Pitt overcomes roster shakeup to edge toward top of ACC

When Jeff Capel gathered his rebuilt team around him in September, he was hopeful that as many as 12 players could earn significant playing time as Pitt’s season progressed.

Although he had no idea how — or if — so many new faces could mesh together smoothly, he knew there was room for error if anyone faltered.

Then, attrition happened quickly, not an unusual occurrence in college athletics.

Injuries took their toll on center John Hugley, one of two returning starters and one of the ACC’s best players in the paint, and reserve junior William Jeffress.

Hugley injured a knee in practice. He played in eight of 18 games before mutually agreeing with his coach to shut down for the season, get right mentally and physically and look toward the next one.

Jeffress tried to overcome a foot injury, but his injury also turned out to be season-ending and he had surgery to repair it.

Before the first game, promising freshman Dior Johnson, who would have been part of Capel’s guard rotation, was arrested in a domestic incident. He ended up pleading guilty to two misdemeanors and received a year’s probation. He will sit out the season — he never did play in a game — and also look to return in 2023-24.

If you take three scholarship players off any roster, no one should expect a positive outcome.

So, what was Pitt (12-6, 5-2) doing tied for second place in the ACC with No. 10 Virginia, No. 17 Miami, Syracuse and Wake Forest? (Miami and Syracuse played each other Monday night.)

The players who remain and are getting most of the playing time have bonded together like they’ve known each other since high school — even though five of the top six either were injured or scattered on five other campuses last season.

After stopping a two-game losing streak Saturday with a 71-60 victory at Georgia Tech, Pitt is projected as a No. 11 seed in the 68-team NCAA Tournament by ESPN’s bracketology and is No. 62 in the KenPom rankings.

The results aren’t perfect, and no one can be sure what the next 13 conference games will bring, starting Wednesday at Louisville. But Capel has assembled a group that appears to be one of the closest Pitt teams in nearly a decade.

“It’s an incredibly together team,” Capel said. “They really care about each other. They really root for each other. We have really good players. The pieces fit, and guys have stepped up.”

Added point guard Nelly Cummings, a Lincoln Park grad who transferred this year from Colgate: “We’re all in it for the right reasons. We all want to win. When we all want to win and your energy is pointed in the right direction, we find ways to make sure we complement each other.”

Capel said he likes the depth on his roster. Yet, after the top six players, only freshmen Jorge and Guillermo Diaz Graham and sophomore Nate Santos get important playing time. Of the three, Jorge Diaz Graham averages the most minutes (11.9).

The hottest spark off the bench comes from guard Nike Sibande, who missed last season with a knee injury. He is averaging 7.3 points in 21.4 minutes, but he recorded 16, 11 and 21 points recently in games against Virginia, Duke and Georgia Tech. His shooting percentage in that time was 57.1%.

“He always says he puts the battery in our back,” Cummings said. “Nike is always ready to play. Any time things go wrong, he’s always there, full of energy, ready to go.”

When Capel wanted to replace Greg Elliott with Sibande to start the second half against Georgia Tech on Saturday, Sibande selflessly suggested keeping Elliott in the lineup.

“I would expect something like that from him,” Cummings said. “He’s all about winning. He’s all about the right stuff. It’s a great story, but I expect that out of Nike.”

Santos, one of two active players who played last season, said he noticed a difference from a year ago (when Pitt finished 6-14 in the ACC) the first time the team gathered in the gym.

“Energy is different than last year. There was great energy from the start,” he said.

But Cummings said players don’t waste energy thinking about anything except the next game.

Asked if there are any bracketology conversations in Pitt’s locker room, Cummings said he hasn’t heard any.

“We really try to stay focused on our next opportunity,” he said. “We can’t take anything for granted. We don’t want to look too far ahead, too far behind. We just want to stay in the present moment.”

Louisville coach Kenny Payne said his observations of Pitt’s players show “something that not many teams play with.”

“That’s confidence and swag,” he said. “I watched them in the (North) Carolina game jump in guys’ faces after they made plays. I saw their determination to win. I see their toughness. I see their willingness to fight.”