Three weeks ago, sophomore guard Marley Washenitz and senior forward Liatu King were named captains for this year’s Pittsburgh Panthers.

King was an obvious choice. Pitt has been her only collegiate home since 2020 and she brings 38 starts and 75 games of experience into the fall. No player was more consistent game-to-game last season, and her experience both on the court and in the locker room should help stabilize a team that lost nine players to the transfer portal.

Anyone that watched the Panthers play last year should not be shocked that Washenitz is now a captain, too. When not on the floor, she consistently sat by the other coaches, constantly cheered and relayed instructions to her teammates, and would often peer around former head coach Lance White to not miss a second of the action.

Now that we know who will be leading this Pitt squad, how can these two best steer the ship in the right direction in head coach Tory Verdi’s first season?

Glad you asked.

Washenitz has the chance to be a special defender, especially off the ball. A combination of advanced instincts and feel, twitch and basketball IQ enables Washenitz to be an impactful help defender. Zone was a big part of the Panthers’ defensive footwork last year, but she would often make reads within this framework that forced turnovers.

In all four sequences above, Marley comes out of her assignment at the top of the zone to help force a turnover or contested shot. It was only Washenitz’s fifth game – Ft. Meyers Tip-Off – of the season in the first sequence, which speaks to the enate instincts and understanding of the game she immediately brought to the table.

I particularly like the third sequence as it demonstrates her understanding of the scouting report. The Virginia Tech Hokies were absolutely going to be looking for Elizabeth Kitley, the two-time ACC POY, in the post. They were unlikely to attempt a skip pass to the opposite wing with Washenitz already splitting the difference. So Washenitz shot the passing lane and recorded the steal, but Pitt was unable to convert on the other end.

To be equally impactful on the offensive end, the main thing Washenitz will need to work on is finishing around the basket. On the plus side, making a move and accelerating was not an issue for her last year - just converting. However, the above three sequences capture three distinct aspects of finishing that I believe Washenitz is working to improve upon.

The first and perhaps biggest area of improvement for her is having a firmer grasp of finishing angles. In the first sequence, Washenitz has no issues shedding her defender on the switch coming out of the ball screen. However, by taking an extra two steps, she finds herself nearly under the backboard and faced with a near impossible angle to use any part of the glass, even without the help defender.

A similar story for her in the second sequence, but a different driver behind it. Washenitz clearly worked on ball security on drives coming into her freshman season. But the extra step or two it took to move/position the ball away from defenders often resulted in Washenitz trying to finish while almost underneath the backboard - pausing at the :10 mark. This got better as the year went on, but there are still strides here to be made.

To me, the third sequence is a result of the inconsistency. She accelerates past her defender and even the sinking help defender but is unable to convert. Honestly, missed layups can happen, but I think she went up stronger here than she needed to. A big factor is experience, something Washenitz is going to have a lot more as a sophomore.

But out of everything I have broken down, the only thing that really matters is this:

Is Tory Verdi going to let Washenitz throw the turnover in the first sequence with the upside of the assists that occur in the second and third sequences? If the answer to that question is yes, then Washenitz will have the confidence to grow into the high-caliber player that her talents suggest. If the answer is no, then I do not think the Panthers can take a meaningful step forward.

Not suggesting she can be a turnover machine, but without seeing any of the new faces in a game yet, she represents Pitt’s best option for playmaking off the bounce. It is hard to make defenses uncomfortable unless you can force switches and collapse them via dribble penetration that results in shots at the rim or rotations from drive-and-kick passing.

King was the focal point of the Panthers’ offense last season. The staggered off-ball screens with an Iverson cut into a rip screen to get her a post-up against a mismatch (never happened) was something Pitt ran throughout the year. Despite not having elite size for the position, she was and remains an effective player inside 15 feet. Verdi’s arrival brings in a whole new playbook and equal opportunity, presumably. That said, I believe King will start the season as option number one on offense, at least in the post. The hope for the Panthers is that Verdi finds ways for King to regain some of her efficiency.

One way might be involving her in double ball screens with Washenitz and senior forward Gabby Hutcherson. For starters, that would bring two off-ball defenders to the ball, creating situations in which communication is paramount, and mismatches can happen in more than one way. Hutcherson can pick and pop, King can be dangerous on a short roll and both can finish if they drag a smaller defender into the post.

It is always easy to proclaim that a post player should try and add the ability to make three-pointers to their game. To date, King has attempted zero in her three years in college. That is not something that I am going to do here.

Instead, I am going to expand on the topic of King’s efficiency. Last year, she shot a career-worst 39.4% from the field; she had not shot under 44% in any previous season. But King was often at her best when working in tandem with the departed Amber Brown. Who is going to step into that role this year?

King demonstrates good touch and spatial awareness around the basket, a straight-line driver all the way out to the three-point line who can knock down a jumper out to around 15 feet. But she still needs someone to get her the ball to be effective, as she does not create her own shot. Now, I think Washenitz is one answer, but she will not replace the interior passing of Brown or in the high-low game. The point is that King is a known quantity in a good way. Verdi and his staff need to maximize that.

I feel there is a different energy around this team. Maybe that is because Verdi is fairly active on social media, with a focus around ensuring this new group comes together off the court. But in terms of what happens on the court, with only four returning players and an entirely new coaching staff, it will be important that the two captains get things going in the right direction.