Jaland Lowe, Will Jeffress define teamwork while coming off Pitt’s bench
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Jaland Lowe and Will Jeffress have not been starters through the first three games of the season, but Pitt coach Jeff Capel values their contributions as part of his effort to recreate the team that won 24 games last season.
In the victory against Florida Gulf Coast, Lowe and Jeffress played key roles. Lowe scored 12 points, including two 3-pointers, and handed out two assists in 15 minutes. Jeffress made his only shot attempt in more than 21 minutes, but he was all over the court and ended up with five rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block — without committing a foul.
The expectations will be the same Friday when Pitt (3-0) closes out its four-game nonconference homestand against Jacksonville (2-1) at Petersen Events Center.
Lowe, a freshman guard, started slowly through the first two games, missing 11 of 14 shots. But he was 5 of 9 Monday against Florida Gulf Coast, and he passed off some of the credit to his teammates.
“Everybody believed in me,” he said. “Teammates were mad at me for passing up some shots. When everyone around me trusts my work and I trust my work, I’m going to go out there and be me.”
Lowe is the son of a coach, the type of player who usually makes good teammates. Lowe said his father offers advice with just a look.
“My dad, being a coach, he understands a lot in this game,” he said. “I feel he instilled a lot in me growing up in high school.”
Lowe said his relationship with his father is such that there doesn’t need to be too many words between them.
“I can just know,” he said. “He stands most of the time (when he attended Lowe’s high school games). I try not to look at my dad a lot. Sometimes, I would glance over, and he’d be looking at me. I just know what he’s thinking. It’s like, ‘Be more aggressive, or you’re not doing this.’
“He’s not a man of too many words, but when you get that look from him you’ll know.”
A college man now on his own, Lowe gets inspiration from coaches and teammates, especially Jeffress, a junior who missed all of last season with a foot injury.
“Will is that one guy who’s always uplifting us, always saying something positive,” Lowe said. “When Will has something to say we all listen because he’s the definition of buying in. He’s gone through a lot of different things, a lot of injuries.
“Seeing Will every day in practice and fighting as hard as he can and going out in the game (discovering) what he’s been waiting for, it’s just amazing because it then gives us energy. He’s that spark plug for us on the defensive end.”
Capel has much respect for Jeffress because he has accepted a role that usually forces him to fly under the radar while remaining vital to what the coach is trying to build at Pitt.
“One of the things that we try to get our guys to understand is that every role is glamorous because every role is important,” Capel said. “Everyone should take pride in whatever their role is, whatever their strengths are and do it at a high level.
“It does take time for guys to understand that. Because when they leave us, they’re going back and people are asking them, ‘How many points did you score? How many shots did you get?’ Or, ‘Man, you should be shooting.’ Or, ‘Oh, man, they’re looking you off.’
“You’ve got to be strong. You have to be strong in who you are as a player and be like, ‘Don’t talk to me about that. This is what I do for my team. This is how I can get on the court.’
“It doesn’t mean that Will won’t ever shoot. It doesn’t mean that he won’t make plays for us offensively — I think he can be a good offensive player — but he can be a heck of a defender, and he really showed that in the last game.
“Last year, as much as it hurt him on a personal level, I thought it was good for him to have a chance to sit and watch. I would have preferred to have him out there, but I do think there was a silver lining with it.
“He got a chance to take a year and really work on his body. I think you can see that, how much stronger he is both physically and mentally, because he had to fight for something. He had to fight to get back. And I think that shows out there on the court. He’s a guy that doesn’t take being out there for granted.”
To Capel and all good coaches, those players are just as important as their teammates who score most of the points.
“That’s why I think we were good last year,” Capel said. “The parts fit and I think we understood who we were. Everyone understood. That’s what we’re trying to establish right now.”