Basketball: With practice starting, men’s and women’s teams ready to rebuild

The Pitt men’s and women’s basketball teams start practice Friday, and both must work to… The Pitt men’s and women’s basketball teams start practice Friday, and both must work to fill the holes left by departed starters.

The men’s team lost four starters from last year’s Elite Eight squad. The Panthers have a young roster, with four true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen on the team.

Despite the youth, coach Jamie Dixon holds high expectations for the season.

“On paper, I know what it looks like,” Dixon said, “We’re going to be picked lower, but we’ve always been picked lower and finished higher. We’ve always had guys elevating their games and surprising people. I anticipate that happening again.”

The team’s two seniors, Jermaine Dixon and Chase Adams, have one year of experience between them. Dixon, who averaged 8.4 points for the team last season, is out until November because of foot surgery.

Jamie Dixon said Jermaine has continued to be a leader for the squad, adding that sometimes it helps players to see the game from the sideline.

Adams transfered from Centenary College in Louisiana to Pitt this year, but he is eligible to play because Centenary dropped from NCAA Division I competition to Division III.

Gilbert Brown, a junior and one of the team’s more experienced players, has been suspended from the team for the fall semester because of academic reasons.

One of the intriguing storylines going into the season is who is going to take over for departed star point guard Levance Fields. The Panthers have three point guards on their roster: Adams, Ashton Gibbs and Travon Woodall.

“We recruited Ashton and Travon for this situation right here,” Dixon said. “We took two very good point guards in the same class and two guys that can play together, too.”

Jamie Dixon said he likes the versatility and quickness the guards bring to the floor, saying that flexibility is something the team will work on in practice and is a tool he has utilized over the years.

Junior guard Brad Wanamaker is an experienced player the Panthers will look to for leadership. He was on the floor in every game last season, averaging 5.8 points.

“I want to be a playmaker while still getting shots up,” Wanamaker said. “I want to be more vocal. Our expectations are still high. They didn’t get lower.”

Most of the Panthers’ experience is on the perimeter. Dixon said he recruited three big men for this year’s freshman class because he knew there was going to space for them. Among those frontcourt recruits is McDonalds All-American Dante Taylor. Talib Zanna and J.J. Richardson round out the big men recruits.

“Some freshman is going to play a lot of minutes this year on the frontline,” Dixon said. “This will be the best four guys we’ve ever brought in as a class.”

The women’s team must replace four-year starters Shavonte Zellous and Xenia Stewart, but like Dixon, coach Agnus Berenato is confident in her team’s abilities.

“We have a great program,” Berenato said. “It wasn’t about just a team. The kids that are here, they’re the ones that are going to step up.”

Among those players is junior point guard Jania Sims, who suffered a season-ending injury in Pitt’s first game last year. Sims is one of the best point guards in the country, Berenato said, and Sims used last year to improve her knowledge of the game and floor coaching abilities.

“I was surprised that I could do all the physical things that I did before when I came back,” Sims said. “Now, I’m just a smarter player.”

Center Shawnice “Pepper” Wilson, a sophomore, also returns to the team after becoming the only Big East athlete selected for the USA Basketball U19 squad.

Despite not being able to compete with the team because of surgery, Wilson said it was a great experience and that competing with players at that level boosted her confidence.

Shayla Scott will move from the forward to the guard position this season, a chance she’s excited for. She said she wants to step up and contribute more offensively.

Sophronia Sallard is the only senior on the squad this season. She started 19 games last season, averaging 8.7 points and 3.0 rebounds. Berenato said that this season is an opportunity for Sallard to make a name for herself.

“I am surrounded by wonderful teammates who back me up,” Sallard said. “I’m surrounded by sisters and family, and together, we are going to lead this team.”

Berenato said that the back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances the Panthers experienced were the beginning of a tradition for the women’s basketball program.

“We don’t want to have a good team, we want to have a good program,” Berenato said. “Anytime you get to back-to-back Sweet 16s, you start to establish a tradition, and that’s something we haven’t had here.”