Many feel that this may finally be the year that the #4 ranked Pittsburgh Panthers finally break through the proverbial wall and goes onto a deep run towards this year’s Final 4 and possibly even be in the mix for winning a National Championship. After all, Jaime Dixon’s cast is arguably the deepest and most talented that he’s ever had and who could argue, as they have gotten off to a tremendous 21-2 start, including a Big East leading 9-1 mark. In most people’s opinion, they rank right up there with Ohio State, Kansas, and Duke as the “favorites” to win it all in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Their road towards the promised land just got a bit rockier as word has come out that leading scorer, starting point guard, and Pre-Season All Big East selection Ashton Gibbs has sustained a MCL sprain to his left knee and will be out a minimum of 10-14 days. Gibbs has opted against surgery and upon his return in 2 weeks, will sport a protective brace to help prevent any further injury. He is coming off of his best game of the season as he scored 25 points and shot 5-5 from behind the arc in a 12 point victory over Cincinnati on Saturday.
Losing Gibbs is a huge blow to arguably the Big East’s best team as he leads the club in scoring(16.3 ppg), 3 point percentage(.462%), free throw percentage(.897%), and ranks 3rd in assists(3.1). Besides stats, Gibbs is the heart and soul of a club that is often overlooked playing in a conference with Syracuse, UConn, Georgetown, and Villanova, despite winning 20+ games and making the NCAA Tourney in each of the last 7 seasons.
In fact, the Panthers have gone far but haven’t quite been able to get over the hump in March Madness as they made it as far as the Elite 8 in ’09, only to fall just short of the school’s first ever Final Four birth on a last second now memorable shot by Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds. They have also advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in ’04 and ’07 as well. They have also seen a number of players become NBA players in recent years like Aaron Gray, DeJuan Blair, and Sam Young.
Replacing Ashton’s all around production will be a tough task but in the short term, once highly touted HS prospect and sophomore guard Travon Woodall (6.7 ppg, 3.6 ast) will slide into the starting line-up. Woodall once starred for Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley at the fabled St. Anthony’s Prep in Jersey City, NJ. Coach Dixon will also hope to get an even bigger contribution from Gibbs’ starting backcourt mate Brad Wanamaker, who is one of the country’s more underrated players since he averages 12.3 ppg, 5.2 rebs, and a team leading 4.9 assists.
It’s an inopportune time for a devastating injury as Pitt is in the midst of a grueling Big East stretch of contests as they face the basketball version of the “Backyard Brawl” as they travel to face rival West Virginia on Monday, then face a tough test against #12 Villanova in Philly next Saturday. If Gibbs remains out of action past that, his squad must face South Florida, St. John’s, a rematch with WV, are at #15 Louisville, at USF, and finish with a rematch against Nova at the Pedersen Events Center. I guess that 2 game lead in the Big East may come in handy.
Check out Ashton’s game winning buzzer beater to beat Providence last March:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
