Pitt Take 5: Win or lose, Panthers can celebrate this season, look to the future and the return of Will Jeffress

DAYTON, Ohio — No matter what happens to Pitt on Tuesday night against Mississippi State, the season should not be judged by one 40-minute period of basketball.

A loss would be Pitt’s fifth in the final eight games of the season, probably tied to each one of the following reasons:

• Lack of depth that might have worn down guys playing more than 30 minutes per game.

• Lack of muscle in the paint.

• Poor defense late in the season.

• Too much reliance on 3-point shooting.

But this is still a team that won 20 of 25 games after many years of misery. The program is on an upward trajectory because of Jeff Capel and the players he brought to Pitt.

After the last game, Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott and Nike Sibande will have exhausted their eligibility. Replacing them and John Hugley won’t be easy, but Capel and his staff now know how to use the transfer portal.

Read on before the 9:10 p.m. tip Tuesday about one reason for hope next season.

1. ‘23-24 can’t arrive soon enough

While most of his teammates noisily prepared for practice Monday at the UD Arena, Will Jeffress sat quietly by his locker, waiting for his next chance.

A foot injury and subsequent surgery in December ended his season before it started, but it didn’t hinder his relationships and interactions with teammates. He’s been at most practices and games this season.

“It’s been extremely difficult for me,” said Jeffress, who played in 47 games, with 20 starts the previous two seasons at Pitt. “But at the same time, as much as it’s been hard for me to sit on the sidelines and not participate in the success the team is having, I made it a priority to show up every day for them and continue to support them. Because I knew, no matter what the situation is, if somebody else was sitting out, I’d want him to be there for me.”

He has not been cleared for contact — he hopes his doctor’s appointment in a couple of weeks will include that bit of good news — but he’s as much a part of the team as anyone.

Before surgery, he put up shots while sitting in a chair and lifted weights while wearing a boot. He’s also participated in light one-on-one and shooting competitions.

Other than the two weeks after surgery, he’s been with the team every day.

“As soon as he cut me out of the cast, I was back at practice,” said Jeffress, who came to Pitt in 2020 as a 17-year-old graduate of McDowell High School in Erie. “I like to be a part of the team. I like to be around the guys. I’ve never been a guy to sit back and let the wind take me. I just wanted to give all I had for the team, try to turn this into a positive experience.”

He called his recovery period “probably the best I’ve ever felt about the game of basketball.”

Capel made an interesting declaration recently about Jeffress when he said the junior forward might have been the best defender on the team this season.

Fully recovered, Jeffress gives Capel reason to believe his defense, which was not great in games immediately prior to the NCAA Tournament, may be improved in 2023-24.

“Throughout my entire injury,” he said, “I’ve gotten better every single day I woke up.”

2. Basketball, after hours

Nike Sibande said Monday he wants to give credit to Pitt’s student managers.

Sibande is one of several Pitt players who regularly put in extra work after hours at the Pete. The managers are recruited to make the process more efficient. After all, Sibande can’t get every shot to come bouncing back to him.

“All our managers are amazing,” he said. “They come in anytime in the night. You hit them up and they’ll be there.

“I put countless hours in the gym by myself. That’s how I’ve been able to get close to 2,000 points (1,841) in my career.”

3. Basketball, without coaches

Capel is pleased that so many of his players spend much of their free time in the gym.

“It’s something we‘ve tried to teach since we’ve been here,” he said. “In order to be a good basketball player, you have to play basketball. You have to practice basketball. In order to become really good, you have to do extra.

“We’re limited as coaches in what we can do. We have four hours a day when you can work with them and once you get to the season, you don’t spend four hours with them. We don’t practice for four hours. In order to become really good, that’s not enough. There has to be something inside of you that you want to do extra.

“We try to talk to them about that and usually the ones that become good are the guys who do extra, the guys who come in at night.”

4. Young Capel did it, too.

Capel is a basketball junkie. He’s been that way since he was a little guy growing up in Southern Pines, N.C.

Just like his players, he spent a lot of time on a basketball court by himself.

“I think that’s one of the best times,” he said. “When you grow up, when you’re little, I’m pretty sure all of these guys did, you play by yourself. You make up imaginary games.

“I know I used to. I’d pick two teams and I’d be every guy on every team. I’d have a whole game going on in my imagination. When you’re in the gym by yourself, you have your music playing, you’re working and having fun. It’s really not work.”

5. All we need is Ben

There’s plenty of excitement surrounding even the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. But Pitt/Mississippi State could have been even more interesting if Ben Howland was still coaching the Bulldogs.

Howland, who led Pitt out of the darkness 22 years ago, was fired by Mississippi State one year ago, almost to the day (March 17). The Bulldogs had just finished their second consecutive NIT appearance. Howland had a record of 134-98, with only one NCAA berth after leading UCLA into three consecutive Final Fours.

He didn’t coach this season, but has a career record of 533-316 at four schools.