#1 – UNC || #2 – NC State || #3 – Wake Forest || #4 – Virginia || #5 – Clemson||#6 – Miami || #7 – Louisville
Jeff Capel is fortunate enough to be Pitt’s basketball coach.
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After a 13-20 season, he was clearly on the hot seat. He also had a new AD, Allen Greene, and usually, new ADs like to hire their guys.
However, it turned out that Pitt was not willing to pay Capel the $15 million buyout, preferring to put that money into the plan.
Greene started HP2NIL, a fundraising platform to raise funds for NIL. Currently, Pitt’s NIL budget is ranked 11th in the ACC, and 54th nationally. It’s an improvement, but Pitt is still at the bottom of the list financially.
However, Greene had conditions for Capel’s return. First, he had to fire his two assistants, Tim O’Toole, and, most painfully, his brother, Jason. The Capels have always been close, so that had to hurt.
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He also insisted that Pitt modernize the system, including hiring a GM for the first time. Jay Kuntz was brought in to manage the business side of the program – NIL strategy and inventory building, including acquisition of the transfer portal.
Greene also noted that Pitt was injured early, but he competed and showed heart.
So Capel has another chance to keep his job, but the ACC is likely to be very competitive, and it won’t be easy to climb.
So what does Capel have to work with? Let’s take a look.
Returning
Portal Pickups
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Colin Hawkins – 6-3/JR (Gardner-Webb)
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Jonathan Powell – 6-6/JR (UNC)
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Jalil Bethea – 6-5/JR (Alabama)
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Naithan George – 6-3/SR (Syracuse)
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A’lahn Sumler – 6-4/R-SR (Charleston Southern)
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Timofei Rudovskii – 6-9/SO (Bryant)
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Dominique Diomande – 6-7/R-SO (BYU)
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Baye Ndongo – 6-9/SR (Georgia Tech)
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Armani Mighty – 6-10/SR (Mercer)
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Ibrahim Souare – 6-9/R-JR (Syracuse)
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Craig Gilbert – 6-8/JR (Concord University)
They are young
Moore is the only returning player, and he had little impact last year. He played in 22 games, averaging 5.9 minutes. He didn’t play enough to gain much insight, but he probably improved a lot over the summer.
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The heart of this team is portal pickups, and many of those guys have things to prove, which could work well for the Panthers.
Remarkably, six of Capel’s freshmen have previously been on ACC teams. Powell was at UNC, Ndongo was at Georgia Tech, George was at Georgia Tech and Syracuse, Souare was at Georgia Tech and Syracuse, Bethea started at Miami before moving on to Alabama, and Mighty was at BC before heading south to Mercer.
Those ACC fans are probably familiar with, and despite hitting a bit, Ndongo in particular is an amazing athlete.
He started almost every game in his three seasons at Georgia Tech, barring injuries, and while former Yellow Jacket coach Damon Stoudamire kept trying to get him off the basket, he did his best inside. Last year, he averaged 11.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and a career-best 2.4 assists. You can probably count on him starting.
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In BC, Mighty had trouble finding a role. He left, spent a redshirt year at Central Michigan, then had a senior year at Mercer, averaging 13.2 ppg and 10.6 rebounds. He had an 18 point, 25 rebound game against VMI, and maybe you say, well…yeah…VMI.
But he never did anything like that in BC. Clearly, he has improved; the question is how much.
He shot 64% last year, and at 240, he is solidly built. We’ll see how much better he is in his second ACC trip.
Souare will be a defender. His offense has never been great, but he has a 7-2 wingspan, and that causes problems for a lot of people.
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Powell didn’t make much of an impact at UNC last year, but he played well at West Virginia before that.
He’s a solid three-point shooter, and that’s something Pitt could definitely use. At UNC last year, Powell averaged 4.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 16.3 minutes per game, appearing in 33 games. He might pair well with George, who is historically a helpful figure.
Speaking of George, he will also be reunited with his Yellow Jacket teammate, Ndongo, who he seemed to have good talent for. George averaged 10.9 ppg last year at Syracuse, 5.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds. We have always loved him.
Bethea never lived up to her 5-star high school reputation. In Miami of course, he was caught up in the drama of Jim Larranaga’s midseason retirement, and his playing time suffered.
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Last year, he was at Alabama, and his minutes were more than halved, dropping from 19 per game in Miami to 7.9 for the Crimson Tide. He may have made more money at Alabama, but other than that, the transfer didn’t work out too well.
At Pitt, he’ll have a chance to play with less pressure, maybe get more minutes, and have a chance to rebuild his reputation.
Like Powell, he’s a solid three-point shooter, and that should put him on the court.
Hawkins was a solid guard for the Gardner-Webb combo, and he will be the glue-guy for Pitt. He probably won’t start ahead of George, Powell, or Bethea, but if things go well, Pitt won’t have much to lose going in, either. He could be very useful, assuming he can adapt to the ACC.
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Sumler averaged 18.9 ppg last year at Charleston Southern, along with 3.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds. He shot 48% overall and an impressive 39.6% from deep. It’s a jump from Charleston Southern to the ACC, but if he can navigate it, Pitt could be a real asset.
Diomande is said to be a running back and could play a role similar to the one we saw in Duke’s Dame Sarr last season. He’s a bit of a hit, but Pitt is giving him a chance to build a lasting role.
At BYU last year, he averaged 1.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.7 steals in limited minutes.
Rudovskii averaged 12.9 ppg for Bryant, and 4.6 rebounds. He also shot 35.1% from behind the three-point line, which was solid. He started all 31 games as a freshman, which is great.
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Like Hawkins and Sumler, it’s unclear how well he’ll do in the ACC, but we’ll see.
Gilbert is from D-II Concord, and we don’t know what to expect. It is said that he shot the three well, and before he was injured he had hit 48% of his threes last season.
As far as freshmen go, Foster is a Top 40 recruit. A native of Baltimore, Foster attended IMG Academy. He might actually appear.
Like Foster, Jones went to IMG. He’s a Top 100 coach who will have to go through a lot of players on the team to get playing time, but he might be good enough to do it.
Pitt must be improved, but the fundamental question, however, is simple: does Capel have enough to keep his job?
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Yes, there is a case for optimism.
In general, Pitt has a good plan now. They have strong big men, good guards, and perimeter guys who can help Capel’s physical defensive style.
There are also a number of potential players from the bonussphere.
In the worst case scenario, Capel’s other transfer takes a big step, and that doesn’t always work out, at least not quickly.
And while Pitt should improve, most ACC teams will improve as well. He may end up at a disadvantage when his team is the best, but not at the top.
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