Pittsburgh Basketball: Promising 2-0 start in the Jeff Capel era

It’s a new start for the Pittsburgh Basketball program after a couple of difficult seasons. In the first week of the 2018-19 season, the early returns are promising.

After previously longtime Pittsburgh Basketball Head Coach Jamie Dixon departed for TCU, the school administration went with former Vanderbilt leader Kevin Stallings as the replacement. The results were disastrous, with the Panthers going a combined 24-41 (4-32) record along with going winless in the ACC all of last year.

Stallings was dismissed this past offseason, with the school looking another head coach. After a lengthy process in which a few candidates reportedly declined Pitt’s offer, they landed Jeff Capel, an assistant at Duke who also was the head coach at Oklahoma. He was known as the primary recruiter for many of the “one and dones” who recently came through the Blue Devils.

After some more roster turnover, the Panthers headed into this season with very little expectations. They were the consensus last-place team in the preseason ACC rankings, and the goals for the team involved merely a couple of league wins.

The first week of the 2018-19 season has finished and Pittsburgh is still unbeaten, winning by a combined 65 points. They defeated Youngstown 69-53, led by the freshmen duo of Trey McGowens and Xavier Johnson. The pair combined for 33 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.

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The Panthers played without the team’s leading scorer from last season Jared Wilson-Frame, who was out with a suspension. On Friday’s battle versus VMI, the senior came back off the bench to lead all scorers with 20 points in the 94-55 win. Johnson continues to establish himself as the primary ball handler for the team, with 10 assists, with fellow freshman Au’Diese Toney chipping in with 14 points.

This is already a polar opposite result from last season’s 0-2 start to Navy and Montana. And while some will downplay the results due to the weak perception of both Youngstown State and VMI, there are two big differences between this and last year’s teams.

First off, there’s been an instant talent upgrade with the trio of Johnson, Toney and McGowens. Even as freshmen, they’re lightyears ahead of the curve that players such Marcus Carr, Parker Stewart, and others were. And even the results themselves are a positive indication. Only once last season was Pittsburgh able to win by at least 15 points and they’ve already done it twice. These blowouts are a good sign of a program that will win double-digit games without question, as well as a few ACC battles this season.

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With Troy, Central Arkansas and D-I newcomer North Alabama coming to town in the next week, Pittsburgh should start out 5-0 before true tests such as Iowa and Saint Louis appear. They’ll be the real indicator for the program’s growth but one thing is for sure – Coach Capel has the program trending in the right direction. And it’s been two years since Panthers fans could genuinely say that.

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