OT: D1

[Ship69]

And Clemson just took down mighty Duke this evening. There are NO easy games in the ACC. None at all!

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The ACC beyond Duke, Louisville, and possibly Florida State is nothing to write home about. Boston College and Wake are laughable.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

What an awful, ugly scene at Kansas tonight. Season-long suspensions coming.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Let's get caught up on some Pitt news and tidbits here. Even though the Panthers did drop tough road games at Syracuse and at Duke there can at least be a bit of a silver lining to view as they did keep it within five or less against these teams very late in the contest in hostile environments. Regarding the game against the Blue Devils last evening----Pitt got a big effort from Au'Diese Toney with 27 points. He has played very well of late seemingly since cutting off the dreadlocks. He is a bit of an athletic wonder when his game is in full sail. Pitt also got another good effort from Slam Penny with 13 points and seven boards. He would seem to be a lock for the All-ACC freshmen team at this point. Certainly one pleasant surprise was the play of frosh PF Karim Coulibaly who played 22 minutes and scored 8 points and grabbed four rebounds. He played very well for the most part although he did have a few missteps and not to mention he is now shooting at a 20% clip on FTs on the season. But he did flash some ability last evening and as Capel always alludes to---he does do a great job of helping to break zones with his passing in the high post. It helped nothing last night that Trey and Murph Dawg combined for a grand total of two points at the SG position. Had they showed up Pitt may have had a real chance to win the game.

Pitt falls to 13-8 overall and 4-6 in ACC play. They next play on Sunday at the Pete with a noon tip as they host Miami.

In some recruiting news----Pitt recruit John Hugley continues to impress this season. He had a game in which he put on a display of his passing ability for a big man and handed out 15 assists. He is also getting his body into great shape which does ease some concern since he once weighed in at one time over 320 pounds a few years back. He has really evolved both his body and his game tremendously. Pitt should really benefit from having him down low next season.

Regarding the recruiting of Top 50 player Will Jeffress---As IUPalum did state, it appears that he is indeed going to reclassify to the 2020 recruiting class. Apparently the plan at the moment is for him to finish his high school season and make some campus visits in the spring. Baylor and Memphis also appear to be in the mix for his services as well. But nearly all of the crystal baller crowd has him ticketed for Pitt. He does not sound like your average basketball recruit as apparently he boasts a 4.0 GPA and his father is a college professor and his mother a medical doctor according to what I have read.

One little known recruit to make his name onto the Pitt radar in recent weeks is PG Eric Gaines out of Georgia. He is just starting to get some notice from major programs and after watching some tape of him I can certainly see why. The kid is unbelievable to put it mildly. He offers up that Wow factor when watching him shoot the trey, run the floor or penetrate through defenses. He will not be an unknown commodity for very long. I had a similar reaction to watching him as I did to other high school standout PGs such as Shakeel Moore (North Carolina State commit) and Noah Farakhan (uncommitted). But there is thought that he very well may end up at Georgia playing for Tom Crean.

The great news for next season is that Capel is brining in some major help for the frontline and a deadeye sharpshooter on the perimeter.

C 6-10 Max Amadasun

PF 6-9 John Hugley

PF 6-8 Noah Collier

SG Ithiel Horton (transfer from Delaware)


That is a solid class that will offer this team much help and fire support. Plus, Capel may very well end up adding a few more yet. Certainly there is major smoke saying that Will Jeffress is coming to Oakland and C Adama Sanago is said to be looking at the possibility of reclassifying and playing at Pitt. He is from Mali the same as Coulibaly. I would personally think that Capel really needs to also bring in a PG as well.

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Pitt a 62-57 winner today against Miami down in Oakland. A bit of a sloppy performance. The Canes gave Pitt fits when they switched to a 2-3 matchup zone in the second half after building a nine point halftime lead. Pitt really needs those front line players to get here next year and a consistent perimeter threat as Horton is expected/hoped to be. Miami was down two good player and Pitt was without Ryan Murphy who was out after being concussed.

Pitt moves up to 14-8 and 5-6 in ACC play.

William Jeffress and his family were in attendance today at the Pete for a recruiting visit.

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

ACC Network personality Mark Packer released his latest power rankings of conference men's hoops teams for whatever it may be worth---

1. Louisville
2. Duke
3. Florida State
4. Virginia
5. Syracuse
6. Pitt
7. Boston College
8. Virginia Tech
9. Clemson
10. North Carolina State
11. Notre Dame
12. Georgia Tech
13. North Carolina
14. Wake Forest
15. Miami


If you are just to use that as a reference point---it speaks volumes of the job that Jeff Capel has done when just two years ago Pitt would have undoubtedly been rated dead last.
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[bballfan03]

Let's get caught up on some Pitt news and tidbits here. Even though the Panthers did drop tough road games at Syracuse and at Duke there can at least be a bit of a silver lining to view as they did keep it within five or less against these teams very late in the contest in hostile environments. Regarding the game against the Blue Devils last evening----Pitt got a big effort from Au'Diese Toney with 27 points. He has played very well of late seemingly since cutting off the dreadlocks. He is a bit of an athletic wonder when his game is in full sail. Pitt also got another good effort from Slam Penny with 13 points and seven boards. He would seem to be a lock for the All-ACC freshmen team at this point. Certainly one pleasant surprise was the play of frosh PF Karim Coulibaly who played 22 minutes and scored 8 points and grabbed four rebounds. He played very well for the most part although he did have a few missteps and not to mention he is now shooting at a 20% clip on FTs on the season. But he did flash some ability last evening and as Capel always alludes to---he does do a great job of helping to break zones with his passing in the high post. It helped nothing last night that Trey and Murph Dawg combined for a grand total of two points at the SG position. Had they showed up Pitt may have had a real chance to win the game.

Pitt falls to 13-8 overall and 4-6 in ACC play. They next play on Sunday at the Pete with a noon tip as they host Miami.

In some recruiting news----Pitt recruit John Hugley continues to impress this season. He had a game in which he put on a display of his passing ability for a big man and handed out 15 assists. He is also getting his body into great shape which does ease some concern since he once weighed in at one time over 320 pounds a few years back. He has really evolved both his body and his game tremendously. Pitt should really benefit from having him down low next season.

Regarding the recruiting of Top 50 player Will Jeffress---As IUPalum did state, it appears that he is indeed going to reclassify to the 2020 recruiting class. Apparently the plan at the moment is for him to finish his high school season and make some campus visits in the spring. Baylor and Memphis also appear to be in the mix for his services as well. But nearly all of the crystal baller crowd has him ticketed for Pitt. He does not sound like your average basketball recruit as apparently he boasts a 4.0 GPA and his father is a college professor and his mother a medical doctor according to what I have read.

One little known recruit to make his name onto the Pitt radar in recent weeks is PG Eric Gaines out of Georgia. He is just starting to get some notice from major programs and after watching some tape of him I can certainly see why. The kid is unbelievable to put it mildly. He offers up that Wow factor when watching him shoot the trey, run the floor or penetrate through defenses. He will not be an unknown commodity for very long. I had a similar reaction to watching him as I did to other high school standout PGs such as Shakeel Moore (North Carolina State commit) and Noah Farakhan (uncommitted). But there is thought that he very well may end up at Georgia playing for Tom Crean.

The great news for next season is that Capel is brining in some major help for the frontline and a deadeye sharpshooter on the perimeter.

C 6-10 Max Amadasun

PF 6-9 John Hugley

PF 6-8 Noah Collier

SG Ithiel Horton (transfer from Delaware)


That is a solid class that will offer this team much help and fire support. Plus, Capel may very well end up adding a few more yet. Certainly there is major smoke saying that Will Jeffress is coming to Oakland and C Adama Sanago is said to be looking at the possibility of reclassifying and playing at Pitt. He is from Mali the same as Coulibaly. I would personally think that Capel really needs to also bring in a PG as well.

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Not so sure about Jeffress. If Morris Jr. Struggled at a no name D1, hard to imagine Jeffress doing it. But hopefully he does!

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Not so sure about Jeffress. If Morris Jr. Struggled at a no name D1, hard to imagine Jeffress doing it. But hopefully he does!

Yes, I think I do have some questions about Jeffress to be honest. I don't doubt that he is a very good basketball player at all. But IUPalum raised some concerns and I went to watch some film on him. I'm not sure if I have been able to see enough to form an honest opinion. But I was at times underwhelmed by him. He doesn't just jump off the computer screen and smack you with that WOW factor like some high school players do. He seems to have an odd gait to his run and a bit of a strange shooting motion. He certainly has the high ranking by the so-called recruiting experts as he was rated as high as a five-star and top 25 player (class of 21) and as low as four-star and top 50. That is a pretty lofty ranking. Somebody must know something here. But yeah, I do share you guys trepidation a bit here. I'm not really sure what to think here.

One recruit that is said to have been offered by Capel is Femi Odukale. He is around 6-5 and looks to be able to play PG, SG, and SF. He is at a New England prep school to the best of my understanding as he was a 2019 grad. I watched some film on him last night and let me tell you----WOW! His game is as smooth as silk. And then I read that he was originally listed as a two-star recruit but now his recruitment has exploded almost overnight with more and more offers coming in by the day. I can certainly see why they are. I think that I would sign him immediately if I could.

Capel looks to be pulling out all the stops and seems intent on bringing in a pretty big class of fast guns here in 2020. He seems to be doing a good job of it thus far. C Adama Sanogo looks to be a possible reclass and a possibility yet for Pitt. And don't forget uncommitted talents such as PG Noah Farakhan and C Cliff Omoryuri. Though I would be shocked if either comes to Pitt.

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[IUPalum]

PITT BLOWS!!! That is all.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

PITT BLOWS!!! That is all.

Year two of the Capel rebuild. It takes time. The Fightin' Irish were really hitting on all cylinders tonite. They looked a lot better than what their record would indicate.

Pitt really needs to get some better frontline players and a strong perimeter shooter. Hopefully they are both on the way for next year.

Truth be told the Panthers may not win that many more games the rest of the way out. Probably no more than two or three. Maybe a shot to get into the NIT if they are fortunate.

But progress is being made. It's just going to take awhile.

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[bballfan03]

I dont know if anyone noted this previously, but read an article about Merrimack. First year as D1 team and best team in the conference (although ineligible for postseason for first 4 years).

Out of 353 teams, they rank 345th in average height. They also have the nation's leading offensive rebounder who is a freshman.

Senior guard is 24 steals away from being the career steals leader in any division.

Defense creates steals at a higher rate than any other team in last 3 years and they predominantly play zone.

Cool story, just crappy they cant go dancing yet.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

I dont know if anyone noted this previously, but read an article about Merrimack. First year as D1 team and best team in the conference (although ineligible for postseason for first 4 years).

Out of 353 teams, they rank 345th in average height. They also have the nation's leading offensive rebounder who is a freshman.

Senior guard is 24 steals away from being the career steals leader in any division.

Defense creates steals at a higher rate than any other team in last 3 years and they predominantly play zone.

Cool story, just crappy they cant go dancing yet.

Then hopefully Pitt will not schedule them anytime soon. The zone defense is kryptonite to the Panthers. More than just what Syracuse can do with it.

Looks like 6-5 PG Femi Odukale out of Springfield Commonwealth Academy (Mass.) will be making an official visit to Oakland come Feb. 21.

His tape blew me away completely. Apparently Capel sent three assistants to go see him play to see if they thought he was worth any consideration. They all screamed for Capel to offer him immediately. Sometimes you really have to wonder how these guys fly so far under the radar for so long.

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[IUPTrackMan]

Not so sure about Jeffress. If Morris Jr. Struggled at a no name D1, hard to imagine Jeffress doing it. But hopefully he does!

Big difference between Jeffress (4 star with a National Rank of 57) and Morris who was a 2 star. But despite stars and projections players eventually have to do it on the court.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Jeffress is only a junior, too. If he's still in high school next year he'll take another big step in physical development, etc.

Jeff Capel seems to really want him.

[bballfan03]

Big difference between Jeffress (4 star with a National Rank of 57) and Morris who was a 2 star. But despite stars and projections players eventually have to do it on the court.

I guess I just don't see it. I saw both play in HS.. Morris was exceptional and wow'ed. I've seen Jeffress... well above average player, but I just don't see the "it" with him like Morris showed.

BUT... Morris also couldn't cut it at a low D1 school... so maybe the "it" was just a HS thing and Jeffress will just be consistent.

[IUPTrackMan]

I guess I just don't see it. I saw both play in HS.. Morris was exceptional and wow'ed. I've seen Jeffress... well above average player, but I just don't see the "it" with him like Morris showed.

BUT... Morris also couldn't cut it at a low D1 school... so maybe the "it" was just a HS thing and Jeffress will just be consistent.