Cat Basket Podcast Number 21

Spring Game preview!

Cat Basket Podcast Number 21

Quick Update

So we are two days out of the Blue-Gold game. Here is what to expect from the website over the weekend. There will be a Spring Game podcast up tomorrow afternoon. On Saturday we will put up a podcast reviewing the Spring Game. Then over the course of the next week we will give some thoughts on the spring as a whole and where we stand going into fall camp.

Thanks for reading.

Not good news for Berry, Duhart, and Jones

As was reported by the PG today, Aaron Berry, Tommie Duhart, and Wayne Jones have all been suspended for the rest of spring practices due to unrelated violations of team rules.

This certainly could be the final straw for Duhart and Jones. Duhart was already on thin ice as he was suspended during the season last year and seemed to always be in Wannstedt's doghouse. His past problems coupled with the fact that Craig Bokor has passed him on the depth chart means that more than likely he has seen his last game as a Panther.

Wayne Jones was brought in a couple years ago as a gray shirt. He was always viewed as a project and until this point really hasn't developed. He really hasn't been a guy that we have heard about getting in trouble in the past. Despite this, I think that he may end up leaving team which will open up a scholarship to help us stay under the 85 scholarship limit and allow us to take an extra guy next year.

Lastly, we have Aaron Berry. This one was a huge surprise as Berry is considered to be a leader of the defense and is being projected as a 1st team all Big East player. Berry's situation is very similar to what we saw with Elijah Fields. The difference here is that this is the first time we have heard publicly about Berry getting in trouble. He is the only one of the three that I feel will be back this year.

I'm of the mindset that we need to run a clean, hard disciplined program. If a player gets in trouble people, examples must be made and precedents must be set. We saw Shane Brooks and Mo Williams forced out due to grade issues. Elijah Fields was suspended for a year due to drug problems.

Now we have these 3 latest incidents plus the off season news of TJ Porter's DUI's.

While it may not be the popular opinion here, if the violation is severe enough, the players need to be removed from the team. I certainly don't want to be seen as a school that lets the players get away with anything.

Hopefully all of these guys learn from their mistakes. Playing football on Saturday's isn't as important as it is to make sure they don't end up continually getting in trouble throughout the rest of their lives.

Late Scrimmage Thoughts

Sorry for the lateness of this post but I have been away for a little bit. I thought I would give some of my thoughts on the second scrimmage. All the stats are coming from Gorman's blog on the Trib website.

• Dion Lewis continues to be the story of camp. He has only been on campus since January and has already emerged as the first team running back. This is really shocking to me not because of what type of player he could be but it is so tough for a freshman to make an impact under this coaching staff. I can't wait to see him at the spring game to see if the hype is real.
• Lucas Nix is pushing for that right tackle spot and he is doing exactly what he needs to do to make it a difficult decision for the staff. 
• Stull at least completed some passes in the scrimmage going 9 for 14. Sunseri had the best numbers going 9 for 12 and Bostick went 9 for 17. This "competition" is three guys having good and bad days but nobody winning the job. All this is going to lead to Stull as the starter and Bostick as the backup. I would be willing to bet money on it.
• A weird development is that highly regarded redshirt freshman kicker Kevin Harper is having accuracy problems. He has a monster leg and was expected to take over the job but his problems have led to the emergence of Dan Hutchins. Hutchins has been very accurate in camp and could take over the field goal duties this year.

So I focused mainly on the offense today. Tomorrow I will take a look at what to look for from the defense on Saturday.

Gorman's Blog

More Camp Thoughts

I've been trying to wade through some of the information coming out early in the week. Here some news from the past couple of days:

• Lucas Nix finally has been put with the first team but as a right tackle. Joe Thomas is back in practice after being injured but the coaching staff has him as the second team right tackle. This move is probably just to give Nix more time without misplacing Gibbs at left tackle for now.
• Another big story on the offensive line is the disappointing play of Robb Houser. This is a huge deal if Houser can't win this job. We have no depth at center other than a walk-on in Alex Karabin and Wayne Jones. Neither of those two guys can be full time centers at the college level yet. If we need to shuffle this line and move maybe Malecki to center we could be in rough shape.
• Shayne Hale is having a great spring and will definitely be involved in the rotation at defensive end. I was not a fan of moving him to defensive line considering the lack of a playmaker we have at middle linebacker but if he can get on the field I'm a fan.
• Stull lost a bunch of first team reps in practice yesterday but I read absolutely nothing into that. Spring game he will be the starter and I can't see the depth changing.

That is it for today and hopefully we get some more news leading up to the next scrimmage Stull completes 2 passes at.