Heartbreaking, devastating, embarrassing, and saddening. What does this all add up to? The disaster which is currently Jamie Dixon and the Pitt Basketball Program. After a humiliating loss to the #9 ranked team in the country North Carolina Tar Heels 85-64, there are more questions than answers for Pitt basketball fans like myself.
The Panthers are 17-7 overall, but only 6-6 in ACC play (ranks 9th in the league currently). With only looking at their overall record you may think that they aren't doing as bad as I'm saying, but you would be wrong. Here are some of their out of conference schedule (not all):
11/20 Detroit 95-79 W
11/29 Cornell 93-49 W
12/6 Central Arkansas 100-47 W
You can check the rest by looking up Pitts basketball schedule, but their out of conference schedule was weak besides playing now ranked #11 Purdue 72-59.
Including that loss to Purdue, Pitt has lost six more games in conference by an average of 14PPG (Points Per Game) in their seven total losses this year. Where am I heading with all this?
I believe in my own heart that we have seen the better days of Jamie Dixon, and it's time for him to be relieved of his duties at Pitt. We are no longer recruiting well in New York City and across the country, and that solely falls at the hands of not just Jamie Dixon, but also the entire coaching staff. Currently, Pitt is even losing the recruiting battle to a team that can't even get their fans to their basketball games. That team would be Penn State. Penn State currently ranks #18 on the Rivals website, where Pitt wasn't even in the top 35. By the way, they ended their rankings at 35.
In conclusion, for Pitt to succeed in the ACC, they must do a better job in executing their recruiting strategy. In the ACC, you need pure shooters, good guard play, and a big man that can get the job down low on the boards. Building a tough and rough team in the Big East might of gotten us far, but in the ACC the players are bigger, quicker, and more athletic than what they faced in the past. Pitt has seen better days in the past, but those days are turning into weeks, months, and years. They still have time to save the basketball program, but I believe it must start by the firing of Jamie Dixon.
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