ACC Preview # 9 - Pitt

Capel’s Panthers are looking pretty good

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Duke fans have a particular interest in Pitt since the Panthers are coached by former Blue Devil and good guy Jeff Capel. He hasn’t always had an easy time at Pitt but his A.D.Heather Lyke has consistently backed him and after a few rocky seasons, things have improved lately. Over the last two seasons, Capel has finished 24-12 and 22-11.

He has some significant personnel losses from last season. Blake Hinson, who memorably gunned Duke down in Cameron last season, is gone, as are star freshman Carlton Carrington and center Federiko Federiko. Hinson and Carrington are playing professionally while Federiko has transferred to Texas Tech. William Jeffress is off to Louisiana Tech and Michael Hueitt left the team last February. The first three will hurt, especially Hinson and Carrington, who was a lottery pick, going at #14 to Portland (who traded him to Washington).

However, Capel also retained a lot of talent. He has two solid guards in Jaland Lowe (6-3 sophomore) and Ishmael Leggett (6-3 junior).

Lowe moved into the starting lineup as a freshman and will be hard to push out. Leggett is more mercurial but when he’s hot, he’s hot. He’s also a solid rebounder.

The Diaz Graham twins are back and not quite as spindly as they once were. Guillermo (7-0) arrived at 205; he’s up to 225. Jorge (6-11) got to Pitt at 195; he’s up to 215. Not massive, but not beanpoles anymore either.

Guillermo emerged as a starter last season and Jorge has been a competent backup. Jorge also had surgery for a core muscle injury last spring that sidelined him for a good bit of the summer. He’s had a tough injury history but should be ready for the season.

Zack Austin (6-7 senior) is also back and he’s an undersized but good interior defender.

Marlon Barnes is coming off a redshirt season so jury is out for now. He hasn’t gained any weight - still 190, which might be thinner than the staff wanted to see. Jason Stevenson and Jajuan Nelson also return but weren’t big contributors.

Senegal native Papa Amadou Kante (6-10/235/redshirt freshman) had to sit out last year with a knee injury but if he’s ready to go he could help. He has a 7-4 wingspan so he might be a big deal defensively. There was a lot of excitement about him last season prior to his injury.

Only two transfers: Cam Corhen (6-10/235/junior) from Florida State and Damian Dunn (6-5/junior) from Houston. Corhen is a nice pickup who could contribute offensively in the post and who also adds a bit of power.

Dunn comes from Houston via Temple so he’s probably a willing defender. He’s also from Kinston, that mighty basketball town.

Capel brings in four freshmen: Brandin Cummings (6-3), Amdy Ndiaye (6-10/210), Amsal Delalic (6-8/210) and Liam Mignogna (6-9/250).

Brandin is the younger brother of recent Pitt guard Nelly.

He may take some time to develop but he seems to have a great attitude: he wants to earn his minutes. And remember Nelly was probably undervalued as a high school player.

Ndiaye, like Kante, is from Dakar, Senegal. He’s pretty slender - hey, it’s a Pitt tradition lately - but a year or two in the weight room and he’s going to be a pain. He has good quickness and good hands. Just watching him, he doesn’t look like he’s played too long but seems to have good instincts His development might be really quick. Watch out for him.

Delalic is a 6-8 guard from Bosnia & Herzegovina with professional experience and Euro skills. He’s an outstanding three point shooter. His shot is really soft. If you give him a chance to set up, he’ll kill you. Creighton was on to him which should tell you something given Gregg McDermott’s love of three point shooters.

He also really wants to be in the U.S. and was very impressed with Pitt and Capel and not least of all the training facilities.

And he’s 21, which is unusual for a freshman. We’re pretty impressed with what we’ve learned about him.

Yeah...he’s going to be fun.

Mignona is a preferred walk-on so mostly he’ll be a practice player.

The first thing you notice about Pitt’s roster is that it’s nearly as big as Duke’s. Capel has five guys who are at least 6-10. Delalic is a 6-8 guard and Austin plays much taller than 6-7. The backcourt is smaller than Duke’s but not by that much.

It’ll be interesting to see how Capel sorts it out. The Diaz Grahams are third-year players and they know the system. However, Kante and Corhen bring more beef inside.

Lowe and Leggett may start, but Delacic and Dunn appear to be quality players and Cummings is apparently pretty solid.

Pitt should be able to make up most of Hinson’s three point shooting and overcome some of his liabilities as well. He was a tremendous shooter but for a guy his size he wasn’t much of a presence inside, was a mediocre rebounder and our impression was he wasn’t a passionate defender.

The bigger question for Pitt is who will be the point guard. Odds are it’ll be Lowe, but someone else could emerge, conceivably Dunn, who passed well at Temple. By the way, if you’re wondering, here is the box score from the Duke-Houston game last March. He didn't have a huge impact.

Capel’s time at Pitt has been erratic but on an upward swing recently. He’s put together an intriguing roster that has the potential to be really good, particularly defensively. Graham, Bowe and Leggett are all tolerable from behind the line and Delalic should goose the three point game as well.

Capel also has a lot of continuity, which is a big change from recent years when Pitt suffered major losses, some by fiat and some unexpected.

In short, the ship looks to have been righted though and the future looks good for the Panthers.