How Pitt Accounts for Bub Carrington Loss

The Pitt Panthers have a big hole to fill with Bub Carrington on his way out.

Mar 9, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Jaland Lowe (15) takes part / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- So the Pitt Panthers have lost star guard Bub Carrington to the NBA Draft and he has no intention of exercising his option to retain his collee eligibility, withdraw and return to school for the 2024-25 season. So where does the program go from here? Jeff Capel has a good idea of where to start.

“Well we got to get a guard," the Pitt head coach said with a laugh.

This part is fairly obvious. The Panthers now have four open scholarships to play around with and one should go to a veteran guard that can replace Carrington's minutes, another needs to go to a center that can replace the transferred Federiko Federiko and one more to a scoring wing that can come relatively close to replacing the massive void left behind by leading scorer Blake Hinson's graduation.

The Panthers have really only started to put together a plan for replacing Carrington. Earlier this week, they reached out to 6'5 former St. Louis lead guard, Gibson Jimerson, but that's been the extent of their reported guard recruiting in the transfer portal. Many more names will be added to that list soon but Pitt's need for a guard is not as desperate as their other needs because they have two starters returning to the backcourt in Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett.

Leggett is a sensational perimeter defender and has showed fantastic isolation scoring ability. He averaged 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 42.7% from the field and 34.3% from 3-point range - his best shooting splits since his freshman year at Rhode Island.

Meanwhile, Lowe showed he's capable of taking on the role of being a leading point guard in the ACC during the second half of the season. After stepping into the starting lineup mid year and starting the final 19 games of the season, Lowe averaged 13.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists to just 1.6 turnovers per game while knocking down 40.3% of his 3-pointers. In the ACC Tournament semifinals against then-No. 4 North Carolina, Lowe scored 17 points and added four assists without a turnover while battling ACC Player of the Year, RJ Davis and the Tar Heels' veteran-laden backcourt.

Pitt was undoubtably better with Carrington but they are far from doomed without him. They can and should add another veteran but Lowe and Leggett are more than capable of leading the Panthers into 2024 and beyond, so any additional guards added to the roster don't need to be superstars, but rather good compliments to the skills those two posses. That means spot-up shot making, plus some defensive versatility, will be at a premium for the Pitt coaching staff as they hit the transfer portal over the coming weeks and months.

The Panthers will get stronger in the frontcourt and on the wings, and even with Carrington on his way out, fans shouldn't lose sleep over the backcourt, which will continue to be a strength of this program as long as Lowe and Leggett stick around. Jeff Capel certainly won't.

"We’re still actively recruiting. We know what we need. One of the great things about this with Bub and his family making this decision and doing it now is that it helps us. It actually helps us knowing that we do need another guard," Capel said. "But we’ll pursue a guard, we have some really good guards returning that we’re really excited about, but we’ll need to have another good guard and we’ll see what he’s able to play. We know we won't get anyone like him but we’ll get someone who can come in and blend in with the guys we have coming in and someone that will be good for us.”

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