Analysis: Pitt's Jeff Capel has the benefit of this season to help rebuild for 2023-24

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Somewhere in America — possibly on one of those TVs above the bar where you’re watching or planning to watch March Madness — there are players who might be able to help Pitt next season.

They could come from anywhere. At this time last season, who knew two friendly freshmen from the Canary Islands would become huge parts of coach Jeff Capel’s rotation?

No matter where he finds them, Capel must find them. Preferably — and he’ll admit to this — they will be veteran players who enter the transfer portal looking for a fresh start. Best case, they will bring experience and an ability to quickly assimilate.

Select freshmen, of course, are always welcome, but it’s best if the players know what it takes to prepare for a long season — from the hard work in the summer all the way to March when champions eventually surface.

That’s the formula Capel used to build the 2022-23 team that won 24 of 36 games, seriously threatened to win the ACC and made the NCAA Tournament relevant again for Pitt fans.

Not only did the four departing seniors — Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings, Nike Sibande and Greg Elliott — provide the requisite skill, but they knew the value of teamwork and provided important leadership.

Capel’s job won’t be easy. Perhaps that’s why he said the process of rebuilding the team would start when he returned to his Greensboro hotel Sunday afternoon after the season-ending 84-73 loss to Xavier in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Assuming those eligible to return will do so, Pitt will have capable players with experience from this season to build the nucleus of the 2023-24 team.

Blake Hinson, who led Pitt in scoring (15.3 points per game) and 3-point shooting (97 of 255, 38%), has found a home at his third school. He’s a good place to start because he offers the passion for the game that an older leader needs and younger ones appreciate.

The loss to Xavier will stick with him and likely motivate him to make things better next season.

“This feeling is not one you want to experience again,” he said.

Hinson is a grateful player who appears willing to pay back Pitt for believing in him. When asked about his most significant takeaway from the season, he thought all the way back to November.

“To be honest with you, the first game of the season,” he said. “It’s been two years since I’ve played, and I’ve been waiting, literally, nearly 1,000 days for that opening horn to buzz and it did. That was my favorite part.”

He should be just shy of giddy to have two consecutive seasons at the same school where he has built a solid foundation for himself.

Plus, Guillermo Diaz Graham, his twin, Jorge, and Federiko Federiko are three 7-footers — or near 7-footers — who can give Pitt a solid presence in the paint and the length all good teams need. They’ll need to add more muscle and a better scoring touch around the basket — and Federiko must get his injured knee right — but they showed lots of promise for the future.

Capel made the point that the twins and Federiko had the benefit of leaning on the experience of the four departing seniors. Now, it’s time for them to swim on their own, and their experience from this season will help.

“I learned a lot from all of them,” Jorge said of the seniors.

Elsewhere on the roster:

• William Jeffress will be back with a reconstructed foot. Before the injury, he was expected to be one of the team’s best defenders.

• If Dior Johnson returns after he was redshirted at the end of his legal problems, that would provide a big piece of the guard puzzle.

• Capel’s 2023 recruiting class includes four-star guards Jaland Lowe, a 6-footer, and 6-3 Carlton Carrington and 6-6 forward Marlon Barnes.

That leaves three available scholarships, and that number could grow if further offseason attrition occurs as it does regularly at most schools.

Pitt’s coach has plenty of work ahead of him, just as he did last season. The big difference, though, is now he has a program that’s relevant, won two NCAA Tournament games and has re-captured the fan base.

Capel had none of that last season, and he still won the offseason. Winning it this year is necessary and no slam dunk, but now there’s a foundation on which to stand.