ACC Preview #8 – Pitt

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Nov 13, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel III talks to his team during aa timeout during the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

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Jeff Capel is lucky to still be Pitt’s basketball coach.

After a 13-20 season, he was clearly on the hot seat. He also had a new AD, Allen Greene, and typically, new ADs like to hire their own guys.

As it turned out though, Pitt wasn’t eager to pay Capel’s $15 million buyout, preferring to put that money into the program instead.

Greene initiated HP2NIL, a fundraising platform to raise NIL funds. Right now, Pitt’s NIL budget is estimated to be 11th in the ACC, and 54th nationally. It’s an improvement, but Pitt is still down the list financially.

However, Greene did have some conditions for Capel to return. First, he had to fire two of his assistants, Tim O’Toole, and, most painfully, his brother, Jason. The Capels have always been close, so that had to hurt.

He also insisted that Pitt modernize the program, including hiring a GM for the first time. Jay Kuntz was brought in to manage the business side of the program – NIL strategy and roster construction, including transfer portal acquisitions.

Greene also took into account that Pitt suffered some untimely injuries, but still competed and showed heart.

So Capel has another chance to keep his job, but the ACC is likely to be much more competitive, and it won’t be easy to move up.

So what does Capel have to work with? Let’s take a look.

The Returnee

• Macari Moore – 6-3/SO

Portal Pickups

• Colin Hawkins – 6-3/JR (Gardner-Webb)
• Jonathan Powell – 6-6/JR (UNC)
• Jalil Bethea – 6-5/JR (Alabama)
• Naithan George – 6-3/SR (Syracuse)
• A’lahn Sumler – 6-4/R-SR (Charleston Southern)
• Timofei Rudovskii – 6-9/SO (Bryant)
• Dominique Diomande – 6-7/R-SO (BYU)
• Baye Ndongo – 6-9/SR (Georgia Tech)
• Armani Mighty – 6-10/SR (Mercer)
• Ibrahim Souare – 6-9/R-JR (Syracuse)
• Kraig Gilbert – 6-8/JR (Concord University)

Freshmen

• Chase Foster – 6-8
• Jermal Jones – 6-4

Moore is the only player back, and he had minimal impact last year. He played in 22 games, averaging 5.9 minutes. He didn’t really play enough to glean much insight, but maybe he’s improved a lot over the summer.

The heart of this team is in the portal pickups, and a lot of those guys have things to prove, which could work out well for the Panthers.

Remarkably, six of Capel’s new players were with ACC teams previously. Powell was at UNC, Ndongo was at Georgia Tech, George was at Georgia Tech and Syracuse, Souare was also at Georgia Tech and Syracuse, Bethea started at Miami before transferring to Alabama, and Mighty was at BC before heading south to Mercer.

Those guys ACC fans may be familiar with, and despite some hit-and-miss stretches, Ndongo in particular is a tremendous athlete.

He started nearly every game for three seasons at Georgia Tech, other than when he was injured, and while former Yellow Jacket coach Damon Stoudamire kept trying to move him away from the basket, he does best inside. Last year, he averaged 11.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and a career best 2.4 assists. You can probably count on him starting.

At BC, Mighty had trouble finding a role. He left, spent a redshirt year at Central Michigan, and then had a big year at Mercer, averaging 13.2 ppg and 10.6 rebounds. He had an 18 point, 25 rebound game against VMI, and you’re probably saying, well…yeah…VMI.

But he never did anything like that at BC. Clearly, he’s improved; the question is how much.

He shot 64% last year, and at 240, solidly built. We’ll see how much better he is in his second tour of the ACC.

Souare will primarily be a defender. His offense has never been formidable, but he has a 7-2 wingspan, and that poses problems for most people.

Powell didn’t necessarily have a huge impact at UNC last year, but he played reasonably well at West Virginia prior to that.

He’s a solid three-point shooter, and that’s something that Pitt can definitely use. At UNC last year, Powell averaged 4.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 16.3 minutes per game, appearing in 33 games. He might pair well with George, who historically is a good assist man.

Speaking of George, he will reunite with his Yellow Jacket teammate Ndongo, with whom he seemed to have good chemistry. George averaged 10.9 ppg last year at Syracuse, 5.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds. We’ve always liked him.

Bethea has never quite lived up to his 5-star high school reputation. At Miami of course, he got caught up in the drama of Jim Larranaga’s mid-season retirement, and his playing time suffered.

Last year, he was at Alabama, and his minutes were more than halved, falling from 19 per game at Miami to 7.9 for the Crimson Tide. He might have made more money at Alabama, but otherwise, the transfer didn’t work out very well.

At Pitt, he’ll have a chance to play with less pressure, probably get more minutes, and have a chance to rebuild his reputation.

Like Powell, he’s a solid three-point shooter, and that should get him on the court.

Hawkins was a solid combo guard for Gardner-Webb, and he’s going to be a glue-guy for Pitt. He probably won’t start ahead of George, Powell, or Bethea, but if things work out, Pitt won’t lose a lot when he comes in, either. He could be very useful, assuming he can adjust to the ACC.

Sumler averaged 18.9 ppg last year at Charleston Southern, along with 3.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds. He hit 48% overall and a highly impressive 39.6% from deep. It’s a jump from Charleston Southern to the ACC, but if he can navigate it, Pitt may have a real asset.

Diomande is said to be very athletic and could play a role similar to what we saw from Duke’s Dame Sarr last season. He’s bounced around a bit, but Pitt gives him a chance to build a more enduring role.

At BYU last year, he averaged 1.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.7 steals in limited minutes.

Rudovskii averaged 12.9 ppg for Bryant, and 4.6 rebounds. He also shot 35.1% from behind the three-point line, which was solid. He started all 31 games as a freshman, which is pretty good.

Like Hawkins and Sumler, it’s really unclear how well he’ll do in the ACC, but we’ll see.

Gilbert comes from D-II Concord, and we have no idea what to expect. He’s said to shoot the three well, though, and before he was injured, was hitting 48% of his threes last season.

As for the freshmen, Foster is a Top 40 recruit. Originally from Baltimore, Foster attended IMG Academy. He might really turn out.

Like Foster, Jones attended IMG. He’s a Top 100 recruit who will have to move past several teammates to get playing time, but he might be good enough to do it.

Pitt should be improved, but the baseline question, though, is simple: does Capel have enough to keep his job?

Well, there’s certainly a case for optimism.

In general, Pitt has a nice roster now. They have solid big men, a nice fleet of guards, and some perimeter guys who can help Capel’s very physical defensive style.

There are also a number of players who could excel from the bonusphere.

On the potential downside, some of Capel’s transfers are taking a major step up, and that doesn’t always work out, at least not immediately.

And while Pitt should be improved, a lot of ACC teams are going to be better as well. He could end up in the unfortunate situation where his team is much better, but it doesn’t necessarily show up in the standings.

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