Dion Lewis Named As A Preseason Favorite For Doak Walker Award

Pitt Associate AD EJ Borghetti has the news that the Sporting News has named Mark Ingram and Dion Lewis as its first two picks for the Doak Walker Award, presented to the nation's top running back.

Not a big surprise here as Lewis is the nation's top returning rusher and Ingram won the Heisman last year.  Still, Devine has been gaining some steam lately in preseason articles and could be a threat to Lewis in the Big East.  I wasn't able to find the news on their website, so I'm guessing this may have been (or is due to be) released in the print version.

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.

Football Notes

Sorry for the long delay in updates - this past week has just been flat-out hectic with a concert, power outage, vacation planning and a slew of other offline stuff.  Plus, not much has been going on with Pitt, so it was a good time for a respite.

Here are a few football things out there:

Stewart Mandel at SI.com talks about the Heisman race and some of the preseason favorites.  I think this is the first article I've seen where Dion Lewis is not mentioned as one of the top picks.  Mandel places him in a second group to watch for after his initial top ten.  With Pitt getting more play as a Big East favorite, I was a little surprised to see Noel Devine in that first group.  Pitt WR Jonathan Baldwin is also in that second group.

Lewis will be hard pressed to win the Heisman, but I do think he's right there in the discussion.  Along those lines, make sure to hop over to our SB Nation Pittsburgh site this week, where we'll have a breakdown of the area's top Heisman hopeful running backs (PSU's Evan Royster, Lewis - Wednesday, Devine - Friday).

Joe Butler of Metro Index says that Pitt could have five first-rounders in next year's NFL Draft.  We're a long way from that happening, but just the fact of it even being discussed is incredible. 

Dave Wannstedt, even with two straight very successful seasons under his belt, still takes a lot criticism about Pitt not getting to that next level.  Some of it is deserved and some is undeserved.  But one thing that cannot be denied is that he has Pitt on the right track.  His staff not only has an eye for talent, but they are regularly getting that talent to come to Pitt.  Programs are not rebuilt overnight and Pitt is still a ways off from being mentioned as a consistent national power.  The good news is that things have been looking up.

Brian Bennett over at ESPN.com had previously released a list of the Big East's top offensive triplets.  With Dion Lewis, Baldwin, and Tino Sunseri, Pitt was at the top of that list.  His defensive triplets are now out and Pitt (headlined by Greg Romeus, Dan Mason, and Dom Decicco) comes in at second behind WVU.

Keep in mind this isn't a team's three best players.  Rather, it's a team's best DL, LB, and DB.  If it were the three best, Jabaal Sheard would likely replace Decicco (in my opinion) and Pitt might be #1 on his list.

Minor Football Tidbits

Another day, another 'accolade' from a gambling site.  Pitt is picked as the odds on favorite to win the Big East along with UCONN and WVU.  I'm seeing a lot of love out there for UCONN this year.  Not sure I'm buying into it, but just remember, they did take Pitt to the wire last year - in Pittsburgh.

Speaking of that UCONN team, their local paper, the Hartford Courant has a very brief preview of Pitt.

And here's a story on QB Tino Sunseri that correctly points out he'll have help...and lots of it.  One thing caught my eye near the end of the piece:

While all expectations are that Sunseri will be up to the task, if 2009 was any indication, it won’t matter who is under center for the Panthers — they’ll be efficient and fun to watch every Saturday.

Ignoring the statement about it won't matter who plays QB for Pitt (because I don't buy that), Pitt SHOULD really be fun to watch.  If you think about last year, the team was extremely exciting.  Try to look past the loss to WVU.  Ignore the ugly effort against NC State.  And while you're at it, step right past the Cincinnati game that I only refer to as "Nova Part II."  The team was really fun to watch - Couple players like Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin with a very good defense and it all equaled a talented team.  All indications point to it being another fun year.

Camp Kikakee With Larry Fitzgerald

If Camp Kikakee has no meaning for you, then you're either too old or too young.  At any rate, Larry Fitzgerald apparently has a football camp - and it's not for kids:

Now entering his seventh NFL season, Fitzgerald has turned into the mentor and turned his hometown into the place to be for professional pass catchers in the weeks before training camp begins in August. With a star-studded list of instructors, Fitzgerald invites players of varying experience to train with him at the University of Minnesota.

What started as a group of about five or six players a few years ago has swelled to about 40 athletes, all working on an efficient and demanding routine that lasts for three weeks.

Greg Jennings, Brandon Marshall and Sidney Rice have participated in the past. On Tuesday, Green Bay tight end Jermichael Finley, Seattle rookie Golden Tate, New Orleans defensive back Malcolm Jenkins, St. Louis linebacker James Laurinaitis and Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson were among those in the group, which changes from week to week.

True, it might seem a little odd that Fitzgerald is training fellow NFL veterans, but he's got some help:

Legends like Jerry Rice, Carter and Irvin stop in to help teach youngsters like Tate and Denver rookie Eric Decker(notes) the tricks of the trade. One of Irvin’s lessons, for instance, was for receivers to anticipate the snap count rather than waiting to hear it from the quarterback to gain a split-second in the never-ending search for an edge.

It also sounds as if the camp is more like a training camp than it is for show:

The mornings are basically on-field chalkboard sessions. Ideas are shared and compared. But let there be no doubt, the workouts are as demanding physically as they are enlightening mentally. Different days are devoted to different things, be it improving speed, agility, strength, technique. One of the mornings concluded with the players running 16 110-yard sprints, with limited rest in between. It was enough to make an onlooker feel like he was going to lose his breakfast.

Don't get me wrong - I don't think guys are out there going until they hurl.  But as the article states, to get guys to go before training camp during some of their last days of freedom....to Minnesota?  Yeah, Fitz has some serious pull.

Kind of cool to see him doing this at such a young age.  Most NFL stars are busy running camps for high school kids, but how many are running them for their peers?  That so many NFL players would think there's value here and come out for these is just another testament to his ability as a player.  Having guys like Jerry Rice as instructors can't hurt, either.

Pitt Basketball In Need Of Another Staff Member

Pitt men's video coordinator Rasheen Davis is leaving the school to become an assistant at Xavier.  While he was in charge of breaking down video tape for Pitt, he'll have a larger role at Xavier:

Davis said recruiting will be his primary focus at XU. His main bases are in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, although he also has ties in Maryland, Georgia and Florida.

More ties to the area:

Davis was a point guard and later an assistant coach at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York. He served as an assistant varsity coach at national power Rice High (N.Y.) for two seasons and worked with the New York Gauchos AAU program for three years.

He has a master’s degree in guidance counseling from the College of New Rochelle (N.Y.) and for two years was a guidance counselor at Foreign Language Academy of Global Studies High School in South Bronx.

It looks like he's going to get started almost immediately:

At Xavier, Davis will be a full-time assistant and is expected to be on the road recruiting this month for the second ‘live’ period which covers July 22 – July 31.

While he didn't do any recruiting for Pitt, he'll be another presence they'll likely run into out east.  Pitt fans may remember that video coordinator was the same position that Brandin Knight held shortly after coming back to Pitt, and head coach Jamie Dixon will likely look again at a young individual interested in breaking into coaching to fill this role.  Really not all that big of a deal.