Basketball Preview: A look at the upcoming season

Both the Pitt men’s and women’s basketball teams are coming off seasons that didn’t end… Both the Pitt men’s and women’s basketball teams are coming off seasons that didn’t end the way they’d hoped.

Ranked No. 10 in the preseason Associated Press poll, the men’s team hopes to advance further in the NCAA Tournament than it did last year. The Panthers suffered heartbreaking losses early in both the Big East tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

Whereas the men’s team looks for a longer stay in the postseason, the women’s team just wants to get there. Last year, the Panther women didn’t finish above .500 and were therefore unable to secure a bid to either the NCAA or WNIT tournament.

Men’s Basketball

Big East men’s basketball will once again set the standard for college basketball.

Five of the conference’s teams are ranked in the preseason Associated Press Top 25: Connecticut (No. 4), Syracuse (No. 5), Louisville (No. 9), Pitt (No. 10), Cincinnati (No. 21) and Marquette (No. 22)

The Panthers enter this season with high expectations even after losing three starters from last year’s team —Brad Wanamaker (11.7 points per game), Gilbert Brown (11.3 points per game) and Gary McGhee (6.9 points per game).

The two remaining starters, returning leading scorer Ashton Gibbs and versatile power forward Nasir Robinson, will provide the veteran leadership as seniors.

While Gibbs moves to start at shooting guard, redshirt junior Travon Woodall will step into the starting point guard position. Woodall played a significant amount of minutes last season, and is prepared to take on the full-time job as head coach Jamie Dixon’s floor general at the point. He dished out seven assists with no turnovers in Pitt’s exhibition win over La Roche.

In the front court, J.J. Moore and Lamar Patterson will each see time at Brown’s old position: small forward. As seen in Pitt’s scrimmage against La Roche, Moore is a natural and athletic scorer. Patterson, likely Moore’s backup, brings tough defense, solid rebounding and a good shooting touch off the bench.

At center, Dante Taylor will have his chance to establish himself as one of the Big East’s premier big men. For many former Panthers, such as former star Sam Young, the third year in the program turned into a breakout season. The same could hold true for Taylor.

Freshmen Malcolm Gilbert and Khem Birch, as well as redshirt sophomore Talib Zanna, will also contribute inside.

Gilbert registered four blocks against the Redhawks, and Zanna is a solid rebounder. Fans have already seen Birch’s exceptional athleticism on display, but he didn’t register a single defensive rebound in the Blue-Gold Scrimmage. Against La Roche, he led the Panthers with 16 points.

Women’s Basketball

On the women’s side, Pitt also faces a difficult task. Head coach Agnus Berenato’s squad is a team comprised solely of sophomores and freshmen — the youngest Division I team in the nation.

The Panthers women’s team will face even more ranked teams than will the men’s, with seven Big East Conference opponents nationally ranked. They’re led by Notre Dame, ranked No. 2 nationally.

Perennial power Connecticut is ranked No. 4, and Louisville (No. 9), Georgetown (No. 10), Rutgers (No. 16), DePaul (No. 19) and St. John’s (No. 25) all follow.

After finishing the season 14-17 with a 5-11 record in Big East play, not much is expected on the national nor the conference level from the team. The coaches predicted that Pitt would finish No. 12 this season out of the 16 Big East teams.

Redshirt sophomores Ashlee Anderson, Leeza Burdgess and Abby Dowd are the most experienced players on the women’s side, although Dowd sat out last season after transferring as a sophomore from the University at Buffalo.

Not only did the Panthers lose most of their experience, but they also lost 74.6 percent of their scoring, 64.1 percent of their rebounds and 75.8 percent of their assists.

Anderson, who started 23 games last season, is the only returning starter and the leading returning scorer with 5.2 points per game. Burdgess played in all 30 contests and contributed 3.6 points and 3.0 rebounds a game.

Freshmen Loliya Briggs tops the women’s recruting class, ranked No. 50 overall by ESPNU. Briggs, a standout guard, is from Florida — the same state that produced former Pitt standout Shavonte Zellous.

Out of necessity, the Panthers will look for plenty of production from their young players as well as leadership from the sophomores on the roster, who find themselves in the rare position of being the old players on the team.