News and Notes 7/5

After three non-stop days of grilling, finally getting to some links from the holiday weekend and a few random ones over last week.

Chevy Troutman is having a fine career in Italy and the Post-Gazette catches up with him while he's in town for the Greentree Summer League.  He still may play a few games in the league and while he's had offers to play in the NBA's Summer League, he's turned them down:

Troutman receives offers to play in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, but he has declined those offers in recent years because he has been under contract in Europe. He makes a six-figure salary and feels comfortable with his situation.

"For my size and the way I was being promoted, it was better for me to go over there than anything else," he said. "I realized that early. I said, 'Let me just start my career off as a pro over there and see how it goes.

"Now I'm very successful over there. I'm known in basketball. I don't think I'll ever have a problem having a job the rest of my career. I actually thought about coming back over here [to give the NBA a try], but for me it's probably not worth it.

"It's kind of difficult to get your foot in the door. They have to show the initiative."

Unfortunately, the most alarming part of the article is his new fashion:

Troutman, the former Pitt star, is no longer playing basketball in this country, and his appearance is proof positive. There was a certain European flair to Troutman last week when he strolled into the Greentree SportsPlex in shorts, T-shirt, sandals and a fanny pack to watch some Pitt players compete in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am.

 A fanny pack?  Really?  I think even senior citizens have moved on from those things.

Andy Katz of ESPN writes a little more about Pitt's trip to Ireland and has a good point about how this glut of forwards and big men will need to figure itself out.

ESPN.com's Brian Bennett looks at revenues of the Big East compared to other BCS conferences.  No, it's not pretty, but we already knew that.  According to the numbers, put together by a writer from Fanhouse, Pitt falls somewhere in the middle of Division I programs.

If you're into video games, NCAA Football '11 has some screenshots out for each of the Top 25 teams.  Pitt is ranked #16 in their game.

And former Pitt baseball star Joe Leonard was named to another All-American team. This time, the ABCA/Rawlings All-American First Team.

Joe Leonard Named Player of the Year

Former Pitt standout and recent MLB third-round draft pick, Joe Leonard, was named as the NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) District 1 Player of the Year. 

District 1 includes Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

In 2010, Leonard broke single-season school records for saves, hits, RBI, and doubles.

Two More Baseball Draft Picks

After Joe Leonard was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the third round, Pitt saw two more players taken in the MLB Draft. Senior catcher Cory Brownstein was drafted in the 15th round, also by the Braves, while Senior shortstop Danny Lopez was picked by the Seattle Mariners in the 17th round.

Joe Leonard Drafted

Pitt star Joe Leonard was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the third round of today's MLB Draft:

"I knew I had a good season and everything really worked out for me," Leonard said. "I was just sitting at home with my family and my girlfriend and my name popped up on the computer screen. I was so happy. It was a great moment."

He was the highest draft pick under head coach Joe Jordano, who has been around for 17 years. In the school's history, Pitt has only had eight players drafted in the first ten rounds, but Leonard is the school's fourth in the past five years.

Jordano sees big things for him:

"Right now, he might not put up the power numbers that the pro guys are looking for, but the power is in there," Jordano said. "At the next level ... they'll probably get him to lift the ball a little more. Then, he'll hit the ball out of every park in the country. He's going to be a monster."

And Tony DeMacio, the Braves scout who found Chipper Jones 20 years ago, thinks they've got a great player as well:

In Leonard, a 6-foot-5, 220-pounder, the Braves believe they’ve found a power bat. The 2010 Big East player of the year hit .433 in 55 games as a junior and set school records in hits (104), at-bats (240), doubles (23) and RBIs (71). He hit eight home runs, and that’s while playing for a Pitt team that focused on using the opposite field.

“They don’t teach guys to pull up there,” DeMacio said. “Everything he hits is the other way. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s got a great body to develop yet, and he’s a very good defensive player, too, for his size.”

Finally, a Braves blogger thinks he will sign quickly if offered slot money for his round - even if he can't get the name of the school right:

A solid pick for Atlanta, as they take a polished defender at the hot corner with a good bat. He still needs to develop more power in his swing, but the intangibles are there, especially the 6'5" 220 lbs. frame. A college Junior from Pittsburgh University (my emphasis), he is rated as the top prospect in Pennsylvania, and is the son of a former first round pick. He doesn't have any truly plus-plus skills (maybe his defense), but he is a well-rounded player who should be competitive at the next level. He is said to be willing to sign quickly for slot money.

Joe Leonard - The All-American American

Sorry, pro wrestling flash.

Pitt has its second Baseball All-American in as many years with the news of Joe Leonard being named to Louisville Slugger's All-American team. He made the third team.

That seems a little low for someone who was the Big East Player of the Year and is a semi-finalist for the Dick Howser award - an award for the nation's best player. But then again I know next to nothing about college baseball.

Last season, Chris Sedon made the team. Pitt has four in the past decade alone.

Pitt Left Out

Pitt's NCAA tournament hopes ended when the bracket was revealed. Pitt was only able to win one game in the Big East tournament before being ousted.

Still, a pretty successful year for a program that hasn't typically done very well. Hopefully they can use this year as well as their new facilities to build upon.

Also, two Pitt players, Corey Brownstein and former football player Kevan Smith, made the All-Big East Tournament team.

Pitt Baseball on the Ropes

In a week that saw star player Joe Leonard named the Big East Player of the Year, Pitt was dealt an opening loss in the Big East Tournament, losing to Rutgers today 9-5:

"We just have to turn the page and forget about today," said Baker (11-3), who had matched a season high with 12 hits allowed in his first meeting with Rutgers, a 9-8 loss on April 1. "We lose again, we're done, so we can't linger on today and let it affect us."

With innings at a premium on the mound, facing a potential six games in five days, Jordano stuck with Baker for six innings and a season-high 130 pitches. He gave up 16 hits, matching a 16-year-old Big East record.

The baseball fan in me immediately was drawn to the 130 pitches. Holy crap. Even Dusty Baker thinks this kid might be overworked.

Seriously, I know little about pitch counts in college baseball. But minor league teams reguarly limit young pitchers to under 100 pitches, so that seemed a bit high to me.

Anyway, so Pitt is now one loss away from being out of the Big East Tournament. There's a general consensus that 40 wins will get you into the NCAA Tournament most of the time. Pitt is still four away from that number and is now in danger of missing the tournament.

Heading into the Big East Tournament

Pitt baseball is headed into the Big East tournament as a three-seed and will get Rutgers in the first round. After a hot start, they ended with losing five of their last eight.

Jeremy Mills, Big East blogger at ESPN.com, thinks Pitt will still land in the NCAA tournament.

Joe Leonard up for Another Award

Pitt baseball star Joe Leonard is up for another award - the Dick Howser Award, given to collegiate baseball's best player.

Leonard is one of 25 semifinalists for the award.

With its regular season now concluded, Pitt will look to the the Big East Championships which begin Wednesday.

Joe Leonard Gets A Nomination

Pitt baseball standout Joe Leonard picked up an award nomination - the John Olerud two-way Player of the Year Award. Not only have I never heard of this award, I never knew John Olerud was a pitcher. Leonard is continuing a pretty good year:

On the year, Leonard holds a .452 batting average in a 186 at-bats. He has accumulated 57 RBI’s, seven home runs and 20 doubles, along with a 3.60 ERA and seven saves.

I'm sorry, but everytime I hear John Olerud's name, the first thing I think of is the old Rickey Henderson story. It may not be true, but I still laugh out loud every time I hear it.

Leonard Breaks Hits Record

Pitt baseball standout, Joe Leonard, broke the school's single-season hit record - with plenty of games to spare by the way. Pitt still has 12 games left to play in its regular season.

A home run, his 85th hit of the season, broke the record of 84 held by Ben Copeland, who is now in the San Francisco Giants farm system in AAA.

Pitt Baseball Still on the Move

After going 2-1 last week, Pitt baseball is still on the move, climbing up to #20 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll just out yesterday. The team remains unranked in the ESPN/USA Today and Baseball America polls. The #20 ranking is the highest in school history.

Also in baseball-related stuff, head coach Joe Jordano is headed to the...wait for it...Erie Hall of Fame. He ranks second in school history with 359 wins and with another good season next year, could catch the all-time leader, Bobby Lewis, who has 402. As one of the top teams in the Big East, he could be up for his second conference Coach of the Year award this year. Like most, I don't follow the baseball program all that closely. Still, great to see the school really starting to excel in several sports.

Pitt's best player? That would be Joe Leonard.

And if you can believe it, ESPN actually runs a baseball version of Bracketology. Seriously. Pitt is projected to make the tournament in the regional with #1 overall seed Texas.

Blasts from the Past

I didn't know Kevan Smith was no longer on the football team. Somewhere in all the talk about quarterbacks, I have to admit he hadn't crossed my mind lately.

So when this story surfaced about him playing baseball, I was a little surprised:

Kevan Smith was facing a big decision.

Should he remain with the Pitt football team or try his hand at baseball?

He felt he was capable of performing at a high level in both sports. But after some intense soul-searching and a nudge from Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt, Smith opted to move on and try his luck with the Panthers' baseball team.

So far, it's worked out well for the former Seneca Valley multi-sport star, who came to the Big East school on a football scholarship and played quarterback mainly in a backup role during his first two seasons.

"I wanted to play both, and I told coach Wannstedt I'd do anything to remain on my football scholarship," Smith said. "I said I'd play special teams and long-snapper, anything he wanted. I was hoping he'd go along with it, but he told me I had to make a decision."

I'm a little surprised that Wannstedt wouldn't let him do anything necessary to stick with the team, but not terribly. Glad to hear he's sticking around in athletics.

And in other news, former coach Walt Harris says he's ready to get back into coaching again after taking the offensive coordinator job at California (PA):

"I never let the game go," said Harris, a former head coach at Pitt who coached from 1997-2004 and was formally introduced Monday morning as the new offensive coordinator at Division II California University of Pennsylvania. "I probably was not a lot of fun to live with on football weekends. I liked to be in front of the TV from noon until midnight and maybe later if the West Coast games were on. I always loved the game of football. There were a lot of things I learned from watching other people."

I heard an interview with Walt the other day and no matter your feelings about him, he lifted Pitt from the depths of some pretty bad teams and got Pitt to immediate respectability.

Another Ranked Program

Mention Pitt baseball and you're likely to start a discussion of Rutgers basketball coach Fred Hill's highly publicized outburst in the Pitt/Rutgers game. But the true story should be Pitt's play on the field.

After a great start this year, has finally moved into the top 25 rankings. The team is 16-9 and fresh off a sweep of Villanova and ranked #24 in the latest Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll. The team went 4-1 this week since being ranked.

Ancillary Stuff

Not a lot going on. Sure there was a football scrimmage Saturday, but I can only take so much Spring stuff until it feels as if sticking sharpened pencils directly into my retinas might be more entertaining.

That said, though, there are quite a few minor things out there or things indirectly related to Pitt:

- Well, well, well - looks like Rich Rod may have found yet another way to harm his former employer. As if he wasn't hated enough, now WVU is dealing with potential violations. I'm wondering if it's similar to the type of stuff he's been going through at Michigan with too much practicing. Hmm....

- Joe Pa thinks Big Ten expansion will happen:

"I think the trend is there are going to be bigger conferences. I think there are going to be 12-, 14-team conferences and maybe even 16-team conferences. Do I know what I'm talking about, who knows?

"It would appear to me that with the television situation what it is and the great impact that it has on exposure and what that exposure does to recruiting, we're naive to think ... we can sit back and see everybody else move ahead because they're going to move ahead. We better start thinking about where we're going."

I've not been commenting on the expansion stuff and that's been by design. Just too many variables and unknowns at this point and no real advantage to commenting on it every week until we get closer to something actually happening.

- Brian Bennett over at ESPN.com hints that he may be picking Pitt to win the Big East this year.

- In the wayyyyy to early Bracketology for the 2010-11 season, Joe Lunardi lists Pitt as a 3 seed. He has Georgetown as a 2-seed, highest in the Big East. I'm guessing that's dependent upon Greg Monroe coming back, though they should have a good team even without him. Along those same lines, Andy Katz loves, loves, LOVES Pitt next year. And so does Gary Parrish. I wouldn't put Pitt this high, but to each his own.

- I never got around to mentioning the whole Fred Hill/Pitt baseball thing mostly because I didn't really care all that much. But it was an interesting story nonetheless. Anyway, it appears Rutgers and Hill are at a standstill as far as him coming back to coach. Jon over at Rutgers blog Bleed Scarlet has plenty of good posts analyzing the situation as well as a possible replacement for Hill.

- Former Pitt coach and current Pitt villain Ben Howland gets some votes as one of the decade's top coaches.

- Finally, this happened several days ago, but thought it was worth a mention. Mike Rice agreed to stay at Robert Morris, despite interest from Seton Hall and Tulane. Rice handled the situation exactly how fans want. He ackonwledged interest in listening to both offers, acknowledged interviewing with both schools, and ended up staying. I believe he would have taken the Seton Hall job had he been offered it, but that's not the point. He was as honest and straight forward as could reasonably be expected throughout the process and Robert Morris should be proud of the way he handled the entire process. Jamie Dixon is in a much higher profile situation and the two situations were not the same. But maybe Jamie Dixon should take a note or two about how to handle these types of things rather than essentially playing grab ass with fans and media, and going into hiding every time his name comes up for a job.

Just sayin'.

Odds and Ends

Real quick hitters as all of this is pretty minor stuff:

The Pitt News calls for Tino Sunseri to start next year.

Former Tight Ends Dorin Dickerson and Nate Byham both worked out for the Baltimore Ravens in preparation of the upcoming NFL Draft.

A website picks Pitt basketball to win it all next year. Seriously.

That same website calls Pitt football a potential sleeper at 30:1 odds to win the BCS National Championship next year.

Pitt baseball is moving on up after a great start to the season. The team is ranked 24th in the Collegiate Baseball Rankings.

Heinz Field, home of the Panthers, is named as one of the 25 best stadiums at night...albeit not by all that strong of a source. PNC Park was also named as one.

Congratulations to Sedon

Pitt baseball isn't something that's discussed a lot (at least outside of baseball circles), but congratulations to Pitt 2B Chris Sedon, who was named as an NCAA All-American by Louisville Slugger.

Sedon became the third player in school history to earn Louisville Slugger First Team All-America honors, joining Jim Negrych (2006) and P.J. Hiser (2004).

“It’s such a great honor,” said Sedon. “Being an All-American is something you strive to achieve, and to be named to the first team along with some of the best players in the country is just awesome.”

Pirate fans might recognize Negrych's name as a minor-leaguer for the team.

Chris also set single-season records for Pitt in home runs (22), runs (65), and total bases (160). Not bad for a second baseman.

Again, congrats to Sedon on an outstanding achievement.