Inside The Panthers

Jaland Lowe Named One of College Basketball's Best Freshmen

The Pitt Panthers have one of the best freshmen in the country, according to The Athletic.

Stephen Thompson

Jaland Lowe Named One of College Basketball's Best Freshmen
Jaland Lowe Named One of College Basketball's Best Freshmen /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers knew they had brought in a strong 2023 recruiting class after it checked in at No. 15 in Rivals' No. 22 in 247Sports' final team rankings of the cycle. 

But the Panthers might have one of the best freshmen in the country, period, according to The Athletic's Tobias Bass, who ranked first-year guard Jaland Lowe as the fifth-best player in this incoming class of freshmen in college basketball. 

"Lowe had arguably the best summer of any prospect in the 2023 class, as he went from a three-star recruit with a handful of offers to finishing with 14 offers and rounding out his high school career as the No. 82 prospect according to the 247Sports Composite." 

Bass highlighted fellow four-star freshman Carlton Carrington and Rhode Island transfer Ishmael Leggett, who with Lowe make up what he called "the most talented backcourt in Jeff Capel's tenure."

"The Panthers only added one guard via the transfer portal ... so both Lowe and Carrington will have to play a good amount of minutes," Bass wrote. "Both freshmen can play either guard spot, and I’m excited to see how they develop and play alongside one another. Both have good size, see the floor well, and can score the ball. ... There will be bumps in the road for these two, but by the year’s end, they will be seen as one of the best freshmen backcourts in the country."

Of the four players Bass slotted ahead of Lowe - UConn's Stephon Castle, Baylor's Jakobe Walter, USC's Isaiah Collier and Alabama's Sam Walters - none come from the ACC. Duke's Caleb Foster and North Carolina's Elliot Cadeau were the only other ACC freshmen to crack the top 20. Georgia Tech's Baye Ndongo earned an honorable mention. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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