2020–21 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Pittsburgh during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers were led by third-year head coach Jeff Capel and played their home games at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2020–21 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	10–12 (6–10 ACC)
Head coach	Jeff Capel (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Tim O'Toole (3rd season) Milan Brown (3rd season) Jason Capel (3rd season)
Home arena	Petersen Events Center (Capacity: 12,508)
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 ACC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 15 Virginia	13	–	4		.765			18	–	7		.720
No. 14 Florida State	11	–	4		.733			18	–	7		.720
No. 25 Virginia Tech	9	–	4		.692			15	–	7		.682
Georgia Tech †	11	–	6		.647			17	–	9		.654
Clemson	10	–	6		.625			16	–	8		.667
North Carolina	10	–	6		.625			18	–	11		.621
Louisville	8	–	5		.615			13	–	7		.650
Syracuse	9	–	7		.563			18	–	10		.643
NC State	9	–	8		.529			14	–	11		.560
Duke	9	–	9		.500			13	–	11		.542
Notre Dame	7	–	11		.389			11	–	15		.423
Pittsburgh	6	–	10		.375			10	–	12		.455
Miami (FL)	4	–	15		.211			10	–	17		.370
Wake Forest	3	–	15		.167			6	–	16		.273
Boston College	2	–	11		.154			4	–	16		.200
† 2021 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The Panthers finished the season 10–12, 6–10 in ACC play, to finish in twelfth place. They lost to Miami in the first round of the ACC tournament. They were not invited to either the NCAA tournament or NIT.

Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2019–20 season 16–17 overall and 6–14 in ACC play, finishing in a tie for thirteenth in the conference. The Panthers defeated Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC tournament before losing to NC State in the second round. The tournament was cancelled before the Quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] The NCAA tournament and NIT were also cancelled due to the pandemic.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Eric Hamilton	0	F	6'9"	230	Graduate Student	Atlanta, GA	Graduated
Trey McGowens	2	G	6'4"	190	Sophomore	Pendleton, SC	Transferred to Nebraska
KJ Marshall	13	G	5'9"	165	Freshman	Reading, PA	Transferred to Garden City Community College
Kene Chukwuka	15	F	6'9"	225	Senior	Stockholm, Sweden	Graduated
Anthony Starzynski	22	G	6'3"	190	Senior	Pittsburgh, PA	Graduated
Samson George	23	F	6'7"	220	Junior	Minna, Nigeria	Transferred to Central Arkansas
Ryan Murphy	24	G	6'2"	185	Junior	Calabasas, CA	Transferred to Tulane

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Nike Sibande	22	G	6'4"	185	Senior	Indianapolis, IN	Miami (OH)

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Noah Collier SF	Mullica Hill, NJ	Westtown School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sep 23, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:    ESPN grade: 80
John Hugley IV C	Lyndhurst, OH	Brush High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	Oct 18, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:    ESPN grade: 81
Max Amadasun C	Bronx, NY	Our Savior Lutheran High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Oct 15, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:    ESPN grade: 78
Femi Odukale G	Brooklyn, NY	Springfield Commonwealth Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Apr 16, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN: N/A
William Jeffress Jr. SF/SG	Erie, PA	McDowell	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Apr 28, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:    ESPN grade: 81
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 27   Rivals: 22
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Pittsburgh Panthers". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 11, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 11, 2020.

Roster

2020–21 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
} } } Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Ithiel Horton   6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Delaware Vauxhall, NJ G 1 Xavier Johnson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Bishop O'Connell HS Woodbridge, VA G 2 Femi Odukale 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Bishop Loughlin HS Brooklyn, NY F 3 Noah Collier 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Westtown School Mullica Hill, NJ G/F 4 Gerald Drumgoole 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So La Lumiere School Rochester, NY G 5 Au'Diese Toney 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Trinity Christian Academy Huntsville, AL F 11 Justin Champagnie 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Bishop Loughlin HS Brooklyn, NY F 12 Abdoul Karim Coulibaly 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Scotland Campus Bamako, Mali F 13 Aidan Fisch (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Franklin Regional HS Murrysville, PA G 14 Curtis Aiken Jr. (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So North Allegheny Senior HS Wexford, PA F/C 21 Terrell Brown 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Tilton School Providence, RI G 22 Nike Sibande 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Crispus Attacuks HS Miami (OH) Indianapolis, IN F 23 John Hugley (S) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Brush HS Cleveland, OH G/F 24 William Jeffress 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr McDowell HS Erie, PA G 31 Onyebuchi Ezeakudo (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Homestead HS Fort Wayne, IN C 35 Max Amadasun 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Our Saviour Lutheran Dublin, Ireland G 42 Chayce Smith 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr The Kiski School Mount Laurel, NJ	Head coach Jeff Capel (Duke) Assistant coach(es) Tim O'Toole (Fairfield) Milan Brown (Howard) Jason Capel (North Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: January 15, 2020

Schedule and results

Source:^[3]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference Regular season
November 25, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ACCRSN		St. Francis	L 70–80	0–1	20 – Toney	8 – Hugley	10 – Johnson	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
November 28, 2020* 1:00 p.m., ACCNX		Drexel	W 83–74	1–1	27 – Johnson	8 – Champagnie	8 – Johnson	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
December 5, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		Northern Illinois	W 89–59	2–1	22 – Champagnie	10 – Champagnie	7 – Johnson	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
December 9, 2020* 9:15 p.m., ESPN		at Northwestern ACC–Big Ten Challenge	W 71–70	3–1	21 – Johnson	20 – Champagnie	4 – Johnson	Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL
December 12, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ACCRSN		Gardner–Webb	W 67–50	4–1	24 – Champagnie	21 – Champagnie	5 – Champagnie	Petersen Events Center (0) Pittsburgh, PA
ACC Regular season
December 16, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCN		at Miami (FL)	W 70–55	5–1 (1–0)	18 – Horton	9 – Champagnie	3 – Tied	Watsco Center (0) Coral Gables, FL
December 22, 2020 7:00 p.m., ACCRSN		Louisville	L 54–64	5–2 (1–1)	16 – Odukale	7 – Hugley	2 – Sibande	Petersen Events Center (0) Pittsburgh, PA
December 29, 2020 8:00 p.m., ACCN		at No. 20 Duke	Postponed^[4]					Cameron Indoor Stadium  Durham, NC
January 6, 2021 4:30 p.m., ACCN		at Syracuse	W 63–60	6–2 (2–1)	14 – Horton	14 – Toney	7 – Johnson	Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY
January 16, 2021 12:00 p.m., ACCRSN		Syracuse	W 96–76	7–2 (3–1)	24 – Champagnie	16 – Champagnie	7 – Johnson	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
January 19, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN		Duke	W 79-73	8–2 (4–1)	31 – Champagnie	14 – Champagnie	11 – Johnson	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
January 23, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN		at Wake Forest	L 75–76	8–3 (4–2)	17 – Champagnie	8 – Champagnie	8 – Johnson	LJVM Coliseum (79) Winston-Salem, NC
January 26, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCN		North Carolina	L 65–75	8–4 (4–3)	23 – Champagnie	10 – Champagnie	7 – Johnson	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
January 30, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN		Notre Dame	L 58–84	8–5 (4–4)	19 – Champagnie	11 – Champagnie	3 – Tied	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
February 3, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCRSN		No. 16 Virginia Tech	W 83–72	9–5 (5–4)	32 – Johnson	13 – Champagnie	7 – Johnson	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
February 6, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN		at No. 14 Virginia	L 66–73	9–6 (5–5)	18 – Champagnie	10 – Champagnie	7 – Johnson	John Paul Jones Arena (0) Charlottesville, VA
February 10, 2021 9:00 p.m., ACCN		at Louisville	Postponed^[5]					KFC Yum! Center  Louisville, KY
February 14, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN		at Georgia Tech	L 65–71	9–7 (5–6)	18 – Horton	9 – Toney	4 – Tied	McCamish Pavilion (1,200) Atlanta, GA
February 17, 2021 4:30 p.m., ACCN		NC State	L 73–74	9–8 (5–7)	18 – Champagnie	10 – Champagnie	5 – Horton	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
February 20, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCRSN		No. 16 Florida State	L 72–79	9–9 (5–8)	21 – Champagnie	10 – Champagnie	3 – Tied	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
February 21, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN		Clemson	Postponed^[6]					Petersen Events Center  Pittsburgh, PA
February 28, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN		at NC State	L 62–65	9–10 (5–9)	18 – Odukale	12 – Champagnie	5 – Odukale	PNC Arena (500) Raleigh, NC
March 2, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN		Wake Forest	W 70–57	10–10 (6–9)	23 – Sibande	13 – Champagnie	4 – Sibande	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
March 6, 2021 12:00 p.m., ACCRSN		at Clemson	L 62–77	10–11 (6–10)	13 – Champagnie	5 – Brown	3 – Odukale	Littlejohn Coliseum (1,876) Clemson, SC
ACC tournament
March 9, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCN	(12)	vs. (13) Miami First round	L 73–79	10–12	28 – Odukale	10 – Champagnie	3 – Tied	Greensboro Coliseum (2,820) Greensboro, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

See also: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: — = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

References

1. "Statement from ACC on Men's Basketball Tournament". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
2. "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships". from the original on March 12, 2020.
3. "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
4. "Pittsburgh at Duke Men's Basketball Game Postponed". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. December 28, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
5. "Pittsburgh at Louisville Men's Basketball Postponed". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
6. "ACC Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.