Connecticut Recruiting, Louisville News, Louisville Recruiting, Marquette News, Marquette Recruiting, Notre Dame Recruiting, Pittsburgh News, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, St. John's News, St. John's Recruiting, Syracuse Recruiting, Transfers, Villanova Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (8/14/2009)

Another Friday is upon us and it has been a week where Rick Pitino and his off-court troubles have dominated the news around the Big East and today his issues dominate our Big East News & Notes. The fallout is yet to be determined, but damage has definitely been done to his reputation and that of others. Some of the latest stories and reactions have been linked below.

Also, recruiting updates on Tobias Harris and Marquis Teague are included within the Pitino coverage and there are also recruiting updates on Jayvaughn Pinkston and the UConn recruiting visits planned for this week. Elsewhere, a couple looks at the 2009-2010 Big East for readers to check out and more info on new Pitt Panther Chase Adams, a look at the Marquette rebuilding process with Buzz Williams and St. John’s looks to get an early start on an important season for their head coach…

Read all about these in the links below!
——————–

The total fallout for Rick Pitino and the Louisville program amid the public sex scandal with Karen Cunigan Sypher has yet to be determined. With an extorion trial in the future, who knows what other details or ’stories’ will be coming to light. For now, the media outlets across the web are having a feeding frenzy with the sordid affair. Here are some of the latest articles and columns from around the worldwide web…

- The Hartford Courant’s Mike Anthony has a ‘Rick Pitino’ blog post where he posts the Pitino press conference statement in full. He also has the statements from the UL athletic director and school president.

- The USA Today has a notebook on the Pitino affair as a Louisville Student Group Wants Pitino Dismissed.

- Currently, Recruits are Not Abandoning Pitino in Wake of Scandal (AP Story in Chicago Tribune), but the road could get tougher. All four incoming players for 2009-2010 have been taking classes at UL this summer and currently committed players are sticking with their pledges, according to facebook messages. We will see how future recruiting continues as FoxSports.com’s Jeff Goodman believes that the Pitino Sex Scandal is Bound to Affect Recruiting.

- Shawn Teague, former Pitino player with Boston University and father of top Louisville guard target in the class fo 2011 Marquis Teague told the Louisville Courier-Journal that he and his family have No ‘Qualms with Pitino’ as the younger Teague is considering Louisville, Indiana, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Ohio State and Purdue.

However, once considered a commitment for UL at anytime when the summer began, the recruiting process of the Indianapolis (IN) Pike star continues to go longer and longer…maybe it is a coincidence, but the Pitino rumors began to swirl and stories leak out about the time many were expecting Marquis to pull the trigger earlier this summer.

- Another elite recruit, this one in the class of 2010, Tobias Harris recently talked to Dime Magazine about the Pitino situations. Like others are saying publicly as well, this Louisville Recruit is Not Swayed by the Pitino Drama and plans to welcome the UL coach to his home for an in-house visit September 12th.

Other schools coming by for visits include Kentucky on 9/9, the 10th is Georgia Tech, the 11th is Notre Dame, the 12th is Syracuse, Connecticut and Louisville, the 13th is St. John’s and Tennessee, the 14th is Oklahoma, the 15th is West Virginia, the 16th is Maryland and the 17th is Rutgers, according to Tobias in the Dime article.

Harris was also expected to be a participant in the Syracuse elite camp at the end of this month, but he expressed doubt that he will attend in the article.

- Another USA Today article wonders How Can Pitino Continue at Louisville?

- AP sports columnist Tim Dahlberg weighs in that Lots Can Be Learned from Sordid Pitino Affair.

- And, finally, here is Ray Mernagh’s take on it for NBE: Bell of the BE-ast: Pitino Edition.

We are also looking for the Big East fans thoughts, feelings and observations on the Pitino story, and anything else Big East related. E-mail the NBE Sports Network at nbeblog@hotmail.com and we will post fan reaction in a future mailbag! Keep it clean and respectable, include name and location, and you just might have your voice seen and heard by our audience, which ranges between 30,000 and 40,000 unique visitors a month….
———————————————————————————–

One to more Big East News & Notes…

The Hartford Courant also had a brief update on the Connecticut recruiting visits of Josh Selby, Jeremy Lamb and Rod Odom as Selby Visits Thursday, Lamb Visits Friday and Odom Sometime Soon.
———————————————————————————–

Jayvaughn Pinkston has proven time and time again on the AAU and NYC high school scene to be one tough customer on the basketball court. Despite a game predicated more on power than skill at 6-foot-6, Pinkston will likely have a very big impact on the college game early and often in his career at the next level. The NYC product is being recruited by St. John’s, Marquette, Arizona, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Villanova, Tennessee and Miami. Recently, Pinkston Gets the Ball Rolling With ‘Nova and Tennessee Visits on the recruiting trail. Pinkston said he’d be visiting Marquette later this summer and had no plans to announce his college choice.
———————————————————————————

While NBE has been meandering through out Big East Summer Reports by team, a few other websites have some brief, early preseason looks at the 16 teams around the conference. The Hartford Courant takes a look at the 2009-10 Big East with some nice pictures from all 16 teams. CBSSports.com also has Offseason Observations of the Big East and the 16 teams.
————————————————————————————

Here is more, this time fromt he Baltimore Sun’s Recruiting Report, on late 2009-2010 Pittsburgh addition Chase Adams as the Baltimore Native Heads to Pitt for his final season of college eligibility. The former Baltimore Stars AAU product will reunite with another former Baltimore Star in fellow Panther senior Jermaine Dixon.
————————————————————————————–

Jeff Goodman spent some time recently with Marquette head coach Buzz Williams and staff and got to catch up with some of the new faces around the Golden Eagle program as Marquette Rebuilds with an Anonymous Group (FoxSports.com) as the Buzz Williams’ era begins in earnest this season.
————————————————————————————-

St. John’s will attempt to get a head start in a very important season for head coach Norm Roberts and his program as St. John’s Will be Playing Preseason Games in Canada (The East Coast Bias) over Labor Day weekend. These trips offer an early bonding experience for the players and the staff to put the players through 10 practices prior to the trip.