Pitt F Will Jeffress Ready for Triumphant Return
PITTSBURGH -- A promising preseason soured quickly for Pitt Panthers forward William Jeffress. In the middle of perhaps his best offseason, according to head coach Jeff Capel, right as he was building some momentum, a foot injury struck and kept him out for all of the 2022-23 season.
He began practicing again towards the end of last season and is fully healed now. Older, wiser and more experienced, Jeffress has maintained a positive outlook on a tenure at Pitt that has produced more downs than ups so far. Now he's ready to compete and contribute with an improved skill set that the Panthers will need as they seek to keep the arrow pointed up.
"He’s had a really good summer," Capel said. "We need Will to keep everything simple. We think he can be a really, really good defender, a great cutter and being able to make a shot. ... We have confidence in him being able to do that. I’ve said since the beginning, I think he has the ability to be a really good leader, so we’re going to need that from him.”
When he committed to Pitt in the spring of 2020, Jeffress was the No. 1 player in the state of Pennsylvania, the highest-rated recruit of the Jeff Capel era and the fifth-highest-rated player the Panthers had landed since 247Sports began tracking high school recruiting 2003. But he was young too, just 17 years old by the time he reclassified and joined the Pitt roster.
Jeffress had a lot of growing up - some of which he did through two difficult years on the court and some of which he did while he watched Pitt climb back into the NCAA Tournament from the sidelines.
“A lot of it was just being a little bit older, experience and maturation," Jeffress said. "They always say experience is the best teacher. With those years under my belt, even at a young age, helped me mature in a lot of ways.”
He is hoping that experience translates to a smoother and more productive offensive game. During his freshman and sophomore seasons, Jeffress was so scared of making the wrong play that he ended up missing good ones. He rarely did anything with confidence on the offensive end and the numbers - a career 27.3% shooting mark from the field, 19.2% clip from 3-point range and 16.6% turnover rate- reflected that.
The Panthers have loads of faith in the lengthy 6'7 wing's defensive potential but need the offensive production to catch up. They believe they have that in this new version of Jeffress, who's worked tirelessly on his shooting and decision-making.
“I would think last time you guys saw me on the court, I was a lot more hesitant," Jeffress said. "I think that I am taking that out of my game to become more quick, more decisive with my decisions and then, like I said, trusting myself, trusting my teammates to make the right plays and putting the work in enough to trust those skills and make them instincts.”
The Panthers are also counting on getting an intangible lift from Jeffress' return. When his offense struggled, Jeffress learned how to provide other things. Now he's adding energy, basketball IQ and leadership to a growing array of pure basketball skills.
"Will is going to change us as far our energy every time he touches the court," super senior forward Blake Hinson said. "Our energy is going to go through the roof every time Will is even around the team. But when he hits the court, our energy is going to go up another notch and that's just the kind of power he has."
It might have been easier for Jeffress to transfer, find somewhere with a less loaded wing rotation and get his career kickstarted with a fresh start. Instead, he stuck around in Pittsburgh, choosing to do things the hard way.
Jeffress has faith in the program, his teammates, the coaching staff and most of all, himself. He's already worked to make the situation fit him and after some growth, is looking forward to enjoying the fruits of his labor.
“I am where my feet are. So when I wake up in the morning and I’m talking to my coaches and I got new guys coming into the team, I’m where I’m at now," Jeffress said. "A lot of people think the grass is greener on the other side, but it’s greener where you water it. ... I got full faith and full trust in my decisions and where I put my energy into. I know if I feed myself and my environment, I'll grow.”
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