Pittsburgh and a guard-heavy lineup eye return to NCAA Tournament after near miss last season
Pittsburgh (22-11, 12-8)
The Panthers were on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble last season despite finishing fourth in one of the nation’s toughest conferences. While Bub Carrington and Blake Hinson are off playing professionally, Pitt enters Jeff Capel’s seventh season with a considerably higher floor than when he arrived in 2018. The Panthers were picked to finish a respectable seventh in the ACC preseason poll, the highest-ever during Capel’s tenure. Pitt has exceeded expectations in recent years. Another fourth-place finish in the super-sized Atlantic Coast Conference would all but assure the Panthers of an NCAA tourney berth.
Players to watch
Ishmael Leggett (senior SG, 6-3, 12.3 ppg). The ACC’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year will likely take on a higher profile role for the Panthers. Leggett isn’t afraid to mix it up around the basket. His 5.5 rebounds per game last season ranked tops among ACC guards.
Jaland Lowe (sophomore PG, 6-3, 12.0). With Bub Carrington off to the NBA, expect Lowe to take on more responsibility as the primary ballhandler for the Panthers. Pitt would benefit from better shooting for Lowe, who shot just 39% from the floor last season.
Guillermo Diaz Graham and Jorge Diaz Graham (junior PF, 7-0; junior PF, 7-0). The twins from the Canary Islands figure to take another step forward this year after they combined for 10 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as sophomores. Guillermo has developed a nice touch from behind the 3-point line, making a respectable 40% of his attempts behind the arc last year.
Departures and arrivals
C Fede Federiko transferred to Texas Tech. Forward Cam Corhen figures to see plenty of opportunities in the middle after the 6-foot-10 big man transferred to Pitt from Florida State. Senior guard Damian Dunn arrives with some pedigree. Dunn averaged 6.4 points per game as a rotational player for Houston. Guard Amsal Delalic, a 6-foot-8 native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, shot better than 40% from 3 last year while playing in Europe. Freshman guard Brandin Cummings and 6-10 forward Amdy Ndiaye, a native of Senegal, are also in the mix.
Top games
Pitt opens the season on Monday, Nov. 4, against Radford. The top nonconference games include the Backyard Brawl on Nov. 15 at home against rival West Virginia and a visit to Ohio State on Nov. 29. … Pitt begins ACC play on Dec. 7 at Virginia Tech. The Panthers travel to Duke on Jan. 7 and host North Carolina on Jan. 28.
Facts and figures
The Panthers return four of their top six scorers from a year ago and are coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in a decade. … The frontcourt should get a boost from redshirt freshman Papa Amadou Kante, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. … While Hinson is gone, expect Pitt to continue to center its offense around the 3-point line. The Panthers have led the ACC in attempted 3-pointers each of the last two years.
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