CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Pitt has fired women's basketball coach Lance White after five seasons.
The Panthers' program is going a different direction just two days after the Panthers lost 71-53 to Clemson in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Pitt finished 10-20 overall and 3-15 within the ACC, which was last in the regular-season standings.
"Coach White has been wholeheartedly dedicated to the betterment of his student-athletes and women's basketball at Pitt," athletic director Heather Lyke said in a statement. "I'm extremely grateful for his efforts and wish him only the very best moving forward, both personally and professionally.
"In looking to the future of Pitt women's basketball, our goal is to be a perennial contender in the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA Tournament. I am confident that Pitt's strong combination of people, facilities and institutional excellence will attract some outstanding candidates to be the next leader of our women's basketball program."
White went 42-99 overall and posted an 11-74 record within the ACC in five seasons on Pitt's bench. White never won more than 11 games overall or three ACC games in a given season at Pitt.
He is the first coach hired by Lyke to also be fired by her.
It's unclear how desirable the now-vacant position currently is given how tough of a conference the ACC is. The Panthers finished in last place and a full three games behind Georgia Tech for 14th and has been in the basement in each of White's five seasons. The conference boasted seven 20-win teams this season, four teams are ranked in the current Associated Press Top 25, and other programs are trending up while Pitt is one of those trending down.
One thing the Pitt women's basketball team has going for it is the young talent to develop. Sophomore forward Maliyah Johnson started 26 of 30 games and was fourth on the team in scoring (8.5 points per game) and third in rebounding (3.6 per game) while averaging 25.4 minutes per game. True freshmen Marley Washenitz, Avery Strickland, and Aislin Malcolm each played significant minutes this season -- Washenitz started 16 games and Strickland 11 -- with Strickland leading Pitt in 3-pointers made this season.
Liatu King was one of the ACC's best rebounders (7.6 per game) and will enter her senior season next year. Ohio State transfer Gabby Hutcherson and Taisha Exanor each were reserves as juniors and could see an expanded role next season, should they remain at Pitt under the next coach.
I spent time at Pitt's final home game against Syracuse last Thursday, in which Pitt lost 85-55. After the game, Johnson said she felt like the team had checked out on the season.
"I really think it's just a whole mentality switch thing," Johnson said. "I feel like everybody's just getting so comfortable with the fact that the season is almost over and being that we didn't do very good in the ACC, I feel like everybody is just trying to just let go already and forget the fact that we still had to play that game that we could have won, and we still have NC State again, and we still have the whole ACC Tournament. So, to me, I just feel like everybody is just letting go and -- I don't want to say it, but -- just don't want to play anymore. Just ready for the season to be over. That's how I feel, and that's the way I'm looking at it right now by the way we performed today. We couldn't beat them."
The optics of White remaining at Pitt were completely nonsensical. This move had to happen in order for this program to start gaining any sort of traction and move forward at a basic pace. Lyke has built many winners at Pitt since taking over as AD in 2017, and this program has probably been the worst one on campus since she began her tenure.
