Vukovcan: It’s a Great Day for the Pitt Basketball Program!

When arguably a team’s best player and a huge building block for the following season leaves, normally, that’s not something positive or looked at as good news.

However, that’s exactly how Pitt fans should be feeling about what took place today at the Petersen Events Center.

In an afternoon press conference, freshman guard Bub Carrington announced his intentions to leave Pitt after one season to enter the 2024 NBA Draft. The 6’5″ guard from Baltimore, Maryland started 33 games this season and averaged 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Carrington really caught fire at the end of the season as he averaged 19 points over the final 6 games of the Panthers season.

Regardless of if you feel he’s making the wrong decision, that doesn’t really matter because Carrington and Jeff Capel are being told by NBA teams that he’ll go somewhere in the first round.

If that’s the case, he’d be crazy to pass up the guaranteed millions of dollars that go along with being a first-round pick.

Students go to college in order to get an education that will allow them to earn as much money as they can in the field of their choosing. Carrington’s working profession is basketball and in just one year in college, he did enough to become a millionaire.

Mission accomplished!

For reference, the 30th overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft was Kobe Brown (Missouri). Shortly after being selected, Brown signed a four-year deal with the LA Clippers worth $12,394,179 with an average annual salary of $3,098,545 (per Spotrac).

Part of me understands the portion of Pitt fans that are disappointed with today’s news. After what he displayed this past season, having Carrington return along with Jaland Lowe, Ish Leggett, Zack Austin, Gullermo Diaz Graham and the additions of Papa Kante and Brandon Cummings would’ve set Pitt up to have another exciting season. That’s not to mention what Capel is able to add through the transfer portal, where he has hit home runs the last two seasons.

That’s not going to happen, but to be upset about this is being shortsighted.

Pitt fans want nothing more than to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and to make a deep run in the big dance. In order to do that, you need talent — and NBA talent — to be a serious contender.

To get elite talent, most times, a program has to show high school players that they have a history of developing players and turning them into first round picks.

Capel and his staff accomplished that with Carrington, which is great news for future recruiting.

“I think it’s great for our program,” Capel said about Carrington’s decision. “Obviously, we would love to have him back. But when you have an opportunity like this, all of these kids dream of being a pro. When I was his age, I dreamed of being a pro. When you have an opportunity to do it, and, it’s the right opportunity to do it right now, you have to take advantage of it. Throughout the season, we had more pro scouts at our practices this year than we have in my first five years combined. That’s when I knew, okay, this has a chance, this is real.”

I have no doubt that immediately following today’s press conference, Capel was on the phone with 4 and 5-star players showing them what they did with Carrington in just one season and that they could be next. A certain 5-star guard from Western Pennsylvania that Pitt desperately wants, certainly fits that description.

When Capel was hired, the expectation from the fan base was that Pitt would immediately start recruiting and producing NBA talent because of his resume while at Duke.

While it may have taken longer than anticipated, that time has arrived and it’s a good thing.

To be known as a big-time program, Pitt fans should have big-time expectations. It should be celebrated, not mourned, when a player leaves early to turn pro.

Unlike with Pitt football, the basketball program isn’t able to brag about putting players in the league.

Hopefully for Capel and Pitt, Carrington is just the first of many players that over the upcoming years that hear their name called during the NBA Draft.

Congratulations Bub for your success and for helping to put Pitt back on the college basketball map.

It’s a great day for Pitt and they’ve come a long way from the Kevin Stallings days.