Pittsburgh Basketball: How bad will it get for the Panthers?

Since the ouster of coach Kevin Stallings, the Pittsburgh Panthers have seen an embarrassing mass exodus tank their program.

The real March Madness isn’t taking place on a basketball court somewhere in the country. It’s taking place in Pittsburgh, where the Panthers are bleeding out.

Less than two weeks ago, the team fired coach Kevin Stallings. The move wasn’t a major shock – he just oversaw an 0-18 ACC campaign. It was enough to trigger a seismic shift for players of the program, though.

In the past days, eight players received their releases from the program, with a ninth (Jared Wilson-Frame) reportedly considering adding his name to the list.

As of now, only two players are returning, and they’re two freshmen who barely played meaningful minutes last year.

Until the team finds a coach, there’s no way to stop the bleeding. Respectable candidates, however, are not going to be interested in joining a program that has two known entities returning next year and nothing else. It’s a predicament no team should find themselves in.

Two candidates could energize the program. The first, Rhode Island’s Dan Hurley, may not see any reason to jump to the Pitt job right now. After all, he has a good thing going at URI.

The other candidate is an alum dealing with his own set of problems: Sean Miller. There’s little chance Miller leaves Arizona on his own, but he could be forced out, depending on the investigation into a possible pay-for-play scandal. Perhaps he and the Panthers would make perfect rebuilding partners.

The team has just one two-star commitment for next year, according to 247 Sports, which doesn’t even register Pitt in their recruiting rankings. In other words, things are about to get much worse before it gets better.

Next: Pitt must return to roots

Two years ago, the Pittsburgh Panthers were in the NCAA Tournament. This year, they’re setting themselves up to be the worst mid-major program in the sport.