Pittsburgh basketball 2014-2015 season preview

Overview: Coming off a fifth place conference finish in the team’s inaugural season in the ACC, Pittsburgh will need to fill the void left by the departures of guard Lamar Patterson and forward Talib Zanna. In the 2013-14 season, the duo accounted for 30.1 points per game, just less than 42 percent of the team’s total scoring. Patterson led the team in both scoring (17.1 points per game) and assists (4.3 per game) and was the Panthers’ only legitimate threat as an outside scorer, netting more than three times as many 3-point shots as any other player on his team. Zanna led the team in rebounds (8.6 per game) and field goal percentage (58.6 percent) and averaged 13.0 points per game.

Pittsburgh will return three starters this season—redshirt senior guard Cameron Wright, junior guard James Robinson and sophomore forward Michael Young. Wright has 47 career starts and is the team’s top returning scorer with 10.5 points per game last season. The Cleveland native, who received the Skip Prosser Award for being the ACC’s top scholar athlete in men’s basketball, will be called upon to up his scoring and provide leadership this season. Robinson, who notched a school-record 4.1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio last season, will need to continue distributing at a high level and increase his scoring from 7.6 points per game in 2013-14. Young is the team’s top returning rebounder (4.1 per game) and will be expected to take over the Pittsburgh frontcourt in his sophomore season.

Point guard Josh Newkirk and forward Jamel Artis will return for the Panthers this season, both coming off of solid freshman campaigns. Newkirk, who averaged 4.6 points and 1.7 assists per game last season, provides quickness and energy off the bench. Artis is a versatile, athletic forward and contributed 4.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game for the Panthers in 2013-14. Junior forward Durand Johnson, who was sidelined with a season-ending ACL injury near the midpoint of last season, contributed 8.8 points per game for the Panthers and is expected to start in this year’s lineup.

Joining the Pittsburgh team this season are Vanderbilt transfer forward Sheldon Jeter, junior college transfer Tyrone Haughton and true freshmen Cameron Johnson and Ryan Luther.