Steven Adams Shoots Up. Way Up.

It seems that Pitt 2012 Commit Steven Adams has gotten exponentially more recognized since it was announced he was coming to the Panthers.

He's still not listed in Scout's system from what I could find, but he's starting to show up elsewhere.

It's safe to say I was a little surprised/skeptical to see NBE Basketball put him in their top 50 for 2012.  Not only top 50, but how does #26 sound?  They have him as the fifth-ranked center.

But that wasn't all.

Rivals calls him an astounding top 50 prospect and a four-star recruit (#46)- holy leapfrog, Batman.  They have him as the 8th rated center.  He's listed there as 6'10" and 210 pounds so it probably wouldn't kill him to gain a little weight.  But he's clearly been impressing.

It's still really early at this point and players obviously can fall down the rankings a bit over time (see Isaiah Epps).  But top 50?  If he's really that good and no other schools found out about him then you've got to give Jamie Dixon's staff a lot of credit.

I hadn't seen this out there yet, but Draft Express has some nice video of him from the Adidas camp and he's giving an interview over top of it. Just watching the video, nothing jumps out about him - at least nothing to make me see why he's a top 50 player...so don't expect to see some freakishly athletic kid in it.  But from the little bit of video there is, he looks like Pitt's type of player - rebounder first with some scoring skills.  I was pleasantly surprised by the post moves he displayed and if he can get his shot off against Big East defenders, it looks like he has a consistent shot.

Speculating, Speculating...

Is it too early to start speculating on who might be leaving the program with the commitment of center Malcolm Gilbert? 

Of course it is.

For one thing, Gilbert, like the other recruits have only made verbal commitments and will need to sign letters of intent before anything becomes official.  For another, there's no telling if all four recruits would even qualify academically.  And for yet another, someone may really want to leave the program voluntarily, opening up another spot.

And I still haven't mentioned perhaps the most likely scenario out of all those things - what if Dante Taylor leaves early for the NBA?

But say all of the aforementioned happens and Taylor sticks around.  Then what?

Well, the two players I see in the most trouble are:

J.J. Richardson - He's probably going to see less time this season with the emergence of Talib Zanna and since Gilbert is a big man, it makes it even more likely that he could go. Mix in 2012 recruit Steven Adams and the frontcourt gets really crowded. Richardson's advantage may be that if he can beat out Gilbert as a Junior next year, he'd likely be the backup center behind Taylor (assuming Taylor stays at center...I know, that's an entirely different debate).

Cameron Wright - I know, I get it.  He hasn't even played a minute for the team yet.  But this is all about speculation and besides, who else do you see that could go instead of him?  Travon Woodall?  Please.  He played really well down the stretch last season and despite not being the best shooter, is probably the team's best true point guard. Plus, with Isaiah Epps and Woodall (who really got better as the season went on last year), ahead of him, he might be struggling to get minutes. And don't forget about incoming 2011 freshman John Johnson who will be at the point or SG.

It's crazy early, but that's how I see it. I can't pick between those two because it largely will depend on how others in their positions fare over the next season. If everyone qualifies, it will be interesting to see how Dixon deals with this situation for a second straight year. From everything I hear, Dixon hates doing this sort of thing. I'm a little puzzled that he'd do it again for a three-star, somewhat-prospect center if he didn't have a good reason for it.  Maybe he thinks Taylor is gone after this season.  Maybe he knows something we don't.  In any event, he's opened the door for a world of speculation over the next year.

Baskeball Notes 7/13

The Panthers are excited and gearing up for their trip to Ireland.  J.J. Richardson sees big things for Pitt and credits the Summer League and this trip as reasons for his optimism:

 “Not many teams get the chance to have an organized practice during the summertime,” he said. “This is helping us get closer. Last year, we were all still getting used to each other because we were young. This year, with us in the summer league and going over to Ireland, we’re going to be real good.”

I think he's got a point.  Not only does the Greentree Summer League allow them to practice with some teammates, they're also going against other D-1 players.  Now, with the opportunity to go overseas and play others will give them some good game experience. 

Speaking of that Summer League, Ashton Gibbs led the way during Monday's games with 30 points / 7 rebounds / 6 assists.  Dante Taylor continued his strong play going for 19/13 and J.J. Moore keeps scoring (22).  Taylor's consistency has been pretty good.  He's got to be close to a 20/10 average during these games.  As of my last analysis in the beginning of July, he was at 15.5 and 8.5.

A few more quick hitters:

The NCAA Tournament format including the four newly added teams has been released.

Chris Dokish has a little more on New Zealand recruit Steven Adams.

And Chas over at Pitt Blather has some stuff on DeJuan Blair.

Basketball Recruiting Stuff

Chris Dokish has what many of us have been waiting for - more information on recent commit, Steven Adams out of New Zealand.  For starters, his coach thinks he's still growing:

“He’s about 6′10″, 6′11″, and about 225 or 230 pounds,” says Kenny McFadden, Adams’ coach in Wellington, as well as the Development Officer of basketball in the country. But I think he’s going to eventually be over 7′0″ feet. He’s only sixteen.”

You might ask how Jamie Dixon found him all the way in New Zealand.  Here's your answer - he played professionally with Adams' coach:

“We played professionally in New Zealand together many years ago,” says McFadden, who played for George Raveling at Washington State. “And we have been friends ever since. When Jamie was down here for the World Championships, we sat down and I told him about my players. He was interested in Rob Loe (6′11″ center) at the time, but he went to play at St. Louis. And I told him about Steve, and I told him that he was even better. He is bigger and more skilled than Rob was.”

His coach also thinks his NBA aspirations can be reached:

As for the future for Adams, McFadden doesn’t mince words. “His aspirations are to play in the NBA and I think he can. We’ve had a few others from here play in the league, like Sean Marks (9-year veteran who played at California), and he is going to be better than all of them.”

I've seen Marks play and trust me, he's no Shaq.  Still, NBA players are the best in the world and if you get there, you're quite a player.  Here's hoping he remains a relative secret, though that will be tough as he's scheduled to make his first visit to the U.S., playing in Las Vegas soon.  He's only 16, so it's a long way before his commitment to Pitt will be finalized.

Courtesy of Ray Mernagh over at the NBE Basketball Report, 2011 recruit John Johnson talks more about his commitment to Pitt:

“When I went on my visit there it was like a family,” Johnson said, “the coaches can be like father figures to me and that’s important because I don’t want to go to college just for basketball…I want to become a good man too.”

Be sure to check out the article because Mernagh's got some first-hand experience watching him play recently and gives a good report on him.

And a quick mention on Pitt's recruits this year - albeit from Wednesday of last week.  J.J. Moore scored 23 points in the most recent Greentree Summer League games.  Cameron Wright contributed ten points in his game.

Pitt Basketball Lands Mystery Man

I put off mentioning the apparent verbal of center Steve Adams, mostly because there was little information out there on him.  I'm sure it was partially due to the holiday weekend, but more due to the fact that he plays in New Zealand.  The Post-Gazette broke the news yesterday, but haven't had an update about it.

Scout has a page, but no ranking for him.  Rivals has no page at all from what I've been able to find.

In 2009, Adams was named the MVP of the New Zealand U17 National Championships, finishing third in scoring, first in rebounding, and first in blocks on his team.  He was also the MVP of the New Zealand U19 National Championships that ended last month.

He appears to be athletic and has NBA aspirations:

Toss in some spectacular alley-oop dunks and blocked shots, and Adams is clearly a young man going places.

"I want to try and make the NBA," Adams said. "My hero is [Orlando Magic superstar] Dwight Howard."

Chris Dokish makes a good point in that Pitt will now be able to recruit other smaller players as power forwards now as Adams would be a center.  That makes a world of sense to me as I'm sure some potential recruits have been following the Dante Taylor situation and wondering if they may be put in a similar situation - a true power forward that is asked to play center.  Then again, that is dependent on Adams being a quality center and able to handle the position.

Since he's going to be in the 2012 recruiting class, I'm a little surprised that Pitt would come out and accept a verbal from a potential question mark.  2012 is a ways off, so this is far from a done deal.  Still, to essentially offer him at this point, they must be extremely high on him.