Pitt Basketball Season Preview
Panthers Aim to Use Toughness to Surpass Expectations
The Pitt men’s basketball team, under the leadership of head coach Jeff Capel in his eighth season, is striving to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2022-23 season and only the second time during Capel's tenure. Although the Panthers retained three key contributors, their roster is significantly reshaped by numerous transfers and freshmen arrivals.
On paper, this might be one of Capel’s least talented squads, yet it boasts added size, toughness, and physical play, elements expected to help even out the talent gap they face nightly in the ACC.
“We can’t be a team that thinks we can just show up,” Capel said after the team’s second exhibition. “There is a certain way that we have to show up. We aren’t one of these teams that is just going to out-talent you. We have talent but we don’t have the type of talent that some of these teams do. But if we are tough, and we are together, and we play with an edge, then we can be a really good team.”
Key Returning Players
- Guard Brandin Cummings and forward Cam Cohren, both important contributors last season, are expected to secure starting roles.
- Forward Papa Kante is set to be a main rotational player for Pitt.
Cummings played in 31 games as a freshman last season and started four times, indicating his growing role on the team.
Summary
Despite a roster overhaul and perceived talent deficit, Pitt’s Panthers rely on physicality and unity under Coach Capel to surpass expectations in the 2025-26 season.