Pitt men’s basketball entered the ACC Tournament desperate to pull themselves out of a downward spiral that goes back months.  It began when the Panthers (10-12 overall, 6-10 ACC) dropped a one-point contest to Wake Forest on Jan. 23, snowballed into a streak during which they lost nine of 11, reached its climax when junior stars Xavier Johnson and Au’Diese Toney transferred and ends with a 79-73 loss to under-manned Miami (9-16 overall, 4-15 ACC) on the first day of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Pitt (10-10 overall, 6-9 ACC) put the last week’s trials behind them and put forth one of its strongest efforts of the season, particularly on the defensive end, in a 70-57 win over Wake Forest (6-14 overall, 3-14 ACC). Capel reached deep into his bench and pulled out a complete team effort in the nearly wire-to-wire victory.

After the COVID-19 pandemic and a contentious transfer process kept him out of action for 262 days, Nike Sibande spent his first nine games at Pitt shaking off the rust. But he showed flashes of dynamism in his breakout game on Saturday that indicate his game is growing along with the comfort of a still-new home in Pittsburgh.

With a vocal, five-person contingent of the Oakland Zoo jeering and cheering from just to the left of the media suite for the first time this season, Pitt (9-9 overall, 5-8 ACC) battled No. 16 Florida State (13-3 overall, 9-2 ACC) for most of Saturday’s contest at the Petersen Events Center. But the Seminoles’ size and depth proved to be too much for Pitt to handle in the end. FSU dominated the paint offensively, en route to a 79-72 win over the Panthers.

The NCAA's system for obtaining immediate eligibility goes against the best interest of the student-athletes who it's meant to protect.