Dwight Miller Update

Ray Fittipaldo of the Post-Gazette says that all three of Pitt's incoming recruits, Isaiah Epps, Cameron Wright, and J.J. Moore) have qualified academically.  That means a move must be made and Dwight Miller is transferring to Midland Junior College (TX).  As he attended high school in Texas, it's not a surprise that he headed to a school near home.

Miller saw action in most of the team's non-conference games, but his minutes shrunk considerably once Big East play began.  He shot only 27% from the field and 14% from three-point range.  With a slight emergence by JJ Richardson, that essentially made him the odd man out.  Hopefully he can get a fresh start somewhere.

Dwight Miller Out

Ray Fittipaldo of the PG+ section (Note: If you are not a subscriber to this section, you have a limited number of page views to the content before you must subscribe) says that it is looking as if JJ Moore has qualified academically, meaning that Dwight Miller is looking to transfer.

With JJ Richardson playing well in spurts last year and Travon Woodall getting much better as the year went on, Dwight Miller's fate was looking worse and worse.

As Fittipaldo mentions, this has not been confirmed by Pitt yet. But assuming his information is true about Moore, I'd expect Miller would be the one to go.

He put in a lot of work with Rockets great Hakeem Olajuwon and I'm sure Jamie Dixon doesn't like the way this looks. But Miller would likely have been hard pressed to get minutes anyway, so this is probably best for him.

One More Loss

Going back to my recent post about the Big East talent exodus of 2010, add one more name to the list - Rutgers star Mike Rosario, who has been granted a release in the midst of all the Fred Hill stuff.

I've got to admit that when I saw the whole scuffle he had with Pitt's baseball coach, I didn't think the trickle down would go this far.

Rosario is the latest star to go in the Big East. What's worse for Rutgers, it continues a disturbing trend of recent recruits leaving the school. Earlier this year, it lost star center/PF Greg Echenique to a transfer to Creighton, last week it lost forward Patrick Jackson, and in 2009 it lost guard Earl Pettis and forward Christian Morris.

Wow, even Agnus Berenato thinks their team is losing too many players.

Two More Basketball Players

Looks like Chase Adams is here:

Pitt was about to enter the 2009-10 season without a veteran point guard, but a little known NCAA rule allowed the Panthers to land a senior transfer who will be eligible to play this season.

Chase Adams, a starter at Centenary College the past three seasons, will enroll at Pitt in a couple of weeks and will find himself competing for time at point guard, an area of concern for the Panthers after the graduation of four-year starter Levance Fields.

Later in the article, Adams believes there will definitely be a competition:

"It's definitely a situation where there is going to be competition," Adams said. "I'm going to compete and hopefully show my experience. Wherever I fit in that's what I'm going to do."

At first I was kind of lukewarm about the idea - still am to some degree. I was really hoping Travon Woodall was going to get his shot this year, but I have to admit it will be good to have a veteran in there. The team is going to be so young and Adams and Dixon would give Pitt a veteran backcourt. Pair them with Gilbert Brown at the three, and suddenly, they're not so young anymore.

The biggest thing this does is possibly push Ashton Gibbs out of the starting lineup. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Dixon start because of his defense - as long as they get Gibbs at least 20 minutes a game in varying capacities (SG and PG). The move also, obviously, probably limits Woodall's minutes significantly.

But back to Adams - He was also the Summit Conference defensive player of the year. Hoping he and Dixon will be able to shut down opposing guards and really give Pitt an edge there.

Adams confirmed that the probation was the big factor in deciding to leave:

"When I found out (Centenary) was going on probation, I looked around, and Pitt was the best fit," Adams said.

Bob Smizik weighs in here.

Not to be lost in the madness is another verbal commitment for 2010-11 - Cameron Wright, a guard from Cleveland who had offers from Indiana and Wisconsin, among others. ESPN.com is projecting him as what sounds like a typical Pitt player.

TE Gets a Boost for 2010

Former Virginia Cavalier TE Andrew Devlin made it official - transferring to the University of Pittsburgh. He was moved to DE after a season at TE in which he had only three catches for 22 yards.

Unlike some other transfers, it sounds like he didn't have a problem with the school ...just it's system:

"I want to stress that I really liked my time at Virginia," Devlin said. "I loved my coaches. My teammates were great. But I couldn't be unhappy on the football field for three more years. Virginia runs the 3-4 [defense]. The two defensive ends who played last year were 290 and 285 pounds. I was playing a full 30 pounds lighter at the position. If you're light and you're going up against 330-pound tackles, it's not good.

"They tried to find a place for me to fit in, but I wanted to be happy playing football. I probably wouldn't have seen the field next season because of my weight. It didn't bother me to transfer because if I went somewhere else, I'd be sitting out anyway."

Hopefully things will be for the best for him. With the main TE's graduating, he should get quite a bit of playing time in 2010.

Devlin was previously a three-star recruit as ranked by Rivals.

Minor Football Notes

Two minor football matters today:

Former Mt. Lebanon star Andrew Devlin is preparing to transfer to Pitt. With two guys at the position graduating (Nate Byham and Dorin Dickerson), this move looks to make sense for him as he'll sit out next year.

Also, the other guy involved in the altercation with Adam Gunn, former Pitt player Austin Ransom, is looking to get out of a criminal record:

A former Pitt football player may avoid a criminal record after he was charged with taking a swing at a city police officer who was breaking up a scuffle earlier this month in Station Square.

Austin Ransom is set to go through the accelerated rehabilitative disposition program, which is for nonviolent, first-time offenders. If successfully completed, participants will have their public criminal history expunged.