The Pitt Week in Review (June 27 – July 3)

It was another busy week here at Pittsburgh Sports Now; both on the blog and behind the scenes. We published 19 articles, racked up nearly 100,000 page views and, oh yeah, hired Alan Saunders to be part of the team.

But enough about us, (this is the Pitt week in review, after all). Here’s everything that’s happened in the world of Pitt Athletics in the past week.

(At least everything I noticed, if you feel that there’s something egregious missing, email me jstags2112 @ gmail.com or hit me up on twitter @steigerwaldino.)

MONDAY

• The dead period in college football recruiting begins.
• (Technically this was Sunday, but who’s counting?) WPIAL Sports News came out with their top 30 WPIAL players from the class of 2019.
• Monday’s Pitt Recruiting News looked at a whole bunch of players including CB Josiah Scott, DT Cam Goode, WR Dontavius Butler and more.
• Our own Rich Donahue chatted with Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi about Pitt’s 7×7 tournament last weekend.
• We talked with Johnny Jordan, a talented lineman from Gonzaga in Washington DC about his Pitt visit.
• Tim Benz and Guy Junker from the TribLive Morning Show talked with NCAA prognosticator Phil Steele about the upcoming Pitt football season. (Podcast)
• The Pitt Panther softball team wrapped up their season with a 31-21 overall record and a trip to the ACC tournament.

TUESDAY

• Tuesday’s Pitt/WPIAL recruiting notes shed some light on 7’0″ basketball prospect Victor Uyaelunmo’s visit to Pitt.
• Tim Benz remains skeptical over Pitt’s platitude-filled new athletic plan.
• We took a look at the WPIAL’s next potential star QB, Hempfield’s Justin Sliwoski.
• Florida LB Albert Tucker committed to Pitt.
• IMPORTANT ALCOHOL RELATED NEWS: Pitt will be selling beer at Heinz Field!
• Pitt expects to raise over $500k by allowing beer sales at Heinz Field during football games.
• Pitt released its men’s basketball non-conference schedule.
• Cardiac Hill asked “Which true freshman (aside from Damar Hamlin) will have the biggest impact for Pitt in the fall?”

WEDNESDAY

• Say hello to the newest member of the team, Alan Saunders!
• It was a slow day in the Pitt recruiting department.
• In his first article for the site, Alan Saunders talked with Beaver Falls’ Donovan Jeter.
• Our own Mike Vukovcan visited the Pitt practice facility with his sons.
• James Conner was a guest on the Jim Rome show.
• John Harris at the Trib analyzes Pitt’s non-conference men’s basketball schedule.
• All five Pitt baseball players picked in the 2016 MLB drafted have signed.

THURSDAY

• For our Thursday notes column, we reached out to a whole bunch of recruits and asked them about their recruiting and where they stand with Pitt.
• Paul Zeise says beer sales at Heinz Field is all about money.
• NFL.com broke down the numbers on the colleges with the most alums in their ‘top 100 players in the NFL list‘. Pitt is tied for 3rd with 4 players: Aaron Donald, Darrelle Revis, Larry Fitzgerald and LeSean McCoy.

FRIDAY

• Tim Benz on Pitt fans using hashtag activism on social media to help recruiting.
• Our Friday notes column had some interesting news on Carnell Lake’s son, Quentin; as well as Kevin Doyle and Kwantell Raines.
• Interview bonanza with Steel Valley’s DeWayne Murray, Mt. Lebanon’s David Harvey and Woodland Hill’s JuJuan Hill and Asheed Page-Jones.
• WPIAL Sports News released it’s list of top 50 players (class of 2018).
• Lance Lysowski at DK Pittsburgh Sports looks at how the Pitt baseball team is going to rebuild after having 5 players taken in the MLB draft.
• Goodbye block Pitt letters…

The block Pitt is being scrubbed away from center court at the Pete. The script transition continues pic.twitter.com/aOmBDRU3hq

— Craig Meyer (@CraigMeyerPG) July 1, 2016

SATURDAY

• We talk with quarterback Kevin Doyle about Pitt and his many recruiting offers.
• Checking in on Clairton’s Noah Hamlin.
• Rob Rossi: James Conner wants to do more than just ‘come back’ he wants to be great.
• ESPN on the assistant coaches in the ACC Coastal Division with the toughest challenges.
• NFL.com has Jordan Whitehead on their list of ‘college football’s most versatile players‘.

SUNDAY

• Speculation running wild in our Sunday notes column. Plus lots of new Pitt recruiting news, of course.
• Pitt will “win the ACC Coastal“.