Pittsburgh Basketball: 3 biggest storylines for Panthers in 2020 offseason

Real production from the frontcourt would go a long way to being contenders

While Xavier Johnson is the best overall player for the Panthers, there’s only so much he and the other guards can do on offense. The biggest problem in the last few years has been the complete lack of production inside from the forwards.

In the year prior, Eric Hamilton and Terrell Brown split most of the starts at the center position, with either Justin Champagnie or Au’Diese Toney starting at the undersized power forward spot.  Champagnie was the emerging bright spot for Pittsburgh Basketball, leading the team with 12.7 ppg and 7.0 rpg. But at 6’7 and most comfortable as a wing, the ideal situation would be for the Panthers to have a real frontcourt in terms of size and depth to compete in the ACC.

Brown is coming back for his senior season, along with 6’8 sophomore forward Karim Coulibaly. To add to the depth is top-100 freshman center John Hugley, as well as four-star forward William Jeffress. Three-star frontcourt commits Noah Collier and Max Amadasun are redshirt candidates depending on how the other four players look in the preseason but Coach Capel has finally been able to revamp the frontcourt to look competitive on paper.

There’s going to be pressure on Hugley, in particular, to be an effective contributor, possibly even start at center. Brown is a solid defender but doesn’t add much in terms of scoring, so the freshman being able to take over would raise the overall ceiling for the team next season.

There’s even more hope that Coach Capel will be able to land an even more talented frontcourt recruit in the 2021 class. They’re in play for top-50 prospects such as Franck Kepnang, Charles Bediako, and Micawber Etienne. Landing any one of them would be massive for the program. But if Hugley can play at a high level as a freshman, maybe none of those centers will even be needed.