Louisville News, Louisville Recruiting, Pittsburgh News, Providence News, Providence Recruiting, Ray Mernagh

RAY MERNAGH’S AROUND THE BIG EAST (VOL. 1.1)

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by RAY MERNAGH

- Gilbert Brown being out for the first semester couldn’t come at a worse time for Brown. Brown is Pittsburgh‘s best athlete and one of three Panthers that have proven to have the goods at the Big East level. This was the year Brown was going to realize his vast potential and breakout like Sam Young did two seasons ago. In a strange way — and I retain the right to change my mind — this could be the best thing long-term for Jamie Dixon’s club. The player that stands to get the first crack at benefiting from Brown’s misfortune is Nasir Robinson, the sophomore forward out of the Illadelph area (Chester to be exact). Robinson impressed with his ability to play a role in limited action last season, always displaying a very high basketball IQ coupled with a fearlessness that made me want to see more of him (usually wasn’t possible given the depth last year’s Panthers possessed). I’m of the mind that once Nas Robinson gets major minutes, he’ll do too many things that help win games to ever give those minutes up again. I see him as a more athletic Jaron Brown, who I contend was the most important player in the New Era of Pitt hoop’s success next to Brandin Knight. Something tells me Robinson will eventually be that consistent 11-12 pts, 6-7 rebounds and 3-4 assists guy that’s so rare these days. I also think he’ll lead his younger mates with his toughness. Jermaine Dixon and Brad Wanamaker will have to produce on the perimeter. One national columnist — the excellent Jeff Goodman at Fox — recently opined that this was a rebuilding year for Pitt no matter what.

Maybe. I know Jamie Dixon hasn’t experienced a rebuilding year yet (read NIT berth). Check back in mid-January. Before then is way too soon to count out Dixon and the kids he targets to play for him. It would not shock me to see Pitt in the hunt once again come the third or fourth week of the conference season. It’s what they do. Brown, on the other hand, will have a chance to man up and finish out his career with a renewed energy and passion — how the red shirt junior responds when he returns December 20th will be interesting. His talent added to the mix of a younger confident team could be the difference for the Panthers, and for whether he comes back for a final season or not.

- Rick Pitino was adamant in his press conference last week — well really, it was a lecture to the media, on the day Ted Kennedy died, about how proud he was to be a New Yorker, mixed with a hint that if this scandal does end up taking him down he wouldn’t mind working in the media he was lecturing — that he will continue to recruit top-ten classes at Louisville and that the Cards will remain a top-ten program. Pitino’s son Richard had made big strides into Indianapolis recruiting-wise before he left for Billy Donovan’s staff in Florida, and with his recent hire of Pike high school assistant Shabaka Lands, Pitino has made it evident that the Cards don’t want to give up any ground that Richard gained in the Circle. While it’s true that the hire is close with 2011 point guard Marquise Teague and his family — a top target and priority for Pitino (and Kentucky and Indiana and anyone else who recruits in that stratosphere) — Lands is also extremely immersed in Indianapolis basketball and it’s players. “Shabaka is one of those guys that knows everybody and that I see in every gym in Indy, just not Pike’s,” says one D-1 assistant who’s territory includes Indy. “Louisville is recruiting Indy hard and hiring him in any capacity gives them an edge there with every prospect they want to go after because he knows all those kids.”

It’s a part of the game, everyone does it. If any one’s complaining about the hire it’s only because they either couldn’t get it done or didn’t think of it first.

- Providence recently hosted the top player in the class of 2012, big man Andre Drummond, on an unofficial visit. Even getting this kid on campus was huge for Keno Davis’ program, as it shows they are recruiting the way they need to in order to eventually thrive in the Big East. If you’re a program like the Friars, you need to get top kids on campus early, offer them early and continue to recruit the hell out of them hoping it makes a difference that you were there when the UConn’s, the Louisville’s and the Kentucky’s of the world were still biding their time. And it can work for Providence because the campus has that Ivy League feel to it along with facilities that are a lot nicer than recruits think. Keno Davis and staff are already getting highly-rated kids from new England (something many thought wouldn’t happen when he was hired away from Drake). The style they want to play is uptempo in the 80′s and 90′s with pressure defense. If they can have a few years of 10-12 wins in the league kids are going to take notice.

“We all recruit every kid we’re interested in,” says assistant Rodell Davis, “it’s a tag team effort so the kids get to know each staff member.”

Davis was recruited by Bruce Pearl and Dr. Tom Davis back in the day in the same manner and it made him choose Iowa, where he was a star guard on some very good teams that had the bad luck to run into Duke in the second round of March Madness in both their back-to-back years.

“Pearl was a madman as a recruiter,” says Davis, “just completely relentless.”

Davis told me one of the best things about his boss is Keno’s flexibility when it comes to both game-planning and philosophy. “He’s going to find out what your strength is as a player and let you capitalize on that within the framework of our system,” says Davis. “He’s very good on a game-by-game basis adjusting to whatever gives his team the best chance to win.” And that’s huge in this day in age of coaches that want to just play one way all the time no matter what.

They’re coaches out there that won’t play zone defense, no matter what, even if it gives them a better chance to win. Even if their teams can’t guard anyone! How stupid is that? Davis coached for five years at the JUCO level in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He joined Davis for his first year at Drake and then found himself on a Big East staff. “I went from Cheyenne to Drake to Providence in eighteen months,” says the Thornton HS product (he teamed with DePaul assistant Tracy Webster in high school at the Harvey, Illinois-based program). Davis says that he and his boss always enjoyed a good relationship, and that Keno Davis told him if he ever got a head job he wanted him on his first staff.

“I know guys that have been coaching a long time and still haven’t made it to a high-major league,” says Davis, “I realize how fortunate I am.”

Even if it must get confusing when someone yells “coach Davis” in the Providence basketball office. The staff includes Rodell, Chris, and Keno Davis. I wonder if Pat Skerry has considered a name change.

- Finally I’ll leave you with a little national tidbit from Arizona assistant Book Richardson, who I talked to as he drove into work this morning. Richardson says the Wildcats should be able to recruit nationally because the history that Lute Olson created in building the program up. Now that Sean Miller is in charge, things should be smooth again after a few years of disarray. “The campus is nice and big, but it’s not too big,” says Richardson, “it has character.”

I was speaking to Book about basketball in New York City, specifically about an AAU program that’s on the rise and the leader of that program that we’ll have a piece about up either Thursday or Friday. Book Richardson was the coach of the legendary Gauchos (even though he played for rival Riverside) and also won two championships back-to-back with St. Raymond’s in the Bronx. He said the up and coming program is on “every coach’s lips at the big events because they’ve brought New York back.” But Richardson is in the west now and seems settled and happy.

A well-connected basketball insider with ties to the NBA, International, AAU, and prep school scenes told me he’s never seen a staff do a better job than Arizona’s new staff did in recruiting Kyryl Natyazhko. “It wasn’t even close,” says the Insider, “they recruited rings around all the others that were on the kid and ended up getting him.” The source said that Miller and staff constantly talk about “competitive character” and place more value on that than anything else.

That’s enough for now. More Around the Big East next Tuesday and keep your eyes peeled for what should be a special piece about a special situation Thursday or Friday.

Peace.

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