Jeff Capel is going into his eighth season at Pitt and it’s safe to say that this is a pivotal season for the former Duke guard and assistant coach.
After a tough first three seasons, things seemed to be going well for Capel. In 2022-23, Pitt finished 24-12; in 2023-24, the Panthers finished 22-11.
Last season was still a winning season with Pitt finishing two games over .500. Other than Duke, Louisville and Clemson though, it was a disastrous season for the ACC and no one was impressed by a 17-15
year.
Capel had the solid backing of AD Heather Lyke though, who hired him in 2018 and stuck by him through thick and thin.
But she was let go last September and Capel now works for Allen Greene (trivia: Greene attended Seattle’s O’Dae High, which later produced Duke’s Paolo Banchero). And the reality is that most ADs like to hire their own coaches. So Capel – and the rest of us – should probably look at this as a make or break season.
Unfortunately, Capel lost one of his best players when Jaland Lowe entered the portal, ultimately settling on Kentucky. The Slim Twins – Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham – have wandered off to different schools. Guillermo is at San Francisco while Jorge is at Oregon State. Amsal Delalic is now a DePaul Blue Demon and Marlon Barnes is at Evansville. Ishmael Leggett and Zach Austin, both very useful, are also gone.
Papa Kante had entered the portal but ultimately decided to stay.
Cameron Corhen is back, along with Brandin Cummings, Amdy Ndiaye, Benjamin Nayhew and Jajuan Nelson. Corhen is, at a minimum, a competent and experienced senior. He’s not an NBA level player, but he’s serviceable. And he’ll have help in the post.
Cummings has a chance to develop into a good player. He was in the rotation as a freshman and gained valuable experience. Ndiaye played just 21 minutes last season but who knows? He could develop. His father was good enough to get a look-see from the Spurs back in the day. Mathew and Nelson are both walk-ons.
The portal brings Barry Dunning (6-6 junior from South Alabama), DaMarco Minor (6-0 senior from Oregon State), Nojus Idrusaitis (6-5 freshman from Iowa State) and Dishon Jackson (6-10 senior also from Iowa State).
Dunning averaged 15.1 ppg at South Alabama and is on his fourth roster, having previously played at Arkansas, UAB and of course U.S.A., where he was First Team All Sun Belt.
The Mobile native is absolutely relishing being in Pittsburgh, telling Pittsburgh Sports Now that “[e]ach and every day I’ll go, walk around, bus to different parts in Pittsburgh. Meeting great people. The food here is great, the burgers here are amazing. The burgers here are amazing, and the seafood, too. But I really love Pittsburgh, I have been shown beloved hospitality since I got here, and this is really a sports town. Die-hard Pittsburgh fans, Steelers fans, when it comes to hockey, baseball, people down here love their sports. The city of bridges, too, is beautiful. It’s a beautiful city. I don’t know where it’s at, but it’s kind of like, you overlook the whole city, you see the three rivers, it’s just a beautiful sight. Pittsburgh overall is just a beautiful city and I love being here and I love living in it.”
How can you not be happy for that?
Minor averaged 9.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.5 steals at Oregon State and is reportedly a good defender. Capel has said in the past that the only position left in basketball is the point guard, so hopefully he has a good one. He’s a really good rebounder for a 6-0 guard – at SIU-Edwardsville, he pulled down 8.5 per game.
We think Idrusaitis is Lithuanian – he plays internationally for Lithuania – but some sites list him as a native of Illinois.
Either way, he was at Iowa State as a freshman but bailed after not really playing much. Capel thinks he can man either guard position which should be handy. He didn’t get a lot of time with the 25-10 Cyclones so we’ll have to see how he does at Pitt.
The second former Cyclone on the roster is Jackson. At 6-11 and 270, he gives the Panthers some beef inside. He started 33 games for ISU and had decent stats, getting 8.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks.
For his part, Jackson says that he hopes to get a chance to show some different aspects of his game at Pitt. Capel thinks he moves well and his experience will help.
There are also five freshman, 6-4 Omari Witherspoon, 7-0 Kieran Mullen, 6-6 Roman Siulepa, 6-3 Macari Moore and 6-7 Henry Lau.
Some of these guys are pretty intriguing.
Witherspoon comes to Pitt from the DMV, which as far as we’re concerned is the motherlode for American talent. There is more good talent there, consistently, than New York, New Jersey, Detroit, Seattle or L.A. It’s just the best.
He played at St. John’s and really came on during his final year. Pitt might have caught a rising star, but time will tell.
Realistically, Mullen, a Canadian, has potential but he’s probably 3rd or 4th in line at center right now. He can shoot, which is nice, but he’s very slim at 215. He might be a year or two away and it won’t surprise us if he redshirts. Unlike most Canadian players who have migrated to the U.S. lately, he’s not from Toronto or Mississauga, he’s from Vancouver, B.C.
Siulepa is out of Australia and is a high-end athlete. Apparently he had to choose between rugby and basketball so it’s safe to say he’s not going to be scared of contact. His basketball skills may need refining, but we’re hearing that he’s highly athletic, with one site comparing him to former Blue Devil Corey Magette. That would be high-end indeed.
He’s probably going to need to put a lot of time in on his skills, but if he does, he could go a long ways. In the short term, he could be a real problem on defense.
We’re not 100% sure about this, but we think Siulepa is the first Samoan to play basketball in the ACC.
Moore is a combo guard who could develop into a solid point presence. He could push Minor for the starting spot and should at the least be in the rotation. He’s been praised for his competitive spirit and leadership as well.
Finally, Henry Lau is the second Aussie in the freshman class. He averaged 28.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 6.0 blocks back home in Sydney. He’s more of an inside player at this point, which fits: Capel’s best teams have been hard-nosed and attack the rim with alacrity.
Last roster note: Damian Dunn is trying to get a sixth season but last we heard, there has been no decision from the NCAA.
So has Capel put together a solid team? It looks pretty good from the cheap seats. He has size and experience in the post with Corhen and Jackson. Kante is a bit of a wild card but he could help. Ndiaye and Mullen are lurking in the background and could come through.
Point guard should be covered with Minor and Moore and possibly Witherspoon. Cummings is a Pitt guy – his brother Nelly was a Panther – and he wants to be there, which is great in today’s game.
Dunning should get a lot of minutes. We’re not sure yet what Idrusaitis’s role will be, but he could help.
We’re very curious about Siulepa and Lau, both of whom seem to defy international stereotypes, preferring to attack the basket rather than pop threes.
Speaking of threes, we’re not totally sure yet who will emerge as an outside force for the Panthers. We have no doubt this team will score a lot in transition and will attack the basket well, but somebody is going to need to open the defenses up for that to be as effective as it might be.
There are a lot of questions to answer still, but all in all, Capel has enough pieces to compete. However, he has the same problem several rising ACC programs have: the ACC is going to be a lot tougher this season than it was last year and making a move up the standings won’t be easy. And as noted above, new Athletics Directors often prefer to hire their own guys. A mediocre season would give Greene a chance to do just that.
*****
Just something to keep in mind…Greene was A.D. at Buffalo when Danny Hurley was hired. We’re not saying he’s going to be able to get Hurley to Pitt. He’s not. However, if he decides to make a change, we could certainly imagine him going after Hurley’s most promising assistant, Luke Murray.
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