Despite qualifying for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament last year for the first time in six years, the Pitt Panthers entered the 2023-24 season with plenty of skeptics. But Jeff Capel didn’t listen to them.
Fans and the national media were wondering if last year a fluke. Were they a team that just got hot at the second half of the season?
Last year was fun, but could Jeff Capel be able to replace the handful of seniors that graduated and field a tournament team in consecutive seasons?
Gone were leaders like Jamarius Burton, Nike Sibande, Nelly Cummings and Greg Elliott, so Capel had to, not only hit the transfer portal once again, but also had to fast track the development of a couple of incoming freshmen.
If you looked at what was being said and followed the preseason predictions, the majority of the basketball world had little to no faith in Pitt this season and felt as though it was making another return to March Madness was a pipedream. In the ACC Media Preseason poll, Pitt was picked to finish 9th and that fell in line with the national predictions, which placed Pitt anywhere from 9th to 12th.
It’s a good thing Capel and his players had tunnel vision and never lost belief in the talent on the roster and what they ultimately could accomplish.
Not only are the Panthers proving everyone very wrong but more importantly, they’re a legitimate team on the bubble for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
With one regular season game remaining, Pitt sits with a record of 20-11 and 11-8 in the ACC Conference, which is currently good for 4th place. Not bad considering most people thought they’d be cellar dwellers. There’s a belief that if Pitt can beat NC State on Saturday and win at least one game in the ACC Tournament, that they’ll earn a bid due to their strong metrics (better than last year), impressive road record, performance over last two months and finishing in 3rd or 4th place in ACC.
Although I believe they should receive a bid, I’m not sure how all this will play out and Pitt could very well miss out and be playing in the NIT.
Regardless of what happens, one thing I am sure of is Jeff Capel should get strong consideration to win ACC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Let me rephrase that, Jeff Capel should be the ACC Coach of the Year.
Who’s done a better job of coaching in the ACC this season than Capel? Duke and North Carolina are finishing where everyone thought they would. Tony Bennett and Virginia? Nope, they’re on a second half slide and it can be argued that Pitt has a better resume than Virginia. Brad Brownell at Clemson? Maybe.
WATCH: Pitt HC Jeff Capel Goes In-Depth on Lack Of Projected Tournament Teams from ACC
I’ll add two more things that should be considered when voting for Capel.
First of all, along with taking everything into account that I mentioned above, keep in mind and don’t minimize the fact that Pitt started conference play 1-5. It would’ve been really easy for this team to fall apart and the roster to become full of disgruntled/frustrated players.
However, that didn’t happen and instead they’ve only gotten better. After losing to Syracuse on January 16th, the Panthers have gone on to win 10 of their last 13 games.
Secondly, Pitt has been able to go on this incredible run with a freshman backcourt of Jaland Lowe and Bub Carrington. Capel inserting Lowe into the starting lineup, coincided with Pitt going on this run.
For the second consecutive year, Capel has properly evaluated a number of portal additions, and after a rough start, get this group of players to mesh together and accept and excel at the roles they’ve been placed in. For example, Ish Leggett is the ultimate team player and has been a tremendous addition. After an up and down start, Zack Austin has contributed both offensively and defensively.
These next couple of weeks will no doubt be nerve wracking for the Pitt players and fans but regardless of what happens, everyone should stop questioning the Pitt men’s basketball program.
After a number of rough years, Pitt basketball is back and it’s because of Jeff Capel, who should once again be named the ACC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year.
lol
Glad to see that you can and DID read that article. He does deserve it and does have this program moving in the right direction. Finally, it does take a great deal of time and money to acquire 3 degrees, so congrats!!! .But….
I hear you but, without winning the ACC tourney, I don’t see it happening for Capel. Depends on what the criteria are .. even though UNC and Duke were expected to do well, they actually did well so why shouldn’t their coaches get some votes ? Also, Syracuse and Wake Forest exceeded expectations and their coaches should in the running too. I suspect that whichever team does better (Wake or Cuse) through the ACC tourney, their coach will win and Capel will be 3rd or 4th in the voting. If Pitt wins or makes it to the finals, then Capel… Read more »
Nope. Pitt will never win any award 2x in a row in the ACC if based on voting. And Bub may get freshman of the year votes but won’t win.
Coach, has done a tremendous job and it’s total bullshit that there probably not going to make the ncaa tournament
Mike: While Jeff Capel has done an excellent job, it’s inaccurate to write that “Duke and UNC are finishing where everyone thought they would.” Duke (preseason #2/#3), yes. UNC (preseason #19#21, no). Remember, UNC finished 7th in the ACC last year, was 20-13 overall and lost 8 key players to graduation or transfer. H.C. Hubert Davis recruited two new transfer starters Harrison Ingram (Stanford) and Cormac Ryan (ND) as well as freshman PG Elliot Cadeau to accompany returning superstars Bacot and R.J. Davis. UNC has clinched at least a tie for the ACC championship, will win it outright if it… Read more »
North Carolina was selected to finish No. 3 in the ACC by the ACC Media. CBS Sports picked them to finish No. 2. Majority of sports books in Vegas had them as No.2 in the ACC behind Duke. Point is, them finishing No. 1 or No. 2 is no surprise. They had Armando Bacot returning for his 10th season (LOL) and R.J. Davis. They’re North Carolina, have a roster filled with 4 and 5-star recruits, this is what they should be doing.
Thanks very much for your reply, Mike. You make valid points about UNC. As a Pitt alum and lifelong Pitt fan, I’d love to see Capel get Coach of the Year – he’s done a tremendous job and is deserving. I think if UNC beats Duke, Hubert Davis and Jeff Capel (if Pitt makes the NCAA tourney) will be 1,2 or 2,1. Time will tell. P.S. good one about Armando Bacot.