Well, Pitt has essentially traded J.J. Moore to Rutgers for Derrick Randall.

“It felt like a new home and a new start and I need to get away and start clean.”

The 6-foot-8, 240-pound Randall also considered Iona and Minnesota. He visited Pittsburgh last Thursday.

Randall, a Bronx native who played at South Kent (Conn.) and Paterson (N.J.) Catholic, averaged 2.1 points and 1.5 rebounds as a sophomore at Rutgers.

He opted to transfer in the wake of the Mike Rice scandal and could obtain a waiver to play immediately.

Randall was a 3-star center coming out of prep/high school. He’s got two years of eligibility remaining.

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Shocked. Shocked to find out that a system rigged against the student athlete came down on the side of the school and coach.

Former Vanderbilt basketball player Sheldon Jeter, embroiled in a transfer dispute with Commodores basketball coach Kevin Stallings, said Thursday his appeal to Commodores officials to be released to Pitt has been denied.

Jeter, from Beaver Falls High School, announced in May his intentions to transfer to another school closer to home. Stallings informed Jeter, as is his right under NCAA scholarship bylaws, that he could transfer to any school in the country with the exception of Pitt.

The rules for appealing a denial of transfer are stacked against the student. They can file an appeal, but it is filed with the school that employs the coach and from where the kid wants to depart. If anyone can find some examples where an appeal went against the coach I’d love to know.

The other detail is that we at least have confirmation of one piece of previously unclear information. Only Pitt was blocked by Vanderbilt and Kevin Stallings.

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Welp, DeAndre Kane was definitely going to come to Pitt for his fifth year. That is if USC didn’t sweep him off his feet. Then Memphis made a late push that seemed to sway him. But in a typical way for Kane, none of the above. He’s heading to Iowa State.

Consider me less than broken up by this. Or, for that matter, surprised that Kane flitted about from option to option. Poised to pick and then reconsider. Mercurial is one way to describe Kane. A headache might be another. You will pardon me if I don’t think Pitt is in any worse shape without Kane.

The Alabama transfer, Trevor Lacey was at Pitt this week. He was getting the full treatment with Brandin Knight taking him around to the Steelers practice. Later it was a Pirates game. Reports are it was a very good visit, but we will see. Lacey would be a great transfer to get. Yes, he would have to sit a year, but it would be worth it. (more…)

There hasn’t been any public mention of the status of Sheldon Jeter transfer situation over the holiday weekend. Whether Jeter is appealing directly to Vandy over transfer restrictions or some other quiet discussion is occurring is unknown.

What is known is that after the initial outcry over the restriction on Jeter, there has been the careful pushback from Vandy/Stallings. No actual statement or anything to quote. Just pushing their story as a “source.”

The claim being that Jeter wasn’t a man about his departure.

Regardless of whether or not it’s fair to put a block on a player receiving a scholarship in his first year at a new school (blocking doesn’t prevent the player from transferring to a school, but does cloud the process with the NCAA), there is a right and wrong way to depart. Jeter tweeted “Due to some personal issues, I am leaving Vanderbilt University to be closer to my family.’’ According to a source with direct knowledge, he didn’t meet face-to-face with Stallings to tell him he was leaving. Jeter, a freshman forward from Beaver Falls, Pa., isn’t the first nor the last to mishandle a departure. There is a mature way to deal with leaving. Evan Gordon left Arizona State two weeks ago. He went in and told Herb Sendek he was out. The conversation didn’t last more than a few minutes. But at least there was one. Jeter averaged 5.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 17.5 minutes a game. He’ll probably end up at Pitt. He may be on scholarship by next season. Cooler heads may prevail here. But most of the time the reason there is animosity over an exit is the way in which it is handled.

There are a couple problems here.

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Sheldon Jeter wanted Pitt to recruit him when he was a senior at Beaver Falls. He wanted to be a Panther. Pitt didn’t have a scholarship in the fall of his senior year. And after Khem Birch left abruptly, Coach Dixon looked long and hard at Jeter before going with Chris Jones. When more scholarship opened after the season, there was some interest in Jeter but it still seemed cool. Ultimately Pitt landed (what seemed like a great transfer at the time Trey Zeigler) and Jeter chose Vanderbilt. Still there was this mix of coy interest from Pitt even after the class was filled (and while Pitt was even pursuing Savon Goodman).

A year later Sheldon Jeter had a solid freshman year for Vandy. Well liked by the coaches and fans. Looked to be a promising player. But Jeter felt that family reasons needed him back home and he opted to transfer. He even appeared to get Vandy Coach Kevin Stallings blessing. By all accounts he still wanted to attend Pitt, and now Pitt wanted him. Even if he would have to sit out the year before being eligible.

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Dammit, I’m going to shoe-horn in the bad puns while I still can.

The formality that was supposed to be DeAndre Kane’s transfer to Pitt for as a graduate transfer, now is not.

However, the 6-foot-4 guard, a Pittsburgh native, did not wind up pulling the trigger, whether it was due to the fact that Panthers coach Jamie Dixon was non-committal about taking him at the time, or whether Kane just wasn’t enamored with the visit.

Now Kane told CBSSports.com that he is still open, with both Pittsburgh still under consideration and Memphis also in pursuit.

From my own perspective, I’m not exactly broken up by the possibility that Kane may not be coming to Pitt.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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So Rushel Shell is heading to UCLA. Guess he isn’t bothering with an appeal of Pitt’s transfer restrictions as the Arizona St. AD intimated last week.

That’s fine. He will go there. He can sit out the year, play next year and barring injury will likely turn pro.

He will say all the right things to the media and fans. Hopefully he will grow as much as he claims he has and will. I actually do wish him well, if for no other reason than so he can be in a position to financially take care of the two daughters he is leaving behind to go to UCLA.

The bigger question right now is the status of Deaysean Rippy.

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This seems like a move born out of desperation by Trey Zeigler, than anything else.

The 6-foot-5, 203-pound Zeigler averaged 4.4 points and 2.0 rebounds in 31 games this season for Pitt after transferring from Central Michigan. Zeigler’s father, Ernie, a former Pitt assistant, had been fired from Central Michigan following the 2011-12 season. Zeigler was granted a special waiver from the NCAA and was immediately eligible at Pitt.

“We will assist Trey in finding the best situation for him to reach his goals both academically and athletically,” Dixon said. “He’s a great kid, hard worker and good player. We thank Trey for his contribution to our program over the last year and wish him much success in the future.”

I’ve said it a few times, but the worst thing for Zeigler was getting that immediate waiver to play. He didn’t have time to get familiar with the style of Pitt’s offense. Spend a year practicing against his teammates. He tried so hard to fit in on the fly that he was too deferential, tentative and stayed on the perimeter. Rather than utilizing his ability to attack the basket. He needed to be a little more selfish and drive to the basket.

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