ACC Basketball: Analyzing each team’s returning impact players for 2023-24

Pitt

Pitt struck gold this past season as they were finally able to break through and have a successful season, and they had a very successful one at that. Now they are reeling to recover from big off-season losses such as Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings, and Greg Elliott. But this is a recovery that they plan to make gracefully as they’ve been able to retain players such as Jorge and Guillermo Diaz-Graham, Federiko Federiko, and leading scorer last season Blake Hinson.

The Diaz-Graham twins return solidifies a very deep bench presence that this Pitt roster will be able to reach into. While it may be hard to play the two of them together at times due to their similarities in size and play style they both offer great size and length down low, with Guillermo standing at 7’0 while Jorge is just one inch shorter. Last season they played similar roles off the bench, and more of the same should be expected in this upcoming season. They both showed that they could score and rebound at this level in their small sample size, with Guillermo being the more advanced and efficient scorer at this time. As long as they continue to get stronger and grow into their frames they both offer a great boost off the bench when Federiko checks out.

Holding down the paint for the Panthers is the returning Junior Federiko. In the entirety of the ACC only 8 players received any votes for defensive player of the year, and this past season Federiko was able to garner 3 votes for the honor. As a starter in 27 of 35 games for Pitt, Federiko averaged 6.6 points paired with 5.3 rebounds. However, most of his impact came on the defensive end for the Panthers. In the ACC Federiko ranked 3rd in blocks, blocks per game, and block percentage. On top of this he was top 20 in defensive rating, so despite numbers on the offensive end that seem underwhelming his defensive impact cannot be overstated.

The return of Hinson brings the opposite impact from that of Federiko, while Federiko raises the ceiling significantly for the Panther’s defense, Hinson does the same for their offense. After spending two seasons at Ole Miss and then two years as a medical redshirt at Iowa State it seems like Hinson finally found his home this past season with Pitt. In over 30 minutes per game, Hinson Averaged a team-leading 15.3 points, alongside 6.0 rebounds per game as well from the forward position. Hinson was second on the team in field goals attempted per game behind Jamarius Burton, so now with Burton leaving he will also leave the keys to the offense almost completely to Hinson.

A majority of Hinsons 11.8 shots per game came from behind the line, where he shot an efficient 38% and ended up leading the entirety of the conference with 97 threes made on the season. The 2023-24 season should allow Hinson to prove again that he is one of the best true shooters in all of college basketball and attempt to lead the Panthers back to the NCAA tournament.