Jeff Capel Proud of Guillermo Diaz-Graham’s Toughness in First Start of Season

PITTSBURGH — During Pitt’s game against South Carolina State, sophomore forward Guillermo Diaz-Graham earned his first start of the season in place of Federiko Federiko.

Diaz-Graham came into the game averaging a solid 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest. The Spaniard had gotten off to a strong start to the season, and after seeing how he played in the second half against Canisius, Jeff Capel decided to move him into the starting lineup for Saturday’s matchup.

“I just think we wanted to try something different with bigs,” Capel said after the game. “Guillermo is the only other big that we have. I thought he has done some really nice things; he played really well against West Virginia. He gives us something a little bit different, especially offensively, than Fede does, but we need Fede. I was really proud of how he responded.”

Diaz-Graham opened the game with a clean look for two right in front of the basket, giving Pitt an early 2-0 lead over South Carolina State. In the remainder of the first half, the Canary Islands native earned a block, a steal, six rebounds, two assists, and three more points.

With just over 15 minutes to go in the game, Diaz-Graham, while defending in the paint, was hit in the face by a Bulldog player while hands were flying for a rebound. Diaz-Graham instantly put both hands on his face and eventually fell to the ground holding his face in obvious pain. After about 20 seconds on the ground, he got up, and along with a trainer, walked right back to the bench. However, he wasn’t necessarily worried about nursing the injury on the bench — he was “pissed.”

“I was excited because he was pissed,” Capel said. “When I went over to him, he was hurting, but he was pissed, which I loved. I loved the fact that he came back, kept the ball alive and it led to a three pointer for us. So, it’s showing growth. Toughness can be defined in many different ways, you don’t have to be some big, strong, buff dude to be tough. He’s tough in his own way, and that play is an example of it.”

Diaz-Graham continued his strong play, adding two more assists and two more rebounds while also slamming home one more dunk in the second half. He finished with seven points and a team-high eight rebounds in the Panther victory, while hitting three of his five field-goal attempts and one of his two free-throw tries.

“He’s a talented young kid, he can do a lot, and we’re expecting him to do a lot,” Capel said. “He’s not the strongest guy, although he has gotten stronger. He’s seven feet tall, but if he raises his arms, he’s about seven-foot-eight. He’s getting better at understanding how to talk, be in a stance to have the stamina to defend the whole possession. Offensively he can pass it, he can make a shot, he was able to finish today, he can make free throws. So there’s a lot of things he can do, and we expect him to get better.”