Pitt's revival under Jeff Capel a surprise to many ... but not Pitt

Sophomore guard Khameron Davis appeared to be offended Thursday when he was asked if Pitt is playing above the players’ expectations.

“No, not at all,” said Davis, one of only four scholarship players who returned from last season’s disaster.

“We put in so much work during the summer, so much time and energy toward this. We’re not surprising ourselves.”

Others, however, might be surprised.

Pitt is 12-5, with four more victories than the team accumulated last season. The Panthers already have won two games in four ACC outings after limping through an 0-19 conference season a year ago under former coach Kevin Stallings.

Coach Jeff Capel’s efforts with his team have vaulted him just short of celebrity status in his new hometown. During his radio show Thursday night at Cupka’s II on the South Side, he continually posed for pictures with people eager to root for a winning basketball team.

It’s not that at the moment — at least in conference play — but if Pitt beats Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Saturday, it will face No. 1 Duke on Tuesday at Petersen Events Center with a winning record in the ACC.

How did that happen?

Not even Capel knows for sure, but freshman guards Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens are a big part of it.

“I don’t know what I expected (from Johnson and McGowens),” Capel said Thursday on 93.7 FM. “I thought they would be good. I knew they would compete. I hoped that they wouldn’t be afraid.”

So far, McGowens has totaled 63 points in Pitt’s ACC victories against Louisville and No. 11 Florida State. He also leads the ACC with 2.4 steals per game, a total of 41 steals in 17 games. Those are just numbers, but they’re significant because Marcus Carr, Pitt’s leader in that category through 32 games last season, had 20.

“That’s one of the areas we’ve talked about,” Capel said, “becoming a really good defensive team, becoming a big part of our DNA.”

The best part from Capel’s perspective is the players have learned to temper their enthusiasm in the face of Pitt’s modest success.

“It was a good win against a good team,” sophomore center Terrell Brown said of the victory against Florida State. “But we’re still 2-2.”

Brown, who is second in the ACC with 42 blocks, said the team’s expectations remain the same: to prove doubters wrong.

“We expect to prove a lot of people wrong,” he said. “No one expected us to do good or be able to get a win, period, in the ACC. We knew we were able to beat any team in the ACC. Coach always preaches it’s a 10-round fight, and it starts on 0-0.

“If (the opponents) do (get the first blow), how are you going to react? I know I can do a lot more than I’ve been doing.”

Davis said the early-season success is nice, but it shouldn’t be what defines the team.

“It was cool to win the first ACC game, and it’s exciting to get the upset (against Florida State), but I’m glad we got those out of the way,” he said. “Because now it’s just basketball.

“We deserve this. We deserve to be here. We should be able to reach for the stars. I believe we can be a really good team.”

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.