Pittsburgh Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Panthers
Outlook and expectations for the Panthers
The disastrous short-lived era of Kevin Stallings really set this program back from a roster standpoint. And while current head coach Jeff Capel has done a solid job in rebuilding the talent pool (Xavier Johnson and Justin Champagnie), it’s going to take a while to be truly competitive in the ACC, arguably the best conference in all of college basketball.
Particularly without non-conference resume-builders, it’s very hard to see a scenario where Pittsburgh will be good enough to contend for an NCAA Tournament bid. This is the ACC, not the AAC where a half-decent roster can end up in the top half of the standings. Patience is needed from Panther fans but as long as genuine progress and development are made, this season can be viewed as a success outside of the wins and losses.
The big thing this season is the frontcourt play. Hugely has the potential to be an all-conference big man but be prepared to have some growing pains this season as a freshman. The hope is that Johnson has a big campaign of his own, while the rest of the underclassmen contributes in a meaningful way. Sibande getting a waiver would be great to see the true potential of this roster, or else all the pressure will be on Horton to be a double-digit scorer on the perimeter.
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It’s safe to assume that the Panthers will end up in the bottom-tier of the ACC this season. Will they end up last as they have in the past three years? That likely will be Wake Forest. But Pittsburgh has enough talent to compete with Boston College and Virginia Tech as well and could very well end up ahead of them in the standings.
The good news is that things are trending up for the program. But it’s a gradual climb, rather than exponentially.