334 thoughts on “Pitt at Florida State Open Basketball Thread”

  3. Buckle up Panther Fans!!! Find a comfortable chair and a bottle of your favorite hard liquor. It’s going to be a long 2 1/2 hours starting shortly after 8. No need to wait. Get into the sauce early and numb the pain before opening tip.

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  4. I read an NIT Bracketology and Duquesne is seeded 8th which is last since there are 32 teams, There are 5 ACC teams, all have beaten Pitt.

    Oh yea, Pitt was listed as … teams also being considered. CBI here we come

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  5. I’ll get my 2 cents in here now and then take a small bow and leave the rest to you Guys and Gals. X and McGowens play a good game and get the Noles in foul trouble early on. PITT makes their foul shots for a change in awhile. PITT plays a good game overall but fall just a little bit short. C-Penny could also be a factor.

    Fla State wins a close one but may pull away at the end making the game look not as close as it will be. Now back to my R.E.M. nap.

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  10. OT – Wanna live the lifestyle of a sports legend…sort of?

    Bill Mazerozki’s long time home in the Greensburg area is going up for auction.

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  11. However, every time Xavier gets that look in his eyes that he’s not passing, and he’s shooting no matter what, bad things happen.

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  16. X & Mac a combined 1 for 12 FG’s. They are fading similar to last couple weeks of last season.
    Couple of really poor decisions at this stage of their development (?). Have they peaked at Age 18 or
    whatever they were last year. Cause we are getting decent play from the frontcourt in this game.

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  17. either the color on my tv is way off or the FSU uniforms look light BLUE, not turquoise
    almost Carolina blue even but not quite

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    1. exactly, stupid announcers practically want to throw him in jail

      Toney gets fouled but not called then rotates into the contact and barely brushes the kid’s face

      bad call and horrible analysis

      Liked by 1 person

  20. They are just not very good basketball players. They’re just not. Athletes yes, but limited in their basketball abilities. Neither can shoot. They take a ton of poor shots. Poor decision making. Generally are not good passers.

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  22. The biggest problem with x and trey is they haven’t developed their outside shooting. Teams can play off them and pack in zones.

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  24. We’ve had the misfortune to have this color announcer ruins games before. Motor Mouth if there ever was one. Somebody should tell him, the play by play announcer is supposed to talk more. Also Motor Mouth failed to tell us what an acting job, the masked man, did on that flagrant foul on Toney. He tells us everything us, but failed on that rather obvious acting job.

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  26. a combined 2 for 17 now, brown and toney are the two viable shooters tonight (10 of 15) GET THE BALL TO THEM…guards ! sheesh

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  27. Watched the first half plus a few moments second at the bar. Every other time down the floor Pitt makes a horrible egregious fundamental mistake. If we were a top 25 team, we couldn’t survive that. As a offensively challenged team, it makes competing impossible. Watching goes from shaking your head tiresome to outright anger. Don’t think we win another this season. It isn’t just Pitt regressing…it’s that teams have tons of tape on us. Disappointed but not surprised. H2P

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  28. Wow since the 13 minute mark(15-7) of the 1st half we’ve been outscored 68-38. They are just toying with us now.

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  29. Are we the worst 3 point shooting team in P6 men’s BB? How about worst rebounding team?

    We have to be close in both categories as we witnessed the 3rd straight blowout in a row.

    Pitt basketball – what is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING!

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    1. Amazing enough there are several ACC teams below us in 3 point shooting. Boston College is tied with us at No. 319. GT, UNC & UVA are worse, but by only 1 % point. A couple more games like tonight(4 -22) and the last several(5-21 & 4-14), and we’ll be last in the ACC.

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  31. If Capel turns this program around, the current chancellor, the idiot who allowed Barnes to destroy the program, better ensure Capel stays for a long time. This crap has to end next year. This bad basketball and blowouts are deflating the fanbase, or at least me it is.

    Four consecutive losing seasons is about to happen.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. I think you either have to have a winning record or at .500 to get a CBI bid. We’re 15-12 now. 4 more losses in the regular season plus 1 and done in Greensboro, puts us at 15-17. Really who wants to watch this mess get blown out against some little known team in the CBI. Not i

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  33. A key stat — FSU’s bench outscored our bench 53-15.

    In other words, they have a pretty damn good and deep team.

    Go Pitt.

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  34. It’s frustrating to see another end of season collapse for Pitt basketball. Teams are supposed to get better as the season goes on, but I don’t see it with Pitt. How can a group of P5 players shoot so poorly?

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  35. I’m tuning out. Pitt basketball ducks, Capel hasn’t proven anything except his team gets worse as the season goes on. A pathetic Pitt-branded mess.

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  36. We are going to look back in a few years and realize that X and Trey just weren’t very good. Give Capel some time to get a couple recruiting classes in here before judging him. As he said in the post game presser, he inherited a “dumpster fire” (his exact words), and he’s right. He’s bringing a water pistol to a gun fight right now. We are just missing too many pieces to be competitive on a nightly basis.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. again … (1) he started from scratch less than 2 years ago (Brown is the only holdover). Everyone he recruited were LATE SEASON pickups

      (2) his predecessor who inherited a decent program recruited crap save for one or two players

      (3) since Capel took over, he has had just one full year of recruiting … see #1 above

      (4) anyone who thought it would be an overnight process is deluding him/her-self

      Liked by 1 person

      1. You are 100 percent correct @wwb. My point is, because we had a little success at times, both last year and this year, I think the tendency is to think X and Trey are good players. They each have scored over 30 in a game, which gives validity to that theory. But I watch every game I can, and have for years. I’ve seen many, many Pitt guards better than Trey and X. They have room to grow, but neither can shoot a basketball which is kinda the point of the game, isn’t it?

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    1. That is a complete joke. He inherited a team that epically lost every conference game. He is in Year 2. He has essentially had the benefit of one recruiting class. How exactly did you expect him to successfully recruit to a team that just went 0-18 in the conference? What kind of “best players” did he have at VCU when winning there got him hired at Oklahoma? Nobody should be judging him yet.

      Liked by 7 people

  38. Hard to say if this team is better or worse. They were competitive last night until FSU went to a zone because they know there are no shooters. It amazes me that you cannot teach good athletes how to shoot but it has always been that way. Need much more talent to be competitive. Can they score 30 against the Va defense?

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    1. since UVa plays man-to-man, my answer is yes. Remember, it was the pre-Capel Pitt team that only scored 7 points in the 1st half vs UVA on Feb 24, 2018 …. less than 2 years ago

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  39. Hey I’m back no longer posting as anonymous.

    Bummer of a game last night but remember they played the number 8 team in the nation last night not the little sisters of the poor.

    They have shown improvement but still a way to go.

    H2P

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  42. I believe Pitt was 0 for 26 in ACC play stretching over two KS seasons. That’s not a dumpster 🔥. That’s a nuclear holocaust. There’s still radiation left over and the Pete will be contaminated for a while. I expect year 4 to be the breakthrough year. Hopefully year 6 is that year for Narduzzi but he inherited a solid and stable program.

    Tex who’s happy because the number 9 ranked Pedos lost.

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    1. Shere nonsense, “he inherited a solid and stable program”. You really think Chryst left Pitt with a solid and stable program? If that’s what you believe TX then I’ll have to take all comments from you going forward with a grain of salt.

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  43. I’ve taught shooting as a coach most of my life. I’ve been to many “shot doctor” clinics and know every tip there is. Problem is there are shooters …and those that can’t shoot. I can improve those that can’t shoot and tweak shooters but that’s it. You learn to shoot a basketball when you are 6-8 years old. Pitt has two “shooters”. Skippy and Champagnie. That’s it. Occasionally McGowan and Toney get hot but their god awful off balance shooting form guarantees no long term success.
    And then there’s X. When you shoot a jump shot from your chest you A. Need to be wide open as it’s a very lockable shot. And B. The linear angle of trajectory almost guarantees the ball wont go in
    So Pitt is royally screwed! I would rather have Champagnie throw up a guarded off balance jumper than X or 2 take a wide open shot. The deal is “recruit 4 star shooters” Easier said than done.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. danh72- Interesting thoughts, I generally agree. I think the same can be said for almost all sports, when you have a unorthodox habit by high school (quarterback throwing motion, batter’s swing, 3 pt shooter’s form, etc.) it’s too late to change it. That said, some unorthodox forms work for some athletes, I just think its the exception when it happens. I’m no expert on hoops, far from it, but I believe that in addition to an inside presence, this team desperately needs a floor general and could use another shooter, so what I’m saying is that Horton and Big John will not be enough next year, they need to add another PG. I will be shocked (and disappointed) if they do not land a PG. The team not only lacks PG skills right now, but they also lack depth at the guard position, they don’t even have the luxury of pulling guys without sending in a walk-on. This may be premature, but I do not see Drumgoole (the freshman I thought would do best) or Murphy panning out on this team.

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    1. Saban would have gone undefeated in narduzzis year 2 and probably won 11 games last year.

      Coach K would have cheated and whined.

      Tex

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      1. First off, Saban wouldn’t have had Nate Peterman at QB or Canada as an OC.

        Secondly here is Sabans record record his first year as head coach of his 3 college teams.

        MSU ….6-5-1
        LSU …..8-4
        Bama …2-6

        Plus he literally quit on the Dolphins with a sub 500 record and ran for the hills as a complete failure in the NFL. Wasn’t until he made it to the cheating and pay for play SEC his career took off. imo, he’s a fraud, who can’t win football games with 5 star players sitting on the bench?

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  45. I was seriously thinking about taking FSU giving 11 last night….. but then started to 2nd guess myself….PITT BB pretty well “spent” for this year-IMO

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  46. The end of the year swoon is very concerning. Especially from X and Trey. X’s average is down from 15.5 to 11.8, Trey’s is essentially the same. Champ has replaced Wilson Frame’s scoring. Ryan has averaged 9 but has been ineffective since the concussion. Honey’s avg is the same as last year.

    So no one has really made a big difference.

    The lack of point guard skills and three point shooting is the reason for slide, but the inability of X and Trey to score inside is dumbfounding.

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    1. Trey and X are not good shooters… opponents got them figured out-fall back into a zone and let them drive all they want… just don’t make stupid fouls.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Will take at least 3 years and possibly 5 years… got a couple of seemingly good players… hopefully we get some guys who can shoot the eyes outta the basket and a true PG or 2….

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  47. Last year Wilson Frame provided some on the court leadership, this year there is none.
    This is my major concern for next year, where does that leadership come from?
    Maybe Champ or the guard on the bench, because X and Trey have shown no aptitude whatsoever.
    There is no obvious answer.

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  48. C’mon on Tex, Saban went 25-21-1 his first four years at MSU. He literally crashed as a NFL coach. Failing as D coordinator at Cleveland with Belechick and then the Miami Dolphins as head coach. He went 2-6 his first year at Alabama. It wasn’t until the big-time cheating kicked in he learned from Belechick that he started to win. Yes, I know he won at LSU beforehand but he had two 8 win seasons there to start that tenure.

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    1. Saban would have won more than 8 games with that roster of nfl players

      The team Chryst left had much talent

      Saban would have transformed that D. Narduzzi tried the round peg square hole approach.

      Pitts best offense in 40 years wasted by the stubbornness and failed defensive strategy of the head coach.

      Tex

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        1. He had two nfl players on that D. He tried to run a D scheme that wasn’t a good fit for the talent and skill sets. No adjustments during the season with schemes or personnel despite the same results. That’s insane. A good coach could have made the D at least average and not the worst in P5. That’s all on him, the sparty whizz kid and defensive guru. My arse.

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        1. Good coaches know how to effectively use the talent on the roster. Narduzzi inherited talent on the O and had a few nfl players on D. Talent will make a coach look good. Narduzzi underperformed in year 2. And last year should have been the breakthrough. I’m not confident year 6 or even 7 will become the ten win marker.

          Tex

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          1. If PITT can somehow win 10 games this year it would be only the second time in the last forty years for PITT. Let’s not pretend it SHOULD happen and be happy if it does!

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            1. Ike

              It’s going to happen because the defense is going to be shall we say great! I know that’s a term that shouldn’t be used lightly but they have a lot of talent on that side of the ball.

              The offense has to develop and become more consistent in not turning the ball over, not dropping easy catches and reduce pre snap penalties. The pieces are in place for a very successful season for the football team.

              10 wins is very obtainable.

              H2p

              Liked by 1 person

            2. It happens at every school except pitt. It happens at Rutgers, temple, Cincy, Memphis. I can go on

              It doesn’t happen at pitt enough because pitt is gutless, lazy, stupid, leaderless and lacks vision.

              It’s SOP for a reason.

              Other ‘lesser’ schools do it.

              It should happen. And to not need it happen or demand that it happen shows how much importance Pitt attaches to football. You know the sport that helps pay the bills of the other 16 programs.

              Tex

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              1. Pitt spends far too much money for mediocrity Ike

                It has no excuse

                Just like pitt has no will to build a MPC. It has no will to be very good in sports. It just wants ok or good enough.

                That way of thinking doesn’t take you far in life.

                Tex

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              2. BUT Tex, you have admitted you don’t support the PITT football program. You talk the good talk but again BUT?

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            3. I don’t support football financially for a reason. I don’t reward mediocrity.

              I support sports at Pitt that have great coaches. Period.

              Tex

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            4. the answer ike is new leadership. why does Pitt pay their AD 400k when the average ACC AD makes over $1 million? Why? Because they dont value sports.

              So Pitt goes cheap. Gets a person from a tiny MAC school with little experience particularly running a P-5 football program and managing a budget over $80 million. You get what you pay for.

              just like i believe you cant overpay…you cant underpay either. Pitt should have swung for the fences on the new hire.

              and structurally, the chancellor should have little to do with sports. like I’ve said, divide the BoT into two much smaller 10 person boards. one for academics and one for sports. the chancellor can be a figure head and rubber stamp on what comes out of the committees. the AD is always chair on the sports board.

              i’ve answered your question ike. I just dont tilt windmills. and my good money doesnt chase bad (see football)

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              1. Well you once again answered your own question Tx but I’m not so sure I believe PITT is not interested in their sports teams anymore. I think they got lucky with the hiring of Heather at a low cost. She will be getting a big raise in a year or three.

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    1. It often feels like we are all “patients” in the world of Pitt athletics…😊

      I’m thinking we bottom out at the close of this basketball season. Thereafter, things appear to look promising in most of the sports…

      Go Pitt.

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  50. The current BB roster will not be better next year. There’s no reason to believe that X and McGowen have not yet peaked because their style is not going to change. Pitt’s only hope is that the incoming class can fill in some missing gaps, but Pitt needs so much. I’m struggling to think of even one place where they are above average, including defense.

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  51. One prediction for next year: the X-man won’t be here. He will transfer — his ball hogging and selfishness has worn the team out, and they are tired of him.

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  52. VOR – Time will tell regarding next year, but we improved from last year to this one, and I suspect we will take another small step next year (maybe not many more wins, but more competitive). I could be wrong, this depends on the incoming players of course (I thought Drumgoole would be our best freshman this year and that prediction was way off). But I believe the addition of Horton and Hugley will give us key skill sets for next year, and provide necessary depth too (not to mention, Coulibaly is starting to progress). That said, I also think its imperative that we find a solid point guard with leadership skills, and if we do, then the new PG plus Horton & X & Trey would finally give us depth and options at the guard spots.

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  53. I didn’t get to see the game so no comment on that from me, however, I have been commenting on Trey and Xs shot since last year. I’ve seen this quite a bit from very talented kids. They can do so many things athletically that coaches let them slide on fundamentals, especially in AAU ball where it’s all one on one. Lots of 1-4 sets and if you’re quick that’s all some coaches look for.
    S problem from my view ( in addition to terrible form on shot) is he always goes left. Never more than 1-2 dribbles on that crossover. So teams either overplay or put a quick smaller kid on hom who can get underneath and take that away. Then he gets frustrated and look out.

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  54. Continued: Dan is so right on this, I’m sure he’s seen it as much as I have. Kids that can get away with that funky shot are usually players that can do a lot more on the floor. Sean Miller had a very funky shot, as did Levance Fields, but they had a well rounded game.
    I’m more upset with the terrible d . Not sure, did they play much zone? If so, I still blame AAU, as you’ll never see a zone there. Well, maybe that’s not fair, but generally true.
    I think these kids ran into a wall again. Capel has to be going nuts, but you know, maybe it’s good for him too. Needs to know it’s not all gravy with most teams, and if you don’t have talent you have to figure it out.

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    1. I also blame AAU but for a different reason. All these good players in AAU have street agents and possies. They are literally neighborhood royalty. I coached 14-16 YO AAU for 6 years.

      When Capel/any coach recruits one of these, they have to pay off the street agent, kids dad or fake agent. One of the promises the coach often has to make is to not touch/alter the kids shot. I think that’s where X, Trey and Toney are. There is NO reason for X to use that awkward streetball chest shot and Capel has qualified staff that could change it overnight. I wouldn’t wait for X to leave. I’d cut his ass post season. First thing. He’s a cancer.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. That’s what I’ve been trying to say and you nailed it. -nothing but net- Coach dan72…. X-man is a self-taught street player and looks to be uncoachable… horrible shooting mechanics which will never change…. he has been exposed… expiration date- expired….. time to move on…. hope he declares for the draft this year… Army… Marines- maybe….. NBA- doubtful! End of story…..

        Liked by 1 person

  55. Tex, Saban started with Bama in 2007. Alabama recruiting rankings from 2004 to 2006 was 12th, 11th and 13th.

    Here’s a link, you can see for yourself https://n.rivals.com/team_rankings/2005/all-teams/football

    So please quit feeling sorry for Little Nicki like he took over The Citadel

    Pitt’s recruiting in 2012, 2013 and 2014 was 54th, 35th and 44th. Note that the 35th ranking was with 27 recruits. Of the 27 recruits, the top rated defensive player was a 3-star named James Conner …. you can use the same link to confirm

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    1. All I’m saying is that Narduzzi underperformed year two and last year. You don’t need a saban to have won at least ten games in those years. But you do need a good coach and not an ok one.

      Tex

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  56. Tex, what game are you coming to this year… never to early to begin planning for the grand intro party….!!!

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    1. The domer game. I hate subway alum. I hate green and gold. I hate south bend. I hate Catholics and the Irish. Just kidding on the last one. I’m catholic and part scotch.

      Should be a good game. Pitt plays ND tough. I’ll bring the tequila and salsa.

      Tex

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  59. Capel spent 4 years at VCU. He won 20 games once.
    18-10
    23-8
    19-13
    19-10
    Would venture to say, he got the job at OU more based on his coaching lineage & Duke ties than his
    performance at VCU.

    Thought it was kinda odd he would harken back to what Pitt was 2 years ago. Anyone that follows Pitt
    bball knows it was a dumpster fire. Don’t have to be reminded. He’s supposed to be looking forward,
    not back.

    “I’ve been here for a little bit over a year,” said Capel, who was hired in March 2018. “We need time to recruit, and we have to win some recruiting battles. It’s going to happen, but it’s not going to happen right away.”

    In a month he will have been at Pitt for 2 years, not 1.

    And yea we know you gotta win some recruiting battles ! It hasn’t happened much yet. And as much as I’d like to see it happen, it’s not a given that it will happen. Pitt doesn’t work like that.

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  60. Personally, I would expect to see a little more improvement in two seasons. To me, it has not looked like Capel has done anything SPECIAL in terms of coaching.

    Making lemonade out of lemons does NOT seem to be his specialty.

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  61. The guard transfer from Delaware from my understanding is a shooting guard (a 2), not a 1. And that’s one the huge problems on this team, there are no 1’s. The 2 kids last night who were shooting it good were Brown and Toney. Yet neither got the ball much at all in the 2nd half, after they went 10 for 15 in the 1st half.
    All the while, X and Mac were jacking up 21 shots combined and X made 3 while Mac made zero. Wrong players are shooting. 3 for 21 is pitiful 14%.

    Even with the big men arrival next year, teams will continue to sag off Pitt’s outside bricklayers. And pack in the zone.

    Capel, you need to recruit a real PG and some guys that aren’t bricklayers.

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  62. It seems to me that many of the long timers on this site, after enduring the disappointments of the Narduzzi years, are becoming frustrated at the lack of immediate progress with Capel’s short term. Come on, let’s give him a few more recruiting classes to overcome the disaster of the Stallings years. Slamming him as an incompetent coach is nonsense and is not warranted after only two years. Raising the dead isn’t easy.

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  63. The issue that we are not addressing in the analysis, is that the OTHER teams should also have improving players and therein lies the rub. If every player improves at the same rate during the off-season, we will have a repeat unless our new recruits are better than the other teams new recruits. It’s about starting points and ending points.

    The college game, especially the big dance is ruled by the point guard. It’s the opposite in football. In football, if you win the battle of the trenches, you typically win the game. In bball, it’s the guard play.

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  64. Huff the Third, you’re neglecting the the graduating factor and great players turning Pro, like last nights Patch Williams dude. Yes, many teams may be as young as PITT but it has to be regarded when looking into the future.

    …………… and YES, PITT needs a starting point guard and there are none on the horizon!

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  65. Do you think Capel doesn’t know he needs a PG? He lost 2 recruiting battles to bring one in. I think he’s stunned that he can’t win one to Pitt.

    Pitt needs a PG, shooter and center.
    Capel knows that. Next year. He’s a terrific coach and this crap that he can only win with the best players!! Pure BS.

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  66. Capel has a 5* point guard committed or at least he was before he committed to PITT. Shifino……. but that is two years off. The good news is his family is from Penn Hills.

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  67. Syracuse lost by 24 to Louisville. Not surprising.

    The Orange were 7 for 26 from 3 land. That’s 27%.

    Buddy B. was 3 for 10 from 3.

    Apparently the Syracuse Skippies are saving up their 3s for when they play the Panthers next week…😊

    Go Pitt.

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  68. I know they won more ACC games this year but the ACC is much weaker this year then last. This makes it hard to tell whether they are better than they were last year. If you think we will beat NC twice in one year again were dreaming. They signed two players that were priority for Pitt and the one was the PG we thought was coming here. Need to win those recruiting battles Before Pitt becomes relevant in the ACC.

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    1. The conference is weaker this year, but there are always a number of mediocre and weaker teams in the conference every year. This year we won 6, last year (including the tournament) we won 3. Double the wins makes it clear we improved this year, but last year we did start playing better at the end of the year, so if we don’t do the same at the end of this year, it’ll seem like a downer this year. My concern is the same as everyone else’s, the lack of development in the guards, and whether or not this will be corrected. In hindsight though, Toney has developed/improved nicely this year, which makes me wonder if maybe our guards just don’t have that BB IQ, and if so, this may never get corrected. Hate to beat a dead horse (& sound like a broken record), but we badly need a tough, floor general for next year; I’m not sure if the PG from Brooklyn that is visiting this weekend is that guy or will have interest in Pitt, but right now I’d take him in a heartbeat, especially if JC values him.

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  69. Capel should have known he needed a point guard last year. Even getting a 3 star PG that performed like a 3 star would have been better that what he is using today to run the show. Shooting for the 4 and 5 star point guards was a nobel effort on Capel’s part. But getting none to commit did Pitt no favors. So yes he should be criticized for the inability to recruit for a critical need at a position any 3 star might have been inserted into the starting lineup from day one. GRADE ON THAT COUNT: F

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  70. The PITT basketball team is most certainly an enigma this year and why I say that is they actually beat Fla State and had Louisville on the ropes. Now the ACC may be down this year but those two teams are not. Proving they can play good basketball if all goes right. By that I mean their shots must fall and the opposing team must be cold pretty much the whole night.They are a truck bed of bricks shy of a load.

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  71. There were a couple games where three point shooting was decent. Champ got hot, Murphy, X, Trey, and Toney too. It seems that when Murphy went down all three point shooting disappeared, and has not returned.

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  72. Still out of town and have not seen the games but it sounds like the defense has also regressed. My guess is baskets from turnovers are down as well.

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  73. As we sink in the ACC standings with no wins over ranked teams, one wonders where to next. Capel and his assistants have years of experience but we show no great improvement. Have we reached the full development of the players or is this team still not a team? We have 4 games left to show any improvement at all.

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    1. The team has improved over last year. Individually, Toney has improved significantly. The guard play and chemistry from those 2 is where the challenge lies.

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  74. The regression of trey and X have doomed this team. Not much can be done at this point. Can those two bounce back from their sophomore slumps? Who knows. But for pitt to be successful next year, they have to. Not having a true point guard this year has killed Pitt. Pitt needs a floor general. And Pitt needs to recruit to shoot. I think that was howlands mantra.

    Tex

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  75. jrn & Tex, FWIW, I made the point the other day that Capel had to learn a hard lesson of the big difference between recruiting at Duke and recruiting for a program that just had a winless ACC season. He went after immediate gratification in seeking some of the best prospect at center and guards, and completely struck out
    Instead he now realizes it will be a much slower process than anticipated

    Sadly, the one quality player that Stallings recruited was a point guard who decided to leave, Even sadder, probably part of the reason for leaving is that he was assured he would not have a sit out a year. Yea right! Wonder if he would have stayed had he known?

    I still say that lack of underneath presence and upperclassmen are putting too much of a strain on the guards. Do you know what all of the mediocre teams that recently beat Pitt had in common? They all had their share of (1) players 6’8 or over and (2) redshirt sophs, junior and seniors

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  76. A puncher’s chance every night. Our best game versus their worst is not a recipe for success. That is a recipe for disaster. Dan and I agree that Capel will get the job done IF he stays here long enough. Every year he struggles, is a year closer to Coach K’s retirement. Not to fuel the fire, but…..

    Early in the year, coach K was adament that Capel was not the lead recruiter for all of his 5 star talent. My guess at the time was coach K was protecting his own turf and saying it was a team recruiting effort. This would give pause to any 4 and 5 star that thought Capel was the guy at Duke. Fast forward, Pitt is playing at Duke a few weeks ago and Coach K defends Capel to the fanbase and says Capel is one of them.

    Do I think Capel get’s it done, absolutely. Do I like our PG situation, absolutely not.

    Do I see team improvement this year as far as results, no, not really. Do I see improvement in individual play, yes with Champagne. No with X and Trey. A push on Murphy. CAn’t really tell if he improved during the year or not. He hasn’t been in a situation to succeed in my opinion, driven largely by the inconsistent play of the point guard.

    So, I don’t know the answer to this. How many games can a player play in before losing a redshirt in bball?

    Like

  77. As stated earlier, we already did improve materially over last year. As for individual performances, as also stated above, don’t forget Toney, who unlike X & Trey thus far, has developed very nicely over last year. Also to consider, is whether or not playing too many minutes due to a lack of guard depth has hurt both X & Trey this year.

    Like

  79. Sounds like minor stuff, especially with regards to football. Stallings tried to cover it up, and one of his assistants squealed on the football team. Get our money back from Stallings Heather!!!

    Like

    1. Minor stuff or not. Pitt got caught. Can’t claim moral superiority anymore. Moreover Pitt knew and hid it. Miss Compliance shouldn’t have a job.

      Tex

      Like

  80. Heather needs to be fired. The only thing she was supposed to be good at was compliance. Pitt knew about the cheating and created a system to hide it. Don’t tell me that everyone cheats. Pitt got caught so pitt is lazy and stupid when it comes to crime. Stallings couldn’t even win by cheating…that’s so bad.

    And Pitt thinks it’s so much better than everyone else when it comes to being scandal free and obeying the rules. Screw Pitt. Fire everyone. Burn the house down. Then hire people who know how to run a sports business and Gallagher should have absolutely no involvement given his propensity to count atoms and build bad front porches.

    But heather that yellow blouse is tainted today on your watch.

    Tex
    I told y’all so
    Just keepin it real

    Like

    2. Pitt didn’t get caught, they turned themselves in. The FB violation was nothing. The BB one was not under Lyke.

      Like

  82. Stupid Pitt

    Like

    1. Moral of story….pays to be a Blue Blood. Arizona(bball blueblood) got off the hook too ! and so many others in this ncaab ongoing scandal.

      Liked by 1 person

  85. “Narduzzi was cited and will be miss two days of practice when training camp opens in August”

    This will give NoDoz a couple more days to work on his training camp goatee. Which i think he should run with the whole season.

    Like

  86. OMG OMG OMG!!!

    Here we go. Heather should be strung up, tarred and feather and shown the door as PITT suffers the consequences of these sever violations. All the while Narduzzi should also be banished for letting quality control staff members retrieved footballs. PITT gets slammed with these sanctions:

    “•A reduction of countable athletically related activities for the football program by eight hours and the number of countable coaches by one for two days of practice during the 2018 football season.
    •A reduction in the number of football countable coaches by one for four days of practice in the 2019-20 academic year.

    •Two football quality control staff members must be removed from practice for three days during the 2019-20 academic year.”

    OUCH!!!!!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Pitt cant even win at cheating ike. Pitt is so incompetent its crying funny. they all knew. they all tried to cover it up. yet they still got caught. all for that Coastal participation trophy. if youre gonna cheat, aim much higher. go after 5 stars at least.

      heather is a bozo much like most administrators at Pitt. I’d love to make her pay for being an idiot.

      remember she was ‘supposed’ to be ‘good’ at ‘compliance’

      Like

      1. ‘pay’ as in 400k for failing her compliance responsibilities
        ‘pay’ as in losing her job

        ike- you cant keep on defending the indefensible

        Pitt is the worst run sports department in all of P-5. Just admit it.

        Like

  87. Just reading about the violations news, it does sound like very minor stuff, supposedly self-reported. The amazing thing to me, which I cannot for the life of me figure out, is if Stallings actually did cheat, does this imply he would’ve done a WORSE job had he not cheated? That is hard to fathom.

    Like

  88. As I said, football sounds minor. Stallings however tried to cover it up. Had full knowledge, and even though I’d consider it minor he told them to erase the stuff and cover it up. Really strange he’d do that. Why?? Just stupid.

    Like

  89. Well joeknew, regarding Stallings’ character, this should be no surprise given his history, which makes it even more mystifying that we even hired him. Between him & Barnes I’d sue them both if I could, and I’d be sure to replace the board members that endorsed him.

    Like

    1. like all 36 BoT members of which about 20 are still there.

      all I can say is that Pitt sucks at cheating and has absolutely NO moral high ground anymore

      and many of you said Tressell was not a good pick as AD due to his cheating

      yet Pitt hires a compliance person who allows cheating and turns a blind eye to it or is not smart enough to prevent it

      come on Heather luvers. Lets hear how y’all will defend her now.

      Like

      1. Yes, those 36.

        Without knowing how things played out with Heather (what she knew and when), I wouldn’t be so quick to judge. I’d give her the same benefit of the doubt any other person deserves.

        Like

      2. Tex you’re being obtuse. How could heather have turned a blind eye to it if Pitt self reported? 😒

        Liked by 2 people

        1. She reported it to save her skin. You can’t deny it happened under her watch. We don’t know what she knew and if she helped in the cover up. But for a compliance person, she knows better. Controls at Pitt are sloppy and Pitt has NO moral high ground. Wasn’t heather supposed to be good at preventing these things. She obviously is a dolt. Or dotard. Or just plainly unqualified for the job.

          Tex

          Like

  90. They are minor JoeK, the penalties have already been handed down and one actually involves 8 hours of suspension. Actually with Stallings it may mean PITT can recoup some money from the goof. And Tx, Heather had nothing to do with these silly infractions. But you are right, PITT is not the great cheaters like some other professional college cheaters.

    Like

    1. happened under her watch ike
      she touts herself as a compliance guru
      pitt hired her to prevent stuff like this

      Like

      1. Stallings did not happen under Heathers watch Tx and subsequently fired him. Football self reported. Don’t let your agenda get in the way here. If I thought Heather turned a blind eye I would be all over her right now. That’s just not the truth.

        Liked by 4 people

        1. Heather has Stallings for a year. Heather had Narduzzi for 4 years

          Let’s not rewrite history to support your agenda as well

          Tex

          Like

        2. It did happen Ike. Stallings was driven to cheat given the bad relationship between the two. You can’t make this stuff up. Only at Pitt. Check social media reports. Your compliance hero isn’t very good at her job.

          Tex

          Like

      1. or suspend her vacations to Walt Disney World. I heard she likes to visit there when she hires basketball coaches.

        Like

  91. My guess is Heather reported these to the NCAA as part of showing cause why she wouldn’t have to pay Stallings that elaborate $9,5M buyout that her predecessor stuck her with. You may remember that his lawyers made this statement that they would be no settlement negotiation …. and then, nothing more was ever said about it … not a word!

    She found these improprieties, reported them back in 2018, and subsequent investigations by the NCAA confirmed them while King SOB Stallings or Barnes tattled on some minor things that the FB program did

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Good point….Heather does have a law degree. Any money we don’t have to pay that creep Stallings is great.

      Like

  92. Kevin Stallings….the curse that keeps on giving. The Pirates need to erase their Stallings problem too !

    Barnes that clown, escaped as far West as he could go, in the continental United States.
    Clown underperforming at Oregon State. They are 8 wins 28 losses in football under VP Barnes.
    A little better in hoops since Clown is supposed to be a bball expert (yea right), finishing in 10th place in the 12 team PAC 12 and this year they’ve progressed to 8th place.

    Barnes first year there in football the Beavers went winless in conference play. After Barnes being at Pitt for our winless conference year in bball under him the previous year. I would venture to say he’s got to be the only AD in college sports history to have winless back to back seasons in bball & football.

    Yet the clown still has a job !

    Liked by 2 people

  93. “The NCAA and Pitt then interviewed all quality control staff members employed during Narduzzi’s tenure and discovered additional violations by having quality control staff members hold play cards for scout teams and throw footballs during drills.”

    LOL!

    Like

    1. Well, if you’re going to be honest, 3 years probation is nothing to sneeze at. Also, perhaps, and I just say perhaps, the dumpster fire that is MSU found out about this and just didn’t want to add to the mess they had. Ask yourself, minor as it is, would Pitt hire a guy who helped get his school on 3 yrs probation???

      Like

      2. Going out on a limb here but I would say the accusations and probation are pretty much nothing to sneeze at. I also don’t believe MSU backed of from Narduzzi. He slept on something. And why would any team back off a coach they want because he was part of a scandal such as a quality control staff member holding up a sign that said punt, pass or kick for the scout team during practice and throwing passes to the fourth and fifth team receivers? < Yes I took liberties there.

        BTW, lets not forget these football infractions happened way back in 2017. Technically on Heather’s watch but she had only been hired a few months before. I guess it’s true, every dog has it’s day so have fun in your day of sun. < last comment was generally speaking.

        Like

  94. Word is that Heather reported this to keep Stallings from collecting $$.

    Black eye on Pitt for sure. But if we can keep/retrieve $$ from the Stallings/Barnes clowns, it will be worth it.

    Another part of me says this can only happen at Pitt. As my long gone Aunt Helen used to say “Pitt could F up a 2 car funeral!!!

    Like

    2. There is no black eye. These infractions are comical compared to PSU, Carolina, the FBI hoops probe and on and on.

      Bitter Dan Cage blowing the whistle on football. What a loser.

      Bad look for Gallagher since Stallings was hired on his watch.

      Like

    3. Word is that Heather reported this to keep Stallings from collecting $$.

      The conspiracist in me is wondering whether they planned things that way. Supposedly turn a blind eye to some compliance issues, then if you need to fire a coach at some point, you’ve got this card up your sleeve you can use to avoid paying the buyout specified in the guy’s contract.

      Like

  95. Well, football may have self reported, but one of Stallings assistants told them, hey, the football team is doing the same thing, why pick on just us. I’d guess football self reported after this guy squealed. All I want is to,get some of our money back from Stallings. I can’t imagine they aren’t looking into this.

    Like

  96. Ya, Dan, sounds about right. Pitt hasn’t really been accomplished at anything for awhile. Well, that’s not true, Jamie did pretty darn well for a long time. But, ya, if there is a way to screw the pooch we generally find it.

    Like

  97. If Michigan state is a dumpster fire, what is Pitt?

    Capel was going light on pitt with his comments

    If you’re run by idiots, you won’t get good results

    That’s a shot at you atom counter and yellow blouse compliance guru.

    Tex

    Like

    1. Pitt basketball obviously was a dumpster fire before Capel took over. Pitt football was a dumpster fire before Chryst was hired. Both of these are past tense, Michigan State is present tense.

      Like

  98. Narduzzi should have left for Sparty.

    Like

  99. Extra coaches on the court/field didn’t result in extra wins…

    Stallings was something like 4-30 in ACC play…

    Like

  100. Those penalties are absolute proof that the NCAA is a complete joke.

    And only a small portion of Heather’s career has been focused on compliance, but that messes up your insults, Tex.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Pitt hired her for this stuff not to happen. You know risk adverse Pitt? You know on the heels of the Penn State scandal.

      Pitt didn’t hire her for experience at managing massive capital projects. Or for fundraising expertise. Or for having managed a budget as large as a P5 school.

      She checked two boxes.

      Tex

      Like

    2. Major – maybe in comparison to other violators who we deem to have had more severe violations, the penalties seem bigger than the crime. But, we cheated. We did something that was illegal. We knew that it was illegal. We did it anyway. Then we covered it up. However minor.

      I’m a firm believer in owning your mistakes. Let’s own this one. Let’s not be like psu fans and pretend that JoePa didn’t know anything about Sandusky’s activities for 30+ years. Let’s own it. Improve. And move on.

      Like

      1. Yes. Pitt needs to own it. They knew they were cheating and tried to cover it up. Still wrong even if relatively minor. Pitt has no moral high ground.

        If you’re gonna cheat, at least go big Pitt.

        I still think it’s quite comical that heather drove stallings to cheat and tried to use it to lower the buyout but lost in the end anyway. Only a Pitt AD could do that.

        Tex

        Like

      2. Exactly. They committed minor infractions. No big deal to me. Move on. But please, quit crying about the ncaa and that this school did this and that. Nobody likes whiners. Good for Pitt trying to push the limits.

        Like

        1. Good point scus, how many times have I read here on the POV that PITT doesn’t cheat enough and if you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying from the same commenters throwing Heather under the bus? This is hardly cheating. All because a butt hurt whistle blower ratted out a staff member who was holding up a sign for the scout team in practice. Ridiculous!

          Liked by 1 person

  101. Violations are really minor and self reported.

    Really no big deal. Punishment is very minimal.

    No chance of probation so why the insults?

    Seems like process violations not outright payoffs and scandalous behavior.

    Like

    1. Because it’s very bad PR for a school that looks down on other schools for this type of behavior. It’s very hypocritical. It’s a moral superiority complex. And because the AD was hired in a large part due to her legal and compliance background. That’s why.

      Tex

      Like

      1. And not only bad PR… We cheated. Cheating should not be tolerated. Even minor cheating. Narduzzi needs to own up to it and not just blow it off. Will be interesting to see what he says in his next presser…

        Like

      2. Tex — I don’t get this “moral superiority” business, where is that coming from?
        You do remember that had the Golden Panthers?

        I guess I don’t understand why you have to put Pitt athletics in the worst light —and then insult the people involved — on just about every matter that comes up. I know you know everything, but my goodness…

        Go Pitt.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Tex, agree it looks bad but it appears she was being duped by Kevin and his cronies, who in fact had a “fractured relationship” with Lyke.

        in the grand scheme of it all the violations were pretty minor and really not much punishment will be dished out rather than loss of scholarships etc..

        Pitt runs a clean program like her or not our AD is head and shoulders above her predecessor and the major sports are trending up.

        Like

  102. NCAA is a total joke for quite awhile now. Pitt got placed on 3 years probation for basically very minor, very minor infractions, that Pitt self-reported. The Tarholes had their football & hoops players not attending classes for decades, had ringers take exams for them and got no penalties at all.

    Pedo State only received 5 years probation and fines (easily recouped) for knowingly allowing a child molester rapist (paterno right hand mandevil) do his molesting/raping for several decades on children. Even showcasing them at team Bowl game dinners and in raping them in campus facilities. 5 years probation.

    This is partly why besides being thru with most pro sports, college sports is almost on my ‘thru’ list as well.

    Liked by 1 person

  103. What, we did in fact get 3 yrs probation. That sucks. I want to scream about that considering what other programs got, but then I realize who I sound like, and I’m not going their. Covering up a very, very minor infraction makes me wonder. And I really , really don’t like it.
    All national people are going to remember is Pitt violated the rules, covered it up, and got 3 yrs probation. For WHAT?? Well, that is what they’ll remember, sad, but true.

    Liked by 1 person

  104. Apparently Stallings continued to do this crap AFTER repeated warnings by the Athletic dept. Now I want ALL of our money back, the weasel.

    Like

    1. what’s probation mean? Ankle bracelets?

      Pitt has to forfeit 0.5% of its FB budget which is partly offset by the savings of sending Duzz all around the Southeast on a one week scouting trip next winter.

      Like

    3. Yes. Outraged that Pitt hired a compliance person only to get itself caught up in scandal. Hollywood couldn’t make this stuff up. Only at Pitt.

      Tex

      Like

  106. Lol. No one knows what the buyout is for Stallings. It obviously didn’t hurt Pitt as they immediately offered Hurley $3.5M for 6 years and convinced Capel to leave Duke.

    I always love how people care what an entity spends. I can’t believe they pay so and so this much. Roar. I’m mad. Lol. It’s not your money. Relax.

    Fake outrage is the best. Especially in slow new periods. it’s such an egregious penalty that Duzz has to miss two practices. The NCAA is so dumb.

    “Pitt’s former basketball coach instructed and allowed three non-coaching staff members to perform coaching duties, which exceeded the number of permissible coaches on staff.”

    The HORROR. What an embarrassment. I can’t believe I have this school on why resume.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. It’s not my money. It is however the students. You know the same students who have their general fund raided by ten million dollars each year to subsidize sports.

      Tell me what wealthy booster paid for this buyout?

      Tex

      Like

    2. It’s no surprise. Stallings was driven to cheat by heather. Very comical. I guess Narduzzi was also driven to cover his cheating up because of her as well. She must be a wonderful boss.

      Tex

      Like

    1. My quest is for the truth. And to show all you Koolaid drinkers that a fine Kentucky bourbon is a better choice.

      Tex

      Like

  110. This is so BS it is laughable. Only Pitt would report this crap. The NCAA is a total joke. Cheat all you want, pay players, refuse to cooperate and nothing happens to you but oh what a serious violation it is to have assistants that are not coaches provide some guidance. Give us all a break!!

    Like

  112. Ya know, laugh all you want, but Buzz feed national headline is “ Pitt football and basketball placed on NCAA probation.” That’s all people will see. They might not even read the article to see what minor stuff it is. That headline is being picked up by every major national sports hub. And now reported Duzz had system to alert these guys to when administrators were around so they’d stop what they were doing. That’s a sleezy move in my book. I’d be pretty pissed if I were Heather. And the kicker is this was really minor crap. If they’d cover this up I sure as heck would wonder what else they were up to. Stupid, just plain stupid.

    Like

  113. If they were up to something big I would expect that would result in something better than we got. The players Stallings had needed as much additional coaching they could get. All these SEC schools have all these quality control assistants and pay them well but they don’t act as coaches. I think Alabama has 20 of them. Cut me a break. You only get put on probation if you report yourself. Do what you want, threaten to sue the NCAA and nothing happens. Just maybe 2and 3 star players need coached up more than paid 4 and 5 stars.

    Liked by 1 person

  114. To prove the continuing incompetence of Pitt, next Tuesday is Pitt Giving Day. Nice timing idiots!!! Way to utterly embarrass your dwindling fans and Alums. I just tore up my check!

    Like

  116. Tex – Lol. Stop.

    Mr. On Campus Stadium aka Mr. Director’s Cup aka Mr. Big Time College Athletics …

    You do not get to pick and choose when you get to be righteous. Lol.

    NOW … you’re sorry for the poor students. Please. You legitimately have argued for years Pitt has to spend MORE money. Those poor students though.

    That response legit made me laugh. From you of all people. Worried about what a student pays. Bahahhahaha … and, guess what, just to make you feel better … they aren’t paying for it.

    “The high salaries you read about are not paid entirely by the university. In fact, the coaches are mostly paid by athletic boosters. Their base salary, paid by the university, is usually in the $200,000 – $300,000 range for most Power 5 conference coaches”

    Like

    1. Spend more money by building a revenue maker. That’s the MPC.

      The general fund is raided ever year. That is the students money. Pitt has one of the highest subsidies in P5

      Educate yourself. Your Pitt degree deserves that at least.

      Tex

      Like

      1. Show me, don’t tell me. Show me that the buyout affected the student general fund. Show me how much KS buyout was. Show me it wasn’t tied to this case and now he gets nothing.

        Like

  118. To all. If you have never done so, do yourself a favor and listen to the Jeff Capel show on the Fan. It is the best thing on sports radio. And he is just the type of guy you’d want your kids to be around. If he can’t recruit here it can no longer be done.

    Liked by 1 person

  120. YEP, first, PITT clapped their hands on defense when playing defense against psu and now they are busted for having a quality staff member holding up a sign during spring practice for the scout team. Color me totally embarrassed. What will PITT do next, send a student video photographer up on a scissor lift in hurricane force winds, turn a blind eye towards child rape, take tests for the players who don’t feel like going to class or pay players and their family so the young men can sit on their bench for 5 years?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ike – I get that the severity of Pitt’s violations are minor. Problem is, they were intentional, probably ongoing (they had devised a warning system so they wouldn’t get caught), and the perps attempted to cover the violations up (erased practice tape etc.).

      Some of the Patriot’s cheating was also minor (deflating footballs), intentional, and covered up. And, mostly unnecessary as they could win without doing it.

      Most would say that Pitt’s violations were unnecessary as well.

      All you got in this world is your reputation. Don’t cheat.

      Like

      1. Cheating is, and always will be, a part of sports … Teams, players, coaches will always try to push the boundaries. There is no moral high ground, only honor amongst thieves. Some people have this notion of purity that goes with sports … except sports lost it’s virginity a long, long, time ago. Winning, fame, power, money are strong temptations …

        Liked by 1 person

  122. Crazy. Pitt hired a compliance AD, who wanted to prove to her boss that she knew compliance and as a result self-reported violations. She knows compliance, the question is why did pitt hire her? Maybe Gallagher had a sneaky suspicion that something was awry when he went to practice and he heard “Rappers Delight” being broadcast.

    Note to Gallagher : Your AD is not respected by the NCAA. The most telling part of what has been made public is the following :

    Pitt worked on the investigation in collaboration with the NCAA. What does that really mean? When the NCAA trusts the athletic director, the ncaa will NOT participate in the investigation. They will allow you to investigate it separately and also give recommendations on penalty. Pitt blew it! She carries no weight with the NCAA.

    I am so glad that she extended a coach and gave him a big raise in exchange for probation. Better yet, she knew of the violations and paid off Stallings in full to get him to leave. She had the negotiation chip and squandered it. If she used the threat of show cause to negotiate down the buyout, she blew it. Either way, she was in over her head. Brilliant!!

    U did mention to everyone here that Pitt wasnt squeaky clean for the last few years. Oh well. I am so negative. Tee up the minor violation, it was stallings bs in 3, 2, 1….

    Like

    1. The Koolaid drinkers on this board will place you on probation for speaking the truth. Watch out

      And who is watching the watchmen?

      Heathers number one job was to watch and prevent stuff like this. She failed. Who is holding her accountable. Watching her.

      Well it’s posters like me and others who bring it up. Yet get attacked by those positive Pitt can do no wrong posters.

      Please stop protecting stupid. That’s Pitt. Pitt deserves this given their continuing incompetence in all matters

      You heather and Narduzzi defenders should be ashamed

      Tex

      Like

      1. Tex you are basically putting yourself on probation without anybody else having to do anything for you. Keep the craziness coming, I was getting bored. 😉

        Like

  123. Should be interesting what else happens now that it’s national news. Would really like to hear from Reed and get his take. If what he always said about the administrators and not embarrassing the school was true well……..

    Like

    1. The school won’t be embarrassed because it was their plan to report themselves to the NCAA as a way out of paying the entire Stallings’ contract and firing for cause. This happened so then bitter Dan Cage blew the whistle on football.

      Not even the all holy Pitt administrators are worried about these infractions and soiling the almighty Mission Statement. It was a way to pull the rug out from under Stallings. I’m sure Reed would spin that it might be time to drop athletics at Pitt after this news and some will agree.

      Liked by 1 person

  125. i only hope we can recover from this disaster.

    i feel shame and embarrassment like never before.

    the postings here are illuminating just the tip of a nefarious culture at a villainous institution.

    I’ll never wear pitt gear again, neigh, i’ll burn it,,,,and myself with it,,,,it’a too late and too much to bear

    GOD HELP US ALL!!!!!!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  126. wait, no nevermind, i’m going to wait a couple weeks til after wrestling ends around here

    i’ll see how i feel about it then

    keep me posted,,,,i’ll will get a lighter sometime soon though, or a pack of matches i guess

    🙂

    Like

  128. We now know why Narduzzi has closed practices.

    Pitt can’t even win at cheating

    If you’re gonna cheat, cheat bigger. . . And don’t get caught.

    Tex

    Like

  129. The fb team was cited for having grad assistants throw footballs and holding up signs for the scout team during practice. I guess that is extra coaching, give me a break. The bb violations were just a negotiating tool to get rid of Stallings and most likely saved them on the buy out. 3 years probation for this. The NCAA is a total joke. No penalties when players get caught with pounds of weed, guns in cars, petty theft, sexual assault, etc. This bs just makes Pitt kook bad. You think the NCAA would have done this to the haves, no way.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Then become a ‘have’ by taking sports seriously and nit being cheap on coaching hires.

      You are right. This is bad press for Pitt that will be overblown.

      Pitt can’t catch a break for a reason. Chalk it up to poor controls and bad leadership.

      Tex

      Like

  131. RockyMtn, so what f it still going on? I’m sure such rules like a QC Coach is not allowed to coach are scoffed at by all colleges ….. but they don’t self report it.

    The ONLY reason it was self-reported here was to lessen the burden of a ridiculous $9.5M payout to a total piece of crap coach hired by a piece of crap AD ,,,, which at the time was termed by host on ESPNU (XM 84) as ‘possibly the worst hire ever’

    The worst hire ever covers a lot of ground including 2 or 3 by a certain Pitt AD in the recent past.

    Note that NCAA documents show that Miss Compliance did not self-report the FB team. That was pointed out by one of Stallings’ assistants during the investigations. Thus, there had to be consequences

    Like

    1. Actually schools do report violations. There are 3 levels of NCAA violations: Level 1, 2, & 3. Most self reported violations are level 3. The football use of analyst’s in a coaching role (once uncovered by Pitt compliance office) would have been considered a level 3 violation and the penalties applied to the football program are consistence with the level of penalties applied.

      Don’t believe me – see the penalties applied to Phillip Fulmer (The AD & past football HC). He visited a football practice & “hands on instructed” offensive linemen in technique. (He was an offensive line coach before his rise (back stabbed) his rise to the top.) Tennessee self reported & the penalty was being banned from practices for a week.

      IMO, Pitt wanted a level 2 violation to get out of the Stallings but out. Louisville did this to Pitino to get out of $40M buyout.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. f-wwb – so the highly paid and intelligent folks at Pitt athletics hire Stallings, including negotiating a contract with him that they deem to be fair and that they can live with (negotiated in good faith). In year two of the contract, Pitt doesn’t like the losing results of the Stallings hire. So, instead of living with the contract and buyout, Pitt finds a super minor (according to you and others) violation so that they can fire Stallings without the buyout. You are suggesting that we didn’t really cheat with the extra coaches, but rather we didn’t negotiate/honor a contract in good faith. I don’t like either. But that’s just me.

      Like

      1. Either way Pitt looks bad and shows the world they have no idea on running a sports business. Pitt is just pathetic. I have no sympathy for them.

        Tex

        Like

    3. She owed Narduzzi but hated KS. The question is what did miss Compliance know and when did she know it

      Pitt coverup story at 6 tonite.

      Tex

      Like

  132. you’re probably aware that Cuse, Louisville and Arizona are on probation … gut Georgia Tech, Utah, Oregon and BYU? And the entire athletic program at Missouri? Here’s the list

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_institutions_on_probation

    but get this, it’s the Arizona women’s swimming and diving team is on probation, not the men’s BB team which was caught cheating by the FBI. All it had to do was fire the guilty assistant.

    And note the absence of UNC

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I guess I need to start a spreadsheet or comment on the POV as schools/NCAA report violations. There are a lot more then most people realize.

      Like

      1. Paul Zeise@PaulZeise11h
        NCAA “Have the FBI put your assistants in jail, get caught on wiretaps arranging $50 K payments and make up fake classes, well, that’s OK…. Wait, you had a couple of non-coaches feeding basketballs to post players at a practice? OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!!!”

        Liked by 3 people

  135. …and it is times such as these we PITT fans are living through that I am ever-grateful we have a compliane officer at the head of our our athletic department.

    Like

  136. I’m not entirely sure what the consequences are with this probation. Are we allowed to go to bowl games? What would we do with our holiday seasons without the Quick Lane or Birmingham Bowls?

    Liked by 1 person

  137. This is where it would be tempting for lyke to go on the offensive and say, “at Pitt we take these allegations seriously. It is unacceptable yada yada.” But then go off about the real cheating that goes on at other places without consequence. It could really open a national discussion on just how ridiculous the NCAA is.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. what was lost was $5000, 2 practice days in fall camp for HCPN, and a week of recruit traveling this coming winter for HCPN … which will offset the $5K fine

      Like

    2. Yep – No loss of recruits. Basically penalties leveled are what was discussed. Show cause on Stallings & one other. Loss of practice time for Narduzzi & one loss week of recruiting time for Narduzzi. (Narduzzi took it in January (last month. No wonder no 4 or 5 star recruits in the 2’nd signing period. Some analyst loss time on practice field.

      Biggest loss is money. $5000 each for basketball & football. Plus either 0.5% ($5,000/$1M) of budget for both the FB & BB teams. For a $20M budget that is $100,000.

      If anyone wants to read the entire settlement agreement, Pittsburg Sports Now has a link to it in an article titled “Pitt on Probation, Narduzzi to miss practices….

      I would post the link to the article but WordPress won’t allow me to post links.

      Like

  139. So institutions do report minor violations all the time. Sometimes, they report larger violations. If the NCAA trusts the AD and the Compliance program, they will let you do your own investigation and either videotape their interviews and send them to the ncaa investigators. When the ncaa really trusts your process, they say, no need to videotape and share. They trust you will do the right thing.

    The reason that the Dairy School was initially penalized so harshly was not because of what happened with Sandusky. It was about the institution NOT reporting any minor violations at all, when the rest of the universities reported at least 25 per year.

    Stallings was the fall guy and the example for others because he was the easy to “example – ize” since he is out of coaching. This isnt a huge issue, but Pitt needs to get it out of the news cycle. Typically, it makes sense from a crisis communication standpoint to put this out on a Saturday, during a busy sports day. Unfortunately, Pitt got plastered all over the news on a slow thursday night. Manage to 2 news cycles people.

    Like

    1. How did this news break. Pitt has known for some time. You would have thought pitt would have been better prepared and more savy like you said. Instead they are not controlling the narrative and being reactive. Maybe pitt needs some Cuse alums with communication degrees. This is public relations 101.

      Tex

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      1. But kdka doesn’t. And the world sees that message. Where is Pitts statement? Pitt is always behind the lead headline. Pitt has badly lost the PR battle. Media 1, Pitt zero.

        Tex

        Like

  143. The bad news this week is that the PITT mens basketball and football team were put on probation. The good news Frank is the football violations occurred when staff members were tossing footballs and holding up signs during simulated scout team drills. Hardly embarrassing.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It’s embarrassimg that pitt isn’t ahead of the news. They knew for some time

      Embarrassing that they get caught for this type of cheating

      Embarrsssing they have a culture that promotes and lacks the institutional controls for cheating

      Embarrassing that the cheating didn’t help Pitt win more games

      Embarrassing that we now know the real reason behind closed practices.

      Embarrassing about the cover up and that the NCAA doesn’t trust and respect our AD like Huff said.

      Tex

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      1. You’re from Indiana PA Tex. You know where they plant tree seedlings in the ground and get Christmas tree’s. :0 🙂

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    1. I’m not loving this. Pitt is being embarrassed. And showing all you drinkers of Koolaid that you have the wrong people in charge at Pitt

      The right people would have cheated big time, won the ACC championship, gone to a New Years bowl and the sanctions, if any, would have been worth it.

      Miss heather is no better than that cheater tressell. The guy I wanted. I’m exposing the hypocrisy. I take no pleasure in seeing Pitt fail.

      Tex

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        1. No Christmas would be a complete house cleaning of the BoT and sports department. The trouble that Heather and Narduzzi have to answer for is just a symptom of a bigger disease.

          And I do believe in Santa Claus.

          Tex

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  146. Of course PittMan2003, it’s been a field day for those that already have professed their displeasure of Heather Lyke. We all get our day in the sun.

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  147. It’s disappointing that well paid people acted irresponsibly, but frankly, the infractions were minor. The only thing that is “embarrassing” is the small minority of our whining drama queen fans who have nothing better to do with their time than bitch.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes they were Minor. But these events showed us a few things that many of us drama queens already knew. Pitts handling of this has been poor. And for those who think miss compliance knows compliance, I don’t hate to disappoint you. The empress has no clothes. That yellow blouse hides her incompetence.

      Tex

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  148. I wonder if the timing of Capel’s contract extension had anything to do with this probation news soon coming out. At any rate, the 3 year probation seems excessive given the ridiculously minor sign holding episodes. If they had used students for the sign holding they may not have even been violations. No doubt the probation was the result of Stallings disposing of the video evidence.

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  149. You haven’t convinced me of two things here Tex.

    )1 Of what has Heather done or not done that have your panties in such a bunch? You’ve been riding her ass since the day she was hired and your cheating Tressell wasn’t.

    )2 You also haven’t convinced me that you are not taking great pleasure with this unfortunate news regarding PITT.

    Like

    1. I have been for good reason

      Still last in donations
      Falling attendance numbers
      Scaled back Victory Heights
      Poor communication
      Not being transparent
      Not being truthful
      Last in directors cup
      Lack of compliance controls

      If I was this incompetent, my boss would ride me as well. But atom counter would rather play with molecules in his lab

      Tex

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  150. Interesting to watch how the various local and national sports news entities are covering, this basically nothing burger story of very minor infractions resulting in Narduzzi not being able to coach at training camp for 2 days and a $5000 fine. You can see which entities really have it in for Pitt by the level and critique they are covering this nothing burger story.

    It all starts with the national big boys, since the local rags have far less readership than say an ESPN.
    Although in my case and maybe many on here, I look at the local rag websites first.
    The PG had it up almost immediately as their Top Headline after Pitt’s athletic Dept posted the story, at Noon.
    No surprise there, since we know the PG does their utmost to always highlight anything negative about Pitt. If Tex needs a new job, he can always find work there 🙂

    The Trib either thru neglect or laziness waited a couple hours before it landed on their website frontpage but not like a top of the page headline like the PG ran.

    The Trib’s Benz is making up for lost time with a story today using this event to further ridicule Pitt.
    Benz is another Cuse tard, being a 1996 Cuse grad. it’s bad enough we have to deal with all the Pedo State enamored media in Pittsburgh, we have several Syracuse clowns as well.

    ESPN (another Pitt hater) listed it as one of their Top Headline stories of the 7 top stories. It was first for awhile then 3rd and now over a day later it’s still number 4 on their NCCAB page and still listed as well as a Top Headline on their NCAAF page. So apparently they hate us more in bball than football. probably cause we got into the ACC while UConn didn’t and is really struggling and EsPN is hq’d in Conn. Plus ESPN is loaded with Cuse tards.

    Now i don’t listen to The Fan, so I don’t know, how big a deal they are making of this. But someone above posted what KDKA sports tweeted and it seemed they were enjoying this as well.

    The media spin meister haters are all taking their shots at Pitt and seemingly loving it.
    Here’s my middle finger !

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    1. Pitt brought this upon themselves. And they aren’t fighting back against these rags which tells me they are truly limp weenies.

      Tex

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  152. Huff – enjoy your posts, even when I may not agree. I read every one of them, even when skipping down past some other folks. That said, I fail to see where you can draw a straight line between the description in the news release of the collaboration and the lack of trust in the AD by the NCAA.

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  153. I’d love to hear what Reed And Michael think about all this.

    Stallings relationship with Heather

    Narduzzis closed practices

    Compliance at Pitt

    Pitts handling of the news

    Tex

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    1. Pitt would never be this transparent and open about bad news. They are secretive and rarely share information. As a semi private school taking 15 percent of their budget money from the commonwealth, they get away with it.

      You ever hear heather answer tough questions on financials and attendance?

      🦗

      Tex

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  155. The Trib’s Benz and Madden are EXACTLY like Nitter fans. They proclaim that they can care less about Pitt … until, of course, they have something negative to say. They are the Pgh media a$$clowns and have been for a long while. Compared to them, Cook is a Pulitzer candidate and Filliponi is Dan Patrick

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    1. But Pitt bends over and takes it. There is no fighter at Pitt. That is more of the problem. Pitt gets bullied and does nothing.

      Tex

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      1. Pitt will not and should not waste its time on Tim Benz. Serious Pgh sports fans ignore him. He and Madden has been the sports shock jocks for years.

        Like

  156. BTW … the gymnastics version of the Backyard Brawl is at Ftitzgerald tonight. You Director Cup advocates better have your fannies in your seats by 7 pm

    Like

  157. Tex – Are you still trying to drum up fake rage to stir up a slow offseason? Show me how the buyout affected the student fund. I want to see numbers. Show me how much the buyout even was. Show me he’s still getting a buyout after this and that his buyout wasn’t tied to it.

    All this over a $5K fine, two missed practices for Duz (in the freaking summer to boot), for stuff that happened a few years ago. Lol.

    Eye rolls for days … Spring practice can’t get here soon enough … oh wait, then we get to complain about closed practices.

    Liked by 1 person

  158. I just got caught up on all this NCAA violations noise. Fully expected a high volume of ridiculous comments from some and was not disappointed.

    Richard – here’s an idea for a spreadsheet. Make an XY scattergraph of the POV posters. X axis is volume of comments made by individual posters, Y axis is the value of their comments. Anybody want to wager on who is the outlier in the bottom right of the graph?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Funny and sad.

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  159. In my mind, the real story that seems to have been buried in the lead is the football program’s efforts to keep the administration in the dark about these minor infractions. Narduzzi may have cashed in some trust chips with his boss. Not a good look.

    Like

  160. Well Tex, one thing for sure …. Pitt isn’t certainly heavily subsidized by its fanbase. Except for people like you who actually thinks complaining about everything is fan support

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    1. So Pitt should give me a reason to donate. And I do to two sports that aren’t dysfunctional and have very good coaches.

      But why should I give to football when pitt handles the wanny resignation poorly, hired a beater of his baby momma, hires a fraud who’s gone after one year, hires a guy recommended by godfather for on the job training, hires a cheater from a school in scandal.

      Then an AD who uses his buddy’s search firm to find another known cheater who goes 0-26 in ACC play and walks away with a huge buyout.

      Then cheaply hires an unproven AD from a tiny Mac school with a compliance background who proves she’s not very good at institutional controls.

      My mind is perfectly clear because I stay away from the Koolaid. That stuff rots your teeth and your mind.

      Tex

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  161. Whenever something like this happens, it makes one wonder how many times rule breaking was done and they got away with it. How do the public and NCAA know it was the exception not the rule? I have always taken pride in the alma mater that at least they played by the rules. Now I’m thinking that Narduzzi’s closed practices are so that they can hide stuff. That’s why this is a big deal…

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  162. Well this may be true VoR but lets think about all the other teams that have limited open practices. Closed practices are not exclusive to PITT at all. In fact the majority of teams do it. Are we supposed to believe they are all using staff members to hold up signs for the scout team?

    JoeL, you make a good point as well. While I’m not sure if that knucklehead Narduzzi even knew what he was doing was wrong or thought it wasn’t a big enough deal to worry about. I don’t mean to gloss over rules infractions but the calling for people to be fired is over the top for me.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Someone in the program knew it was wrong – otherwsie why have someone on lookout?
      Channeling Nixon era questions….what did Narduzzi know… and when did he know it?

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      1. That’s true JoeL, if someone in the basketball program knew about it that sang like a bird or a rat on a sinking ship. I’m just not sure the gravity of these violations warrants the outrage by a few.

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        1. It proves Pitt lacks institutional controls despite having a compliance guru in charge.

          It proves that Pitt can’t even win at cheating.

          Proves Pitt can’t handle the media fire bombs being thrown now.

          It helps support conspiracy theories about closed practices.

          Total losers in my book.

          Go ahead call me a closet Nitter and troll. Truth hurts some of you sugar drinkers.

          Tex

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  163. Just a year ago, Chris Dokish had Capel turning the program back to Top 20 in a year or so. Now he’s getting a bit more ‘realistic.’

    And of course, there was no bigger critic of Wanny as he fully endorsed his firing after a 3-year 27-12 record. How did that work out Chris?

    I don’t know who has bigger delusions of grandeur …. Dokish or Tex?

    Like

    1. I’ve said NCAA in year 3 for Capel. Haven’t changed my thinking.

      I’ve also said Narduzzi is a 9 win ceiling coach. Won’t be proven wrong on that.

      I’ve also said Pitt only has three real good programs out of 18? is it. I donate to two of them. My good money doesn’t chase bad.

      I’ve said Pitt is revenue poor but not cheap anymore and that levels of spending are unsustainable. Hence MPC concept.

      Where am I so wrong?

      Tex

      Like

  164. Hey POVers …. these are minor violations which will blow over in a short time. Please don’t perpetuate them like the Centre County Denial Society

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    1. What other types of cheating goes on at Pitt that hasn’t been exposed?

      Yes Minor but Pitt just lost the high ground. Was this the reason for closed practices?

      And it’s a very bad look when your AD is supposed to have compliance in her toolbox.

      Sure let’s just laugh it off and think it’s the new normal.

      Why did these coaches think they had to cheat in the ways they did and then try to cover things up? And what did heather know and when?

      Hope the media presses Pitt for those answers.

      Tex

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      1. Talking out of both sides of your mouth Tex. Earlier you were advocating that PITT should have be cheating in a bigger way and should have hired Tressell. You’re all over the place with your giddiness.

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        2. If I was in charge I would cheat Bigly for 5 stars.

          Pitt thinks they are better than schools when it comes to morality. These charges exposes their hypocrisy and lack of compliance.

          I have no morals in sports. I do draw the line however at covering up heinous crimes though.

          Like Child rape in athletic showers or sexual abuse by athletic doctors.

          My ticket to purgatory is still good. Trying to avoid the train ride to Hell.

          Tex

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    1. The NCAA sees a weak kid in the school yard that they can bully and push around. That’s Pitt if you didn’t get the analogy. Pitt needs to develop a fighters mentality. But Pitt’s weak AD is not a fighter. These events are evidence. Has heather responded to the media pot shots yet? Of course not. You’ll see her on the beaches of OBX in a few weeks for Spring Break.

      Tex

      Tex

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      1. Tex, you still can’t come to terms that Heather handled this masterfully. Stallings and Cage cannot find work while Pitt gets a slap on the wrist

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Did she?

          Did she use this leverage two years ago on the buyout?

          Is she handling the media scrutiny well?

          Does she have answers for closed practices and the cover up?

          What did she know and when?

          Why is she not trusted and respected by the NCAA?

          Tex

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          1. Tex, LOL, only you can delude yourself that Heather is not trusted or respected, Fact is that NCAA gave Heather everything she wanted …. the school gets slapped on the wrist while the boom was lowered on Stallings. SHE KICKED BUTT!!!

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  168. Not true ww….when the ncaa trusts your program, you do the main investigation without them. The university is to record interviews of witnesses along with the ncaa. When the ncaa trusts your program, they dont even ask for the video. You need to know and understand the people at the ncaa, not the locals and what they tell you, including the administration at the school.

    Stallings was the fall guy, which is great, but so meeningless when you think about it. There should have been zero penalty associated with the infractions (as reported) if handled properly. Zero. Any mention of the term probation should have been eliminated from all media releases. Also, this happened partly under her watch as well. Believe what you all want. You always do. Maybe next year x 40.

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  169. The ncaa is not afraid of Pitt. They ARE afraid of individual lawsuits. Hamlin would easily take his case and sue the ncaa…..and win. Understand the legalities in the ncaa. Its all about the money. Also, the ncaa will not be around in 5 years as you know it. They pander to the big boys in order to stay in their jobs. Good golly! Exasperating!

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  170. wwb, its the 3 year probation that other coaches will focus on. Even though the infractions are small, remember the old expression: “if you are explaining you are losing”..

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