Should Pitt hoops be thankful?

I’m sure over the long weekend, while you were at home enjoying football and turkey, at some… I’m sure over the long weekend, while you were at home enjoying football and turkey, at some point, you thought about what you were thankful for. Well at least you should have, I think.

In some families, everyone has to go around and say what they’re thankful for this year. I think it would have been interesting to have been around the Dixon dining room table this year for Thanksgiving and hear what head basketball coach Jamie Dixon is thankful for.

Sure, he has a lot to be thankful for. And Dixon would probably be the first to tell you that.

After being the assistant coach to Ben Howland as the Pitt basketball program experienced its most successful period in school history, Dixon moved down the bench to the head spot to lead a team that was full of seniors and playing in a brand new state-of-the-art facility.

In his first year, Dixon became the first rookie head coach in Big East history to guide his team to the league’s regular season title and earn Big East Coach of the Year honors. Dixon earned those accolades after leading the Panthers to their third consecutive Big East regular season title and third straight NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen appearance, and to a school-record 31 wins.

In his second season at Pitt, Dixon guided the Panthers into a school-record fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the program’s fourth consecutive 20-plus win season at 20-9.

As successful as he’s been here at Pitt, doubters still say that he has only ridden the coat tails of Howland and his recruiting.

With one of the nation’s top recruiting classes this season, it seemed as though Dixon would be thankful to get that monkey off his back.

That was the case last June 22, however, the date when Carl Krauser decided to pull his name out of the NBA entry draft just a week before it was about to take place.

Although this may sound a little far-fetched and even though I don’t think he would admit it to you, when the “What are you thankful for?” question made it to Dixon at the table this year, I don’t think he said that, “Carl came back to play for us this year.”

Sure, any coach would like to return his leading scorer and a player that plays with as much passion and determination as Krauser does. He will undoubtedly lead Pitt again this year. But I’m not so sure he will necessarily help them.

On a young team that will surely need leadership, Krauser is one of two seniors – the other is John DeGroat, who transferred last year from junior college – who can provide that leadership. But will that leadership be undermined by the playing time Krauser’s presence will be taking away from other young players?

Once the pushover preseason games are over, Pitt will be playing in the toughest college basketball conference ever assembled. They have been picked to finish seventh in the conference and I think eighth or ninth would have been fair as well.

With a finish like that, Pitt won’t need dancing shoes come March.

With that in mind, this should be a rebuilding year for the Panthers. Let the talented group of young guards that have played – Ronald Ramon, Antonio Graves and Keith Benjamin – gel with freshman standout Levance Fields for a year, and while Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall mature for another year, the sky could be the limit for the 2006-07 Panthers.

However, with Krauser here this season, that rebuilding won’t happen to the extent that it should.

I’ll be the first to tell you I’m a Krauser fan. Krauser is the best athlete to interview and is always a treat to be around. And if I’m not covering the games, I’ll be jumping up and down in the Zoo making the “X” over my head when he hits a three. But I just don’t think Dixon and the Pitt program should be thankful that Krauser is back this year.

It’s not Krauser’s fault, but it just seems obvious that while he might help the team this year more than the younger guards would, this fifth year might be detrimental to Pitt in the long run.

It will be interesting as the season plays out if Krauser’s playing time gets cut and Dixon begins thinking about the future of his program. That will depend on how Krauser and the young Panthers do in the tough Big East.

If they do surprise some people and contend once again for a Big East championship, we’ll have to be thankful Krauser returned.

I guess then I’ll have to eat my words. But for now, I’ll just stick to the turkey and stuffing leftovers my mom sent back with me.

Dave Thomas is a senior staff writer for The Pitt News. If you want to send him some of your leftovers just e-mail him at dthomas7224@yahoo.com and he’ll come by and pick them up.