Written by PSB Bryan | 23 July 2010

Some light reading to get you to the weekend:  CBS Sports has ranked Pitt as the fifth best joint football/basketball program in the country.  Two great articles (one from Dennis Dodd on football here and one from Gary Parrish on basketball here), accompanied by interviews with Coach Wannstedt and Greg Romeus.  Both are definitely must read articles.  Jamie Dixon contributes with one of the best quotes in all of Pitt history:

"I don't want to downplay loyalty because loyalty is a great thing, and I don't think there's any better thing to be called than loyal. But I'm not staying at Pitt out of loyalty," Dixon once told me. "I'm staying at Pitt because we have everything, and because the administration is second to none. I'm staying because of the fans and the players we have. I've got everything I need."

God, I want to pass Jamie Dixon a note asking him to the middle school dance.  Not to be outdone, Wannstedt counters:

"Guys want to draw up 1,000 plays and throw the ball 50 times ..," Wannstedt said. "Who else can have a fullback named Henry Hynoski? That only works in Pittsburgh, a big Polish fullback, you know?"

Briefly, here's a few more links to get you through your Friday:

• MaxPreps (which is part of the CBS Sports family, I believe) joined the party with a look at Pitt's football and basketball recruits.  Good stuff.

• The Greentree League wrapped up Wednesday night with Ashton Gibbs leading his team (including JJ Richardson) over a team lead by Gilbert Brown, Duquesne's TJ McConnell and Talib Zanna. The crowds at these games never cease to amaze me: you had to arrive by 6:40 in order to get a seat for a college scrimmage. Absolutely amazing. As for individual play, Ashton is a good shooter in case you didn't know, scoring 18. Brown led all scorers with 29 and Richardson put up a 12-and-8 night. Zanna was disappointing but otherwise had a very good summer.

• In a surprise to absolutely no one, Ashton Gibbs was named league MVP.

• ESPN's Big East blog takes a look at the "fresh faces" expected to contribute for the Panthers this season, namely Tyrone Ezell, Devin Street and Toddie Thomas. Ezell is a no-brainer - he just looks straight up mean and his play this spring (coupled with the constant D-Line rotation) will earn him quality minutes this season. Street and Thomas are two players I am excited about and will likely be part of the battle for the third receiver spot in camp, which figures to be one of the most hotly contested of the summer.

• Cowfield U picked up a series against Navy, giving me another reason to have strong feelings of resentment towards them. I loved Pitt's series against Navy, which expired this year. Something about those old eastern football rivalries excite more than a comparable game against some MAC team. I've been told that going out to Annapolis is one of the best roadtrips around - something I plan on verifying when the series picks up in 2013.

• Meanwhile, Pitt is clearly benefiting from that school's disorganization on the recruiting trail, although that could be changing if NJ lineman Angelo Mangiro picks them next week as is expected.

• It's nice to see that Pitt isn't the only team that goes through annual arbitrary uniform changes.

Have a great weekend everyone. I'm hoping to have some good news on the recruiting front before Monday.

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