Pitt’s heralded recruiting class makes its debut in Blue-Gold game

The Petersen Events Center buzzed with the excitement of more than 2,000 fans when the Pitt… The Petersen Events Center buzzed with the excitement of more than 2,000 fans when the Pitt men’s basketball team took the court on Saturday in the annual Blue-Gold scrimmage at the season kickoff event, Fan Fest. Although the blue emerged victorious, 72-61, there were many other stories on the floor.

The Panthers, only returning two starters from last year in senior point guard Carl Krauser and junior guard Antonio Graves, have a new look about them. Pitt brings in five new players, including freshmen Tyrell Biggs, Levance Fields and Sam Young, to go along with junior transfers Doyle Hudson and Mike Cook. Cook, however, coming from East Carolina, will not be eligible to play until the 2006-07 season because of NCAA transfer regulations.

“This is the best group we’ve had in seven years,” Panthers’ head coach Jamie Dixon said. “They’re all pretty physical and they all bring something different. They all play with energy and they’re excited.”

The excitement from the fans’ standpoint started early in the scrimmage when Young took a long feed and finished with an acrobatic dunk. If that wasn’t exciting enough, he did it a second time. Not even two minutes later, he stepped out and drained a three.

“He’s going to play inside and out,” Dixon said about Young’s versatility. “He has the ability to do that.”

Young is also catching the eye of his teammates.

“He’s more of an official slasher,” Krauser said. “He’s kind of like Desmond Mason of the Milwaukee Bucks. Sam is a great player and a great addition to the team.” Young finished with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds.

Another player with such versatility is junior forward Levon Kendall. Although only seeing about 14 minutes per game last season, Kendall knows the system and is looking to step into an accelerated role with fellow junior Aaron Gray to help replace both Chris Taft and Chevon Troutman, who Pitt lost last year to the NBA and graduation, respectively.

“Both of us are excited, and we’ve always played well together,” Kendall said of himself and Gray. “Between me being able to shoot and [him] being a threat inside, [it] will really open up each other’s games. We’re really complementing each other well.” Kendall and Gray combined for 33 points, while Gray pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Despite having many new faces in the lineup, the team chemistry doesn’t seem to be affected from the players’ standpoint.

“They don’t look like freshmen out there. They stepped in right away and they’re doing their job,” said sophomore guard Ronald Ramon, who averaged around seven points per game last season, hit two threes for six points Saturday and is looking to make an impact, despite an off-season injury to his shooting hand.

“I should be back to normal before the season starts,” Ramon said. “I should be back 100 percent. Everybody has a role on our team. Everybody should step up and I’ll help the team as well as everybody else will.”

But undoubtedly, the biggest story this year is Krauser’s return. Last year’s leader in scoring and assists came back for his final season as a Panther after a failed attempt to enter the NBA draft last season.

“It was a great feeling to be back in Pittsburgh,” Krauser said. “In the NBA it’s a business. When you come back to college it’s really about true love and true passion and everybody committing themselves to one solid goal, and that’s championships.”

“Nobody comes to college to just play basketball, everybody wants to win. Being back here makes everything easier and I appreciate the game a lot more than I usually do.”

Krauser played alongside freshman point guard Levance Fields for most of the game. Fields, who many feel is being groomed to be Krauser’s replacement, tallied 11 points and six assists on the day.

“He does remind me of myself,” Krauser said of Fields. “He’s a great point guard. We both come out there with the same type of intensity and you don’t lose anything with two point guards. One’s learning from the other, and I’m learning as the year goes on to get better and better.”

All in all, the event was a success and started the season on the right foot. According to Dixon, “It was a good event for the fans, great turnout and just a good day all the way around.”