Silly questions perhaps

[Chairman Moe]

For those who followed the last Pitt games' post-game press conferences, both the players AND Capel spoke about how much synergy there was among the team. A "band of brothers", so to speak. Bub goes for 30+ and credits the team. Blake goes off for 40+ and credits the team.

No I; we.

So my first question is this:

Will HCJC stay true to his guns and only recruit "team players" from the portal?

If so, is anyone here familiar with which player(s) in the portal might best fit into the Pitt "team first" philosophy? Or who wouldn't?

Maybe a question too early to ask, but who looks like the team leader for next year? I realize this might be premature as we may not be done with portal transfers and/or players (Bub, maybe) testing the NBA draft

 

[Vader_Storm]

For those who followed the last Pitt games' post-game press conferences, both the players AND Capel spoke about how much synergy there was among the team. A "band of brothers", so to speak. Bub goes for 30+ and credits the team. Blake goes off for 40+ and credits the team.

No I; we.

So my first question is this:

Will HCJC stay true to his guns and only recruit "team players" from the portal?

If so, is anyone here familiar with which player(s) in the portal might best fit into the Pitt "team first" philosophy? Or who wouldn't?

Maybe a question too early to ask, but who looks like the team leader for next year? I realize this might be premature as we may not be done with portal transfers and/or players (Bub, maybe) testing the NBA draft

1) Yes, I think so.

2) Brandon Johnson who has been talked about here quite a bit. He is a home run get and visiting. The fit is almost too perfect although its going to be a challenge to get him from other quality schools.

3) Lowe. All day long its Lowe.. He was taking on leadership qualities this year both on and off the floor. I also expect Leggett to be a leader too on the defensive side of the basketball and in the locker room if we are fortunate enough to get him back.

 

[Chairman Moe]

1) Yes, I think so.

2) Brandon Johnson who has been talked about here quite a bit. He is a home run get and visiting. The fit is almost too perfect although its going to be a challenge to get him from other quality schools.

3) Lowe. All day long its Lowe.. He was taking on leadership qualities this year both on and off the floor. I also expect Leggett to be a leader too on the defensive side of the basketball and in the locker room if we are fortunate enough to get him back.

Any chance Blake talks to Johnson on his visit? Hinson has spoken so highly of both the school and the coach (as well as the city)

 

[Vader_Storm]

Any chance Blake talks to Johnson on his visit? Hinson has spoken so highly of both the school and the coach (as well as the city)

Sure, why not? I mean last years seniors that left the team spent a lot of time helping the freshmen last summer. Im sure Blake will be spending extra time at Pitt helping guys in the future like Burton, Cummings, and those other guys did last summer. He likes Pitt and Capel a lot.

 

[Chairman Moe]

Sure, why not? I mean last years seniors that left the team spent a lot of time helping the freshmen last summer. Im sure Blake will be spending extra time at Pitt helping guys in the future like Burton, Cummings, and those other guys did last summer. He likes Pitt and Capel a lot.

That might (along with the NIL bucks) help swing some of these "must gets"

Any chance Thomas stays home to play with Cummings?

 

[LGP1989]

Looking at Capel's time here you can see a distinct split. Coming off of the Stallings era, he went hard on highly rated/ranked players to try and effect a turnaround quickly. It did not work. There was talent, NBA talent, but no cohesion.

It is clear he regrouped during the pandemic on recruiting strategy after dealing with the Hugley debacle. As he rotated in players that had a strong relationship, he phased out those that didn't. Starting with Burton, his culture here has been outstanding. Dior is the outlier and I hope he realizes the shiny toy comes with problems.

It also doesn't hurt that his/our NIL approach has been ahead of the curve.

 

[BreakingPitt]

1) Yes, I think so.

2) Brandon Johnson who has been talked about here quite a bit. He is a home run get and visiting. The fit is almost too perfect although its going to be a challenge to get him from other quality schools.

3) Lowe. All day long its Lowe.. He was taking on leadership qualities this year both on and off the floor. I also expect Leggett to be a leader too on the defensive side of the basketball and in the locker room if we are fortunate enough to get him back.

Vader knows whats up, Lowe did look smooth against UNC.
Carrrington looked great too.
Man, hoping he comes back.
Who is the 4 and 5 next year Vader ?

 

[Upg bobcat]

It also doesn't hurt that his/our NIL approach has been ahead of the curve.

This is intriguing .... what about his approach has been ahead of the curve? Or is that some secret the program doesn't want getting out?

 

[WillyDavis33]

Vader knows whats up, Lowe did look smooth against UNC.
Carrrington looked great too.
Man, hoping he comes back.
Who is the 4 and 5 next year Vader ?

Not Vader but hopefully the 4 and 5 are players not on the roster now! With Coach allowing players to shoot at will I would think that would catch the eye of transfer players wanting to score points and can shoot!

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Looking at Capel's time here you can see a distinct split. Coming off of the Stallings era, he went hard on highly rated/ranked players to try and effect a turnaround quickly. It did not work. There was talent, NBA talent, but no cohesion.

It is clear he regrouped during the pandemic on recruiting strategy after dealing with the Hugley debacle. As he rotated in players that had a strong relationship, he phased out those that didn't. Starting with Burton, his culture here has been outstanding. Dior is the outlier and I hope he realizes the shiny toy comes with problems.

It also doesn't hurt that his/our NIL approach has been ahead of the curve.

Eh, I don't know about all that. He's always taken the best players he can get - I don't think there is some master plan beyond that. Maybe he doesn't put as many eggs in the baskets of unattainable 5 stars these days.

 

[Parkview57]

what about his approach has been ahead of the curve?

I just think, he grew up with his father as a college coach, nothing about the "College Game" surprises him. He is able to speak to players from other programs in a way that makes them believe they will be comfortable with being around the coaches and team, right away, very important I think in this day of transient teams. He also seems very comfortable with the Portal/NIL model. To Pitt's good fortunate HCJC's skill set is perfectly matched to today's game. He was a big time failure here, IMO, if all of this had not taken place. But it did , and he was so close to being a sweet sixteen coach these last two years, a player this year and two last year. The sky is the limit at Pitt now....just my opinion.....

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

For those who followed the last Pitt games' post-game press conferences, both the players AND Capel spoke about how much synergy there was among the team. A "band of brothers", so to speak. Bub goes for 30+ and credits the team. Blake goes off for 40+ and credits the team.

No I; we.

So my first question is this:

Will HCJC stay true to his guns and only recruit "team players" from the portal?

If so, is anyone here familiar with which player(s) in the portal might best fit into the Pitt "team first" philosophy? Or who wouldn't?

Maybe a question too early to ask, but who looks like the team leader for next year? I realize this might be premature as we may not be done with portal transfers and/or players (Bub, maybe) testing the NBA draft

He has built an excellent culture with a bunch of great kids which is hard to do nowadays so taking free agents always make you a little nervous. I'd like to get BHH but coming from a place where all he did was lose makes me really nervous. Look at Jaylyn Withers coming from Kenny Payne, made what Barstool called the worst decision since the Webber TO.