Crisan: Capel's magic can be replicated, but new core will have to do it

There is belief from Jeff Capel in his core. There is a belief from Capel's core in the pieces that are set to revolve around it.

If these Panthers are going to have a chance at re-creating the magic from their unforeseen and unprecedented 2023 NCAA Tournament run, those revolving pieces are the ones that are going to have to take them there.

Blake Hinson set foot onto the court of the Petersen Events Center prior to Monday's game and sunk a pair of 3-pointers from the elbow. He will do that many times this season -- and then make a few from his favorite range, just as he did to score the Panthers' first points of this 2023-'24 season:

It was this core, fortified with a strong frontcourt of Federiko Federiko and Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham that contributed mightily to the rebirth of winning at Pitt. Capel led this group and this program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and victory since 2016. 

This core will be in charge of ensuring Pitt will get back to that stage, though in a tougher and more competitive ACC.

"I think it helps that we do have guys back," Capel said after Pitt's 100-52 rout over North Carolina A&T at the Petersen Events Center Monday. "I know a lot's been made about the guards that we lost and there's no one who wishes we still had them more than me. We do have a lot back. We have our leading scorer and rebounder from last year back, we have a guy that I thought was the best defensive big in the league back. We have two guys in the twins that I thought were playing their best basketball at the end of the year and have gotten better. And having Will (Jeffress) back, even a guy like K.J. (Marshall).

"They have that DNA from those guys that we lost. They still have it. I thought it was great that for the majority of the summer, Nelly (Cummings), Greg (Elliott), and Jamarius (Burton) were here. There were times where I'd come into my office and I'd see Greg working the freshmen out, doing stuff with them. I'd see Nelly grabbing them and talking to them. They'd play pickup and I'd see J.B. talking to them. You have guys that have ownership. They have ownership. They didn't want to just be good last year. They want us to continue to be good. The guys that were a part of it last year, they want us to continue to be good. The new guys that we have, they want to be good. They're kind of smart, so they listen to the guys that were here and that accomplished (last year's goals)."

Even down to the end of the bench, where walk-on Marshall reprised his role from last season as being the teammate to greet the starters with their own, personalized handshakes during the lineup announcement. Even with Jeffress returning to provide defense and depth as the new sixth man -- and with Nike Sibande's shoes to fill -- after spending the whole run to the NCAA Tournament on the bench with a foot injury. 

This core is the new core that absorbed so much from those who left. The team's heart and soul in Burton is not coming back through Oakland. Cummings' coolness and calmness is no longer manning the point. Elliott's sniper-like days from beyond the arc have passed.

But, just as Capel did for the core of Burton, Cummings, Sibande, and Elliott, he went back into the transfer portal with the same goal in mind.

Enter Zack Austin, the high-flying athlete who can rattle the rim just as Sibande did.

Enter Ish Leggett, a combo guard who can create his own shot like Cummings did.

Enter Mike Hueitt, a ball-handler who can let it fly from deep like Elliott did.

And, enter two exciting, talented freshmen in Bub Carrington and Jaland Lowe who show promise to help shoulder so much of what Burton did from a totality.

Notice a theme here?

"It's really communication and trust. I'm telling you, it goes a long way," Carrington said. "These guys -- I trust these guys because I've seen them do it. I watched them all last year. I've seen what they can do, I've seen the camaraderie they had as a team, and I step in and they're sharing that same momentum with me. They trust me to get them to get them the ball or what ever the case may be, and I trust them to finish the play. We mesh together as a team built off communication and trust."

Speaking of Carrington, the true freshman carved out two pieces of program history in his collegiate debut Monday. It was, perhaps, the greatest freshman debut in the history of freshman debuts for this program.

His triple-double of 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists gave Pitt its fifth triple-double performance in program history and the first since Ricardo Greer's 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists on March 4, 1998 against Villanova. His was done in his first collegiate game, something the four who preceded them didn't do.

This assist on Guillermo Diaz Graham's 3 with 4:13 remaining sealed it for Carrington:

Before that, Carrington became just the third Panthers freshman to net a double-double in his first game, joining Sean Miller (1987) and DeJuan Blair (2007).

So, it was at least good start for the Panthers and the true freshman. 

But, one thing that was learned the hard way last year is this: The new core will need time.

It might not all be together like it was in February and March. Remember the 30-point drubbing sustained to Michigan amid an ugly 1-3 start to last season? Capel has said multiple times that was the turning point for his core last season. 

Maybe this core won't have to experience a similar hardship to get it together, so to speak, but the real tests will come at the end of November and the beginning of December with Florida and Baylor/Oregon State in New York, and with Missouri, Clemson, and West Virginia on the schedule.

"It definitely feels good to get your feet wet, but the job's far from over," Carrington said.

Many prognosticators looked at the losses this Pitt team experienced over the offseason and immediately shoved them back into the back-end of the conference. The preseason ACC poll suggested Pitt as the ninth-best team in the conference this season.

That might be true, but what also is true is this: The Panthers were picked to finish 14th in this league last year, and they defied the odds.

Part of the mystique of college basketball is the growth of its teams. Out of the 362 Division I programs nationwide, few if any go undefeated. None start the season hot and end it hot. It is just how it goes. The ebbs and flows of this sport were brutal to Pitt at points last season, but they also brought moments of jubilation in the forms of two wins over North Carolina, a win over Virginia, and a win over Final Four team Miami. Capel's team was one win away from winning the regular-season ACC crown last year with one final matchup at Miami, and that came down to the last shot. 

That cannot be left in the dust.

Who is to say they cannot -- and will not -- ride that same belief into another magical ride?

This core experienced it last season ...

Now, it's their time to pass it on and let the new guys catch the wave.