How Pitt Basketball Will Replace Dior Johnson

The Pitt Panthers are built to survive a lengthy absence from Dior Johnson.

PITTSBURGH -- Blue-chip freshman guard Dior Johnson, the most talented piece of a revamped Pitt Panthers roster, has been indefinitely suspended last week. He is the third Panther to face criminal charges in the last 21 months, but the nature of his charges are much more severe when compared to those levied against John Hugley and Ithiel Horton in the past. 

Johnson, a former top-100 guard and the highest rated guard to every enroll at the University of Pittsburgh, figured to be an instant-impact player for the Panthers this season as they try to climb out of the ACC's cellar for the first time in six years. The preliminary hearing for the assault charges filed against him is scheduled for a week from now and the odds that Johnson sees the floor as a Panther anytime soon seem slim. 

To that end, Pitt will have to figure out ways to account for Johnson's absence. Head coach Jeff Capel said he thinks the team is in a "good space" even without Johnson in the fold, and he's right because his latest round of recruiting was some of his best as the Panthers' head coach.

This is the most talented and deepest roster that Capel has had at Pitt, even without Johnson. He has a ton of quality depth, particularly in the backcourt. There is no replacing Johnson's raw scoring ability through any one player, but Capel said the Panthers are in "a good space" and he's right. 

It will come at the cost of some depth but Pitt can easily elevate guard Nike Sibande into the lineup and not feel like they lose much from a ball-handling or scoring perspective. For as talented as Johnson is, Sibande is a proven scorer at the Division I level. He's played in just 14 games as a Panther and has played limited minutes in those outings, but when Sibande plays more than 20 minutes per game, he's averaging 13.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

His assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.07 is likely worse than what Johnson would bring as a lead point guard, but that's where Nelly Cummings, the graduate transfer from Colgate, would come in. Cummings was the best player on a team that won their conference and hung around with third-seeded Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament's opening round last season. 

There are questions about whether Cummings will be able to make the jump to ACC smoothly, but his track record indicates that he will. In fact, Cummings played his best ball of the season when facing better competition. Everything from assist rate to effective field goal percentage to defensive box plus-minus to turnover rate improved when he faces top-100 and top-50 teams in terms of efficiency in 2021-22, all while his usage rate jumped.  

Further down the lineup, Jamarius Burton is a versatile player with experience that can aid both as a scorer and ball-handler and Marquette transfer Greg Elliot is a capable, proven shooter at the high-major level that will come from the bench. 

Pitt's strength is in its backcourt this season and that's why Johnson's absence will be so easy to bear. While other injuries in the front court loom larger over the rapidly-approaching beginning of the season, a lengthy suspension for Johnson should be relatively low on the list of Pitt's concerns. 

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