Pittsburgh Basketball: Jeff Capel’s expectations in second season with Panthers

Returners for 2019-20

Pitt does not have all of the luxuries and can’t land the creme de la creme of recruits that Duke does. However, Capel can produce and coach NBA talent and that’s the calling card to getting top-ranked recruits the program needs.

Over the summer, Capel’s first recruiting class was nothing to woo about, but the returning sophomores are. Xavier Johnson, Trey McGowens, and Au’Diese Toney all return after impressive freshmen seasons. Johnson (15.5 ppg) and McGowens (11.6 ppg) each return as double-figure scorers for the Panthers.

Johnson earned All-ACC Freshman Team honors along with Duke’s trio of Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, Tre Jones, and North Carolina’s Coby White. Three of the four were top-seven picks in the NBA Draft.  After setting freshman records at Pitt, year two will be a huge step in potentially his last seasn at Pitt.

He set freshman program records for double-digit scoring (27), points per game (15.5), games with 15 or more points (16), 20-plus scoring games (8), free throws made (157) and attempted (209), plus field goal attempts (383). Impressively enough, he was the only player to average at least 15.5 points and 4.5 assists per game in the ACC last season.

McGowens started in 32 of 33 games for the Panthers scoring 11.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 assists per game. McGowens is a terrific scorer as he displayed his potential in the Lousiville game. He lit up the Cardinals for 33 points going 12-for-19 from the field in an 89-86 overtime win. In a victory over Florida State, the 6-foot-4 guard went 18-of-19 from the free-throw line showcasing he’s a player you can trust late in the game to shoot at the line.

That backcourt duo along with Toney at small forward, and junior Terrell Brown and senior Ikene Chukwuka return as expected starters down low. Brown and Chukwuka set career-highs in minutes, points, rebounds, blocks, field goal shooting, and free throw shooting last season and will play larger roles on a primarily younger team then they’re used to.