Men’s Basketball: Randall could key Pitt’s efforts in rebounding battle

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Talib Zanna didn’t have much of a choice on where he would play at the start of this season, his fifth and final at Pitt.

Zanna, the team’s starting center, said he knew his role wouldn’t be focused on scoring, but more on physical, grinding plays — many of which don’t show up on a stat sheet — but he embraced the opportunity.

“I had to do it because I was the only experienced frontcourt player,” he said. “And as a leader, I had no choice but to play the five.”

There was, in fact, a dearth of seasoning among Pitt’s big men after last year, but by late August, Zanna and the Panthers received a boost in talent, size and experience when Derrick Randall became eligible to play immediately upon his transfer to Pitt. Now Randall figures to have an underrated but critical role in Pitt’s NCAA Tournament plans.

But he might not have become a Panther if it weren’t for the departure of a few players.

After last year, Pitt lost three of its top five rebounders. Steven Adams left for the NBA, Dante Taylor graduated and J.J. Moore transferred to Rutgers.

Moore’s decision to transfer prior to his senior season might have been the most unexpected, but Pitt would end up receiving a pleasant surprise back from the Scarlet Knights in Randall, who decided to transfer in May.

In June, Randall, who spent his first two years at Rutgers, officially became a Panther. He transferred after stories and videos broke that detailed former Rutgers coach Mike Rice’s abusive behavior toward players. He also told Mike Vorkunov of The Star-Ledger that another factor contributed to his decision to switch.

Vorkunov wrote in a story from Nov. 25, 2013, that Randall’s mother, Diana Howell, died of cancer in May at the age of 49. “Her condition weighed on him during the final months of the season,” Vorkunov wrote.

“I had so much stuff going on, besides the Mike Rice stuff, like dealing with my mom,” Randall told Vorkunov. “I wasn’t trying to stay there. It would bring back all the past and everything. All the stuff I regretted.”

While Randall proved his emotional strength in coping with those issues, he’s shown a similar toughness on the court, too.

At 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, he’s the most physically imposing member of Pitt’s frontcourt behind Joseph Uchebo, who played in just eight games for a total of 18 minutes. But Randall is an aggressive defender with long, muscular arms that lend favorably to his rebounding skills.

Defense and rebounding are exactly what Pitt needs from him as it enters its opening matchup in the tournament against Colorado, especially since the Buffaloes stack up with the Panthers as a strong defensive and rebounding team.

Pitt has posted a rebounding rate of 54.9 percent — the 11th best clip in the country — while Colorado has grabbed 54.5 percent, which is 15th best. Pitt surrenders 62.4 points per game; Colorado allows 67.9 points per contest. They’re even similar offensively, with Pitt edging out Colorado by just a 1.6-point difference in points scored per game.

What might separate them most is Colorado’s depth in the frontcourt.

Three forwards lead the Buffaloes in rebounding: Josh Scott averages 8.5 per game, Wesley Gordon averages 6.1 and Xavier Johnson averages 5.9. When you look at it as an individual percentage of the team’s total, though, it seems even more balanced among the forwards.

Scott accounts for 24 percent of the team’s rebounds, Johnson gets 15.8 percent and Gordon gets 15.2 percent — even point guard Askia Booker has 10.4 percent.

Talib Zanna averages 8.8 rebounds per game for Pitt, but none of his teammates even average five. Power forward Michael Young grabs 4.2 per game, but guard/forward Lamar Patterson is second on the team with 4.8 boards.

Where is Randall, you ask?

He averages a paltry 2.5 rebounds per contest, but that’s simply because he’s a reserve player who averages only 8.8 minutes of action each game. A better stat to assess his value is rebounds per minute. Among starters and bench players who have been in every game, Randall is second on the team with .28 boards per minute. For perspective, Zanna is first with .29 and Young is third with .19.

In other words, Randall makes the most of his limited time on the court.

In the NCAA Tournament, that depth could help decide an outcome, especially since Zanna had a bum ankle earlier this year and Young is experiencing back troubles, according to coach Jamie Dixon.

“Michael is still battling through that back, as we know,” Dixon said. “He has a small fracture in the back and he has been playing through that for about a month and a half now. There is a lot of pain and discomfort, but he is battling through it.”

And with big men often serving as the last line of defense against a drive to the hoop, Zanna and Young might find themselves in foul trouble.

This is exactly where Zanna landed on Feb. 12 at home against Syracuse. After picking up his third foul, he checked out of the game with about 13 minutes to play, and Randall rose to the occasion.

Patterson gave the junior forward a pat on the head after he fouled Trevor Cooney, preventing him from converting an easy layup on a fastbreak. When Zanna re-entered the game shortly after, he had to play timidly and avoid contesting shots and competing for rebounds. His reserved play was costing Pitt, so Randall subbed in.

Although Pitt ended up losing on Tyler Ennis’ buzzer beater, Randall played a key role in keeping up with then-top-ranked Syracuse. He added three blocks in that stretch and finished with four total while also contributing spirited defensive play and rebounding.

This performance certainly wasn’t an isolated incident. He’s showed promise since the beginning of the season.

In the first regular-season game of the year against Savannah State, Randall played 20 minutes while Zanna served a one-game suspenion for violating team rules. Randall posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. He said he wasn’t nervous after his first game.

“It was more about just proving to everybody [that] I can play and just doing everything right,” Randall said. “Just being there for my teammates and just doing hustle plays and just doing defense.”

Even then he understood his role and thrived in it, and the Panthers won a nonconference game. Whether Randall is able to continue to contribute on Thursday, though, might affect the length of Pitt’s run in the NCAA Tournament.