This year will look a bit different when it comes to the teams competing in Pitt’s conference schedule.
This season, there will be three new schools competing in the ACC: California, Southern Methodist, and Stanford.
Prior to the start of the season, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel broke down all three programs at a press conference.
“They’re all historically good basketball programs,” Capel said. “When you look at Stanford, Stanford is one of the biggest brands in the world. When you think of Stanford, you think of high academics, world-class athletics. There was a time, man, the nineties, they were really good. Casey Jacobsen, Mark Madsen, those guys, those teams were really good. They have a really, really good coach now. As does Cal. You think of their history with J-Kidd, Lamond Murray, and all of those guys. Mark [Madsen] is a really, really good coach.”
Stanford finished last season 14-18 behind head coach Jerod Haase. The cardinal went 8-12 in Pac-12 play. Prior to last year, Stanford’s basketball program hasn’t had a winning season since a 2020-21 season (14-13 record). Pitt will welcome the Cardinal for a home game this season, per the ACC’s notes. Stanford added these transfers this offseason: Chisom Okpara (Harvard transfer, 6-foot-8 forward), Derin Saran (UC Irvine 6-foot-4 transfer), Jaylen Blakes (Duke 6-foot-2 transfer), and Oziyah Sellers (USC’s 6-foot-5 transfer).
Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud also entered the portal this spring, but eventually decided to commit to the Cardinal and return. The 7-foot-1 senior out of Paris, France averaged 15 points per game last year for the team, and has a Pac-12 Most Improved Player award in his list of personal accomplishments.
The Golden Bears went 13-19 last season, going 9-11 in PAC-12 play. Heading into this year, the staff has brought in the following transfers:
BJ Omot – 6’8 F – North Dakota
Andrej Stojakovic – 6’7 F – Stanford
Christian Tucker – 6’3 G – UTSA
DJ Campbell – 6’2 G – Western Carolina
Jovan Blacksher Jr. – 5’11 G – Grand Canyon
Lee Dort – 6’10 F – Vanderbilt
Mady Sissoko – 6’9 F – Michigan State
Rytis Petraitis – 6’7 F – Air Force
Joshua Ola-Joseph – 6’7 F – Minnesota
“Then, SMU to get Andy Enfield,” Capel continued. “Really good school, unbelievable campus. They have a tradition in basketball and they’ve been really good at times. I think the ACC brand will help them, and I think all three of their brands will help the ACC.”
The Mustangs finished last season 20-13 overall with an 11-7 record in AAC play. SMU took down West Virginia and Florida State in its non-conference schedule last year, and fell to Dayton, Wisconsin, Arizona State, and others.
SMU was upset by No. 11 seed Temple in the American tournament. It then qualified for the NIT, where it lost to No. 1 seed Indiana State 101-92.
SMU brought in the following transfers this offseason:
Kevin “Boopie” Miller – 6’0 G – 15+ PPG – Wake Forest
A.J. George – 6’6 F – 10+ PPG – Long Beach State
Kario Oquendo – 6’4 G – 7+ PPG – Oregon
Matt Cross – 6’7 F – 15+ PPG – UMass
Tibet Gorener – 6’9 F – 11+ PPG – San Jose State
Yohan Traore – 6’11 F – 14+ PPG – UCSB
Jerrell Colbert – 6’10 F – 2+ PPG – Kansas State
