I am in a rather expensive college hoops pool, and the Three-Man-Weave blog/site is one of the few I read heading into the season. They go pretty extensively into each team. Here is the Pitt preview...
Key Losses: Justin Champagnie, Au'Diese Toney, Xavier Johnson
Key Newcomers: Daniel Oladapo (Oakland), Jamarius Burton (Texas Tech), Mouhamadou Gueye (Stony Brook)
Lineup:
Outlook: Fast starts and quick flameouts have become the norm in the Steel City. In 2019-20, an exuberant youth movement caught fire early on, but the inexperience eventually took its toll. An underclassmen-laden roster was shell-shocked by the wear and tear of a grueling ACC schedule, manifesting in a 7-game losing streak to close out the regular season.
Last year, a tornado of COVID absences and untimely injuries spoiled another strong start, as the Panthers watched an 8-2 record flip to 10-12 by season’s end.
At the eye of the storm is Jeff Capel. Has the recruiting magnet responsible for landing generational talents at Oklahoma and Duke lost his mojo? Or is there a larger undercurrent at play preventing Pitt from gaining any real sort of momentum (teaser: see ‘Bottom Line’ below).There’s a common theme amongst the ACC bottom feeders. Pitt’s roster is littered with mid-major up transfers, save Texas Tech import
Jamarius Burton, a concerning indicator of diminishing momentum within the grassroots recruiting pool. Capel did manage to catch a big fish in the 2022 class this summer, 4-star combo guard Judah Mintz, as he aims to restock the talent pipeline. Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end of a multi-year drought for Capel on the recruiting trail. Mintz certainly has the pedigree to lay the groundwork for the next wave of homegrown talent, akin to the likes of Trey McGowens, Justin Champagnie and Xavier Johnson.
For now, the 2022 roster lacks that sexy star power, but it does hold some competent pieces. It starts with a big, athletic backcourt, all of whom are cut from the combo guard mold. Ithiel Horton and Nike
Sibande are the incumbent veterans, two incendiary, albeit streaky, scorers who will seek more consistency in 2022. Horton’s long-range marksmanship can be a lethal weapon when he’s got the hot hand. Per ShotQuality.com, Pitt’s possessions ended with a Horton catch-and-shoot three more frequently than any other sequence last season. Horton canned 13 triples in three of Pitt’s first four conference victories, but he floated in and out of games far too often late in the year.
Sibande’s injury-prone reputation caught up to him again last year, but he hit the afterburners by late February. A high-octane athlete, Sibande’s a devastating slasher, particularly out in the open floor. However, finishing through traffic has been a chore for Sibande over his career – to optimize Sibande, Capel should aim to push the pace out in transition as much as possible.
Sibande’s late season emergence was largely overshadowed by teammate Femi Odukale, a 6’5 power guard with a mountainous ceiling. The rising sophomore took flight after Valentine’s Day, concluding with a 28-point explosion in a losing effort against Miami in the ACC Tournament. The aforementioned Burton adds another bullet to the backcourt chamber. He was recruited over at Texas Tech but proved his worth as a full-time starter on Wichita State’s 2020 tournament team.
Joining Burton on the transfer walkway are Daniel Oladapo and Mouhamadou Gueye, both of whom carry sterling defensive reputations from their prior destinations. Pitt’s plus perimeter length did nothing to stop the interior nosebleeds that persisted last season, but Gueye should shore up those holes in a hurry. The reigning America East Defensive Player of the Year is not your typical ‘block or bust’ rim protector. He’s both smart and laterally agile, well-equipped to fortify the back end of Pitt’s defense. Oladapo is a physical wing / forward hybrid who might be one of the best pound-for-pound rebounders in the ACC. He may be reduced to a glorified bruiser against Power-6 size up front, but his nose for the ball will translate immediately to glass production.
Bottom Line: The elephant in the room, unaddressed until now, is what ultimately drove the exodus of Xavier Johnson and Au'Diese Toney late in the season. Reporting from Pittsburgh Sports Now (see video below) carefully tiptoed around the explicit cause of the rift between Johnson, Toney, Capel and other actors, but the headline quote from Mike Vukovcan’s breakdown is as follows: “Jeff Capel needs to get a better control of his program.”
Source: https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/acc-2022-preview
13. Pittsburgh
Key Returners: Femi Odukale, Ithiel Horton, Nike SibandeKey Losses: Justin Champagnie, Au'Diese Toney, Xavier Johnson
Key Newcomers: Daniel Oladapo (Oakland), Jamarius Burton (Texas Tech), Mouhamadou Gueye (Stony Brook)
Lineup:
Outlook: Fast starts and quick flameouts have become the norm in the Steel City. In 2019-20, an exuberant youth movement caught fire early on, but the inexperience eventually took its toll. An underclassmen-laden roster was shell-shocked by the wear and tear of a grueling ACC schedule, manifesting in a 7-game losing streak to close out the regular season.
Last year, a tornado of COVID absences and untimely injuries spoiled another strong start, as the Panthers watched an 8-2 record flip to 10-12 by season’s end.
At the eye of the storm is Jeff Capel. Has the recruiting magnet responsible for landing generational talents at Oklahoma and Duke lost his mojo? Or is there a larger undercurrent at play preventing Pitt from gaining any real sort of momentum (teaser: see ‘Bottom Line’ below).There’s a common theme amongst the ACC bottom feeders. Pitt’s roster is littered with mid-major up transfers, save Texas Tech import
Jamarius Burton, a concerning indicator of diminishing momentum within the grassroots recruiting pool. Capel did manage to catch a big fish in the 2022 class this summer, 4-star combo guard Judah Mintz, as he aims to restock the talent pipeline. Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end of a multi-year drought for Capel on the recruiting trail. Mintz certainly has the pedigree to lay the groundwork for the next wave of homegrown talent, akin to the likes of Trey McGowens, Justin Champagnie and Xavier Johnson.
For now, the 2022 roster lacks that sexy star power, but it does hold some competent pieces. It starts with a big, athletic backcourt, all of whom are cut from the combo guard mold. Ithiel Horton and Nike
Sibande are the incumbent veterans, two incendiary, albeit streaky, scorers who will seek more consistency in 2022. Horton’s long-range marksmanship can be a lethal weapon when he’s got the hot hand. Per ShotQuality.com, Pitt’s possessions ended with a Horton catch-and-shoot three more frequently than any other sequence last season. Horton canned 13 triples in three of Pitt’s first four conference victories, but he floated in and out of games far too often late in the year.
Sibande’s injury-prone reputation caught up to him again last year, but he hit the afterburners by late February. A high-octane athlete, Sibande’s a devastating slasher, particularly out in the open floor. However, finishing through traffic has been a chore for Sibande over his career – to optimize Sibande, Capel should aim to push the pace out in transition as much as possible.
Sibande’s late season emergence was largely overshadowed by teammate Femi Odukale, a 6’5 power guard with a mountainous ceiling. The rising sophomore took flight after Valentine’s Day, concluding with a 28-point explosion in a losing effort against Miami in the ACC Tournament. The aforementioned Burton adds another bullet to the backcourt chamber. He was recruited over at Texas Tech but proved his worth as a full-time starter on Wichita State’s 2020 tournament team.
Joining Burton on the transfer walkway are Daniel Oladapo and Mouhamadou Gueye, both of whom carry sterling defensive reputations from their prior destinations. Pitt’s plus perimeter length did nothing to stop the interior nosebleeds that persisted last season, but Gueye should shore up those holes in a hurry. The reigning America East Defensive Player of the Year is not your typical ‘block or bust’ rim protector. He’s both smart and laterally agile, well-equipped to fortify the back end of Pitt’s defense. Oladapo is a physical wing / forward hybrid who might be one of the best pound-for-pound rebounders in the ACC. He may be reduced to a glorified bruiser against Power-6 size up front, but his nose for the ball will translate immediately to glass production.
Bottom Line: The elephant in the room, unaddressed until now, is what ultimately drove the exodus of Xavier Johnson and Au'Diese Toney late in the season. Reporting from Pittsburgh Sports Now (see video below) carefully tiptoed around the explicit cause of the rift between Johnson, Toney, Capel and other actors, but the headline quote from Mike Vukovcan’s breakdown is as follows: “Jeff Capel needs to get a better control of his program.”
Source: https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/acc-2022-preview
