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Thanks. After checking her stats and what she did at Miami she'd be a
good addition to our backcourt. I see Malcolm moving to a wing with two
guards on the floor along with two bigs. It'll be interesting to see where
Marley, Perkins, and Battle fit in with the new guard additions. I feel
we still need a forward who can score.

A surprise could be Marley. She seemed to settle at the end of the year, and
did better with her TO's. She's an athlete, hustles, draws charges, and is annoying
to opposing players. If she somehow could develop a shot over the summer,
she'd play. If not, the other guards are gonna pass her by.
 
Thanks. After checking her stats and what she did at Miami she'd be a
good addition to our backcourt. I see Malcolm moving to a wing with two
guards on the floor along with two bigs. It'll be interesting to see where
Marley, Perkins, and Battle fit in with the new guard additions. I feel
we still need a forward who can score.

A surprise could be Marley. She seemed to settle at the end of the year, and
did better with her TO's. She's an athlete, hustles, draws charges, and is annoying
to opposing players. If she somehow could develop a shot over the summer,
she'd play. If not, the other guards are gonna pass her by.
The way i have it now Ioanna has a potential to be a most improved player of the year in the ACC at the 4. I have it now as
PG: Brooklynn Miles ( Kentucky Transfer )
SG: Bella Perkins
SF: Aislin Malcom
PF: Ioanna Chatzileonti
C: Makayla Elmore ( Clemson Transfer )
Bench
PG: Marley Washenintz
SG: ? ( Possibly Dwyer )
SF: Aaryn Battle
PF: Mikayla Johnson ( Colorado Transfer )
C: Kha'Dije Faye ( Texas Transfer )
 
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Liatu King to ND. She represented Pitt well. Best wishes to Liatu.

Go Pitt.
Notre Dame is going to be stacked next season. Talented transfers coming in and the return of Olivia Miles off of injury. It'll be interesting to see how Hidalgo and MILES gel on the court.
 
The way i have it now Ioanna has a potential to be a most improved player of the year in the ACC at the 4. I have it now as
PG: Brooklynn Miles ( Kentucky Transfer )
SG: Bella Perkins
SF: Aislin Malcom
PF: Ioanna Chatzileonti
C: Makayla Elmore ( Clemson Transfer )
Bench
PG: Marley Washenintz
SG: ? ( Possibly Dwyer )
SF: Aaryn Battle
PF: Mikayla Johnson ( Colorado Transfer )
C: Kha'Dije Faye ( Texas Transfer )
Miles has not been made official.

M.Johnson will play guard and be our best player.

From Verdi tweet, expect Faye to start.
 
Miles has not been made official.

M.Johnson will play guard and be our best player.

From Verdi tweet, expect Faye to start.
What in the world makes u think Johnson would be our best player. Miles has Pitt WBB in her Bio and nothing shows she will flip. And Verdi does not have a tweet referring to Faye
 
A lot of interesting comments and opinions here on these players. It does seem
like Verdi has more talent and depth (except for King of course). Also much
needed height. I like the fact that these transfers are coming from programs
like Kentucky, Colorado, Clemson, and maybe Miami etc. The fact that Hutcherson
transferred to an A10 program speaks volumes. I do wish her well and I feel
she'll do better at that level. I've been posting the last few years that Pitt was
a team made up of A-10 level talent.

I don't see any superstar so far, but now Verdi has numbers, and numbers who
can play better than what he had last season. Let's not forget the players he has
coming back. It'll be interesting to see how they blend with each other and what
kind of rotation can made of the entire group.
 
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So you think Faye best player and Johnson will start. More reasonable but Ioanna should start
It's hard to tell either way at this point. Now if posters on here have actually seen
them play in real time competition (film observation doesn't quite cut it) that would
be somewehat viable. Verdi will know soon enough when he gets them in head to
head competition in pre season practices. What we do know is there's more numbers
with more talent (excluding King) than last year. My sense is there will be some pretty
intense competition for playing time. I don't expect, Malcolm, Marley, Battle, Perkins,
etc to just roll over and settle for back up status. It should be interesting. Meanwhile
I'd like to see a forward who can sccore transfer in here.
 
It's hard to tell either way at this point. Now if posters on here have actually seen
them play in real time competition (film observation doesn't quite cut it) that would
be somewehat viable. Verdi will know soon enough when he gets them in head to
head competition in pre season practices. What we do know is there's more numbers
with more talent (excluding King) than last year. My sense is there will be some pretty
intense competition for playing time. I don't expect, Malcolm, Marley, Battle, Perkins,
etc to just roll over and settle for back up status. It should be interesting. Meanwhile
I'd like to see a forward who can sccore transfer in here.
Faye did have solid scoring numbers for not playing much at Texas which was a very good team. They are in the top 3 for a 2 guard who would likely back up or start at the 2, id assume she and b perk battle it out. The PG duo should be Miles, Wash in that order IMO. Small Forward likely to be Aislin and Battle in that order, two solid shooters. I think now its Ioanna and Faye, Johnson getting a small share of mins behind them and Elmore battling for a starting spot, especially with her ability to stretch it from deep ( 22/65 as a starter-34% ). Lauren Rust, Audrey Biggs, Kiara Williams, and Raeven Boswell could be in the rotation if injuries occur
 
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Faye did have solid scoring numbers for not playing much at Texas which was a very good team. They are in the top 3 for a 2 guard who would likely back up or start at the 2, id assume she and b perk battle it out. The PG duo should be Miles, Wash in that order IMO. Small Forward likely to be Aislin and Battle in that order, two solid shooters. I think now its Ioanna and Faye, Johnson getting a small share of mins behind them and Elmore battling for a starting spot, especially with her ability to stretch it from deep ( 22/65 as a starter-34% ). Lauren Rust, Audrey Biggs, Kiara Williams, and Raeven Boswell could be in the rotation if injuries occur
Your assumptions make sense.
There are a large number of guards on this team. We return Marley, Perkins, Battle,
Malcolm, Boswell, and are bringing in a frosh and at least two transfers, Miles and
Johnson. I'd expect to see Malcolm move to small forward/wing, along with one or
two others.
I don't see Battle as a small forward. She's been a guard her whole career including last
year at Pitt. She often played PG last year, and she's 5'10, but then again with these
numbers, ya never know.

Of course this is all speculation at this point. I have a sense of what we have returning
having watched them over the last season or two. As for the newbies, I need to see em
in REAL time...real game time play. Let's see how Verdi flushes all this out and what
kind of rotation actually emerges.
 
—With some size and we’re hoping scoring threats in the paint, I hope that translates into Malcolm, who I think can be deadly from three, getting better scoring opportunities with inside-out passing…

—Perkins shooting seemed to be extreme hot or extremely cold. Can she add some better consistency…

—Hoping some of the new players are good shooters. It’s frustrating when you so often have to wonder whether Pitt will make it to double figures in the first quarter.

Go Pitt.
 
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Jake Womens Crystal Ball Predictions #1🔮
*if I get this wrong im quitting*😂
LaShae Dwyer
🟠Miami🟢➡️🔵Pitt🟡
 
If I have my numbers right, women's bball allows 15 full scholarships per team.
The addition of Miles, I think gives us 13. We appear to have 8 guards/wings,
and 5 are bigs, (listed as forwards). There's numbers and experience in the
backcourt. The bigs have some experience but one is a freshman, and Rust
(sophmore) didn't show much last season IMO. I'd like to see a forward who
can score added to this group. Either way, we should be much improved inside
with these expereinced transfers from power confences. I still feel another
forward/center who can score would be ideal. Are there any available? Would
they transfer to Pitt? Will Verdi use all 15 scholarships?
 
If I have my numbers right, women's bball allows 15 full scholarships per team.
The addition of Miles, I think gives us 13. We appear to have 8 guards/wings,
and 5 are bigs, (listed as forwards). There's numbers and experience in the
backcourt. The bigs have some experience but one is a freshman, and Rust
(sophmore) didn't show much last season IMO. I'd like to see a forward who
can score added to this group. Either way, we should be much improved inside
with these expereinced transfers from power confences. I still feel another
forward/center who can score would be ideal. Are there any available? Would
they transfer to Pitt? Will Verdi use all 15 scholarships?
From what ive seen/heard, Pitt seems to be in the drivers seat for Miami SG transfer Lashae Dwyer. Faye from Texas averaged good scoring numbers in limited minutes for a very good Texas team, she could be the scoring presence down low. Johnson/Elmore/Ioanna should pack a decent scoring presence as well. I saw asst. coach Candice Finley is following 6’2” wing Kentucky Transfer, Jordy Griggs, so watch for that.
 
Looks like Pitt will have a better overall collection of players. I’d still like to see a more consistent scorer added - at any position…. Scoring points has been a problem for a long time.

Go Pitt.
 
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Looks like Pitt will have a better overall collection of players. I’d still like to see a more consistent scorer added - at any position…. Scoring points has been a problem for a long time.

Go Pitt.
I think Faye could be that, 6 PPG in 12 Minutes Per Game. Say she plays 30 Mins Per Game, thats 15-17 PPG, plus probably 10+ rebounds
 
Another guard, Amiya Jenkins, has transferred to Pitt via the portal.
She's a 5'10" guard from Kentucky, joining Miles who also transferred
from Kentucky. Both Jenkins and Miles are experienced playing on a
SEC team. Pitt is loaded at the guard/wing position with experienced
players. We return Marley, Battle, Perkins, and Malcolm, plus a frosh,
and Boswell who played a little last year. There should be tremendous
competition for playing time. I see Malcolm on the wing, a pg, and an
off guard on the floor at the same time.I wouldn't be surprised to see
two transfers starting at the guard slots. We still need a "go to" scorer
on this team. I think Verdi still has an additional schollie available.
This team looks better than last year's at this point (exception King).
I'd like to see them make a move towards the midlle of the ACC. It's
a slow process, but Verdi is improving the team with these transfers.
 
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Another guard, Amiya Jenkins, has transferia to Pitt via the portal.
She's a 5'10" guard from Kentucky, joining Miles who also transferred
from Kentucky. Both Jenkins and Miles are experienced playing on a
SEC team. Pitt is loaded at the guard/wing position with experienced
players. We return Marley, Battle, Perkins, and Malcolm, plus a frosh,
and Boswell who played a little last year. There should be tremendous
competition for playing time. I see Malcolm on the wing, a pg, and an
off guard on the floor at the same time.I wouldn't be surprised to see
two transfers starting at the guard slots. We still need a "go to" scorer
on this team. I think Verdi still has an additional schollie available.
This team looks better than last year's at this point (exception King).
I'd like to see them make a move towards the midlle of the ACC. It's
a slow process, but Verdi is improving the team with these transfers.
Faye is the go to. Great scoring numbers in very limited mins on a very good team
 
Faye is the go to. Great scoring numbers in very limited mins on a very good team
Well, at this point we have no clue. Let's wait till we see her in real live
action before we make an opinion a fact. But, I do hope you're opinion
proves true.
 
Well, at this point we have no clue. Let's wait till we see her in real live
action before we make an opinion a fact. But, I do hope you're opinion
proves true.
Sorry yes i should have said I think. Obviously we have 0 idea
 
Sorry yes i should have said I think. Obviously we have 0 idea
The good news about her is the scoring in "limited minutes" that you
mentioned. She played on a VERY good team, so the fewer minutes
probably reflects that team talent level. She undoubtedly will get more
minutes here, and her scoring should improve.

As far as a "go to" scorer, I'm talking about someone who we can go to
for points when we need them. King was a "go to" scorer. IMO none of
these transfers are "go to" types. Getting one to transfer here isn't
easy. Maybe someone will break out and become one. My sense is
maybe Malcolm has that potential. She has the shotmaking. If she
could get quicker, and be able to"create"......maybe.
 
The good news about her is the scoring in "limited minutes" that you
mentioned. She played on a VERY good team, so the fewer minutes
probably reflects that team talent level. She undoubtedly will get more
minutes here, and her scoring should improve.

As far as a "go to" scorer, I'm talking about someone who we can go to
for points when we need them. King was a "go to" scorer. IMO none of
these transfers are "go to" types. Getting one to transfer here isn't
easy. Maybe someone will break out and become one. My sense is
maybe Malcolm has that potential. She has the shotmaking. If she
could get quicker, and be able to"create"......maybe.
And if Bella can be more consistent, she has the potential to be a top player in the ACC, deadly
 
If one of these guards steps up as a reliable scorer, it would be a pleasant surprise, IMHO.

I think Coach Verdi has to create an offense that lets Malcolm come off screens and shoot threes - plus emphasis on inside out passing. Otherwise, an opponent can pretty much negate Malcolm’s great shooting ability by assigning a defender to her.

On the Kentucky transfers, I can’t get out of my head that KY was 12 and 20 last season and won 4 games in the SEC - before firing their coach…

Go Pitt.
 
Another guard, Amiya Jenkins, has transferred to Pitt via the portal.
She's a 5'10" guard from Kentucky, joining Miles who also transferred
from Kentucky. Both Jenkins and Miles are experienced playing on a
SEC team. Pitt is loaded at the guard/wing position with experienced
players. We return Marley, Battle, Perkins, and Malcolm, plus a frosh,
and Boswell who played a little last year. There should be tremendous
competition for playing time. I see Malcolm on the wing, a pg, and an
off guard on the floor at the same time.I wouldn't be surprised to see
two transfers starting at the guard slots. We still need a "go to" scorer
on this team. I think Verdi still has an additional schollie available.
This team looks better than last year's at this point (exception King).
I'd like to see them make a move towards the midlle of the ACC. It's
a slow process, but Verdi is improving the team with these transfers.
Don't sleep on 6'2" Forward Ioanna Chatzileonti from Greece & Kansas. Averaged 8.8 pts, 6.2 rebs and 1.1 blks!
 
The transfer forwards come from better programs. That's a good
thing. Ioanna has the best stats of these forwards. However they
all moved down coming to Pitt. We are losing King who averaged
18.7 ppg. I don't see any of these transfers who can replace those
numbers. What I do see are forwards who can do what she did as
a group. As a group, there is more depth with seemingly more talent.

We didn't get to see Ioanna last season due to injury. I'm not
"sleeping" on her or any of the others, just keeping a realistic
viewpoint at this time. I gotta believe we'd all be happy if she
could get that 8.8 ppg up to double figures, with the others
upping their numbers as well.
 
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Liatu did make a big jump last season. Here are her stats for the last two seasons:

Minutes - from 24 to 35 min. per game
FG % — from 39% to 52%
Points per game — 9.4 to 18.7
Rebounds per game — 7.6 to 10.3

We need a player or two to make similar leaps…

Go Pitt.
 
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The transfer forwards come from better programs. That's a good
thing. Ioanna has the best stats of these forwards. However they
all moved down coming to Pitt. We are losing King who averaged
18.7 ppg. I don't see any of these transfers who can replace those
numbers. What I do see are forwards who can do what she did as
a group. As a group, there is more depth with seemingly more talent.

We didn't get to see Ioanna last season due to injury. I'm not
"sleeping" on her or any of the others, just keeping a realistic
viewpoint at this time. I gotta believe we'd all be happy if she
could get that 8.8 ppg up to double figures, with the others
upping their numbers as well.
Ioanna was the 3rd option (in her Soph) at Kansas and only played 28.5 mins add 5-6 mins to that time and her points and rebounds numbers go up close to Liatu's numbers. But Pitt's issue was a lack of support for Liatu, no one else scored in double digits. A teams needs at least 2 players to score 10+ points a game and maybe we'll see that this season!
 
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Ioanna was the 3rd option (in her Soph) at Kansas and only played 28.5 mins add 5-6 mins to that time and her points and rebounds numbers go up close to Liatu's numbers. But Pitt's issue was a lack of support for Liatu, no one else scored in double digits. A teams needs at least 2 players to score 10+ points a game and maybe we'll see that this season!
We had King with 18.7 ppg and Malcolm with 9.3 ppg. So that almost
meets the 2 players at 10+ you mentioned. I do think Malcolm can
reach double figures. She already just about did it last season. If
Ionanna meets the 34 or so minutes you mentioned (King was at 35),
I'll be surprised. I do think the transfer bigs, Ioanna, Elmore, and Faye
will probably all get meaningful minutes.

We have numbers and experience at the guard/wing positions,and we
need a major improvement in our backcourt, and not just in ppg. We
really, REALLY need to cut the TO's down. We averaged 18.3 TO's in ACC
play. When you have an in conference Assist/TO ratio of 11.6 to 18.3
you aren't going to win many games in the ACC. That ratio needs to be
reversed. Of course I haven't seen these transfers in real time, but I
do feel we'll be much better at both pg and off guard. If not, we're
not going to improve our conference win/loss record by any significant
number. It's not impossible to improve, but it's not easy either. I'm
hoping the transfers plus returning experience give us that improvement.
Just my two cents at this point.
 
Coach Verdi sent out a message which indicates another portal player is on the way. Could be the Miami guard maybe…🤔. Coach said “As the month of May comes to an end, we are excited to have added 4 new players to our team with a 5th on the horizon.”

Coach also shared his vision for next season:
“The 2024-2025 roster will provide depth at all positions while adding athleticism and quickness to our current roster. This will allow us to be ultra-aggressive and press for much of the game. One of our goals for next season is to create offense from our ultra-aggressive defense. We want to be able to gamble defensively, knowing we can scramble and be in rotations that will cause havoc for our opponents’ offense. Our hope is we will be fast, furious and fun to watch!”

(Another interpretation of this message might be — Panther fans, we’ve upgraded the overall roster but it looks like we’ll continue to struggle at putting the ball thru the hoop…)

Go Pitt.
 
Coach Verdi sent out a message which indicates another portal player is on the way. Could be the Miami guard maybe…🤔. Coach said “As the month of May comes to an end, we are excited to have added 4 new players to our team with a 5th on the horizon.”

Coach also shared his vision for next season:
“The 2024-2025 roster will provide depth at all positions while adding athleticism and quickness to our current roster. This will allow us to be ultra-aggressive and press for much of the game. One of our goals for next season is to create offense from our ultra-aggressive defense. We want to be able to gamble defensively, knowing we can scramble and be in rotations that will cause havoc for our opponents’ offense. Our hope is we will be fast, furious and fun to watch!”

(Another interpretation of this message might be — Panther fans, we’ve upgraded the overall roster but it looks like we’ll continue to struggle at putting the ball thru the hoop…)

Go Pitt.
Jenkins was the fifth
 
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