Pitt Predicted to Take Step Backwards in ACC Preseason Poll
The Pitt men’s basketball program is looking to bounce back in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the 2025-26 season after finishing in the bottom-third of the league a year ago.
However, the Panthers are not expected to improve on their positioning from a year ago, according to the Preseason ACC Men’s Basketball Media Poll released Tuesday.
Instead, Pitt is predicted to take a step back and finish 14th in the ACC in Jeff Capel’s eighth season at the helm of the program.
In addition, there were no Panthers selected for the Preseason All-ACC teams, Preseason Player of the Year or Rookie of the Year voting.
Last season, Pitt finished with a 17-15 overall record and 8-12 mark with a 13th-place finish in conference play. That came after back-to-back 20-win seasons and above .500 records in the ACC.
The Panthers are now three seasons removed from a fifth-place finish in the ACC with a 14-6 record and 24-12 overall campaign in 2022-23 as the Panthers advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
Pitt returns just three players that appeared in more than 10 games last year with forwards Cameron Corhen and Papa Kante, along with sophomore guard Brandin Cummings.
The 6-10, 235-pound Corhen averaged 11 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Cummings scored 6.3 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting from the field and 37.7 percent from 3-point range in 31 games.
Pitt dipped into the transfer portal this offseason to add Damarco Minor (Oregon State), Barry Dunning Jr. (South Alabama), Nojus Indrusaitis (Iowa State) and Dishon Jackson (Iowa State), who is currently out indefinitely as he deals with a medical situation.
The Panthers also added five freshmen in its 2025 recruiting class with highly-touted forward Roman Siulepa, four-star guard Omari Witherspoon and three-star guard Macari Moore, as well as forwards Henry Lau and Kieran Mullen.
Full 2025 ACC Preseason Poll
1. Duke (34), 866
2. Louisville (15), 842
3. North Carolina, 741
4. NC State, 710
5. Virginia, 623
6. SMU, 616
7. Clemson, 510
8. Miami, 500
9. Syracuse, 489
10. Notre Dame, 477
11. Wake Forest, 412
12. Virginia Tech, 355
13. Georgia Tech, 315
14. Pitt, 301
15. Florida State, 221
16. California, 156
17. Stanford, 138
18. Boston College, 107
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