Pitt Slotted in ACC's Fourth Tier
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers suffered a lot of offseason attrition this past summer, leaving some questioning if they'll be able to replicate last season's success.
TheScore college basketball insider Matthew Winick has slotted the Panthers in his fourth tier of ACC teams all by themselves, making them the defacto No. 12 team in the conference. Only Notre Dame, Boston College and Louisville - who finished last season with a combined record of 14-46 - are ranked lower than Pitt.
He also pegged super senior forward Blake Hinson as a second-team All-ACC player, just like he was last season and ranked the Panthers as the No. 69 team in all of Division I this coming season.
Winick has predicted Jaland Lowe, Ish Leggett, Zack Austin, Blake Hinson and Guillermo Diaz-Graham will start, with Federiko Federiko, Will Jeffress, Carlton "Bub" Carrington and Jorge Diaz-Graham as the primary bench pieces. Diaz-Graham replacing Federiko in the starting lineup is the only thing that really counts as a surprise in those projections.
Pitt is replacing a boatload of talent and scoring production from last year's NCAA Tournament squad. With four of their top five scorers having graduated, the Panthers hope transfers Austin and Leggett, along with the additions of four-star freshmen point guards Lowe and Carrington and improvements from returners Hinson, Federiko, Jeffress and the Diaz-Graham twins will cover for those losses.
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