Jamarius Burton called players-only meeting to prime Pitt players for ACC Tournament

Befitting a team that was one victory from winning a conference championship, Pitt enjoyed the appropriate representation when ACC awards were passed out Monday.

• There’s Coach of the Year Jeff Capel, only the third Pitt coach so honored — joining Ben Howland (2002) and Jamie Dixon (2004) — and the first to stand out among his ACC peers. He received 57 of 75 votes.

• There’s Nike Sibande, the ACC’s Sixth Man of the Year, who has averaged 25.5 minutes per game in February and March.

“He’s really a starter for us,” Capel said, even though Sibande has been on the court for the opening tap only twice all season. “He brings a different type of energy. He has pop, an athleticism that we don’t have.”

He’s the first Pitt player to earn an ACC individual award, receiving 47 votes.

• There’s Blake Hinson, who was named to the All-ACC second team after recording 88 successful 3-point shots, the fourth-best single-season total in Pitt history (behind Ashton Gibbs, Jared Wilson-Frame and Brandin Knight).

But the team’s on- and off-court glue is provided by first-team All-ACC guard Jamarius Burton, second only to Hinson in scoring per game (15.6 to 16.1). Hinson said Burton’s value goes far beyond what can be seen on the court.

“Have you seen him play?” Hinson said when asked about what Burton means to the team. “(It’s) what you see on the court. What you don’t see on the court is, actually, also first-team All-ACC. He’s asking random people random questions on how he can improve his body. It’s different kind of preparation that you don’t see from most people. After you see that, you become a leader without even saying anything.”

But it’s what Burton said after the tough two-point loss to Miami on Saturday night that sets him apart from his teammates. He called a players-only meeting in the locker room at Petersen Events Center.

“Wiping off the blow as a team,” Hinson said. “All checking in with each other. ‘Everybody good?’

“I think it was the right thing to do, for sure. He did most of the talking. Once he broke it off, everybody said their own thing. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do, what we felt like we needed to do (during the game).

“The team meeting was totally necessary to call. It’s necessary to check in with everybody, (to determine) how they feel about things going forward. Did it change any mindsets? I don’t think so. But that’s what the meeting is for, to see if anybody’s mindset needs changing.”

The Miami game signaled Pitt’s second consecutive loss and third in a row away from the Pete. Pitt had not lost two in a row since Jan. 11 and 14. When the Panthers play their first ACC Tournament game Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C., it will be nearly a month since the Panthers most recently won away from home.

“I just felt like it’s easy to hang our heads after two tough losses,” Burton said. “I didn’t want anybody to be dismayed by the outcome. We still have tremendous opportunity. We have the opportunity to continue to write our story.”

Said Hinson: “He’s been the outright leader of the team all year. That’s the voice we need. I don’t see anybody else fit to do so as well as he does it. It’s a calming voice, a down-to-earth voice and I’m glad he’s there to do that for us.”

The meeting might have been good for starting guard Greg Elliott, who leads the team in 3-point field goal percentage (40.9%), but is 0 for 5 in the past two losses.

Elliott brings plenty of positive energy, smiles and optimism to his teammates, but Capel recognizes that “he can get down a little bit.”

“But we get on him when we see him like that. We need that energy all the time from him,” the coach said.

Capel said his team is not panicking after losing three of its past five games.

“I thought Virginia Tech was desperate, and (the Hokies) played their butts off,” he said. “I thought it was the one time this year in a while that Notre Dame played with a purpose. And we played against a heckuva (Miami) team and had a chance to win. I think we’ll stick to what we’ve been doing.

“I think they get discouraged, but it’s our job as coaches to teach and get them to move on. Our guys have done a good job all year of moving onto the next thing, and I saw that (Monday in practice).”

Hinson added, “Of course, it was hard. I can honestly say it’s behind everybody now.”