2006-Apr-6 - Former Pitt Men's Basketball Player Charles Small Named Student Life and Compliance Assistant |
Former Pitt men's basketball student-athlete Charles Small has been hired to fill the Pitt Athletic Department's Student Life & Compliance Assistant position. One of Small's primary roles as the Student Life & Compliance Assistant will be to coordinate community service projects for student-athletes, such as the Children's Hospital Honorary Captain's program and the PAWS Saturday morning sports program, uniting Pitt student-athletes with children from the Oakland and local community. Following graduation, Small will begin his position in May.
"As a four-year member of the men's basketball team, Charles brings his experience as student-athlete and an accomplished scholar to our administrative staff," Athletic Director Jeff Long said. "He has earned the respect of student-athletes and coaches alike. Charles is a terrific young man who has a bright future in athletics administration, and I am pleased we are able to help him get his start."
A walk-on, Small earned three varsity letters since he earned a roster spot in October, 2002. Small saw action in 18 career games, including the 2006 NCAA Tournament first round contest in Auburn Hills, Mich., near his Detroit home. An Oakland Zoo fan favorite, Small saw action in eight contests during the 2005-06 season.
Small will graduate from the University of Pittsburgh in April, 2006 with a social work degree. He earned several academic honors including Big East Academic Honor Roll status and University of Pittsburgh Scholar Athlete accolades throughout his undergraduate career. Small will be enrolled in Pitt's graduate program in the School of Social Work while working in the Athletics Department.
One of the shortest players in NCAA Division I college basketball, Small was featured in Sports Illustrated on Campus where he was compared with the tallest player in NCAA Division I, Neil Fingleton.
Small graduated from Detroit's Martin Luther King High School in 2002 where he lettered four seasons and helped guide Martin Luther King to the city tournament runner-up finish. As a senior point guard, Small averaged 12 points and seven assists per game. He competed for AAU Team Detroit, was an Adidas ABCD Camp participant and played in Adidas AAU Big Time Camp in Las Vegas. A National Honor Society student, Small worked hard on the court and studied hard in the classroom. |
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2006-Mar-30 - Dixon agrees to extension to stay at Pittsburgh |
Jamie Dixon is staying as Pitt's basketball coach, agreeing Saturday to a contract extension after Arizona State and Missouri approached him following the Panthers' elimination from the NCAA Tournament last weekend.
Dixon, one of the Big East's lower-paid coaches during his first three seasons, will move closer to being one of the conference's higher-paid coaches. He previously made between $500,000 and $600,000 a season in salary under a contract that ran through 2010. The new deal runs through the 2012-13 season and is believed to boost him closer to the $800,000- to $900,000-a-year level next season.
Dixon, 40, is 76-22 at Pitt, and will return eight of the top 10 players from this season's 25-8 team in 2006-07. The Panthers won their first 15 games this season, advanced to the Big East tournament championship game and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before being upset by Bradley 72-66 last Sunday.
"Jamie has proven he was the right person for our head coaching position three years ago and continues to be the right person today," athletic director Jeff Long said Saturday.
The signing ended several days of speculation that, like former Pitt coach Ben Howland's departure for UCLA in 2003, he might be lured away by a school closer to his West Coast roots. Dixon, a Los Angeles-area native, is believed to have had several days of discussions with Arizona State about replacing Rob Evans.
However, Dixon said recently he was happy at Pitt and wasn't thinking about leaving a job that has become one of the best in the country since he arrived as Howland's associate head coach in 1999.
"There is no place else that I would rather be, and I made that fact clear, both to Chancellor [Mark] Nordenberg and our athletic director," Dixon bet Saturday. "During the course of the season, Jeff and I discussed the future of our program and he reinforced Pitt's desire for me to be the head coach at Pitt for a long time."
Pitt has played in the last five NCAA Tournaments under Howland and Dixon, advancing to the round of 16 in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and having only one winning season in five years before they arrived in 1999.
Dixon had no Division I head coaching experience before being hired by Pitt. The school initially offered the job to Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser but, following Prosser's rejection, quickly hired Dixon after several players -- including point guard Carl Krauser -- lobbied for his hiring.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal survey, two-time national champion coach Jim Calhoun of Connecticut is the best-paid coach in the Big East with a salary of $1.5 million. Among other conference coaches, Marquette's Tom Crean makes $1.1 million, West Virginia's John Beilein makes $700,000 and Villanova's Jay Wright made $510,000, but will be paid much more under a new deal that also extends through the 2012-13 season.
Coaches' salaries don't always reflect total compensation because some receive hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for shoe company contracts and TV shows.
Dixon didn't have an agent during his first two seasons at Pitt, apparently because the school asked him not to hire one. However, he recently hired Boston-based lawyer Dennis Coleman to represent him during his contract talks with Pitt. The talks didn't begin until after the season ended because Long didn't want them to become a distraction.
"We moved efficiently and effectively in those discussions at the conclusion of our season," Long said. "It was our objective to continue to have Jamie and his family in Pittsburgh -- and at the University of Pittsburgh -- for a long time and we are pleased they feel the same way."
What is uncertain is whether Dixon's top assistant, Barry Rohrssen, will stay. The New York City native could be a candidate to replace Louis Orr at Seton Hall. |
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2006-Feb-17 - Pitt makes quick pit stop |
| The grind of a fortified Big East Conference schedule is heading toward the postseason, where it can be safely assumed now that the Pitt basketball team surely will find a place.
The Panthers, happy to escape Providence with an 85-77 victory, returned home Thursday for a quick pit stop between road games. They'll face Marquette on Saturday night in Milwaukee in a rematch of a 77-71 Pitt victory on Jan. 28 at Petersen Events Center.
Marquette (16-8, 6-5) played host to No. 17 Georgetown last night.
"We've just got to keep doing the things that we're doing and keep getting better," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said, repeating the season's theme of this latest Panthers team to win 20 games. In all, Pitt (20-3, 9-3) has posted 20 victories five consecutive seasons, which extends a school record.
"We came into this year thinking we were going to win 20 games. A lot of people didn't," said sophomore guard Keith Benjamin, who has scored 31 points off the bench in the Panthers' past two games. "It's really not that important to us right now. We know we're in the (NCAA) tournament now, but we're still going to come out and play hard. We want more wins, as many as we can get this season from this team."
Benjamin hesitated, then bit his lower lip and cocked his head just slightly while fixing his eyes in reflection on the floor ahead of him.
"Right now," he said, finally, nodding his head in confirmation, "we've totally come together, and it's going to be something special for the rest of the year."
What the Panthers have accomplished thus far -- that 20-3 record, after losing two of their top three scorers from last year's 20-9 team, and a No. 9 ranking -- already is a special season.
No matter what happens from now on.
A clean sweep of the team's remaining four regular-season games would give the Panthers a 24-3 mark and place them in prime position for a first-round bye in the Big East tournament in March.
"I think we're supposed to win the rest of the games we play in," Benjamin said. "We're going to come out and play hard and try and get a win at Marquette."
It's debatable whether the Panthers will sweep their remaining games. The road ahead is tough, beginning with the rematch against Marquette, which owns a victory over No. 1 Connecticut.
Later, there are rematches with Providence at home and at No. 11 West Virginia, as well as the home finale against Seton Hall, which, like Pitt, has defeated WVU this season.
In Providence, R.I., Aaron Gray scored 22 points and narrowly missed his 14th double-double of the season (he finished with nine rebounds) to lead Pitt to its come-from-behind victory over Providence on Wednesday.
The Panthers trailed by nine points in the first half and by 37-34 at halftime before using a 17-2 run, including 12 points from Gray, to take control in the second half.
John DeGroat's 3-point shot gave Pitt its first lead of the game, 45-44. DeGroat, though a starter in all 23 games so far, is averaging only 12.0 minutes per game in his final college season.
"He understands his role. He's a starter and the coaches and players all have confidence in him," Pitt junior Levon Kendall said. "We all support each other equally. That's the type of little things that make teams good."
Providence (11-11, 4-7) wasted a career-high 28-point effort by Donnie McGrath after the Friars had hustled their way into the lead.
"I didn't think our defense was good early on, but they had something to do with that," Dixon said. "We played well in the second half."
Dixon said the slow start at Providence can serve as a reminder to his players that nothing comes easy in the beast known as the Big East.
"We had to make some adjustments and learn from it," he said. "Players have got to remember that. Coaches have got to remember that. It's not an excuse. We know there's things to improve on." |
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2006-Feb-9 - Game of the Week: West Virginia at Pittsburgh |
This is the time of year when teams start separating themselves from each other and making moves at top-4 seeds or, in some cases, making a run at the NCAA Tournament. Some find games between bubble teams to be more exciting, but I’ll take two top-15 teams battling for seeds any day of the week. This week, it happens to be two Big East teams that are both darkhorses to make Final Four runs, West Virginia and Pittsburgh. Neither team is discussed in the conversation of Final Four favorites, but both have the definite ability to beat any team in the country.
West Virginia is one of the hottest teams in the country lately. They have won 15 of 16, with the lone loss a fluke defeat to Marshall. The Mountaineers, 16-4 overall and 8-0 in the Big East, have defeated the likes of Oklahoma, Villanova, Georgetown, and UCLA. The aforementioned games describe West Virginia perfectly: if they are hitting their threes, they can beat anyone. On the other hand, if they are cold from the arc, they can lose to anyone. The Mountaineers average almost 74 points per game, and allow only 63 per contest. WVU, ranked 27th in the RPI, are the 18th-most efficient offensive team in the country and the 52nd-most efficient defensive team, according to Ken Pomeroy.
Pittsburgh has not really been taken seriously yet this season, even though they have been one of the most impressive teams all year. They started the season 15-0, and have only lost 3 games—by a combined 12 points. The Panthers, currently 17-3 overall and 6-3 in the Big East, don’t have many wins that will “wow” you, but they don’t have any truly horrendous losses either. They are a solid group that won’t get blown out. They put up just under 74 points per game and give up less than 62. Pitt, 9th in the RPI, has the 33rd-most efficient offense and the 7th-most efficient defense.
Pittsburgh is a deep (10 players average at least 10 minutes per game) team that can beat you both inside and outside. And, of course, they play tough, physical defense. On the perimeter, Carl Krauser (16.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.4 apg, 2.0 spg), as he has for what seems like a decade, leads the way. He moved from the point guard spot to the wing so he could concentrate more on scoring. His scoring efficiency is much improved, and his turnovers have decreased. Splitting time at the point guard position are Ronald Ramon (7.2 ppg, 2.6 apg, 41% 3pt) and Levance Fields (6.0 ppg, 2.4 apg, 43% 3pt). Ramon is more of a jump shooter, while the crafty Fields likes to get into the lane for his points. Part-time starter Antonio Graves (4.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg) is a good defender and can shoot the ball from deep. All four of the aforementioned players can handle the ball if needed. Also on the wing are 6-2 Keith Benjamin (4.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and 6-6 John DeGroat (3.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg). Both players are athletic and can score from the perimeter or off of penetration.
Inside, the Panthers have possibly the most-improved player in the country in 7-footer Aaron Gray (13.7 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 1.7 bpg). He is a very good rebounder and is nearly impossible to move off of the block. He is adept at passing out of the double-team and has a nice offensive game with his back to the basket. Freshman Sam Young (8.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg) has been very impressive offensively and is a nice inside-outside player at the forward spot. He is somewhat inconsistent, but is capable of big games. Levon Kendall (7.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.0 spg, 1.0 bpg) has potential as a scorer up front, as evidenced by his well-publicized 40-point game over the summer against Team USA. Tyrell Biggs (2.3 ppg) is another big body in the frontcourt that provides depth.
West Virginia looks like they could potentially make a repeat Elite Eight run. Even without a legit low-post option, the Mountaineers seem to be able to score against whoever they play. They have at least four players on the floor at all times who can shoot the three and stretch the offense. The Mountaineers may run the most fluid offense in America. Big man Kevin Pittsnogle (19.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.0 spg, 1.2 bpg, 42% 3pt) is an excellent long-range shooter that creates mismatches because of his ability to hit the jumper. He has improved his low-post game, which enables him to score from all over the floor. However, the Mountaineers are a perimeter-oriented team. Mike Gansey (18.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.3 spg, 60% fg, 48% 3pt) has developed into a star. He might be the frontrunner for the Big East Player of the Year at this point. He is a very good defender and a phenomenal scorer. Sixth man Patrick Beilein (8.4 ppg, 1.3 spg) is an excellent long-range shooter when he is on. Even though he is streaky, he can get hot and carry West Virginia. Johannes Herber (9.3 rpg, 3.7 rpg, 5.2 apg, 1.2 spg) is a versatile wing that does a lot of the little things. He can shoot the three, defend several positions, and play inside or outside. He is also the best passer on the team. Frank Young (8.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.1 spg) is an undersized power forward at 6-5, but he is athletic and creates match-up problems. He is a solid rebounder and defender. Point guard JD Collins (4.4 ppg, 3.7 apg, 1.6 spg) is very quick and gets the ball to the shooters around the arc. He is a decent defender who does not turn the ball over often. Darris Nichols (3.0 ppg) is yet another perimeter player that sees minutes. He is not much of a shooter, but is quick and is a solid performer.
This is going to be a phenomenal game between two teams that people should take a hard look at when filling out their brackets in March. Both groups are very good defensively and efficient offensively, yet they play contrasting styles. West Virginia is an uptempo group that shoots threes and plays a pressure, 1-3-1 defense. Pittsburgh likes to keep the game at a slow pace and plays physical, man-to-man defense. If you just look at that, it will be an interesting game to watch. As far as match-ups go, they key is Kevin Pittsnogle vs. Aaron Gray. Pittsnogle likes to play on the perimeter as much as he does the post. It is worth seeing if Gray will go out and guard him. On the other hand, Pittsnogle is not a very good rebounder and will have a tough time guarding Gray. Carl Krauser vs. Mike Gansey is also going to be an intriguing battle. Both players are very good all-around performers who can change the game in a variety of ways. With the stars basically canceling each other out, the role players will make the difference. The point guard combo of Ronald Ramon and Levance Fields could be huge factors for Pitt, while Johannes Herber is the x-factor for West Virginia. However, Pitt is much deeper and has several combinations they can utilize at any point in the game. Add the fact that the Panthers are at home, and I think that Pittsburgh is going to come out with a victory. If they defend the perimeter like they have the ability to do, the Panthers will get a much-needed win in the Big East.
Prediction: Pittsburgh 70, West Virginia 66
When I started out 0-3 and said that I was going to run the table the rest of the way, I wasn’t being serious. However, with last week’s victory by George Washington over Xavier, I ran off my sixth straight win to improve my record to 6-3. Led by Maureece Rice, GW made an unbelievable comeback in the second half to pull out a hard-fought win on the road in the Atlantic-10. I think that people have to take the Colonials seriously now. Wish me luck on my 7th-straight victory this week! |
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