OT: D1

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: D1

For me, it is ALL about recruiting and program building. IF Capel can do this----then he can have success at the national level. There is no doubt about it. Pitt really isn't all that far removed from being something of a national player with several number one NCAA seeds and were a heartbeat away from a Final Four all less than a decade ago. I would like to think that Capel uses the rigors of ACC play to his advantage as he lets recruits know that if you want to be thought of in the same breath as the elites of the blue bloods then you have to go out and show that you can compete and run with them. That sort of thing puts you on an NBA draft board.

I like what Nate Oats has going on up at Buffalo. I wonder if it was Bobby Hurley who got the ball rolling up there or was his success more a byproduct of an already established program that has simply been proliferating?

Look for UCONN's Danny Hurley to build a winner up in Storrs. His recruiting has been rather impressive thus far. No idea how he is selling the program to be honest.

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Buffalo is very legit. What they did in the tournament last year wasn't a fluke. Oats will be the biggest name this off-season and likely land a big job.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: D1

Buffalo is very legit. What they did in the tournament last year wasn't a fluke. Oats will be the biggest name this off-season and likely land a big job.

Absolutely! Remember last spring when Oats was on just about every Pitt fan's wish list. I think the consensus was that he would just stay at Buffalo with an experienced team and pick a plum job in '19. He is set up nice. Same with Nevada's Musselman.

Quite a blowup for Dambrot last night against Penn State with 10 seconds left. Double technical on top of a two-shot foul. State hit all six free throws to go up 74-68. Ouch! I've never seen anything like that before.

Pitt a 99-57 winner over New Orleans this evening. They are now 9-3 which gives them one win more than all of last season. The games will be getting much tougher here with a game against a decent Colgate team on the 29th and then ACC play coming in with the new year. North Carolina visits on January 5.

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: D1

A few more Pitt basketball recruiting rumors to add----looks like Henry Coleman 6-6 195 SF out of Richmond, VA is a hot name. Sharpshooter by all accounts. Class of 2020 but with the trend of reclassification who knows when some of these guys will come out anymore. It really adds a new fold to the recruiting process.

Capel is believed to have major interest in a couple of DeMatha, MD players. The aforementioned big Hunter Dickinson and G Earl Timberlake.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: D1

Mike Lewis leaving Duquesne.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: D1

Just a few tidbits from the world of D-I to get caught up on----

Looks like Kofi Cockburn has committed to Illinois. Damn and Double Damn!

Former #85 ranked recruit F Chase Johnson from the state of West Virginia and former Florida Gators player was visiting various schools recently after transferring from Florida. Pitt was one of them. I watched tape of him and was completely unimpressed. Thin and a slow white guy to boot. LOL. He apparently had a major problem with recurring concussions every time the wind blew. He would never help Pitt out I doubt. Thankfully he committed to Dayton. My guess is that he will be at IUP in a year or two.

I caught most of the Pitt-Duquesne ladies game a week or two ago. The Pitt gals are much improved under first year coach Lance White. Dukes coach Dan Burt was not a happy man after the game during the postgame interview. I never saw that sort of mood before from a coach this side of Hal McRae and Dennis Green. LOL.

Pitt took one on the chin against North Carolina last Saturday. But it was a great first ACC game in my opinion for the young players to see what conference play is all about and how tough it really is.

Pitt back in action this evening at the Pete against Louisville at 8PM.

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[IUPalum]

Re: OT: D1

Just a few tidbits from the world of D-I to get caught up on----

Looks like Kofi Cockburn has committed to Illinois. Damn and Double Damn!

Former #85 ranked recruit F Chase Johnson from the state of West Virginia and former Florida Gators player was visiting various schools recently after transferring from Florida. Pitt was one of them. I watched tape of him and was completely unimpressed. Thin and a slow white guy to boot. LOL. He apparently had a major problem with recurring concussions every time the wind blew. He would never help Pitt out I doubt. Thankfully he committed to Dayton. My guess is that he will be at IUP in a year or two.

I caught most of the Pitt-Duquesne ladies game a week or two ago. The Pitt gals are much improved under first year coach Lance White. Dukes coach Dan Burt was not a happy man after the game during the postgame interview. I never saw that sort of mood before from a coach this side of Hal McRae and Dennis Green. LOL.

Pitt took one on the chin against North Carolina last Saturday. But it was a great first ACC game in my opinion for the young players to see what conference play is all about and how tough it really is.

Pitt back in action this evening at the Pete against Louisville at 8PM.

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Come on, I was at the Pitt/UNC game. Pitt was totally out matched! Pitt is slower, can't defend and can't shoot!!! I don't care how young a team is, that group couldn't even make shots in warm ups. That team is way behind in the game of skill.

[Chuck Norris]

Re: OT: D1

Come on, I was at the Pitt/UNC game. Pitt was totally out matched! Pitt is slower, can't defend and can't shoot!!! I don't care how young a team is, that group couldn't even make shots in warm ups. That team is way behind in the game of skill.

They are a long way from competing with UNC. Tonight might be a little more realistic barometer to see just where they stand. At the beginning of the year I thought they could win 4 or 5 ACC games. If they get thumped again tonight then I may have overshot my expectations a bit.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: D1

Come on, I was at the Pitt/UNC game. Pitt was totally out matched! Pitt is slower, can't defend and can't shoot!!! I don't care how young a team is, that group couldn't even make shots in warm ups. That team is way behind in the game of skill.

Certainly they are not ready to compete with the conference blue bloods such as North Carolina and Duke. But to me the stat that really stuck out was what? C'mon, you're a coach. The three point shooting was the biggest difference at least in the stat page. Pitt went 2-19 while the Tar Heels hit on 10-24. That's a 24 point difference there. And Pitt lost by 25.

Pitt hung with them for a brief time at the onset. But yes, certainly they could not stay with the talented upperclassmen of NC. Just give a fair assessment here. McGowens and Xavier are freshmen. They played okay for what they were up against. As has been stated before on here---this is year one of the Capel rebuild. This thing will take time.

It was encouraging that Pitt only lost the rebounding edge 51-46. I was kind of surprised to see that. But I'm sure some of that was made up in the waning moments of the game.

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: D1

They are a long way from competing with UNC. Tonight might be a little more realistic barometer to see just where they stand. At the beginning of the year I thought they could win 4 or 5 ACC games. If they get thumped again tonight then I may have overshot my expectations a bit.

Pitt up by ten at the half.

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[IUPalum]

Re: OT: D1

Pitt actually made a couple shots tonight. I still think they look terrible.

[Chuck Norris]

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: D1

Pitt actually made a couple shots tonight. I still think they look terrible.

Probably much like your middle school team. LOL.

But it was a significant victory when you consider they were 0-18 the year before in ACC play.

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: D1

Absolutely! It was indeed a major accomplishment considering the depths that the program had sunk to. 33 for McGowens and Xavier had some big moments as always. I know about a month ago one of the 'Burgh sports personalities made the comment that he thought that the two frosh guards where good enough to eventually help Pitt make the Final Four with the obvious assumption that they get some talent in the front court. Who knows, maybe. But they have been showing something here.

I guess the game was blacked out online. That was a major downer.

Looked like some of the young Pitt players were making some bad turnovers in the waning minutes of the game. They nearly gave it away. But fantastic to see them hold on and pull out the victory.

Looks like NC State is up next Saturday for a noon tip.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: D1

Life in the ACC ...

Louisville loses at Pitt ... then naturally turns around and blows out North Carolina in the Dean Dome.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: D1

Life in the ACC ...

Louisville loses at Pitt ... then naturally turns around and blows out North Carolina in the Dean Dome.

Don't even try and explain it to me, Major Nelson. I'm afraid that I might understand it. LOL.

That makes no sense at all. Maybe it bodes well for Pitt to pick up some wins in conference play.

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