When watching Pitt basketball this season, the first thing on everyone's mind has been whether Justin Champagnie is going to declare for the NBA Draft.
It seemed like a given after he posted two games with 20 points and 20 rebounds in December, and continued to be the case as he's maintained an average of 18.7 points and 11.5 rebounds through 15 games.
Even during Pitt's rough stretch of losing six of its last seven games, Champagnie has looked like a star. He recorded a double-double in five of those performances, giving him 11 such performances on the season and putting him in serious consideration for ACC Player of the Year. He's even been named as one of the 30 players on the Naismith Trophy's Midseason Team.
After all that, talk of Champagnie going to the NBA became common. He's currently projected as either a late first round pick or an early second round pick. But, Champagnie gave a hint on Friday that maybe that won't be the case when asked if he was excited to potentially play his twin brother Julian Champagnie of St. John's. The Panthers are scheduled to play the Red Storm next season.
"I've been wanting that game since freshman year," Champagnie said. "I've talked to coach all the time about playing St. John's and asking him to do it. To see it happening next year, it means a lot. I can't wait to get out there and hoop against him."
That might've been the brightest moment of February for the Pitt program, and that's even over the Panthers beating their first ranked opponent since 2019.
One of Pitt's biggest challenges for this season has been trying to set the tone for the program with so few returning players with experience playing for Jeff Capel. Only four players on the current roster accumulated 300 minutes of playing time from last season, Champagnie being joined by Xavier Johnson, Au'Diese Toney and Terrell Brown.
"It's difficult because we've got a lot of new guys," Brown said when asked about leadership challenges on the team. He's Capel's only senior returning from last season. "We only have four returners who were high-minute guys. They know what to expect, while other guys who haven't played so it's hard to show them the ropes. The only way to show them the ropes is to get them out there and have them learn from their mistakes."
Champagnie returning would put Pitt in much better circumstances for 2022, not just with his scoring and rebounding skills, but to finally give Capel a larger group of players with significant experience.
Along with Champagnie, Capel would have Johnson, Toney, Femi Odukale, Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, and Ithiel Horton who would have significant experience to set the tone for the rest of the team. They would also be backed up by young players who've played, but seen limited minutes, like William Jeffress and Noah Collier.
Still, going for the NBA Draft has to be tempting for Champagnie. If he's a first round pick he will make at least an approximate $1.6 million per year with his first two years fully guaranteed. Even if he's a second round pick, Champagnie would most likely be a millionaire for playing a year in the NBA.
Of course, he could wait another year and further build his draft stock, but there's also risk of a serious injury. Champagnie's already suffered two significant knee injuries, one in each his freshman and sophomore seasons.
He's bounced back from each of them to have dynamic years, and has learned how to better take care of himself in the games since this year's injury.
"I know a lot more about how to take care of myself compared to last year," Champagnie said. "I just try to get in the ice tub right away to give my body time to recover and take it day by day. I'm just trying to do my treatment, get some shots up, put the work in and get ready for Florida State.
"I feel like I'm pretty much myself. I could get better in certain categories, like my speed and explosiveness. But it's all about getting back, doing rehab and getting my legs stronger. As of right now, I feel fine. I just have to be tougher."
When looking at Pitt's collapse from a 8-2 start to its current 9-8 record, much has to be learned from its young team if Capel hopes to turn the program around. But when this happened in the 2019-2020 season, Champagnie was a freshman learning the ropes just like Jeffress and Collier are now, and the only player who was a junior or older who came back for this season was Brown.
Champagnie's decision on whether to return to Pitt for a third season in 2021-2022 will be pivotal for the Panthers not just because he's a superstar, but because he's a huge piece to the puzzle of establishing leadership. That may be the biggest component Capel needs for his players to finally get Pitt to take the next step and make the program a true ACC contender.