Young players contribute in Pathers’ win

For so long, Pitt’s men’s basketball team has been known as the bully of the Big East.

The… For so long, Pitt’s men’s basketball team has been known as the bully of the Big East.

The Panthers typically field a team that has numerous veterans on the roster. The 2002-2003 squad was led by a trio of seniors, and last season’s team was headed by the now-departed Julius Page and Jaron Brown.

But with four Panthers suiting up for the first time in Saturday night’s 81-55 victory over Howard, head coach Jamie Dixon knows that this year’s team is anything but experienced.

“This is an unbelievably young team,” Dixon said. “We haven’t had a team this young in a number of years here.”

This year’s class of new players, which includes one junior college transfer, is one that Dixon said shows a lot of promise, particularly in filling the shoes of Page and Brown. Both former players were in attendance for the game Saturday night.

“Four of them were playing their first collegiate game, sometimes out there all together,” Dixon said. “It was a good experience for us, and I thought we did some things well.”

Ronald Ramon, a freshman from the Bronx, started at shooting guard, a position the Panthers have had trouble getting productivity from in recent years. Much to the delight of the sea of fans in the Oakland Zoo, Ramon hit four three-pointers — three in the opening half — in turning in a balanced 12-point, five-rebound and six-assist game.

“Ronald is a great shooter,” Dixon said. “We got good looks, and I think he is going to knock down open shots, and I think our guys recognize that.”

Also seeing time at the guard position was Keith Benjamin, a freshman from Mount Vernon High School in New York. Despite suffering a recent illness and knee injury, Benjamin came off the bench to score six points in 18 minutes of action.

“Keith didn’t have his best tonight,” Dixon said in reference to Benjamin’s five turnovers. “He played well at the end though. He has [also] played very well in practice.”

He added, “He’s a tough kid, and he’s been in a lot of big games. He’ll recover like he did throughout the game, getting better as the game went on.”

Stepping into Brown’s old spot was John DeGroat, a much-touted college transfer from Northeastern junior college. He displayed his quickness and athletic ability on one play in the first half where he completed a three-point play, despite being undercut by a Howard defender. The forward finished with 11 points and seven rebounds on the night.

Scoring only two points in his nine minutes of action, redshirt freshman Dante Milligan also played his first game as a Panther. The 6-foot-8 forward from New York also blocked a shot and collected two rebounds on the night. Most of that production came during a sequence in the first half where he blocked a shot, grabbed the rebound, sprinted the length of the court and finished with a fast-break lay-up.

The youth of the team, although a rarity in recent years for Pitt, is something that excites not only Dixon, but also senior forward Chevon Troutman.

“We’re a lot younger [than in past years].” Troutman said. “I feel like they haven’t learned the system yet. There’s some things we still need to work on.”

“[The transition] hasn’t been easy,” DeGroat said. “But guys like Chevy and Yuri [Demetris], the seniors help us out every day. Every day is a lesson.”

As always though, Troutman said the success of the new players and the team in general will come down to defense.

“Once we get all the basic essentials on our defense, we’ll be a very hard team to stop,” he said.