Q: I'd like to know what you think about Pitt's depth, especially now that we have lost Mike Cook for the year. With Big East play right around the corner, does Coach Dixon know enough about his younger players?

Jim Walther, Scott Township

FITTIPALDO: Pitt's depth, or lack thereof, has to be a big concern for Dixon as he gets ready for Big East play. Dixon was playing an eight-man rotation before Cook was injured. He will likely play with a seven-man rotation for the time being and hope that freshman guard Bradley Wanamaker can improve enough over the next few weeks that he can use him in a role where he plays a few minutes per game, and it gets back to some semblance of an eight-man rotation.

I believe Pitt will be fine with Gilbert Brown or Keith Benjamin at small forward in place of Cook. They'll fill in and do fine. But bringing along Wanamaker in Big East play is not ideal and Dixon could find himself in some predicaments in a few games in January, February and March if his team is in foul trouble. This team is very good, but it is now very thin as well.

Q: Do you see Jamie Dixon as a guy who believes that he can win at Pitt for the rest of his career?

Pittsburgh is not known for its local talent(Blair is the first player in a long time from the area to play for Pitt) and at many other schools it might be easier to land the blue-chip athletes that some may find necessary to get to a Final Four.

Andrew Heacox, Langhorne, Pa.

FITTIPALDO: That's an interesting question, Andrew. Let me say this: Dixon is very comfortable now that Steve Pederson is the athletic director again. Pederson and Dixon have a very good relationship. Dixon's relationship with Jeff Long was strained to the point that they almost never spoke. When Dixon was entertaining offers from Arizona State and Missouri a few years ago, he phoned Pederson, who was the athletic director at Nebraska at the time, for advice. Pederson reminded Dixon that he was in a very good situation at Pitt, and Dixon opted to stay and a sign a long-term extension.

That doesn't mean Pitt fans don't have to worry about Dixon leaving now that Pederson is back. The more Pitt wins the more other programs looking for a coach will put the full-court press on for Dixon. It comes with the territory of having a perennial top 25 program.

You are correct when you state it is not easy to get elite players to Pitt because Pittsburgh is not a high school basketball hotbed. Dixon and his staff must work extra hard in places like New York City, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia to find players. They have been able to do it, but it's not easy because those cities have successful college programs that high school players are more familiar with. In

many ways, Pitt is facing an uphill battle when it comes to recruiting. If Dixon ever left, I have to believe that would be a major reason. He would have to believe he could get better players and thus compete for national championships somewhere else. The thing Pitt has going for it is that there just aren't many elite programs looking for a coach every year. I maintain that Dixon would only leave for a handful of jobs, maybe a few high-profile jobs on the west coast closer to his family, maybe one or two in the south with more recent success than Pitt. He is not looking to leave Pitt. He has been here for almost 10 years and he has raised a family here. He has some roots down.

Q: Could you put the win over Duke in perspective? I am seeing it as a huge step for this team. Pitt has been a great program over the years, but a win like this, the way it was accomplished with toughness and determination, the national spotlight, defeating a program of Duke's caliber - am I reading too much into one December victory? I see it as being a catalyst to perhaps their best year ever. Thoughts?

Steve Ricciutti, Las Vegas

Fittipaldo: It's probably as big a win as Pitt has had during the regular season in quite some time. Duke is the program against which all others are judged. To beat the Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden in what amounted to a home game for them is a huge boost for the Panthers. It was technically a neutral site game, but 75 percent of the fans in attendance were Duke fans.

The Panthers have beaten some very good teams in the past, but beating Duke, one of the top teams in the ACC, will do wonders for their confidence down the line. It also will help when it comes time to seeding for the NCAA tournament. If Pitt can find a way to win at Dayton and then at home against Lafayette, the Panthers would be undefeated going into Big East play. The Panthers have been very successful in Big East play in recent seasons, so they would be looking at gaining a very favorable seed in the tournament because of their non-conference record. That win at Washington and the one against Duke at the Garden will score big points with the selection committee.