Basketball Preview: Sophomores take on leadership roles

Sophomores aren’t usually expected to take on leadership roles, but they also aren’t usually… Sophomores aren’t usually expected to take on leadership roles, but they also aren’t usually the oldest players on the team.

This year, the six sophomores — and oldest players — on the Pitt women’s basketball team face the arduous task of leading the youngest team in Division I competition. The oldest players on the roster are the three redshirt sophomores, Ashlee Anderson, Leeza Burdgess and Abby Dowd.

Burdgess described holding a leadership position as a sophomore as “pretty weird.”

“I definitely had to work on my leadership skills and become more vocal,” she added.

Pitt lost four starters and five of its top scorers to graduation. With them went 74.9 percent of the team’s scoring ability, 75.8 percent of its assists, 64.1 percent of its rebounds and 68.8 percent of its minutes played from last year.

“You can only go up [from last year], and you can teach,” Pitt head coach Agnus Berenato said about handling the young team.

Dowd joined the team midway through last season as a walk-on. She transferred from Buffalo where she started 25 of 30 games while averaging 6.5 points per game, shooting 47.8 percent from 3-point territory and compiling 66 assists.

Together, Anderson and Burdgess averaged 4.2 points per game last year.

The three true sophomores that return to the team — Kyra Dunn, Marquel Davis and Asia Logan — collectively averaged just 2.6 points per game last season.

Anderson said that no one on the team has nailed down a starting spot yet, and the competition remains wide open.

Dowd said that Berenato gives out a Beanie Baby at the end of each practice to the day’s best player. The prize distribution has been pretty spread out so far, she said.

“There’s a different standout every day,” she said.

Berenato said that having a roster so disproportionally youthful has caused her and her staff to do more teaching.

“When you have veteran classes, you tend to skip the teaching because they know everything,” Berenato explained.

She said the freshmen come in without that knowledge. Pitt’s five freshmen make up the No. 19 recruiting class in the country.

“They don’t know our system,” she said. “They don’t know what we’re about.”

As a result, the coaching staff has focused on fundamentals.

“To help right now we’re really doing all drills, all schemes, all defenses — step by step,” she said.

At Pitt basketball’s media day in October, Berenato said the current players will pass on their knowledge to the team’s future players.

But the sophomores have started teaching the freshmen already, and Dowd said she enjoys the interaction.

Anderson said the sophomores’ job is to minimize two of the main weaknesses inherent in a young team — inconsistency and inexperience.

Another responsibility of the sophomores, Burdgess said, is to help the freshmen adjust to the rigors of Division I basketball, even if there is a limit to how much they can do in this regard.

“No one is really prepared for D-I basketball until they experience it,” she said.

Dowd elaborated, describing the level of play in the Big East as “freaky athletic.”

“[Freshmen] have no idea what a game is like,” she added. “In college, it’s an all-day event. We know what it’s all about.”

Dowd said that, in her case, having a year to acclimate to Pitt’s system helped her make the adjustment from a mid-major level of competition to that of a league such as the Big East. The freshmen on the team will have no such luxury, but the older players are trying to make their younger counterparts’ transitions smoother.

Anderson said she and the other sophomores have made a point to emphasize the importance of consistency and working hard every day.

“If we start to get a little sloppy during practice, we point it out and adjust,” Anderson said.

Anderson said she isn’t discouraged by the youth of the squad. The lone returning starter pointed to Maryland’s 2006 National Championship team as an example of a team that experienced success despite consisting primarily of underclassmen.

The Terrapins had only two seniors on their roster.

Although the three redshirt sophomores have the most experience, they want the leadership of the team to be a collective effort.

The freshmen, for their part, have made it easy for the sophomores — many of whom are still in the learning process themselves.

“Everybody’s listening, everybody’s eager to learn,” Berenato said. “They are really embracing [the situation].”

Burdgess agreed.

“Everyone is so receptive to all criticism,” she said. “So willing to learn. They don’t think they know everything.”

The sophomores have two more years to lead the team, a prospect the players find exciting.

“The future is bright,” Burdgess said.