Pittsburgh Basketball: 5 key storylines heading into 2022 offseason

Pittsburgh adds Nelly Cummings to the roster

Next to a lack of shooting when Horton was out, the biggest issue for Pittsburgh Basketball was the lack of a true point guard on the roster. Both Odukale and Jamarius Burton were the lead guards but they weren’t able to facilitate the offense and prevent scoring droughts. The fact that the team looked its best when Ezeakudo was on the court to have another ball-handler on the court was an issue.

There were a ton of point guards that entered the portal early on but the Panthers were focused on one player, Nelly Cummings of Colgate. He’s originally from Pittsburgh and came back to the area in a regular-season matchup, scoring 17 points in 33 minutes in a road loss.

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After three years at Colgate and two years of being on the All-Patriot League, Cummings entered the portal after scoring 20 points in the Round of 64 loss to Wisconsin. He ended up coming back home to Pittsburgh, giving the team a point guard to run the offense.

The 6’0 playmaker averaged 14.7 ppg and 3.4 apg on 38% shooting from the field and 36% shooting from three-point range. While he’s not an elite distributor, Cummings can make the right decisions on offense and can shoot and score from anywhere on the court. And having a 5th-year senior on offense that is comfortable with the ball in his hands will be an automatic boost for the Panthers.

Pittsburgh was never going to get guys like Mark Sears and Darrion Trammell from the portal but Cummings is a quality pickup to start the offense. With many roster spots still to add, knowing that point guard has been taken care of is good for the staff.