Dave Mallon Has Top Four

Dave Mallon, a developing 6-9, 210 pound power forward from East Aurora H.S. in East Aurora, N.Y., recently finished an unofficial visit to Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

"I did not get to see a lot of the classroom buildings, but just from seeing the new arena that they are putting in, and they took me by the football stadium just to get a feel for it and it was pretty impressive," Mallon said.

Mallon, who told the Insiders Report that he has a top four of Pittsburgh, Canisius, St. Joe's and Rhode Island, said he is mulling over eight scholarship offers.

In addition to the four above schools, Mallon said he has also been offered scholarships by Virginia Tech, Niagara, LaSalle and Ohio State.

He had also been looking at Richmond, but the Spiders recently doled out their post scholarship to Kevin Steenberge of Maryland.

Right now, Mallon has confirmed in-home dates with St. Joe's on Sept. 10, Rhode Island on Sept. 11 and Virginia Tech on Sept. 13. He also expects to host Pitt and Canisius, although he did not have any dates for them when he spoke to us late Tuesday night.

From Aug. 6-10, Mallon took a spate of unofficial trips to Siena, UMass, Rode Island, St. Joe's and LaSalle. He had previously made unofficial trips to Canisius, Ohio State and St. Bonaventure (where his sister attends school), but his Pittsburgh trip was his most recent.

"The visits have done a lot for me," Mallon said. "They have separated the different types of campuses -- like rural and city. The biggest problem for me will be to choose what league I want to play in -- whether it's the Atlantic 10, the Big East or the MAAC. I think once I figure out where I fit the best, then it will be a lot easier. But I have to figure that out first."

Pitt has landed a number of players from Western New York in recent years under Ben Howland, including former Turner Carroll High star Julius Page and current TC player Ed Turner.

Turner played alongside Mallon this past summer on Mickey Walker's Donyell Marshall Foundation squad, which features many of the top prospects from the Upstate and Western New York regions.

Will the Buffalo/Western New York pipeline (that includes former Pitt player Curtis Aiken, now a Panther assistant) entice Mallon toward Pitt?

"It is kind of nice there with the Western New York connection, but it's not going to play that big of a factor with me," Mallon said. "It is nice, though."

Mallon does not appear to be rushing towards a decision, but he does expect to sign during the early period in November.

"The toughest part for me has been saying no to colleges," Mallon said. "All of the coaches have been so nice, it makes it tough to say no."