ACC Media Days: Pat Narduzzi says Pitt running back James Conner 'close to prime condition'

ACC Media Days have kicked off this week and Thursday, players and coaches met with the media. Representing Pitt are head coach Pat Narduzzi, quarterback Nathan Peterman, and defensive end Ejuan Price.

Nothing incredibly exciting was really said, at their presser ... although some people have gotten a kick out of Narduzzi not knowing Clemson's stadium was nicknamed Death Valley.

Here's the full transcript of the comments from all three guys. One thing Narduzzi did touch on was the status of Pitt running back James Conner. Conner, by all indications, isn't 100% there yet but is getting close, according to his head coach:

I know when you look at him in strength and conditioning, our program this summer, he's measuring his body up to where it was. Based on our measurements, he's close to prime condition right now.

I think he'd like to lose a few more pounds. But we've got him back to where we want to. We still got a couple more weeks to fine tune him.

One interesting point was that when asked what Conner could give the team, Narduzzi still isn't really sure. Sure, he appears to be in pretty good playing condition right now, but we won't know if he's 'the James of old' until we see him in action. Don't forget, he had two major setbacks last year - the cancer diagnosis and the MCL injury suffered in the opener against Youngstown State.

While Narduzzi said he knows he'll get Conner's best effort, he doesn't quite know what that is going to mean just yet in terms of actual production. Many of us are assuming that Conner will be able to be a dominant player again because he is now cancer-free. However, the reality is we just don't know yet.

The fact, though, that Conner is basically in playing condition is good to hear.

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