SB Nation Boston: All Posts by Anson Whaley

Offensive tackle Michael Grimm commits to Pitt

2013-06-19T12:45:20Z

Well, open the floodgates or something. After a slow start in recruiting, it's been a busy last few days. First, there was safety Jalen Williams. Yesterday, Pitt picked up quarterback Adam Bertke and athlete Dennis Briggs.

Today? Coveted offensive tackle Michael Grimm says he's headed to Pitt, according to the Trib-Review:

"I liked the (recruiting) experience, but I've been thinking about it a lot, but this is home to me," Grimm said. "My mother and father (Nanette and Michael I) are a big part of how I play and how I go about my business.

"Being home will give me a bigger advantage. That's a big thing for me. I like being comfortable.

And, yeah - that spring game in Bethel Park? Grimm said he liked that, too:

"It was an honor for me," Grimm said. "It was just crazy, just seeing them play on the same field I play on every week. I was really happy that they chose our school to play. I really got to see how they are and how they go about things as a team, how they operate."

Don't get carried away here. I've been on the side of being against playing the spring game at local high schools and that still holds true. I'm not positive that it really influenced his decision all that much.

Grimm has legitimate talent and is the program's first big 'get' of the 2014 recruiting season. He's rated as a four-star by Rivals and they place him as the 25th best offensive tackle in the nation. He picked Pitt over other reported offers from West Virginia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and many others.

Pitt's recruiting all of a sudden looks a little brighter. Not sure it will ease the fears of many just yet, but getting Grimm is a big step in the right direction.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and manager/editor of Cardiac Hill, @AnsonWhaley.

Pitt picks up third commitment for 2014 recruiting class - Ohio quarterback Adam Bertke

2013-06-19T00:44:50Z

After a slow start, things are starting to pick up for Paul Chryst and his recruiting for 2014. The Panthers picked up their third offer in Ohio (Marion) quarterback, Adam Bertke.

Bertke is rated as a three-star recruit by Scout and currently unrated by Rivals. Scout also calls him the No. 50 quarterback in the nation FWIW. Bertke reportedly had several offers from schools including Illinois, Kent State, Bowling Green, and get this, Akron - where Chandler Kincade just went. So Pitt essentially lost the higher-rated Kincade for Bertke here.

Random link time.

Here was a good article on him with lots of quotes last year. And this former high school coach saw him at an Ohio State camp and came away impressed.

And it's worth noting that his dream school last fall was a B1G school such as Ohio State or Michigan, that had shown some interest. I bring that up because kids can change their minds if other offers come their way. If Michigan suddenly comes calling, that Pitt commitment could go out the window. Nothing against hist word, obviously, but like we saw last year with Dan Samuelson committing to Pitt only to leave once he got a Nebraska offer.

Now for the intriguing part - One reason Bertke apparently likes Pitt? The opportunity to play (no, really):

The other part of that opportunity is under center, where Bertke says bodies are needed.

"Depth is a little bit low right now. They only three or four guys and they're all upperclassmen. They told me they would take two quarterbacks in my year and I'm assuming they're going to redshirt one. They never told me for sure, but they said the would take two in my class and they didn't talk about playing time or which they'd redshirt."

Not sure where exactly Bertke got that notion. Pitt obviously has redshirt freshman Chad Voytik and true freshman Tra'Von Chapman on the roster and both are believed to have a lot of talent. Could Bertke have been told something about Chapman since his status is a bit murky with his recent troubles? Who knows. But even if Chapman does move on, there's still a young Voytik to compete with as well as the big target, recruit Keller Chryst.

There's some opportunity, but if Chryst comes, that suddenly looks like it's gone for several years. Heck, it's believed that opportunity was one of the main reasons Pitt lost out on Chandler Kincade since he thought he'd have a great chance to play at Akron.

Bertke provides a good safety net for Pitt. Obviously, Pitt wants Keller Chryst, but at this point bringing in someone (anyone) for 2014 helps.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and manager/editor of Cardiac Hill, @AnsonWhaley.

Four Pitt baseball players make Rawlings' All Region Team

2013-06-18T19:00:04Z

More postseason honors for Pitt baseball players. This time, it was four more players being named to the 2013 Rawlings-ABCA All Region (East) Team.

Making the squad were Casey Roche, Sam Parente, Ethan Mildren, and Elvin Soto. The selections gave Pitt a total of 30 All-Region players in the program's history. Roche, Mildren, and Soto made the first team and Parente was chosen for the second team. The Panthers' four players were the most of any school.

The program has gotten quite a bit respect in postseason awards this year after a school record 42 wins. Roche was previously named the NCBWA's All Region Player of the Year. Several players were named to the All Big East team by the conference earlier and head coach Joe Jordano was named as the league's Coach of the Year.

In addition, Mildren and Soto were also both selected in the MLB Draft earlier this month.

After a bit of a wild goose chase, I was able to finally track down the entire All-Region East team.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author @AnsonWhaley.

Pitt defensive stars Aaron Donald and Jason Hendricks named to Athlon's All-ACC First Team

2013-06-18T12:00:03Z

A little bit more recognition for Pitt's defensive standouts Aaron Donald and Jason Hendricks. Athlon picked both for their All-ACC First Team last week. No Panthers made either of their second or third teams.

Here was the full first team:

QB Tajh Boyd, Clemson

RB Duke Johnson, Miami

RB Jerome Smith, Syracuse

WR Stefon Diggs, Maryland

WR Sammy Watkins, Clemson

TE Eric Ebron, North Carolina

C Bryan Stork, Florida State

OG Tre’ Jackson, Florida State

OG Brandon Linder, Miami

OT James Hurst, North Carolina

OT Brandon Thomas, Clemson

DE James Gayle, Virginia Tech

DE Kareem Martin, North Carolina

DT Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh

DT Timmy Jernigan, Florida State

LB Christian Jones, Florida State

LB Quayshawn Nealy, Georgia Tech

LB Jack Tyler, Virginia Tech

CB Ross Cockrell, Duke

CB Lamarcus Joyner, Florida State

S Kyshoen Jarrett, Virginia Tech

S Jason Hendricks, Pittsburgh

K Chandler Catanzaro, Clemson

P Will Monday, Duke

KR Duke Johnson, Miami

PR Rashad Greene, Florida State

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author @AnsonWhaley.

No Soup for You: Vanderbilt transfer Sheldon Jeter loses appeal to transfer to Pitt

2013-06-17T13:30:04Z

When Sheldon Jeter announced he was leaving Vanderbilt's basketball program, it appeared Pitt would be the likely destination. Jeter, though, was blocked by his head coach Kevin Stallings from coming to the Panthers.

No true reason was provided and given the lack of history between the two schools, the widely speculated reason that Stallings is blocking the transfer is because he feels that Pitt tampered with Jeter in some way while he was still with Vanderbilt.

So Jeter went to a higher court, so to speak - appealing to the university as a whole. But that didn't change things and the school denied his request according to the Post-Gazette.

Jeter now has a couple of options. He can head somewhere else or he can still come to Pitt and pay his own way his first year. He'll then be able to go on scholarship after that. Really, it comes down to just how badly does Jeter want to be a Panther.

His primary reason for wanting to come home is to be closer to family. Pitt may be the ideal scenario, but he can also accomplish that by going somewhere like West Virginia or Penn State. He could also head to a smaller non D-I school closer to Pittsburgh.

I made this point before, but if Pitt truly did tamper with him, I've really got no beef with what Stallings did in blocking him. Pitt, after all, did the same thing with Rushel Shell. As I've mentioned in the past, it's NOT the same situation - Arizona State has become an arch enemy of sorts with the Todd Graham fiasco and it's understandable that they'd have bad feelings towards them. But if Pitt tampered and Stallings feels like Jeter has done the program wrong, it's easy to see why he'd hold a bit of a grudge.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author @AnsonWhaley.

All the Links: Weekly Pitt link dump / "Interstate Love Song" (Stone Temple Pilots)

2013-06-17T12:00:07Z

Here's this week's collection of Pitt-related links. Your music selection (and by 'your', I mean mine)? A live version of STP with Interstate Love Song.

Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song (Live Rolling Rock Town Fair) (via IronRevolution)

Athletic Director Steve Pederson came up as a topic of discussion for a few questions in Jerry Micco's chat

Speaking of Pederson, he talked to 93.7 The Fan last week

Former football player Eric Williams had his drug charges dropped after community service

Pitt was near the middle of ACC schools in the recent APRs

Atlantic Coast Convos ranked Pitt's QB unit 14th out of 15 ACC schools

ACCFootballRx has a new division realignment scenario for the conference

Quarterback Tom Savage is, of course, one of the transfers to watch in the ACC

Hey, look - a party to celebrate joining the ACC

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author @AnsonWhaley.

Weekly Pitt Open Thread (6/17/13)

2013-06-17T04:00:03Z

Here's your weekly open thread.

Just like a gamethread, this post will remain open and at the top of the page for you to readily drop your comments, thoughts, links, questions, rumors, etc. throughout the week. Think of it as a giant message board, but with a little more functionality since every topic covered is in the same place and you can reply just as easily to specific comments - just like you can for all of our other posts.

Use this thread for:

Comments about any Pitt stuff that's unrelated to the current posts
Breaking Pitt news as it happens
Pitt links you found on the internet that we haven't posted
Links about potential Pitt recruits
Funny GIFs. Who doesn't love funny GIFs?

This thread will be left up until the end of the day on Sunday and then we'll begin a new one starting on Monday at midnight.

No major rules here, but keep it civil, folks.

Other than that, post away.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author @AnsonWhaley.

Derrick Randall transferring from Rutgers to Pitt

2013-06-17T00:44:17Z

Pitt got some good news on Sunday when ZagsBlog reported that Derrick Randall will be transferring from Rutgers to the Panthers. Randall is a 6'8" forward that should help the Panthers' frontcourt situation - even if only for the sake of depth. He will have two years of eligibility left.

Randall initially chose Rutgers over other offers including those from St. John's, Providence, DePaul, Virginia Tech, Seton Hall, South Carolina, and St. Joe's. He requested his release back in May and visited Pitt recently and decided to commit.. He picked the Panthers over Minnesota and Iona.

Let's not go overboard here. Randall was a pretty modest three-star recruit that played sparingly for a bad Big East team last season. And he actually got fewer minutes last year than he did in 2011-12. But he's positive he can do more at Pitt and thinks he didn't get to show what he could do at Rutgers:

"I am ready to prove myself as a player and show people that I can play. I want to make an impact somewhere and earn a significant role. I did not get to show what I am capable of in my first two years."

This isn't a bad pickup for Pitt. For one, Randall should be able to play right away, I'm guessing. His reason for leaving is based on the Mike Rice disaster and if that's not reasonable cause to get a waiver, I'm not sure what is. Randall can step right into the Panthers' lineup and play. And if he gets his waiver, he should get minutes in a pretty thin frontcourt.

Also, while there have to be questions about how much he can contribute, he's a legitimate Big East player. FWIW, this site says he's not a great rebounder, but Randall, at worst, fills a roster spot and adds some depth to the program.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author @AnsonWhaley.