Pitt lost one recruit from Maryland over the weekend and gained another.

Former Pitt recruit Darnell Dodson will not be re-enrolling at Pitt next year because of a Big East Conference rule, but the Panthers did receive a verbal commitment from 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward Talib Zanna from Bishop McNamara in Forestville, Md.

Dodson enrolled at Pitt in the summer of 2007, but was informed by the NCAA Clearinghouse that he was not qualified academically. Dodson left Pitt and enrolled at Miami-Dade Junior College with the idea of coming back to Pitt in 2009.

But Dodson cannot play at Pitt or any other Big East school because of a rule that states a non-qualifier out of high school who enrolls at a conference school cannot re-enroll at the original school or any other school in the conference after attending a two-year institution.

Dodson, a 6-foot-6 guard from Greenbelt, Md., is known as an excellent outside shooter. After he completes his second season at Miami-Dade in the spring he will have three seasons of eligibility remaining at other Division I schools.

Zanna is not ranked among the top 150 prospects by any of the national scouting services, but he is viewed by many as someone who has tremendous upside potential. Zanna only has been playing in the United States since the fall of 2006.

Zanna was born in Nigeria and went to Maryland in pursuit of his dream of playing college basketball in this country. He is not a widely known prospect because he missed six weeks in his sophomore season in 2006-07 and was prone to getting in foul trouble.

Zanna bounced back with a breakthrough junior season at Bishop McNamara and continued to play well throughout this summer on the AAU circuit. Other Big East schools such as Villanova and Providence were interested in him as well.

If it seems as if Pitt is stockpiling forwards in next year's recruiting class, it's because it is. Coach Jamie Dixon already had received verbal commitments from highly regarded power forward Dante Taylor of Fort Washington, Md., and J.J. Richardson of Missouri City, Texas.

The coaching staff appears to be planning ahead in case Taylor or current center DeJuan Blair leaves early for the NBA draft. Taylor is one of the top 20 recruits in the country.