Pitt's Twins Add Weight For Second Season
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers, while they were thin in the frontcourt for a variety of reasons during the postseason, threw two wiry freshmen directly into the fire when they could ill afford to and at times, the lack of size was apparent and detrimental.
They don't want that to be the case again this year, so Pitt's twin big men, Jorge and Guillermo Diaz-Graham got to work putting on weight. They each added about 20 pounds this offseason, according to head coach Jeff Capel, some of which will last and some which won't (Jorge is working through a preseason foot injury that kept him sidelined and Capel expects him to lose some of that 20 pounds as he gets back into practice).
Either way, the Panthers feel those two will be able to endure the physical challenges of an increased role and both made sacrifices to complete the training necessary to get to this point.
“They each decided not to play for their national team this summer,” Capel said. “That was a big decision for them. They wanted to stay here and train. They knew that they needed to put on some weight. It’s something they wanted to do for their continued growth and development. Both of them were able to do it. [Guillermo] put on about 20 pounds. I think Jorge is close to 20.”
The twins won't be able to demonstrate how that weight has changed their games until the November 1st exhibition against Pitt-Johnstown at the earliest. For now, the improvements the Diaz-Graham twins made are contained to practices with their teammates, but even they notice how those two have changed.
“Yeah," Federiko joked about noticing their gains. "[Guillermo’s] got a little stomach now.”
Jorge is listed at 210 pounds - up from 195 last year - and Guillermo is listed at 229 - up from 205 last year.
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