Q: Coach (Jamie) Dixon always talks about continually getting better, yet Pitt seems to hit a wall every February. I was hoping this year would be different because the freshmen would improve, but they seemed to have regressed over the past few weeks. Why does this continue to happen?

Bill Aloe, Pittsburgh

FITTIPALDO: Pitt is 2-2 this February. The Panthers were 5-2 last February, 4-3 in February of 2006, 4-4 in February of '05 and 6-2 in '04. The only year the Panthers might have regressed at the end of the season was '05 when they lost four of their final six games and were knocked out in the first round of the Big East and NCAA tournaments.

You might be noticing that Pitt does not win as many games in February as January, but there is a reason for that. The top teams in the Big East are desired by the television networks for marquee games with other top teams. The TV networks begin to televise most of their better games in February and March, when more people are more inclined to tune in. CBS and ESPN do not want to compete with the NFL playoffs. If you noticed, the first half of Pitt's schedule featured

many of the bottom-rung teams in the league. The second half of the schedule features teams competing for NCAA tournament berths. That's because the networks dictated which games they wanted to televise.

Q: We always see big football recruits like Shayne Hale and LeSean McCoy come to the Pitt for big

basketball games, and often times they are swayed by the Zoo and commit to Pitt soon after. My question is, why doesn't Jamie Dixon bring in more big basketball recruits (i.e. a Michael Beasley) who have Pitt on their radar, and at least show them the atmosphere they could be playing in front of? And if he does, why do we never hear about it like we do with football, so that the Zoo can be ready?

Tim Dempsey, Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

FITTIPALDO: I think you are kidding yourself if you think football players are swayed by getting some attention from a student section at a basketball game.

Let's give these athletes a little credit. They are picking their school based on the success of the program, how they fit into the team, whether they like the coaches and players and the academic reputation of the school based on their majors. Having your name

chanted by a bunch of teenagers is about No. 20 on their list.

The recruits are brought to basketball games to get a sense of the athletic community at the school. Anything the Zoo does is extra. The Zoo had signs and chanted for Terrelle Pryor, but I didn't see Pryor put Pitt on his list the next day.

Basketball recruits do attend basketball games, but that happens in November most of the time. It's common for Pitt to bring in some recruits for November games before high school basketball season starts. Most high school teams have games starting in December, so it's difficult to get them in for games in December, January and February.