The Scoop
What's Really Going On

Big D-Blair

Pitt freshman basketball player DeJuan Blair was one of the top recruits in the country coming out of the city's Schenley High School. By all accounts, Blair is the real deal - a hard-working brute who is impossible to move out of the paint and possesses a good touch around the basket. Blair's biggest battles may not be against other Big East post players, however. The six-foot-seven blue-chipper showed up at the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro Am Summer League around 300-pounds. He's athletic enough to play at that weight, but on two rebuilt knees three bills is probably at least 40 pounds overweight. The Panthers are nothing if not in excellent condition, so expect Blair to be whipped into shape. He'll have to trim down if he wants to play up to his enormous potential.

What's In A Name: Shady McCoy

Superstar freshman running back LeSean McCoy of Pitt has gone by the nickname Shady ever since he can remember. Everyone calls him Shady - friends, family, teammates, coaches - everyone. He says his mom gave him the nickname when he was an infant. "She said I was a shady baby," McCoy told reporters this summer. "I'd cry one minute and then be happy and smiling the next, so she said I had a shady attitude."