OT: D1

[IUPalum]

Ticks me off... This day and age... John Thompson's death made major headlines across the country but most didn't even know Lute Olson died. Olson was every bit as good or better of a coach and got no mention. PATHETIC!!!

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Ticks me off... This day and age... John Thompson's death made major headlines across the country but most didn't even know Lute Olson died. Olson was every bit as good or better of a coach and got no mention. PATHETIC!!!

You're absolutely correct here. It is very odd. I thought the same thing to be honest. Lute was a fantastic hoops coach who had a ton of crazy success at Arizona.

One personal anecdote that I sometimes think about occurred up in Yellowstone in September of 1999. I was with my family and we were sightseeing around the park. They went off to trek to some waterfall while I stayed behind in the truck to rest as I felt my head was in a vice due to my sinuses the whole time I was up that way with the elevation. Anyway, I was half asleep when I heard some folks pull in beside us. I swear I heard the one guy say "You don't know everything, Lute Olson." I sat up once I processed it and did see an older man with white hair walking away with his group. Could it really have been him? I always wonder about it. LOL. Would he really have been up in Yellowstone in mid-September? Guess I'll never know.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

I actually heard about Lute several days after he had passed away.

I suppose you have to consider the time of their heydays. John Thompson rose to fame when the Big East was THE basketball league in the 80s. Recall that was before there was 350 games on TV each night. The Big East really took center stage due to its network contracts. The leagues' coaches became TV stars to an extent. And, Thompson was the coach of the (then) hated version of college basketball's Bad Boys.

Even after basketball he became a holy figure of sorts in the DC area. He was also one of the first great black basketball coaches in major D1.

The Big East in the 80s -- and into the 90s -- was full of media-type stars. Thompson was one of the biggest.

How he built a national power at little Georgetown is really an amazing story.

Lute probably fell a little victim to that infamous 'East Coast Bias' in regard to the national spotlight. But, no doubt, he had a tremendous career out there in the desert.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Let's get caught up on some recent Pitt men's basketball happenings.

-The big story is that Miami of Ohio transfer guard Nike Sibande has been denied a waiver from the NCAA to play this season. Pitt plans to appeal the decision. Personally, I am not all that broken up over it as he may be put to much better use in the 2021-2022 season when Pitt will undoubtedly have a much better team with all the freshmen and first year players gaining some experience both individually and collectively as a team this year. They could be and should be a legit NCAA tourney team by that time. One thing that the denial of Nike being granted eligibility is that Pitt will have one less scholarship to hand out next spring.

-There is word filtering down that injured freshman guard Femi Odukale (broken arm) could be ready to return to the court as early as next week if all goes well. That would be great news.

-The NCAA recently stated that the basketball season will begin on November 25 with practice allowed to start on October 14. That is much better news than what seemed possible just a month ago.

-Pitt has continued to make a number of offers for the class of 2022---which should be a very strong class of recruits. Among some of the recent offers---6-8 PF Fray Nguimbi out of the Congo along with his First Love Christian Academy (Washington, PA) teammate 6-1 PG Mason Manning. Also receiving an offer is PG Jaquan Carlos out of Thomas Jefferson High in Brooklyn. Not a big kid at all at only 5-10 but a fine passer. Shooting motion looks to be a bit awkward.

-Standout 5-star 2021 SG Aminu Mohammed out of the state of Missouri has included Pitt on his pared down list of his final 15 schools. He would be a get to say the least but don't hold your breath at this point.

-Perhaps some surprise among recruiting watchers that top-65 PG Carter Whitt decided to commit to Wake Forest.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Let's dive right into some more news surrounding Pitt men's basketball and the world of D-I hoops.

-There has been some back and forth over the waiver denial of Pitt transfer Nike Sibande. Jay Bilas wrote an article that exposes the ugliness and quite frankly the pettiness of how jilted schools will do just about anything to block a player who has made an exit from their program. The negative media attention that has shined on Miami of Ohio has been so bad that the school actually felt compelled to release an official statement. Stay tuned for whatever may happen in the appeal round.

-Former Pitt SG Trey McGowens has been awarded a waiver to play this season at Nebraska.

-Trey's brother---Bryce McGowens, whom of course is a top 25 national recruit at SG, has decommited from Florida State. Word is going around that the blue bloods of the college hoops world have shown interest in him. I had heard that Kentucky may be the school to watch. Stay tuned for that.

-The basketball version of the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia has been scrapped this year according to what was said by Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins. Just as well for Pitt as they showed the past two years that they are not exactly on par at this time with WVU.

-There is word coming down that Pitt will play a 27-game regular season with 20 of those contests against ACC competition.

-According to the current attendance guidelines that have come down recently----Pitt will be able to accommodate some 3,500+ fans at the Petersen Events Center per each home contest. That of course could be subject to change.

-The aforementioned hotshot prospect G Mikey Williams out of California was recently named as the #2 recruit for the class of 2023. He recently transferred to a school in Charlotte, North Carollina. You can probably scratch him off of your wish list of those who you hope someday may wear blue and gold.

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Some additional Pitt recruiting news just broke today. Looks like you can scratch C Franck Kepnang off of your wish lists. He just committed to Oregon. That leaves C Efton Reid out of Richmond sitting alone at present atop Jeff Capel's big man wish list for the class of 2021. With only one scholarship at present to dole out you can bet the farm that Capel would love to land a dominant center.

It also seems that Pitt has been in daily contact with PF Fray Nguimbi out of the Congo (I mentioned him a few pages back). He is at local First Love Academy and has been in regular contact with Capel and company along with teammate PG Mason Manning. Both are class of 2022 prospects. Fray's tape shows a very good and talented basketball player. Tall (nearing 6-9), swift and rangy and impressive ball skills for a player his size. He is someone to keep your eye on. He probably needs to add more bulk to his frame but the kid is only a high school junior and has not had the time to fill out fully yet.

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Pitt opened up practice today as did the rest of the D-I world. There are some clips on the Pitt MBB Twitter page. Still no schedule out. The games will begin on November 25.

Pitt extended an offer to Mustafa Amzil who is a 6-10 C from Finland. He just moved to the U.S. to play ball for........you guessed it----First Love Academy in Washington, PA. That now makes three Pitt offers to First Love Academy players, which of course includes the aforementioned Fray Nguimbi and Mason Manning. It might pay to go and see them play if you are a Pitt fan.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Looks like Penn State hoops coach Patrick Chambers has resigned this evening amidst some allegations made against him.

[CALUPA69]

Looks like Penn State hoops coach Patrick Chambers has resigned this evening amidst some allegations made against him.

Allegations of ????

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Allegations of ????

You can't talk about nooses anymore. In any context.

That's part of it.

[Fightingscot82]

This is the best comprehensive article on everything.

https://theundefeated.com/features/n...-ncaa-problem/

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

You can't talk about nooses anymore. In any context.

That's part of it.

If that is all this is about then that is just plain nuts. Chambers I'm sure was just using a metaphor (aka figure of speech). I guess he was just trying to tell the player he wanted to lighten the load for him a bit. I haven't followed the whole story. Too bad as State had a great season last year and really seemed to be turning a corner with their program.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

If that is all this is about then that is just plain nuts. Chambers I'm sure was just using a metaphor (aka figure of speech). I guess he was just trying to tell the player he wanted to lighten the load for him a bit. I haven't followed the whole story. Too bad as State had a great season last year and really seemed to be turning a corner with their program.

Apparently the Iowa State transfer he took made the complaint.

Other players had said it was a reference to "tighten up the D" .... aka Tighten the noose.

Apparently that is racist today -- regardless of the context.

He won't be unemployed long. If you can get a team ranked in freaking Creepy Valley ... you'll be in demand.

[Fightingscot82]

Jim Ferry falls up. He's the interim in State College.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

A few Pitt and D-I hoops notes to share---

-Sounds like Pitt has three known games scheduled at this time. Their opener is slated to be on Wednesday November 25 (Thanksgiving Eve and the set NCAA opening date of the season). The Panthers are set to take on St. Francis of Pa at the Pete. I did not hear a tip time nor if the game will be televised. The lock down/shutdown that this pandemic has caused has really kept the information at a minimum. Not to mention that it has been hell for coaches and administrators to set these games up with all the Covid protocols that need to be in place. I do not envy them. The other two games set at present are December 9 vs. Northwestern as a part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and December 12 vs. Gardner-Webb.

-First Love Academy and Finnish post Mustafa Amzil recently made a visit to the Pitt campus. No word on how the visit went. Judging from his tape Pitt had better close the deal with him rather early as it won't be long at all before many of the big schools will be in hot pursuit of him. To say that he has a lot of skills is a bit of an understatement of vast proportions.

-Pitt has found itself in the final five schools of Brooklyn PG Jaquan Carlos (Thomas Jefferson High). He plans to make his final decision on November 13. Other schools in the mix are Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Hofstra, and Fordham. I am still conducting a film study on him. He is a three-star recruit at present and not overly tall (listed anywhere from 5-10 to 6 foot). One Pittsburgh sports writer compared him to former Panthers PG Levance Fields, which is not a bad thing at all.

-Former Oklahoma University basketball coach Billy Tubbs has passed on in the past few days. Tubbs is likely best known for his 1988 Sooners team that advanced to the national title game that year but lost to Kansas. That was quite a team with the likes of Mookie Blaylock, Stacey King, Harvey Grant, Ricky Grace and Dave Sieger. They were a powerful bunch who probably still wonder to this day how they lost to Kansas. Probably because the Jayhawks had the All-World Danny Manning.