thing to do was to sit back and just listen a little more. What do you say, that everyone else hasn’t said? Is it better to just repeat what others have said, and likely more eloquently? Or just maintain a respectful silence as you listen? This time, I opted to just listen.

But, now to awkwardly transition to other things.

Lots to catch-up on in the news.

Clear some story links first.

(more…)

Jared Shanker of ESPN reported that Chandler Kincade has decommitted. There are a lot of variables here, notably Paul Chyrst’s nephew, Keller. This could mean one of several things. Most likely, either Kincade has soured on Pitt for one reason or another (like our pursuit of Keller) or the coaches informed Kincade it would be wise for him to look elsewhere because of Keller. All I will say at this point is don’t jump to conclusions. A lot of things happen behind the scenes and recruiting is a goal, not a journey. Commits fall off all of the time, especially early ones. Let’s allow things to settle and then we’ll know more.

Chris Peak has confirmed it as well,  so it’s safe to say with two separate reports, this is true. This development shouldn’t surprise many since Kincade has looked elsewhere and he was originally a Graham verbal who stuck with his commitment after Paul Chryst took over.