ACC Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2019-20 season

By Brian Rauf | Sep 25, 2019

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 05: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils drives past Jordan Chatman #25 of the Boston College Eagles during the second half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 05, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 80-55. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

9 of 16

LOUISVILLE, KY – JANUARY 26: Xavier Johnson #1 of the Pittsburgh Panthers dribbles the ball after a steal against Ryan McMahon #30 of the Louisville Cardinals in the first half of the game at KFC YUM! Center on January 26, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville won 66-51. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

444. . Last Year: 14-19 (3-15). . Panthers . 8. team

Someone has to emerge from that group of bottom-dwellers that have made up the list to this point, and Pitt is in perfect position to be the beneficiary.

Yes, the Panthers were bad last year, but they found a lot of hope in Jeff Capel’s first season as head coach. Guards Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowans were two of the best freshmen in the entire conference last year and are poised to take significant steps forward. In fact, I think Johnson will be one of the country’s biggest breakout stars this upcoming season.

Those two are probably good enough to at least double Pitt’s ACC win total from a year ago, but this roster also received some welcome additions in the offseason.

Transfer Eric Hamilton (UNCG) will give the Panthers a needed big man down low and fellow transfer Ryan Murphy will provide some shooting. Throw in versatile freshman wing Gerald Drumgoole and you have a trio of significant upgrades.

While the roster certainly needed to be upgraded from the Kevin Stallings era, Capel is also going to have to do his fair share of development in order to raise the collective level of play. He did so at VCU and, for a time, at Oklahoma. That happens and there’s the potential for a real breakthrough for Pitt.