Pittsburgh Basketball: Projected minutes and rotation with Dior Johnson on board
Center
Projected starter: John Hugley (28 mpg)
No matter how good Dior Johnson and the transfers are, the offense will go through the center Hugley. He led the Panthers with 14.8 ppg and 7.9 rpg and was the breakout star of the team. Although he can have ups and downs, the 6’9 big man is capable of taking games over, including a career-high 32 points against Boston College and 25 versus Minnesota.
There’s a good chance that his numbers will improve, now that he has more spacing and better guards to play off of. Hugley is an All-ACC caliber player and pro prospect but will have to improve his three-point shot, coming off a year of making just 7/42 (17%). But inside the paint, he’s just about impossible to stop one-on-one.
Reserve: Guillermo Díaz Graham (12 mpg) – Other potential option: Fede Federico
Replacing Noah Collier and Max Amadasun as backup centers is the other freshman twin Guillermo Díaz Graham and the 6’10 and former West Virginia commit Federico. Guillermo is a 7’0 true center and although he’ll have to put on weight is a solid post scorer and passer and we should see him and his brother play on the court together in segments next season.
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The addition of Johnson and the freshmen will be just as important as the transfers, especially the twins inside. Their play can solidify the frontcourt depth alongside Hugley and give Pittsburgh plenty of size so they don’t have to resort to extra small lineups. The roster overall has lots of potential but also lots of questions before November 7th. But the Panthers certainly will be interesting to watch to see how it all works out.