Behind leading scorer Blake Hinson, Pitt hoops enters season with a standard of expectations
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When Jeff Capel was welcomed by the ACC Network on Wednesday, the Pitt men’s basketball coach was asked what is different for the Panthers entering this season compared to last year.
“It feels great to still have a job,” Capel said, with a laugh. “I probably couldn’t have said that before last year.”
After starting last season on the hot seat, Capel returned to the ACC Tipoff media day event in Charlotte as the reigning ACC Coach of the Year after a season in which he guided Pitt to 24 wins, a 14-6 record in conference play and its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016. The Panthers beat Mississippi State in the First Four and Iowa State in the second round before losing to Xavier.
That run raised expectations for the Panthers, but the roster turnover could make this a transition season. They lost four of their top five scorers to graduation in Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott and Nike Sibande. After playing in only eight games last season, 6-foot-10 forward John Hugley transferred to Oklahoma. And guard Dior Johnson, who redshirted, left the program in August.
The four seniors, all transfers, provided veteran leadership as the Panthers had a chance to win the ACC regular-season championship before losing to Miami, 78-76, in the season finale to finish tied for second place.
“We had a great run,” Capel said. “We were a missed 3-point shot from winning the ACC championship. We were able to get to the tournament and win a couple games there. Our guys got to experience that. I’m excited for, hopefully, that continuing for us moving forward. We have a good core group that’s back from that team that saw it, felt it, heard it, so they know what it looks like, what it should feel like, what it should sound like. They’re doing a really good job of helping the new guys get acclimated of what a winning program and team should look like.”
The Panthers do return their top scorer and rebounder in 6-foot-8 senior forward Blake Hinson, a second-team All-ACC selection who averaged 15.3 points and six rebounds last season. Hinson leads a frontcourt that also returns 6-11 junior Federiko Federiko and the Diaz Graham twins, 7-footer Guillermo and 6-11 Jorge.
“Blake is our best player. I think everyone knows that. Everyone in our program knows that,” Capel said. “He’s been an all-conference performer in this league. I don’t want to put too much on him, though. I want him to play basketball. I want his energy that’s infectious. I want his joy for playing — all of those things to be there.”
Hinson should shoulder most of the scoring burden, given that the four players lost to graduation accounted for 45.1 of Pitt’s 75.1 points per game last season. But Hinson doesn’t expect his role to change.
“I want to be even better in my role than I was last year. I want to be the best role player in the nation,” Hinson said. “If you think that’s what a star player is, then that’s what it is for you. I want to play my role at the highest, highest level and I think that’s going to equal wins for us.”
Hinson’s supporting cast has changed. Junior forward William Jeffress returns from a redshirt after surgery on his left foot. The Panthers added a player they expect to make an immediate impact in Rhode Island transfer Ishmael Leggett, a 6-3 junior guard who averaged 16.1 points and 5.9 rebounds last season and has 939 career points.
“It was definitely a winning culture,” Leggett said. “The guys seemed together and about the right things — and I’m a winner and I’m about the right things, so I felt like it was a perfect match.”
Capel added a pair of highly touted freshman point guards Jaland Lowe and Carlton Carrington, who are both sons of basketball coaches and relatives of NBA players. Lowe’s godfather is John Lucas, a Phoenix Suns assistant coach, and Carrington is a second cousin of 17-year veteran Rudy Gay. Both will be counted on to contribute early.
“That’s a big challenge,” Capel said. “We had four guards last year that were all between the ages of 22 and 24. We have three guards now, two of which are (teenagers). One just turned 18, but they’re talented. … They have to grow up fast. We’ve been very open and transparent with them. The thing is, they don’t have to do it all by themselves. They have some older guys, some experienced guys that can really help them with the transition.”
After being picked to finish next-to-last in the ACC last year, the Panthers took pride in proving their naysayers wrong last season thanks to the additions through the transfer portal. This season, they know they won’t be sneaking up on anyone.
“It definitely brings us a different motivation, but I don’t hold y’all accountable,” Hinson said. “It was a whole team of new guys. Y’all didn’t know.”