Pittsburgh Basketball: Impact of Xavier Johnson and Au’Diese Toney departures

The past 40 or so hours have not been great for Jeff Capel and Pittsburgh basketball as the Panthers have lost two starters to the transfer portal. Starting point guard Xavier Johnson announced his immediate departure from the program on Wednesday and then on Thursday afternoon Au’Diese Toney, the Panthers second-leading scorer this year, followed suit. Johnson and Toney combined for 28.6 points along with 9.3 rebounds and 8.0 assists a game along with 43 made 3-pointers.

Obviously, the departures of Johnson and Toney will leave Pitt very shorthanded and deficient in scoring for its remaining three games this year. The Panthers (9-9, 5-8 ACC), losers of eight of their last nine games,  currently sit in 11th place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Panthers will play at NC State on Sunday, host Wake Forest on March 2, and then close out the regular season at Clemson on March 6. Johnson and Toney are the second and third Pitt players to not finish the current campaign as freshman John Hugley was suspended indefinitely after being charged with three felonies in mid-January.

While Justin Champaignie will be counted on to carry the scoring load even more with the two departures, it will also give Ithiel Horton, Nike Sibande along with freshmen William Jeffress and Femi Odukale more of the opportunity to show what they can do.

Horton, known as a shooter at Delaware, has been very inconsistent this season though he will likely see more time as the main ballhandler now that Johnson has vacated. Sibande has seen sparse minutes this season though he turned in his best performance of the season in Saturday’s 79-72 loss to Florida State on Saturday with 12 points and seven rebounds over 35 minutes.

Odukale has shown some flashes, scoring in double-figures twice, but he has struggled shooting the ball from long distance (3 of 18). Meanwhile, Jeffress has struggled to accommodate himself at this level.

However, the bigger concern is for next year especially if Champaignie bolts for the NBA.  Champagnie, Horton, and 6-foot-8 forward Karim Coulibaly, who has shown some ability as a two-way rebounder and shot-blocker, will be the core players in 2021-22 in what will be Capel’s fourth year at the helm. Sibande, Jeffress, Odukale, Noah Collier, and Max Admunsun are also projected to return. The biggest question is whether Hugley will return next season?

Regardless of who returns, Pitt will need to bring in some scorers and shooters — particularly from the perimeter. The Panthers rank 12th in shooting, 10th in 3-point shooting, and 13th in free throw shooting during ACC play. They also struggle  Capel will also need to improve his defensive schemes as ACC opponents have a 51.9% effective field goal percentage and a 64.1% assist rate.

Capel has not signed a recruit for 2021 but the Panthers are reportedly pursuing Florida International transfer Antonio Daye. Daye averaged 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists while shooting 45.5% from the field this season in 21 games. However, the 6-foot-3 point guard has a plethora of suitors including NC A&T, Arkansas, Missouri, Georgia St, Florida, NC State, Wake Forest, Valparaiso, Southern Illinois, Wichita St, UNCG, Virginia Tech, UNC Wilmington, and Siena.

Capel also has missed out on 19 of his 20 top targets in the recruiting class with 6-foot-10 3-star center Bretner Mutombo the only player that has received an offer from Pitt still on the board.