Not sure why there is still more new stuff on basketball than football these days.

I’m sure the Pitt coaches are working on this. As are the strength and conditioning and nutritional consultants.

With PF Sam Young set to return for his senior season, Pitt’s priority is ensuring that 6-10 C Gary McGhee has the kind of offseason that turns him into a consistent rotation player. McGhee reached double figures in minutes only three times as a freshman, including in a solid game against South Florida when the Panthers were just beginning their recovery from injuries to SF Mike Cook and PG Levance Fields. McGhee will need to be better conditioned and more assertive to expand his role, but if he can play 12 to 15 minutes per game, the Panthers will be able to show opponents a different look.

It would be good not just to spell DeJuan Blair but also allow Pitt to throw a bigger look at teams with Blair and Young being able to slide to the 4 and 3 spots on the court, respectively. Getting McGhee more minutes and in the rotation consistently seems to be likely so that he can step in as a starter in his junior year.

Mike Cook (with Coach Dixon and Pitt’s help) formally submitted his appeal to the Big East for a 6th year of eligibility on Monday. The Big East then passes it on to the NCAA which will rule on it. A decision isn’t likely until sometime in June.

The NCAA has gotten a little more lax with medical waivers, but one question remains: where’s the available scholarship if he gets the clearance? Either Pitt knows that one of the present recruiting class is going to miss qualifying or there’s another transfer/player quitting coming soon.

Aaron Gray was back at Pitt and PittsburghPanthers.com has a Q&A.

What brings you back to Pittsburgh for the week?

“I love it here. It is a great situation for me. I am able to come back and work with the strength and conditioning coaches. I can work with players like DeJuan Blair and Austin Wallace and help them improve.”

…

Do you still try to stay in contact with your former teammates and coaches?

“Absolutely, I use them for advice and help all the time. Coach Dixon came out to training camp last year too. They have continued to be great teammates and coaches since I have been with Chicago.”

Were you able to catch any of Pitt’s Big East Championship run this spring?

“Oh yes, they had me on speakerphone the whole time. It was as if I was celebrating right there with them.”

Via NBE Basketball Report, this bit on a possible Pitt recruit having issues.

A St. Raymond high school basketball player was arrested Tuesday afternoon after an altercation with a coach during a team meeting at the school, according to a police source.

A witness said junior Kevin Parrom punched Ravens head coach Oliver Antigua in the face after the two had a brief argument in the locker room.

A person close to Parrom said the player was provoked by Antigua.

No charges have been filed and Oliver Antigua is the brother of former Pitt player and present (for a little longer) assistant coach Orlando. The small forward has offers from Pitt, Rutgers, WVU, Xavier and others.

I definitely would prefer Pitt gets in the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, but it may not be as sure a thing.

Giles also said that the Duke, UCLA and Michigan are set as three of the four hosts for the Coaches vs. Cancer. The other host will likely be either Pittsburgh or Rutgers.

The third preseason event that Giles organizes is the Legends Classic. If Pittsburgh isn’t in the Coaches vs. Cancer, look for Jamie Dixon’s team to play in the Legends.

I guess I could see them choosing Rutgers as a way of nearing certainty of having a Duke-UCLA Final.

Assistant Coaching rumors continue. This time with Orlando Antigua.

Sources with knowledge of the situation have told CBSSports.com that Calipari is considering completing his staff — now missing Derek Kellogg (new head coach at UMass) and Chuck Martin (new head coach at Marist) — by hiring from a group of candidates that is headlined by Pittsburgh assistant Orlando Antigua and Georgetown assistant David Cox.

I could see Antigua leaving. Yes, he’s a Pitt alum and is comfortable. At the same time, he has ambition to be a head coach one day. He will need to have broader experience at other schools and working for Calipari would be a big building block.

As for Cox. He’s become a fast-rising name in just a few years. He spent one year at Pitt as Director of Basketball Operations before Thompson III hired him as an assistant a couple years back.

Ashton Gibbs was a big performer at the IS8 Playoffs.

Best individual performance of the day: Guard Aston Gibbs, a Seton Hall Prep star and Pitt recruit, went off for 41 in a 105-93 loss to the powerful Gauchos, making nine straight 3s at one point.

Travon Woodall was also playing and did well.

Pitt has apparently offered NJ PG Isiah Epps.

“Tommy Herrion told me that after he saw him work out,” [Plainfield High School Head Coach Pete] Vasil said Saturday by phone. “They’re offering him a scholarship.”

The 6-2 Epps already holds offers from Maryland, Rutgers and Seton Hall, with Maryland head coach Gary Williams telling Vasil he’s targeting Epps as his guard of the future out of the Class of 2010.

Epps is apparently a rising prospect. The ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. profile (Insider subs.) puts him in the Juan Dixon mold (which would explain why Maryland is pursuing him).

Epps is lightning quick, shifty with the rock and just flat out explosive at both ends. With range on his 3-point shot and a tremendous amount of body control in the lane, Epps is a nightmare to guard. His will to win is never questioned, has ice water in his veins and has earned the nickname Mr. Big Shot.

He’s also a lefty.

There’s also a write up on an AAU Tournament in DC with some Pitt targets.

It’s a curious choice by Zeke Marshall to say the least.

“He committed to Akron last night,” confirmed his mother Nicole Bozeman. “Maybe the main reason was because he developed such a great relationship with the staff. He really liked them all a lot. Secondly, it was for academic reasons. He loved their computer program and that’s what he wants to major in.

“I always said that it’s his life and he has to go where he fits best,” she said, citing the fact if her son turns into an NBA quality player, the league will surely find him in Akron “And if he isn’t good enough for the NBA some day, he will still have a chance to have his own software company, which is his goal.”

…

“He was not a fan of Pitt’s campus,” Bozeman said. “He wanted a campus feel, in the city, but not right in the city. Akron was just a good for him. Pitt’s campus didn’t fit his personality.”

His mother has long maintained that Marshall planned to stay close to home, and Akron is short two hours and fifteen minutes from McKeesport.

First off, it’s only May and he can’t sign until November at the earliest so I don’t think the door is closed if Pitt really wants him. Just a week earlier, Pitt seemed like a lead dog. Things change.

Especially according to Marshall himself, who apparently made the verbal a few weeks earlier.

“I know people are going to be surprised [by the Akron decision],” Marshall said. “Most people think I should be going to the biggest school. But they don’t know what really goes on when you’re talking about players going to bigger schools. A lot of players who go to big schools are benched.”

Marshall said he never seriously considered Pitt because “I don’t like their campus. I don’t like a city campus. If they had a better campus, I would’ve considered them.”

Yet, he’s going to Akron. While the school can be happy, the city of Akron can take pride in the fact that they aren’t considered much of a city.

I can’t get too worked up over this even if he doesn’t go to Pitt. It’s Akron. It’s not like Marshall chose a major-conference school or Penn State. Wherever he went, he would be a project needing to bulk up. As you would expect at this point with a gangly 7-footer he has an inconsistent game. Without bulk, a 7-footer in the Big East these days is just meat. Chewed-up and spit out banging inside. Marshall seems to want early playing time. He’ll get that at Akron, but not any major conference or even the high mid-major schools of the A-10.

I’m stunned by the volume of comments regarding Cassin Diggs’ involuntary/voluntary transfer. It’s a healthy debate. As I stated the first go-round, I’m not entirely comfortable with what went down. My discomfort largely stems from the one-way situation college athletics once an athlete signs, and what strikes me as abusing that situation.

A few basic things.

A scholarship is renewable each year at the school’s discretion. The student has no say. If a student wishes to transfer and still play a sport, it is at the school’s discretion as to whether to release him, and can restrict where he goes. This is common when there is a new coaching change and a kid doesn’t feel comfortable in the new situation. Pitt benefited from such a situation when Mike Cook left East Carolina. The trade-off is that the player has to sit out a year if he transfers to another D-1 school.

Of course, if the kid isn’t released, he can still leave and enroll elsewhere. He won’t, however, be eligible for a scholarship for a year and can’t even walk-on to the team.

At the same time a new coach can decide a kid doesn’t fit what he wants and can simply not renew the scholarship of the kid even if he wants to stay, is in good academic standing and not in any trouble. Usually this only happens when there is a coaching change. At Colorado last year, Jeff Bzdelik did just that after taking over. Technically any coach could do that any time, but it would completely trash his reputation on the recruiting trail.

A National Letter of Intent is the first document a kid signs when he accepts a scholarship to a school. It is also yet another contract that is essentially a one-way street. It binds the kid to the school — as the schools are so fond of reminding everyone. A player doesn’t have to sign an NLI, but unless you are Tyreke Evans or of similar ability, most schools won’t give a scholarship unless you sign it.

The reality, though, is that a player is recruited by the coaches. They state how they want to play for the guy when they sign. They talk about the relationships built with the coaches. Then they are bound to the school.

Once you sign, you are stuck unless the agrees to release you. Indiana made oral promises (which it kept) to the basketball recruits who signed that they would be released from their NLI if Kelvin Sampson left or was fired before the 2008 season. They were boxed in since they wanted the kids to sign in the early period of November. The Sampson Cell Phone Saga broke in October.
It’s why Bob Hurley, Sr. was agitated and advocated so hard for Tyshawn Taylor’s release from Marquette. It was the only way to look out for what was still his kid.
With all of that looking at them, is it any wonder some of the top recruits milk the publicity and have the coaches pursuing them go through so many hoops? Might as well, after they sign all leverage is lost.

With all of this, I definitely tend towards coming down on the side of the players and hate to see kids used and discarded.

This brings things back to Diggs. Pitt sought and recruited him, but when they realized that his development was not going to approach what they already had he became optional. There are no indications he failed on his academic or off-the court requirements, or was at any risk of it happening. To speculate or theorize in that direction is to try and look for an excuse to justify things. If any of that was happening, it would have been released or leaked just to counter Diggs.

It really comes down to breaking down the limited statements from both sides. It’s hard to buy Coach Dixon’s statements that the decision was amicably reached since Diggs seems anything but that about transferring.

One thing that is apparent is that playing time was an issue. He wasn’t going to get it at Pitt, and did not appear to earn it by his play. From the limited action that was seen in the games he was no where close to being good enough. McGhee showed more ability and development than Diggs. Diggs, however, seemed to feel that he was going to get more playing time when he was recruited.

I doubt he was promised it, but I also think the coaches believed and allowed him to believe he would get minutes. That while he may not start, he would have been in the rotation at Center. Perhaps allowing Biggs to be moved to power forward. Really, that was the expectation many fans had going into the season.

I also think the analogy to an academic scholarship does not hold up real well for me. Perhaps its the contract aspect keeps me from buying it. In an academic scholarship there are clearer terms set out explaining what is expected of the student (which Maz noted). In an athletic scholarship, the terms are left open and vague. There is much more discretion in the agreement that gives the school and coach all the power. That makes the oral representations made to the recruited player more important. They may not be in the terms of the contract, but they are vital in explaining to the recruit what is expected and what he can expect.

The representations are made during the recruitment. While trying to get the recruit to sign with the school. I find it highly improbable that any coach would tell a recruit that if it turns out their evaluations were wrong and he isn’t good enough to compete at the level expected he will not have his scholarship renewed for the following year.

The other problem is that an academic scholarship is completely individual. An athletic scholarship, while having strong individual components also includes a team concept. Rick Pitino did not discourage Derrick Caracter from declaring that he was going to enter the NBA Draft, but when Caracter wanted to come back, Pitino said no. There was no hue and cry over that for a reason. Caracter had been a lousy teammate. He had been disciplined and suspended multiple times in his two years there. The only reason he kept getting chances was his individual ability. Ultimately his disruptions to the team and the chemistry was more detrimental than the ability he had on the court.

The team component should be a factor. Again, Diggs did nothing to indicate he was anything but a good and supportive teammate even if he saw no action. He didn’t stir things up in the season when the coaches kept suggesting he was having major hip issues — which he now disputes over how serious. He didn’t complain about his lack of playing time publicly.

Specific to Diggs, this is not as much about his limited production and not being good enough to see much more than mop-up minutes — and therefore not living up to his end of the agreement. This is about freeing up a scholarship for someone else that Coach Dixon thinks can help the team immediately.

Because college basketball is limited in the number of scholarships — as opposed to football — there is not a lot of room for error in recruiting kids. The value of each scholarship is huge. Austin Wallace is injured through next year and holding one scholarship and is not about to be cut loose (and I don’t know if the school could with his injury). Apparently Coach Dixon felt he couldn’t have another scholarship tied up by a player who wouldn’t be a contributor for next season and as a senior wouldn’t have any potential in the future.

So, it’s been a good week for Ohio State in Western PA, and a lousy week for keeping the local talent. Dorian Bell and Jordan Hall both committed to the Buckeyes. You can guess no one is happy that Ohio State is suddenly a big threat in the region — not Pitt, not Penn State and certainly not Michigan. It was expected that Michigan would continue to recruit the area with Dick-Rod strengthening recruiting ties to the area.

(Brief aside on Dick-Rod. A big hat tip to Gene who forwarded me some of the pics on his old McMansion in Morgantown, by Cheat Lake — you really can’t make this stuff up. Only asking $2 million. I was able to find the actual listing and photo gallery for a post on FanHouse.)

Instead, Ohio State seems to have built off of getting Pryor to commit for this year.
Pitt has been quiet at this point. Part of what has probably added to the quiet is the new NCAA restriction on attending football camps.

Division II, III and NAIA coaches are still permitted to attend camps such as Metro Index, which is held at Pitt’s South Side football facility, and the Nike camp at Penn State. The bylaw on the NCAA Web site states that coaches are limited to visiting high school-sactioned events in the spring, meaning coaches can attend “regular scholastic activities involving prospective student-athletes enrolled only at the institution at which the regular scholastic activities occur.” Division I coaches are not permitted to attend a camp, even if it’s hosted by its own school.

Wannstedt and plenty of coaches backed the new rule, though.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt favors the new rule because it gives coaches a bit of a break in their hectic recruiting and coaching schedules.

“It’s overkill,” Wannstedt said. “It’s too much. We don’t need it.”

So many of the ridiculous NCAA rules occur because the coaches demand it as a way to control themselves. Everyone is looking for the edge. The extra facetime, chance to connect with a recruit. No coach can afford to look like he is not pursuing a recruit. So, the only way they stop is if the rules say they have to.

A recruit Pitt is pursuing in Florida seems to be getting noticed. Josh Elizondo is a 6-2, 280 pound DT recruit in Naples. He’s not ranked as much of a prospect, though, that seems to be because they just don’t know him yet. He holds offers from Pitt and NC State and now South Carolina.

“I think I like Pittsburgh a lot now,” Elizondo said. “My coach knows Dave Wannstedt real well.” Elizondo said he’s been hearing from USC recruiter David Reaves. He has not taken any unofficial visits and doesn’t have any planned. Elizondo expects to get a lots of looks from recruiters during spring practice because many will be coming down to see his highly touted teammate OL Nick Alajajian.

Elizondo is also getting interest (but no offers yet) from Alabama, Florida St. and Wisconsin.

Over at NBE Basketball Report, Anthony Jaskulski (of Pittsburgh Sports Report) has a couple Q&A’s of interest. One with Pitt verbal commit Lamar Patterson.

Q. What area do you think you need to improve on with your game?

A. I want to improve everything. My dribbling, my shooting, rebounding, every category I want to get better at. There is always room for improvement in basketball.

There’s also one with Andrew Fitzgerald.

Q. You said Pittsburgh was very high on your list. What makes them so special?

A. I like how they feed the ball inside, and their guards are tough and know how to feed the big men the ball. It seems like they play competitive basketball and know how to win, and that’s what I like.

Fitzgerald, according to Scouts, Inc./ESPN.com (Insider subs.) is a top-150 recruit but he needs to work on his conditioning. Scout.com puts him as a 4-star and the #13 Center prospect nationally. Rivals.com doesn’t have a ranking for him at this time (they haven’t updated their 2009 ranking list since November). I’m not sure how tall Fitzgerald is at this point. Sites have listed the HS junior as anywhere from 6′7″ to 6′9″.

Let’s be clear about something. In 95% of the cases (yes, a made up number) any player who completed his junior year does not “voluntarily” transfer or leave a D-1 program unless there are criminal, academic or personal issues. That player is stuck dropping down to D-2 basketball if they want to get a scholarship and play. Their eligibility at the upper-level is shot because at D-1 a transfer has to sit out a year. They can play immediately if they drop a level.

So, I’m not even going to pretend that Pitt coaches weren’t doing everything they could to convince Cassin Diggs to leave the basketball team. It may not have been with the direct coldness of a Jim Calhoun forced exit, but it was done. I can’t say I’m comfortable with it, simply because it means falling back on the old chestnut of “well it goes on everywhere else.”

At the same time, the rationalizing part of my brain that knows how this helps Pitt by freeing up that scholarship to a player who may be more productive and may fill that immediate need at shooting guard. It continues with the point that this is only the first time it has happened, and only the second transfer under Dixon.

To say nothing of a reflexive defense when Diggs unloads a bit.

Diggs said the split from Pitt was not amicable. He had wanted to remain with the team, but the coaches repeatedly encouraged him to transfer. After a while, he relented and decided to leave because it became obvious he was not wanted.

“They basically wanted me to leave because they wanted to sign someone else,” Diggs said.

Diggs, a Williamsport, Pa., native, went on to say the Pitt coaches were “manipulators” because they made it seem like he would receive more playing time during the recruiting process.

“The walk-ons were playing more at the end of the season than I was,” Diggs said. “[The coaches] made it seem like it was because of my injuries, but it wasn’t.”

Again, the defensiveness of the program screams, “The walk-ons were playing more because even they were better than you!” I also feel the need to dispute the “manipulators” accusation. Diggs is the first player leaving Pitt under Dixon to complain bitterly. Dante Milligan left because of a lack of playing time, but hardly went crazy about it (of course he still had plenty of time to his eligibility).

The final thing about this, from a planning standpoint is that it only leaves Pitt with 3 scholarships to offer for next year — Fields, Young and Biggs — rather than 4 (barring any other transfers). That’s a little frustrating, especially if Travon Woodall Darnell Dodson (remember him?) is still in Pitt’s plan after his JUCO stint. He would be part of the 2009 signing class.

On the plus side, Jermaine Dixon’s signing will give the team a scholarship opening in 2010 where at present there are none.

While it wasn’t done with the cold, telegraphed cruelty of Jim Calhoun taking out deadwood scholarships, I don’t doubt that Coach Jamie Dixon made it very clear to Cassin Diggs that it might be best to move on from Pitt.

Pitt junior center Cassin Diggs quit the team last week, a move that opened up a scholarship for another junior-college transfer to take his place.

The choice of words “quit the team” is interesting. Nothing about transferring to a D-II program or anything like that. I’ll be interested if there are more details about this. This brief does call it a transfer, so we’ll see.
I’m just glad Pitt didn’t pursue Tyree Evans. When Huggins can’t touch you, there are problems.

With the scholarship freed, Jermaine Dixon officially signed his LOI. Pitt got out the press release on Dixon, but nothing on Diggs leaving.

“We are extremely excited about Jermaine joining our Pitt basketball family,” Dixon said. “He is a terrific person and a very talented basketball player. Jermaine played for an excellent coach in Eddie Barnes at Tallahassee Community College and gained valuable experience competing in the Panhandle Conference, one of the best junior college conferences in the nation. We anticipate Jermaine having the opportunity to make an immediate impact on our team.”

Dixon is ranked among the nation’s top junior college guards in the Class of 2008. He is ranked the nation’s No. 8 junior college player by JucoJunction.com and the nation’s No. 4 JUCO off guard by Hoopmasters.com.

[Links added.]

Still no word as to whether Sam Young will go to the draft camps.

Everyone is focused on the Blue-Gold football scrimmage. The Pete, meanwhile hosted the Pittsburgh Jam Fest. Courtesy of Big East Basketball Blog, there are reports on the games and players. The observations came from Anthony Jaskulksi, who covers high school basketball for Pittsburgh Sports Report.

From Day 1, Lamar Patterson continues to show that Pitt recognized him before many others did.

Patterson can have an off-game and still be a dominating presence, whether it comes from his ability to find the rebound on both ends of the floor, his shutdown defense, his mobile ability on offense used to nail even the toughest of shots. Patterson showed moments of fatigue in the first half tonight (i.e. slow up and down the court, front-of-the-iron jumpers and tough passes leading to turnovers). Entering the second half, Patterson was a different player, showing powerful moves to the hole, resulting in beautiful finishes and crisp passes that got his teammates easy layups. Patterson did not shy away from the defensive end, as the Pitt recruit harassed defenders, muscled up for strong rebounds, and looked up for smart half-court passes to wide-open guys.

There are some other targets for the 2009 class. Power forward Dante Taylor seems to have Pitt and Maryland at the top of his list.

Taylor showed the ability to handle the ball facing the hoop, as well as backing defenders down, working fundamental big man moves inside the paint. He has great court vision which leads to impressive passes and off-the-ball moves to get wide-open looks. Taylor impressed the crowd with a great back-to-the-basket, turnaround power step and jam late in the game, which shows the big man can be a versatile player, handling the ball and the strength to reach the basket. Taylor’s perimeter shot was as crisp as one could be for a power forward. His hustle and ability to finish the game is a superior asset for him on both ends of the floor, and proves he can be useful in clutch situations.

Taylor is a 4-star recruit and a consensus top-50 player for the class of 2009 from Maryland. From Scouts, Inc./ESPN.com:

Taylor is a strong, physical rebounder who enjoys tough competition. Dante can handle, run the floor, and plays within himself. He is a very intense player with a high learning curve. More comfortable facing the basket, Taylor needs to work on one or two solid low post scoring moves to go along with his mid-range jumper and power dribble moves on the baseline.

He seems to be a little raw from the evaluation, but the “upside” and “learning curve” are very attractive for the 6′8″ junior.

Another player with reported interest from Pitt is point guard Antoine Allen (grainy highlight reel video) who apparently has that gritty, aggressive thing in spades.

Local product Zeke Marshall, was apparently overmatched by the higher competition, as “the seven-foot junior finished with just six points and five rebounds, and fouled out halfway through the 2nd half.”

On Day 2, there were plenty of other players Pitt will be pursuing or looking closely for 2009 that performed. This included Andrew Fitzgerald, Dominic Cheek, Erique Gumbs, and Brian Oliver.

For Day 3, there were reports on two shooting guards that Pitt covets. Maurice Creek and Omari Lawrence. Creek showed that defense is not something he always cares about. He’s still a 4-star recruit and a top-20 shooting guard nationally. ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. doesn’t seem quite so high on him.

Must continue to work on his ball-handling skills because he is much better right now off the ball. Must also consistently play with more energy. He seems to go as his offense does. If he is scoring, he appears to be more into the game and play harder at the defensive end of the floor.

The main target, though, is likely Omari Lawrence who is much more polished. There’s some discrepancy between Scout.com (4-star and #9 SG) and Rivals.com (3-star) at this time. ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. comes down on the higher side listing him as the 46th best recruit in the 2009 class.

Lawrence has an incredible feel on the defensive end, and brings great intensity to every possession. His court vision works on both ends of the floor, giving him an exceptional ability to make impact plays. He is a finisher that with the help of a better passing game can become a full-package star. His shot selection was at its best, and he proved he can hit the long-range buckets as well as the short-range jumpers.

Locally, Schenley Guard Deandre Kane remains in limbo. He is awaiting his latest SAT and/or ACT scores and Pitt and other interested schools are unsure he will finish the school year with sufficient grades.

If anyone knows who Jamie Dixon owes a favor to in Bemidji, Minnesota please let me know just to satisfy my curiosity. In May he’s going to be a guest speaker at the 2008 North Central Basketball Coaching Clinic at the Bemidji Middle School. That’s just weird.

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.