Pitt’s run toward the top of the ACC started on the Monday after the 2022 conference tournament.

Jeff Capel and his staff started preparing for 2022-23 only days after a 66-46 loss to Boston College, Pitt’s fifth in a row, the second losing streak of at least four games in a five-week span and the 21st defeat in another miserable season.

Who knew that less than 12 months later, Pitt would be only four short of 21 again — victories this time with seven to play, including Saturday at Florida State?

Capel, armed with a contract that is set to run through the 2027 season, sat down with his staff with the goal of making things right.

This is what he said to his staff members:

“From now until July 1, we need to have a lot of wins, and that’s going to be retention and recruiting,” he said.

So everyone kept checking their computers, made sure their cellphones were charged and accepted the challenge of rebuilding the program.

The result is a 17-7 record, 10-3 in the ACC — the first double-digit victory total in the conference since Pitt’s first season as a member (2013-2014).

Everyone kept an eye on the high school prospects. Pitt has three coming in the class of 2023 and another in 2024 to supplement the Diaz Graham twins, who found a niche this season as freshmen.

• Pitt pounds Louisville, 91-57, moves into a tie for 1st in ACC • Unafraid of the fight, Diaz Graham twins part of reserve squad helping fuel Pitt’s run to 1st place • NIL questions emerge after Jim Boeheim’s comments, but Pitt’s Jeff Capel focuses on his team

But Capel wanted experienced players from winning programs who didn’t care who got the credit, whose only stated goal was to win.

The NCAA transfer portal was good to Capel and his staff.

“I thought we were more prepared for it this year than we were the previous year,” Capel said.

Every starter, plus sixth man Nike Sibande, transferred to Pitt from another institution.

How did it all come together? Capel talked about the process Thursday amidst preparations for the Florida State game.

“I thought everyone on our staff did a good job of getting the right pieces,” he said.

It started with two staff members who have been at Pitt for less than two years.

• Kyle Cieplicki, chief of staff, who joined the team from Vermont

• Jake Presutti, assistant athletic director of scouting, who came from Marquette

By the end of last season, Cieplicki and Presutti had been with the program close to a year and had become adept at finding players in the portal.

“They could really help us with the portal, to understand it, to have information,” Capel said. “Before the season was over with, those guys had compiled a database of guys who could potentially go in the portal. Once names started going in, we had contacts right away.”

Capel depends on Cieplicki and Presutti to monitor the portal daily, a common occurrence these days among football and basketball staffs.

A lot of coaches put up a board with names of potential prospects. Pat Narduzzi has one in his South Side football headquarters.

“It wasn’t a board,” Capel said. “Everything is computerized now. It’s not old school, which is what I’m used to. We had a graph where we had a bunch of names.

“We had the ability to click on it. We got information. There was another thing you could click on where you see video, see highlights to see who they were as a player.

“We sat and figured out the guys we felt like we wanted that would fit what we’re looking for, and we tried to go after those guys.”

The process has no guarantees — for the most part, the transfers were people Capel and his players had never met — but Pitt’s coach didn’t worry about failing.

“I don’t know if I was nervous,” he said. “I felt like we had a lot to offer, and I felt like if we could get guys here, on campus, we’d have a good chance.”

Capel sold the Pitt campus and also the city of Pittsburgh.

“We try to get them to feel Pittsburgh, to feel campus, to feel the energy,” he said.

“When you get here, it’s nothing like you thought it would be. I thought (before he arrived from Duke in 2018), it would be old steel, just cloudy all the time. At least the places I go, it’s nothing like that. It’s beautiful in the fall, spring, summer. There’s always something to do, sports year-round, arts, entertainment with the concerts, shows, museums. You have everything. Really cool neighborhoods, especially in the city where you can go hang out, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, other places like that. I’ve had friends, family members come to visit and they say the same thing. It’s a really cool city.”

That’s how Capel sold his program to these six transfers:

• Jamarius Burton, first in scoring this season (15.9), second last year (12.4)

• Blake Hinson, shooting 38% from 3-point range

• Greg Elliott, shooting 45.9% overall, 42.3% (No. 1 on the team) from beyond the arc — always with a smile on his face

• Nelly Cummings, 106 assists and the reason Pitt rallied for a big victory against North Carolina in Chapel Hill

• Federiko Federiko, 45 blocks while making people forget All-ACC player John Hugley

• Nike Sibande, content to provide a spark off the bench while playing 21.4 minutes per game

Elliott is one example of the portal giving a huge boost to a student-athlete.

He wasn’t starting at Marquette — 11 times in four seasons — and he wanted a change.

“I just felt like it was time for a fresh start,” he said. “I wanted to go somewhere I could (make) a difference. My time had worn out at Marquette. It wasn’t a bad thing. Just it was about that time for me to go, try something else.

“I wanted to be in program where I could impact winning at a high level.”

He talked to reps from Wake Forest, Kansas State, Cleveland State and Colorado State. But his relationship with Presutti, who knew him from their days at Marquette, made his decision to come to Pitt an easy one.

Elliott was five years older than when he was recruited from East English Village (Mich.) High School.

“I knew more. Instead of being an 18-year-old kid, I was 23. I knew what I was looking for … what kind of coach I wanted to play for. This time around was easier, because I had way more information. Once I got a little background on the city, I knew it was something I could be a part of.”

Hugley helped recruit Elliott, but Presutti was the main reason he is hitting 3-pointers at Petersen Events Center.

“I knew he was the type of guy who wouldn’t sell me something he didn’t believe in,” Elliott said. “He won’t sell me a false dream.”

Elliott said his decision to spend his final season of eligibility wasn’t about him.

He said, with conviction: “It was about getting Pitt back to where they belong.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)