Pitt Falls in ACC Power Rankings

The Pitt Panthers were rated in the middle of the conference in the way-too-early ACC Power Rankings for the 2024-25 season.

Feb 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel reacts on the sidelines against the Louisville Cardinals during the first half at the Petersen Events Center. Pittsburgh won 86-59. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers head into next season with the mission of getting back to the NCAA Tournament, but one writer picked them lower than the finish last season.

Isaac Trotter of 247Sports put out his way-too-early ACC power rankings, which featured all 18 teams rankings, including the new schools in SMU from the American Athletic Conference and both Cal and Stanford from the Pac-12.

Trotter ranked Pitt at No. 7, lower than the finish the season prior, when they finished in fourth place in the ACC.

He ranked Duke, North Carolina, Miami, Louisville, Wake Forest and Clemson ahead of Pitt from 1-6, respectively. He then picked Virginia, Syracuse, NC State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, SMU, Virginia Tech, Cal, Stanford, Boston College and Florida State to round out the rest of the ACC, 8-18.

He also picked out a potential Pitt starting lineup, which features guards in sophomore Jaland Lowe and senior Ish Leggett, wings in Houston transfer Damian Dunn and redshirt senior Zack Austin and Florida State transfer forward Cam Corhen.

Trotter also rated twin junior forwards in Jorge and Guillermo Diaz Graham, redshirt freshman forward Papa Amadou Kante and new addition Bosnian wing Amsal Delalic as key bench options for the Panthers.

"It's easy to be bullish on Pitt even after losing the electric Bub Carrington to the NBA Draft and the fearless Blake Hinson to graduation," Trotter wrote. "Soon-to-be-sophomore point guard Jaland Lowe rocks, and Houston transfer Damian Dunn should find his form as a pure bucket-getter after spending a year in Kelvin Sampson's doghouse for not playing defense up to the elite level that Sampson demands."

"Ish Leggett is back. Zack Austin is back. The Diaz-Graham twins (Jorge and Guillermo) also return to complement a talent-laden frontcourt mix that also features Papa Kante and FSU transfer Cam Corhen. Pitt can get frisky with some big lineups or it can scale down and play three guards and Austin at the 4. There's some real flexibility here. But it's all dependent on Lowe transforming into a full-fledged star. He's capable of all of it."

Pitt started off with a 1-5 record in the ACC, but managed to win 11 of their last 14 conference games to take fourth place and earn a double-bye in the ACC Tournament. They even made it to the ACC Semifinals, but bias from the committee towards the mid-major conference in the Mountain West, left Pitt to just miss out.

Despite the losses of Carrington and Hinson, head coach Jeff Capel will hope that the additions of Dunn, Corhen, Delalic, plus the growth of Leggett, Austin, Lowe and the Diaz Graham twins will get the Panthers back to the NCAA Tournament in 2025.

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