More Football Previews

A few more football team previews out there:

Xtra Point Football has a solid preview of the team, despite calling Dan Hutchins one of Pitt's top 2011 draft prospects.  They also pick Pitt to win the Big East:

Season Prediction

Big East Champions

The Panthers enter 2010 with loads of expectations. Dion Lewis is a Heisman candidate and several players are expected to produce All-American caliber seasons including those at key positions (Lewis, Jonathan Baldwin, Jason Pinkston, Greg Romeus, Dom DeCicco, etc.). The defense led the nation in sacks a season ago and returns what could be the nation's top pass rushing duo in Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard. Both starting cornerbacks are gone, but a talented secondary will be expected to contain the Big East's more talented quarterbacks.

The offense will run the football with Lewis and Ray Graham in their backfield, but Tino Sunseri won't get the 'yeah, but he's new' treatment with Jonathan Baldwin and Mike Shanahan as targets. Sunseri's development will be eased a bit, as the duo of Lewis and Graham can carry the load quite effectively. However, he'll be sink or swim early on with matchups against Utah and Miami in September and senior Pat Bostick on the sidelines ready to take over.

The Panthers had the opportunity to take the conference with a win over Cincinnati in the regular season finale, but saw their chances at a BCS bowl game evaporate when Tony Pike hit Armon Binns for a late touchdown with under a minute remaining. The December 4 rematch may again prove the de facto Big East championship game.

And ESPN.com has their Blue Ribbon preview up on Pitt (you've got to be an Insider to view it).

And So It Continues

Penn State's renewal of their series with Syracuse means that they likely won't be playing Pitt anytime soon. By now, we all know the reasons for Penn State scheduling Syracuse.  Joe Pa's bitterness is probably at the top followed closely by a cupcake opponent.  A new stadium also supposedly has a hand in it:

"We are thrilled about the opportunity to play Syracuse at the New Meadowlands Stadium to open the 2013 season," Penn State director of athletics Tim Curley said. "I was very impressed when I visited the complex earlier this year and it will quickly be recognized as one of the nation's premier sports facilities. We have had a long relationship with Syracuse and the Meadowlands and are excited about playing the Orange and returning to the site of many memorable Penn State games."

Sorry, Timmy - not buying it.  When Penn State canceled the Pitt series after the 12-0 shutout, Pitt was moving into Heinz Field, a new stadium in 2001.  No, Pittsburgh is not New York.  But you'd think the chance to play in a brand new pro stadium would mean something - at least if Penn State claims that playing in the new Meadowlands is a factor.

Look, I've long since gotten over Penn State's refusal to man up and play a one-for-one series with Pitt.  It's alomst like the old WCW Hulk Hogan / Sting rivalry where Hogan had beaten down Sting so many times he said he was moving on.  It's like beating a dead horse.  Penn State clearly doesn't want to play Pitt and while it would be nice, it really isn't all that big of a deal.  Pitt needs to focus on winning the Big East conference on at least a semi-regular basis and getting to BCS games.  A game against Penn State is secondary at this point.  The truth is, Penn State is a fine football team that would rather have the security of games against Syracuse and Temple.  If they would rather not play Pitt, that's okay.

And if Pitt really wanted to force Penn State's hand, they'd drop the thoughts of selling tickets to customers only willing to buy full season tickets.  Season tickets don't sell out now, so what's a better option - not selling out and not playing Penn State or not selling out and playing Penn State?

One thing I find consistently annoying is Joe Pa's insistence that there just isn't room on Penn State's schedule for Pitt.  Right.  After all, there's no way they can give up those games against Youngstown State and Akron.  Don't hold your breath, kiddos - likely not happening anytime soon.

Insert Plug Here

Shameless plug for the SB Nation Pittsburgh regional website - I've got a small feature up on Dante Taylor.  We'll be rotating the features for the most part and mine is now up there.  Check it out as well as some of the other Pittsburgh stuff.

Rutgers Begs...Please. Just. Go. Away.

Pitt was all over the New Jersey territory yet again, landing somewhat of a mystery recruit in DT Marquise Wright, out of Paramus Catholic.  I say 'mystery' because the major scouting sites are pretty far apart in rating him.

Scout lists him as the 21st best DT in the nation and gives him a three-star.  Rivals, meanwhile, is much higher on him, calling him the 4th best DT and a four-star.  So with that said, it's kind of hard to say where he should rank.  But when schools such as Penn State, WVU, Georgia, Florida State, Oklahoma and about ten others all offered scholarships, I'll lean towards the Rivals ranking.

No need for me to go into the whole ranking debate right now - we all know how meaningless they can be.  But beating out quality D-I programs is promising at the very least.

Here's a brief interview with Marquise apparently from ESPN (camera work not so good).  By the way, ESPN spells his name here without the 'E' on the end, even though everywhere else I've seen it, it's spelled with the 'E'.  Meanwhile, here's a highlight video on ESPN.com as well (need an Insider subscription to view it) and it's spelled with the 'E' here.  Way to stay on top of things there, Ess-Pen.

Seriously, though.  Someone needs to get Jeff Hafley and Pitt the heck away from New Jersey.  Dude is killing it there, landing Bill Belton, Gary Nova, and now Wright.  Plus he's got about a dozen more recruits (including some more four-stars) on his hit list - all from the Garden State.  As a matter of fact, ALL of his recruits since coming to Pitt have been from New Jersey, so he's got a pretty good hold on that area.

Nice.

Big East Impact On The NBA Draft

While Pitt didn't have any draftees in the 2010 NBA Draft, there was plenty of news regarding Big East prospects:

Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks of West Virginia slipped into the 2nd round.  Butler was a senior and his injury undoubtedly hurt him.  However, Ebanks was a sophomore and his relatively modest 2009-10 numbers (12 points / 8 rebounds per game) likely helped contribute to his slide.  He could have opted to come back and work on his game and this decision could hurt him as he fell out of first-round guaranteed money.

Another player who might have been better served by waiting an extra year was Cincinnati freshman Lance Stephenson, who also fell to the second round being drafted by the Indiana Pacers at 40th overall.  After the draft, Lance had all the right things to say:

"It is great to have Indiana pick me up," said Stephenson, who worked out for 10 teams including Indiana. "I think I fit in great. Danny Granger is a great player and they got players that are good so I am going to try and fit in and try to be a team player."

Stephenson was also fairly confident in his abilities after working out with the Knicks, who passed him over with consecutive picks at #38 and #39, opting for a pair of seniors (one of which was Syracuse guard Andy Rautins) instead:

"It would be better for the Knicks in a lot of ways," Stephenson said. "I would draw a lot more people to the games."

I'm not going to go as far as say that these were major gaffes after DeJuan Blair and Sam Young both proved productive players can come out of the second round.  But you better be sure you can stick as a second round player.  DeJuan Blair simply outworks everyone else, but neither Ebanks or Stephenson appear to have that trait.  Neither was dominant in college and it's safe to say that one or both might have a hard time sticking.

Next up in the "Step Right Up To Your NBA Future" Challenge is DePaul junior Mac Koshwal.  Koshwal left school early for a chance at the NBA, but even with a legitimate NBA body at 6'10" / 250 pounds and solid Big East stats (16 points/10 rebounds per game), he couldn't even crack the draft and was not selected.

Tricky game this NBA Draft stuff is.  Some players have legitimate reasons for leaving.  As a 22-year old junior, Koshwal was getting up in age and maybe he figured it was now or never.  Still, to me, you've got to be absolutely sure that if you're not selected in the first-round, you can make it as a legitimate second rounder.  This doesn't apply to players who don't figure to be NBA players and simply want to go play overseas or in a pro league for money.  But guys like Koshwal and Stephenson don't fall into that group.  Hopefully they make it and go on to long careers.

Still, the Big East had plenty of representation in the draft.  First-rounders included top ten picks Wes Johnson and Greg Monroe as well as late rounders Dominique Jones and Lazar Haywood.  In addition to Stephenson, Ebanks, Butler, and Rautins, Luke Harangody, Hamady Ndiaye, and Stanley Robinson were all taken in the second round.  11 NBA Draft picks in one season ain't bad.

Women's Team Back On Track?

I don't normally mention women's basketball recruiting, but 6'2" center Chyyna Golden committing to Pitt is big for two reasons.

First, she's one of the top basketball prospects in the country.  She ranks at #79 in ESPN U's top 100 recruits on espn.com (must be an insider to view).

Second, the program has been on a downward spiral since the season ended.  The team lost two assistants to other coaching jobs and their entire sophomore class.  This move shows that Agnus Berenato is still able to lure top recruits to the school and maybe the program isn't in the dire situation as it appeared to be a few months ago.