TALIB ZANNA WILL BE A PITTSBURGH PANTHER

Jamie Dixon and company snag 6'9 big from Maryland



by Ron Bailey


September 30, 2008 – Talib Zanna and his family met Sunday night to determine his college future. The final destination happens to be the University of Pittsburgh.

“He chose Pittsburgh because of a solid relationship with the coach (Jamie Dixon),” shared Marty Keithline, who coaches Zanna at Bishop McNamara (MD). “And he’s going to get playing time”.

At first blush one may challenge that last assertion, given Pitt’s signing of another D.C. area standout for the Class of 2009 frontcourt standout, Dante Taylor. Those concerns are overblown according to Keithline, who noted “The way Pitt plays, they use a number of bigger players at the same time”. Additionally, the school could possibly have its roster changed not only by eligibility expiration, but possibly early defection: Resultantly, Talib, his family, and Keithline see opportunities for playing time, despite the presence of Taylor and Texas banger J.J. Richardson in the Class of 2009.

Zanna, a 6’9” 220 pound forward dropped 15.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.4 blocks, 1.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game for McNamara, including individual season highs of 26 points and 22 rebounds. For his exploits, Talib, a native of Nigeria, was tabbed first team All-Prince Georges County (MD) and second team All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC).

Expect more from the quiet, thoughtful Zanna - who also possesses a good sense of humor - as he has worked tirelessly on his game, combining both rebounding and shot blocking prowess with an already decent shooting touch. Now, it is not uncommon to see him hit 15 footers, while also employing his go-to move, a nasty, almost text book drop step over his left shoulder in which he lowers his center of gravity and explodes to the cup.

“He’s one of the best ones I’ve coached” said Keithline of Zanna. One could expand that to say Talib is one of the best big men in/from the D. C. area, quite a compliment considering it’s a group which includes not only Taylor, but Wally Judge (Kansas State) and Thomas Robinson, all members of the Class of 2009.

In the final analysis, Zanna chose Pitt over Big East rival Providence. Boston College, Georgetown, Virginia, George Washington and others were once in the running.

Zanna in National High School Hoops Festival action last year.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: PITTSBURGH

September 28, 2008


Verbal Commitment Alert: Talib Zanna, 6'9 (BF/C) from Bishop McNamara (MD)

Pittsburgh basketball and coach Jamie Dixon has added another verbal commitment to the impressive Pitt class of 2009 as Talib Zanna has made a verbal commitment to the Pittsburgh program today, according to a source close to the situation. Zanna visited Pittsburgh last weekend.

Last night we posted the story that Darnell Dodson Will Not Re-Enroll at Pitt due to Big East rules since he originally enrolled in the school before being fully qualified.


PROJECTED 2008-2009 PITTSBURGH ROSTER:

Seniors: Levance Fields (PG), Sam Young (F), Tyrell Biggs (F)
Juniors: Jermaine Dixon (G)
Sophomores: Gilbert Brown (SF/G), Bradley Wanamaker (G), Gary McGhee (C), DeJuan Blair (PF)
Freshmen: Travon Woodall (PG), Nasir Robinson (G/F), Ashton Gibbs (G), Dwight Miller (PF)
2009 Commits: Lamar Patterson (SG), Dante Taylor (PF), J/J. Richardson (F), Talib Zanna (BF/C)

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Talib Zanna has impressed the NBE Basketball Report in the summer for the player he has become, but the player he could become has always had our staff very intrigued. Early in July at the Agent Zero to Hero event Zanna showed his ability to run the floor and improved willingness to battle in the post. At the Reebok Summer Championships Zanna displayed ability to face-up and attack off the dribble.

At 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds Zanna has the size to compete in the Big East and the athletic ability that had college coaches watching this summer. One major college assistant watching Zanna this summer remarked he "Has Major upside! Very long and athletic. Rebounds very well." Zanna finished his summer playing for the Triple Threat AAU program after starting the AAU circuit with the DC Blue Devils. He will compete in his senior season with Bishop McNamara this season.

It was a very productive summer for J.J. Richardson playing with the Houston Elite AAU program. His blue-collar style and constant energy and effort in the paint caught the eye of the Pittsburgh coaching staff and they found a perfect fit for their program to continue the success they have enjoyed in recent years. A source close to Richardson and his recruitment believes Pitt got one of the biggest sleepers in the country as the 6-foot-7, strong and athletic forward is just beginning to put things together on the basketball court.

Despite modest stats on a loaded high school team last season at Hightower High School in Fort Bend (TX), the former state of Ohio native impressed this summer at events such as the Reebok All-American Camp and during his time in Vegas. He recently visited Pittsburgh and his commitment only seemed like a manner of time afterwards.

"I loved it," said Richardson of his visit. "The players were all very nice and they brought me in to everything they were doing. They're definitely number one right now. I almost committed, and I really thought about it, but I wanted to have someplace to compare it to first."

That 'someplace' was supposed to be Oklahoma State, another school that Richardson was offered a scholarship from, but he never made it to campus as the Cowboys' frontcourt scholarships seemed to be taken up with some recent commitments.

Richardson and Zanna join Dante Taylor, whose dominating summer AAU season got the attention of Memphis, UConn, Syracuse, and Kansas, among many others, as a trio of frontcourt players in the 2009 class. Taylor was targeted by Pitt assistant coach Tom Herrion last year and Herrion put the full court press on Taylor ever since, and that made an impression on Taylor, who cites Pitt’s loyalty as one of the main reasons that he chose to be a Panther.

Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon landed his biggest commitment yet in his time as the Pittsburgh head coach when Taylor pulled the trigger and committed to the Panthers. The Pitt staff had made Taylor their priority in the class of 2009 at power forward nearly a year ago and their hard work paid off as the entire Pitt staff had been seen at many of Taylor's games this spring and summer, especially at the Reebok Summer Classic in New Jersey.

Taylor, Zanna and Richardson all fit in well at Pitt as strong and athletic forwards who are tremendous rebounders and will play strong and physical near the rim. Taylor has played his high school career for Trevor Brown at National Christian Academy and also plays for the NCA AAU team, which is also run by Brown as part of their high school program. Taylor has excelled at the NBA Top 100 camp and the Lebron James Skills Academy, solidifying his status of one of the top players in the class of 2009.

Rounding out the current Pitt class of 2009 of verbal commitments is Lamar Patterson, a guard/forward who will be attending St. Benedict's prep in Newark (NJ) this coming season. The Lancaster (PA) native committed to Pittsburgh last year during the high school season. Patterson is a versatile backcourt performer who offers very good size to the wing.

Even though, on paper, the Panther scholarships are full for 2009, Pitt seems to be very intent on adding another member in the 2009 class. They are swinging for the fences with players like Dominic Cheek, an elite shooting guard from St. Anthony's (NJ) and Durand Scott a G/F from Rice High School in NYC. Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon is made an in-home visit to Cheek earlier this evening in hopes of at least securing one of his five official visits. Scott visited Pittsburgh the weekend of September 20th and talked highly og he trip. Scott was taking an official visit to Connecticut this weekend and plans on taking trips to Miami, UCLA and Tennessee before making a decision. The final guard on the radar at this time is 6-foot-3 shooting guard DeAndre Kane. Kane was a high school teammate of DeJuan Blair at Schenley High School and is taking a post-graduate season at the Patterson School in Lenoir (NC). Kane has impressed visiting coaches this fall in workouts.

While their 2009 recruiting is near completion, there is expected to be a limited amount of scholarships available in the class of 2010 as well (one on paper). Local guard Tom Droney could be close to accepting a scholarship offer from Pitt and they are also, at least, the co-leader for New Juersey guard Isaiah Epps.

Pitt Notes:

Senior point guard Levance Fields underwent a second surgery on the injured right foot that forced him to miss 12 games last season earlier this month. Concern has been building that the foott has not responded well to the surgery and the timing of his return to action is uncertain. According to a person with knowledge of the injury, he foot is healing as expected, however an infection in the foot has slowed his ability to rehab the injury. In the event that Fields would miss action on the court, the plan is for freshmen Travon Woodall of St. Anthony's in Jersey City (NJ) and Seton Hall Prep product Ashton Gibbs to handle the point guard duties. The other positions seem to be settles with Gilbert Brown at the shooting guard position, Sam Young at small forward, Tyrell Biggs at power forward and DeJuan Blair as the center as the potential line-up getting the longest look. Sophomore Brad Wanamaker and JUCO Jermaine Dixon add depth to both guard positions and will compete for key time as well. The versatility of Brown and Young give Pitt several line-up options, but the key factor will be the health of Fields and his right foot in pulling it all together.

Chris Dokish contributed to the report and the added notes.

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BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: GAME #4 PITTSBURGH

September 19, 2008


High noon at Heinz Field on Saturday, Pittsburgh fans will see their beloved colors of black and gold on their Heinz Field grass. No, there is no need to quickly check your NFL Lines the Steelers are not playing, instead, the Iowa Hawkeyes are coming to town to do battle against Dave Wannstedt and his Pittsburgh Panthers.

We have been watching the NCAA Football Odds this week and the pointspread has completely flip-flopped, from an opening as Pitt being a slight favorite and now Iowa has become the favorite as the week moves.

It was surprising to us that Pitt opened as the favorite. The Panthers opened their season with a home loss to Bowling Green and followed it up with a win over Buffalo. Now, following a bye week, the Panthers face a step-up in competition with the Big 10's Iowa squad coming to town.

The Hawkeyes are off to a 3-0 start with their last outing resulting in a 17-5 win over Iowa State. We are always a little leery of a team playing their first road game and the competition to date has not been overly difficult for Iowa. Will that come back to haunt them on Saturday.

Pittsburgh, under Dave Wannstedt, seems to follow the NFL mentality of playing not to loose. In the college game, that mentality is outdated. Until they prove to me they have the imagination to use the weapons they have recruited the last few years, I will withhold jumping on their bandwagon. I definitely see them with a chance to improve, especially coming off a bye week and the chance to implement some of this imagination, but I will tread cautiously. They hardly let Bill Stull throw down the field, even with the defense keying so much on star running back Lesean McCoy. Will Pitt open it up this weekend? Their fans will be looking for that...I am just not sure we will see it...

Prediction:

Iowa 24
Pittsburgh 20

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: PITTSBURGH

September 17, 2008


Verbal Commitment Alert: J.J. Richardson, 6'7 (F) from Hightown High School in Texas.

Pittsburgh basketball and coach Jamie Dixon added a fourth verbal commitment to their 2009 recruiting class when J/J. Richardson decided to end his recruitment and pledge to the Panthers.



PROJECTED 2008-2009 PITTSBURGH ROSTER:

Seniors: Levance Fields (PG), Sam Young (F), Tyrell Biggs (F)
Juniors: Jermaine Dixon (G)
Sophomores: Gilbert Brown (SF/G), Austin Wallace (BF), Bradley Wanamaker (G), Gary McGhee (C), DeJuan Blair (PF)
Freshmen: Travon Woodall (PG), Nasir Robinson (G/F), Ashton Gibbs (G), Dwight Miller (PF)
2009 Commit: Lamar Patterson (SG), Darnell Dodson (SF), Dante Taylor (PF), J/J. Richardson (F)

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It was a very productive summer for J.J. Richardson playing with the Houston Elite AAU program. His blue-collar style and constant energy and effort in the paint caught the eye of the Pittsburgh coaching staff and they found a perfect fit for their program to continue the success they have enjoyed in recent years. A source close to Richardson and his recruitment beleives Pitt got one of the biggest sleepers in the country as the 6-foot-7, strong and athletic forward is just beginning to put things together on the basketball court.

Despite modest stats on a loaded high school team last season at Hightower High School in Fort Bend (TX), the former state of Ohio native impressed this summer at events such as the Reebok All-American Camp and during his time in Vegas. He recently visited Pittsburgh and his commitment only seemed like a manner of time afterwards.

"I loved it," said Richardson of his visit. "The players were all very nice and they brought me in to everything they were doing. They're definitely number one right now. I almost committed, and I really thought about it, but I wanted to have someplace to compare it to first."

That 'someplace' was supposed to be Oklahoma State, another school that Richardson was offered a scholarship from, but he never made it to campus as the Cowboys' frontcourt scholarships seemed to be taken up with some recent commitments.

Richardson joins Dante Taylor, whose dominating summer AAU season got the attention of Memphis, UConn, Syracuse, and Kansas, among many others, as a pair of forwards in the 2009 class. Taylor was targeted by Pitt assistant coach Tom Herrion last year and Herrion put the full court press on Taylor ever since, and that made an impression on Taylor, who cites Pitt’s loyalty as one of the main reasons that he chose to be a Panther.

Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon landed his biggest commitment yet in his time as the Pittsburgh head coach when Taylor pulled the trigger and committed to the Panthers. The Pitt staff had made Taylor their priority in the class of 2009 at power forward nearly a year ago and their hard work paid off as the entire Pitt staff had been seen at many of Taylor's games this spring and summer, especially at the Reebok Summer Classic in New Jersey.

Taylor and Richardson both fit in well at Pitt as strong and athletic forwards who are both tremendous rebounders and loves to play strong and physical near the rim. Taylor has played his high school career for Trevor Brown at National Christian Academy and also plays for the NCA AAU team, which is also run by Brown as part of their high school program. Taylor has excelled at the NBA Top 100 camp and the Lebron James Skills Academy, solidifying his status of one of the top players in the class of 2009.

Joining Dante Taylor and J/J. Richardson in the Pitt class of 2009 as verbal commitments are Lamar Patterson, a guard forward who will be attending St. Benedict's prep in Newark (NJ) this coming season and Darnell Dodson, a big time small forward who will have three years of eligibility after joining the Panthers from Miami-Dade CC.

Even though, on paper, the Panther scholarships are one over the limit for 2009, it looks like a medical hardship case with PF/C Austin Wallace is in order. Wallace missed last season and was expected to be, at least, limited this season due to a knee injury suffered in the preseason last year. Still, Pitt seems to be very intent on adding another member in the 2009 class. They are swinging for the fences with players like Dominic Cheek, an elite shooting guard from St. Anthony's (NJ) and Durand Scott a G/F from Rice High School in NYC. At this point, both players are looking like long shots as neither has scheduled an official visit to Pittsburgh at this time, despite the efforts of the staff to bring them to campus.

However, there will be players visiting the campus this weekend when the Pitt football team hosts the Iowa Hawkeyes. Lamar Patterson and Dante Taylor are expected to make their official visits this weekend and potential big men targets Talin Zanna and James Padgett were scheduled to be visiting prior to Richardson's commitment. The Panthers will be honored at the football game by being presented with their Big East Tournament championship rings.

While their 2009 recruiting is near completion, there is expected to be a limited amount of scholarships available in the class of 2010 as well (one on paper). Local guard Tom Droney could be close to accepting a scholarship offer from Pitt and they are also, at least, the co-leader for New Juersey guard Isaiah Epps.

Stay tuned, the Pittsburgh recruiting news might not be over for the month of September....

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J.J. RICHARDSON HIGH ON PITT VISIT

September 10, 2008

by Chris Dokish

The Pittsburgh basketball program is looking to add one, if not two, big men to their 2009 class and one of their main targets is combo forward J.J. Richardson of Hightower HS in Missouri City, TX. The 6'7" 235 pound Richardson visited the Pitt campus this past weekend and came away very impressed.

"I loved it," says Richardson. "The players were all very nice and they brought me in to everything they were doing. They're definitely number one right now. I almost committed, and I really thought about it, but I wanted to have someplace to compare it to first."

That someplace will be Oklahoma State, where the strong and athletic sleeper will visit this weekend.

In other Pitt news, 6'8" power forward James Padgett, of Abraham Lincoln HS in Brooklyn, was expected to visit at the same time as Richardson, but schoolwork prevented him from making the trip. He is expected to visit on the weekend of September 19th, along with 6'9" power forward Dante Taylor and 6'4" wing Lamar Patterson, both of whom have verbally committed, as well as other '09 prospects (possibly Durand Scott and Talib Zanna, to name two) and '10 prospects yet to be finalized. While the College Football Odds will be stacked against the Pitt football team as they host Iowa at noon, the Panther fans will have something to cheer about as the basketball team will also be getting their Big East Tournament Championship rings that weekend.

DeAndre Kane, the 6'3" shooting guard from Schenley HS in Pittsburgh that Pitt has been involved with for more than a year, was scheduled to attend the New Hampton School, a prep school in New Hampshire, after failing to become eligible to play this season. But tuition issues have instead forced him to go to Patterson School in Lenoir, NC. Like New Hampton, the Pitt staff helped him get into the school.

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BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: WEEK #2 PITTSBURGH

September 5, 2008


The 2008 college football season was very much anticipated for the Pittsburgh Panthers and their fans. However, after week #1, football fans in the city of Pittsburgh are more interested in studying the NFL Odds to see how their beloved Steelers stack up this season as the Panthers were beaten at home by Bowling Green out of the MAC.

The Panthers watched a 14-0 lead evaporate as the Heinz Field crowd was in shock as the Falcons dominated the game from that point to earn the 27-17 win over the 25th ranked Pitt squad.

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The loss seemed to be more of the same from head coach Dave Wannstedt and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh as their NFL mentality of playing safe and conservative bit them in end once again. The attitude around the program went from promise as the looked to prove last season's finale upset of West Virginia was not a fluke to despair as fans are trying to come up with prospective coaching lists if this is the end of the line for Wannstedt who is now 16-20 in his Pitt tenure with 10 losses coming as the favorite (and three wins against 1-AA opponents).

Up this weekend is a match-up with the Bulls of Buffalo, who are 1-0 coming off a 42-17 home win over UTEP. Last season, UB finished 5-7 (same record as Pitt), but were 5-3 in the MAC. They lost to both Rutgers (38-3) and Syracuse (20-12) of the Big East on the road a season ago.

In their opening win over C-USA's UTEP, quarterback Drew Willy completed 10 of 16 passes for 221 yards (nearly 14 yards an attempt) and 4 touchdowns. Running backs James Starks (179 yards) and Brandon Thermilus (102) yards both went over the century mark in rushing yards. Defensively, the Bulls allowed just 67 yards rushing and 266 total in the game.

We expect the Panthers to open things up and use their athletic advantages to throw down field to weapons such as Derek Kinder (a 2006 1st team all-Big East performer) and create more space for Lesean McCoy, who averaged just 3.1 yards a carry last week.

Pressure is most certainly on the Pitt coaching staff here on out. The time is now to start showing some imagination and putting to use their highly acclaimed recruitng abilities and become a force in the Big East football league. They dominated statistically last week (except for turnovers), now they just need to play to win. Will they learn in time for week #2? Looking at the College Football Odds, the 14-point favored Panthers has the oddsmakers behind them, let's see if their coaching staff believes in their talent and lets them let it all hang out.


Prediction:

Pittsburgh 30
Buffalo 13


For the fans in Pittsburgh to be excited and fill Heinz Field, it would have to be the Steelers and Bills instead of the Panthers and Bulls, however.

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DARNELL DODSON IMPROVING BASKETBALL SKILLS

September 3, 2008


When Pittsburgh took a verbal commitment from Darnell Dodson in the summer of 2006, it was not met with a lot of fanfare as the 6-foot-7 Dadson out of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt (MD) was not a big name in recruiting circles. However, a strong summer on the AAU circuit and a dominant senior season of high school proved that Jamie Dixon and his staff were ahead of the game in their recruitment of Dodson.

Dodson was a Washington Post First Team All-Met selection as a senior and averaged 29 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals for Coach Brendan O'Connell's Raiders. Dodson led ER to the Maryland 4A State semifinals and finished his three-year varsity career as the school's all-time leading scorer.

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Dodson spent over a month in Pittsburgh prior to his freshman year in college, completing several summer courses to get a jump on his college career, however, the NCAA Clearinghouse flagged a class on his transcript that was not approved and Dodson was deemed a non-qualifier, a surprising turn of events for the player that was quietly building hype around his pre-season play. From Pitt, it was off to Miami-Dade Community College where Dodson sat out last season and will suit up this year for Matt Eisele's club.

Recently, the NBE Basketball Report spent some time Catching Up With Darnell Dodson.

“Darnell Dodson is doing great,” Eisele told the NBE Basketball Report. “He visited Pittsburgh over the summer and will return to Pitt after this year.”

“He will have three years (at Pitt),” Eisele said. “He is a Big Time Player (capitalized for emphasis) and very excited about joining the Pitt family.”

Dodson spent the first part of his summer at Miami-Dade hitting the weights and working on his game. The second half of the summer was spent working out at his high school back home with some familiar faces.

“All summer I was working out at Miami-Dade with the weights and in the gym with shooting drills, ball-handling, conditioning etc,” Dodson said. "Since I’ve been home I have been working out up at my old high school with coach O’Connell.”


"Darnell was out working out with us a lot in August," coach O'Connell said in an e-mail. "When I saw him I was surprised at how much bigger he had gotten. He seems to really be filling out physically and has probably grown an inch since his senior year in high school. He's also matured a lot both on and off the court - I think he's ready to contribute right now in the Big East."

There is no doubt, Dodson can shoot and score the basketball, that trait has certainly not left the talented forward's arsenal one bit according to his former high school coach.

"Darnell has a great all-around game, but I think his ability to score will help Pitt immeadiately," O'Connell stated. "He just has a knack for putting the ball in the basket."

With Sam Young, Levance Fields and Tyrell Biggs as seniors on the highly touted 2008-2009 Panther squad, look for Darnell Dodson to step in and be ready to help pick up the slack once he arrives back at Pitt for the 2009-2010 season to significantly improve their NCAA Basketball Odds by adding a dynamic scorer to the mix with inoming recruits Dante Taylor and Lamar Patterson also in the class.

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