There is only so much that Jeff Capel can control within his Pitt men's basketball program, which has largely underperformed in his four years on the bench.
Sub-.500 records in each season, each finish no better than 11th in the ACC, and zero NCAA Tournament appearances have many from outside questioning the decisions, the building, and the sustainability of what he has done in order to revive a program which has not sniffed the postseason since the final year of the Jamie Dixon era in 2015-'16.
Many experts don't expect much out of the Panthers in this upcoming season, and while ACC powers North Carolina and Duke look to build off of seasons in which they reached the national championship game and the Final Four, respectively, Pitt is left near the back of the pack in terms of expectations.
But within the walls of the Petersen Events Center, there is optimism that the program can at least take that next step with an influx of talent and a reconfiguring of the roster over the offseason.
"We just all want the same mission," guard Nike Sibande said following the team's final exhibition game against Edinboro. "Locked in and just trying to -- we all got the ultimate goal to win and get the job done. So we are focused on that, and it's been amazing."
Transfers Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott, Blake Hinson, and Fede Federiko are helping with ushering in the new era, and each are going to have to contribute right away, especially with last season's leading scorer and rebounder John Hugley IV (left knee) and Will Jeffress (left foot) to be sidelined to start the season.
The guards in particular will need to fill in for the absent freshman Dior Johnson, who remains suspended indefinitely while facing a felony charge stemming from a domestic incident in early September.
But, we saw flashes of what Pitt's new guards are capable of, as Hinson scored 20 and 29 points to pace the team in each of its exhibition games, while Cummings combined for 21 points in two games.
In the frontcourt, the additions of freshman twins Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham add a tremendous amount of length, whereas Guillermo is slightly more polished and has a few more refined tools than his brother and could see more minutes to begin their careers. With Hugley sidelined, those two and Federiko will be the driving forces in protecting the rim and providing scoring from the four- and five-spots.
"They've stepped up, and it’s been an opportunity," Capel said of the three forwards, "They are unbelievable guys, young men. They want to be a part of something, they are easy to be around, they are fun to be around, and all three of them are workers. It’s interesting, the guys on the team call them the triplets. They are always together. They are workers, where it hurt us (against Clarion) is that we haven’t worked on defending the post, because we don’t really have anyone to post.
"That’s an area that we have to get back and get some work in. All three guys are good players and they are very different, like we said, Jorge is the athlete, Fede is more the athlete, the guy who can play above the rim, and finish above the rim, and things like that. (Guillermo]) is more of the skilled guy, Jorge is a guard and a perimeter player and that’s how we’re going to use him."
All of these new pieces, added in with returning rotation players in Sibande, Nate Santos, and Jamarius Burton are what Capel and Co. believe is going to equate to improvement from a forgettable 11-21 record last year.
"Nothing changes for me or the team," Hinson said about the season opener. "We're here to play the same brand of basketball we've been playing, but always excited to get a chance to play basketball. I practice like it's a game, so it doesn't matter."
Pitt tips off its season inside the Petersen Events Center at 7 p.m. on Monday against Tennessee Martin.
PREDICTIONS
Pitt was projected to finish 14th in the ACC in the media vote following the ACC Tipoff/media day event:
I agree with the consensus on Pitt. Here is the ACC media's polling result, with my full voting order:
FWIW, here is how I voted: pic.twitter.com/EIakjNd07O
— Corey Crisan (@cdcrisan) October 18, 2022
Leave your predictions for Pitt's record and anything else you might want to call your shot on in the comments. Happy opening day!
