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Momentum is a fickle girl

And after Capel has been left for dead, even his biggest naysayers (myself included), would be hard pressed to not be impressed.

Here’s hoping Dior makes it the entire season and this team gels and we finally have winning hoops back in the Pete!!!
I have posted countless times that he needs to do a Chambers/Willard in pulling in great recruits when they were about to be fired. He seems to be on his way to doing this.
 
And after Capel has been left for dead, even his biggest naysayers (myself included), would be hard pressed to not be impressed.

Here’s hoping Dior makes it the entire season and this team gels and we finally have winning hoops back in the Pete!!!


Carrington is young at barely 16. Expectations for him for his first year should be tempered like with Jeffress. The hope with Carrington by getting him early before "perhaps" a lot more offers come in, is that he does exactly what his teammate Solomon Ball did year over year, and that is put it together and rise substantially like Ball did in the rankings and Ball's offer sheet took off. I think Carrington's Top 100 ranking by several sites is with "potential". Because he has the tools and the potential. But he still has work to do to really earn his 4th star.


Getting one of Curry or Ty-laur Johnson would really move the needle on the recruiting front. Not only are these 2 players legit 4 stars, they are Top 50 National 4 star talents. And I think we are in prime position with Curry because of Boo Williams.
 
Carrington is young at barely 16. Expectations for him for his first year should be tempered like with Jeffress. The hope with Carrington by getting him early before "perhaps" a lot more offers come in, is that he does exactly what his teammate Solomon Ball did year over year, and that is put it together and rise substantially like Ball did in the rankings and Ball's offer sheet took off. I think Carrington's Top 100 ranking by several sites is with "potential". Because he has the tools and the potential. But he still has work to do to really earn his 4th star.


Getting one of Curry or Ty-laur Johnson would really move the needle on the recruiting front. Not only are these 2 players legit 4 stars, they are Top 50 National 4 star talents. And I think we are in prime position with Curry because of Boo Williams.
I have no expectations for him to play as a freshmen. Just saying there is momentum for the first time in a long time.
 
And after Capel has been left for dead, even his biggest naysayers (myself included), would be hard pressed to not be impressed.

Here’s hoping Dior makes it the entire season and this team gels and we finally have winning hoops back in the Pete!!!
God I hope so. There's at least a chance they can be relevant, make the tourney and maybe start rebuilding this program that was left for dead.
 
Are we definitely done recruiting for next season?

Could there still be a late departure and addition?
 
Something has changed and I’m sure it’s not just coincidental that players can now get paid without the threat of NCAAs coming down on you . My bet is that Heather gave the nod to JC to go get the players he needs to be successful.

Thinking that JC and his staff all of a sudden have increased their efforts to recruit better players to avoid being fired is comical to me . If he was truly dogging it and trying to get his contract bought out it he’d have just mailed it in for one more yr and he’d be gone . That’s just not in his DNA . The bottom line for JC is if he’s ever going to be a successful D1 HC it’s here at Pitt and the time is now .

They’ve been trying from day 1 to recruit great players to Pitt and just haven’t been very successful at it . Seems to me it’s about time Pitt recruits by the same methods as all their conference mates do .

Cheaper and more effective to get players than fire coaches !
 
Something has changed and I’m sure it’s not just coincidental that players can now get paid without the threat of NCAAs coming down on you . My bet is that Heather gave the nod to JC to go get the players he needs to be successful.

Thinking that JC and his staff all of a sudden have increased their efforts to recruit better players to avoid being fired is comical to me . If he was truly dogging it and trying to get his contract bought out it he’d have just mailed it in for one more yr and he’d be gone . That’s just not in his DNA . The bottom line for JC is if he’s ever going to be a successful D1 HC it’s here at Pitt and the time is now .

They’ve been trying from day 1 to recruit great players to Pitt and just haven’t been very successful at it . Seems to me it’s about time Pitt recruits by the same methods as all their conference mates do .

Cheaper and more effective to get players than fire coaches !
Recruiting has not been high on his list of failings. He has recruited well enough since he has been here (save late last season)
 
Recruiting has not been high on his list of failings. He has recruited well enough since he has been here (save late last season)
We disagree , he’s never had enough good players , especially shooters .

What pre season poll ever had Pitt not near the bottom of the ACC ?
 
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I have no expectations for him to play as a freshmen. Just saying there is momentum for the first time in a long time.
we'll be losing 3 or 4 of our guards after this year so I would expect him to get minutes, although probably not major minutes.
 
We disagree , he’s never had enough good players , especially shooters .

What pre season poll ever had Pitt not near the bottom of the ACC ?
So where do you have the pre season polls ranking us this season?

How about a guess on that and a prediction from you on our finish?
 
Middle of the pack . ( Preseason )

6th would be nice

But until you see them in action a few times who knows !
Really!? They’re gonna be chosen 12-13th lol

you do realize other teams added players and were already better right? We have the 13th best recruiting class and 6th best transfer class in ACC according to 247. Put that together, we probably finish 10th-11th this season.

They have the possibility of finishing higher with superior coaching… but they’ll be picked 12-13th and I’d still expect them to finish 10-11th
 
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15th seems low with the new addition. But it’s still not out of the realm of possibilities
From past history there’s no reason for Pitt bb to receive any respect . You can be pessimistic, which is your preferred state of mind , I’ll be optimistic until proven otherwise .
 
Really!? They’re gonna be chosen 12-13th lol

you do realize other teams added players and were already better right? We have the 13th best recruiting class and 6th best transfer class in ACC according to 247. Put that together, we probably finish 10th-11th this season.

They have the possibility of finishing higher with superior coaching… but they’ll be picked 12-13th and I’d still expect them to finish 10-11th

You forgot the 5th most returning production. Add in 6th for transfers. Then add a top PG. Should be higher than 12-13 but Pitt isn't winning an offseason beauty contest.
 
Don’t know if Dior is factored in here. I do think everyone else was.
The article is dated May 30. So, McNielly may not have been factored in either as he wasn't officially announced until June 10 after committing, I believe, on June 3rd.
 
You forgot the 5th most returning production. Add in 6th for transfers. Then add a top PG. Should be higher than 12-13 but Pitt isn't winning an offseason beauty contest.
I factored in 6th in transfers with 13th freshmen class. So I averaged it to about 9-10th. They also lost a lot of production in Femi/Horton/Gueye on paper. No one will pick them higher than 10th preseason as they shouldn’t nor would you want any expectations that high. I’d much rather surprise and be good than surprise and be bad ha
 
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Trajectory appears to be pointing up now. I always thought Capel was the guy who could bring in good talent here. We have a reasonably complete roster now, let's see if Coach Capel has learned anything in his time here. There is enough talent that if he can get them to play team ball, a good season is well within reach.
 
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Really!? They’re gonna be chosen 12-13th lol

you do realize other teams added players and were already better right? We have the 13th best recruiting class and 6th best transfer class in ACC according to 247. Put that together, we probably finish 10th-11th this season.

They have the possibility of finishing higher with superior coaching… but they’ll be picked 12-13th and I’d still expect them to finish 10-11th
For sure, they will picked no higher than 12th, and maybe 14th or 15th. But I think they can finish 7th-10th, which puts them in the NCAAT convo depending on who their wins are against.
 
For sure, they will picked no higher than 12th, and maybe 14th or 15th. But I think they can finish 7th-10th, which puts them in the NCAAT convo depending on who their wins are against.
They could finish anywhere from 7th to 15th and I wouldn’t be surprised. But it’ll either be he’s got a lot of rope left or he’s Gone. So works perfectly
 
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They could finish anywhere from 7th to 15th and I wouldn’t be surprised. But it’ll either be he’s got a lot of rope left or he’s Gone. So works perfectly
I pretty much agree. However, even if the team finishes 15th, if he has a great class signed, and right now we have 2 Top 100s, he probably gets another year. Heather isnt and probably shouldn't pay a buyout if we have one of the best classes in decades coming in.
 
I pretty much agree. However, even if the team finishes 15th, if he has a great class signed, and right now we have 2 Top 100s, he probably gets another year. Heather isnt and probably shouldn't pay a buyout if we have one of the best classes in decades coming in.
Barring a total meltdown he‘s going nowhere . He was brought in here to bring in the players and it now appears that he’s figured it out .
 
I’ve said before, Pitt would rather eat lint than fire Capel and not just because of the monetary hit. An uptick in the recruiting (like this) and a season that shows tangible improvement over the last (whether it comes with any postseason or not…it merely doesn’t have to disintegrate at the end), will be sufficient for Pitt to keep him.
 
I pretty much agree. However, even if the team finishes 15th, if he has a great class signed, and right now we have 2 Top 100s, he probably gets another year. Heather isnt and probably shouldn't pay a buyout if we have one of the best classes in decades coming in.
Barring a total meltdown he‘s going nowhere . He was brought in here to bring in the players and it now appears that he’s figured it out .
With SMF I disagree. In this day and age, certainly no freshmen class is worth keeping a coach over. Especially borderline top 100 guys. It’s still NIT or NCAA or bust. Heather wanted to move on.

Barring a total meltdown!? Have you paid attention to his last 6 seasons of coaching. It’ll take a miracle to not have a meltdown
 
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With SMF I disagree. In this day and age, certainly no freshmen class is worth keeping a coach over. Especially borderline top 100 guys. It’s still NIT or NCAA or bust. Heather wanted to move on.

Barring a total meltdown!? Have you paid attention to his last 6 seasons of coaching. It’ll take a miracle to not have a meltdown
If this team has a winning season he’s going nowhere whether you like it or not .

Thinking that bringing in a good class combined with the twins and now Dior ( assuming he’s here more than one yr ) won’t help keep him here is questionable thinking . Pitt had every reason to bail on JC , but couldn’t justify the cost and while it will be cheaper next season to move on why would you fire the guy when he’s finally started to find his footing in recruiting . That’s how Heather with another bad hire puts her job in jeopardy .

Players quitting ( multiple ) , getting arrested and losing a lot of games badly to an empty Pete will cost him his job not if their a bubble tournament team that gets spurned.
 
If this team has a winning season he’s going nowhere whether you like it or not .

Thinking that bringing in a good class combined with the twins and now Dior ( assuming he’s here more than one yr ) won’t help keep him here is questionable thinking . Pitt had every reason to bail on JC , but couldn’t justify the cost and while it will be cheaper next season to move on why would you fire the guy when he’s finally started to find his footing in recruiting . That’s how Heather with another bad hire puts her job in jeopardy .

Players quitting ( multiple ) , getting arrested and losing a lot of games badly to an empty Pete will cost him his job not if their a bubble tournament team that gets spurned.
Dior johnson is going to declare regardless.
He isn’t “finally finding his footing in recruiting”. Recruiting hasn’t been the problem. His horrific coaching has been the problem.

This is his deepest team but not his most talented. JC/AUDIESE/XJ/Horton team was the most top end talent they’ve had and it blew up.
 
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This is his deepest team but not his most talented. JC/AUDIESE/XJ/Horton team was the most top end talent they’ve had and it blew up.
Basically I agree with this.
The follow up question
however is.......What's
the better scenario?
The talent we had with
no depth, or the depth
we currently have with
some legit talent? IMO
Johnson's addition in
addition to Hugley gives
us legit talent. I also feel
that Burton and Sibande
are decent, (not great)
ACC talent. The rest as
I've repeatedly posted is
Average.

With all that said, the
best we could hope for,
is that some of that
AVERAGE talent is maybe
better than that. I have no
idea how good or bad
Fede, the twins, Hinson,
or McNeilly will be. Santos
and Jeffress...so far not
much.
 
Dior johnson is going to declare regardless.
He isn’t “finally finding his footing in recruiting”. Recruiting hasn’t been the problem. His horrific coaching has been the problem.

This is his deepest team but not his most talented. JC/AUDIESE/XJ/Horton team was the most top end talent they’ve had and it blew up.
Horton wasn’t top end talent. Not even close. They had a good trio with little depth.
 
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