In this week’s 3-2-1 Column, we are talking all about the Pitt basketball team. The Panthers are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, and need to get back into the win column with an important road game at Syracuse tomorrow afternoon.

While the football team is months away from playing a game, Pat Narduzzi’s program made some headlines this week grabbing the first recruit of the class of 2026. We’ll get into what Angelo Renda’s commitment means, plus some other recruiting topics as well.

THREE THINGS WE KNOW

This basketball season is teetering

This Pitt basketball season is not off the tracks, but you can probably see the unfinished bridge not too far off in the distance.

Is that too dramatic?

I still have a hard time of what to make of where this season is going just yet, because there is still a lot of basketball to be played. While the reality of a four-game losing streak during conference play is bleak and does not instill confidence, it’s not a deathblow to the season just yet. I think there is still time to recover, a schedule that can allow it to happen, and a team that has been in this spot previously.

One year ago today, Pitt was sitting on a 12-7 record with a 3-5 mark in the ACC. This current Pitt team is not too far off that path, as they will go into tomorrow’s game with Syracuse with 12-6 and 3-4 numbers. The difference in the 2024 Pitt team and this current version are the metrics. A year ago today, Pitt was hanging around No. 65 in the NET rankings, while the current team starts today at No. 32.

It is no secret Pitt started this season a little better and it has given them a little cushion. The Panthers’ home win over West Virginia and a road victory over Ohio State have held up nicely. There is not really a bad loss on the resume yet, either. By this time last year, Pitt had a pair losses to Syracuse and an ugly home defeat to Missouri that were affecting their ranking.

While last year’s team failed to make the NCAA Tournament, they still went 9-3 in the regular season after January 24th and made a push. If this year’s team does something similar down the stretch record-wise, then there should be a better case made to not get left out of the dance.

There is a blessing and curse about the ACC, in that there are plenty of winnable games for Pitt to rack up over the next six weeks, but there are opportunities to sustain bad losses just the same. The only ranked opponent, for now, is a March 1st rematch at Louisville. Other than that, Pitt has 12 games where it should win, or others where it will be a dog fight.

The really hard part feels over, for now. During this four-game skid, Pitt has lost to Duke, who is arguably the best team in the country. Plus, it is looking like Clemson and Louisville are a pair of tournament teams and the Panthers only lost both of those contests by a combined seven points.

The schedule ahead is a little more forgiving.

In eight of Pitt’s final 13 games, the Panthers will be playing a team is currently .500 of below, starting tomorrow with a 9-10 Syracuse team, who they play twice. Pitt will also see NC State (9-9) Boston College (9-10), Virginia (9-10), Georgia Tech (9-11), Notre Dame (8-10), and Miami (4-15).

The path is certainly there for this Pitt team, but it ultimately comes down to execution and actually doing it. Jeff Capel said as much on Saturday after the 78-75 loss to Clemson.

“As a program, during my time here, we've been in this spot before, unfortunately. The last couple of years, we've been able to fight our way out of it. I think this group has the ability to do that, but we have to do it. We can't just talk about it. We have to do it, and we have to collectively, as a group, understand the things that we have to do in order to do that. And I look forward to doing that.”

Pitt has been in almost this exact position before, pretty much 365 days ago, and put up a good fight up against the pressure of the bubble, and will probably need to replicate that yet again, although with a little bit more working in their favor.

A Day in the Dome

The first step in breaking a losing streak is getting that first win. It really does not matter what the score is tomorrow for the Panthers, as long as they have more points than Syracuse by the end of the game.

For Pitt, a team desperate for any kind of win, then Syracuse might be an ideal opponent given the current predicament. The Orange hold a 9-10 record overall and have not shown much this season under second-year coach Adrian Autry.

Syracuse is 0-9 against Quad 1 and 2 opponents this year and do not really hold any impressive wins to date. The Orange have missed the NCAA Tournament three straight years and there is not that same buzz of playing inside the Dome as there used to be.

Pitt is 14-23 all-time in what is now known as the JMA Wireless Dome. The Panthers have historically held their own there, even when the Orange were a power in the Big East days. Syracuse did sweep the season series last year, but prior to that Capel was starting to find some success over the Orange, something Pitt needs to regain tomorrow.

Looking at the present, this year’s Syracuse team is not very good defensively, yielding 78 points per game, which is good for next to last in the ACC. Offensively, Syracuse resembles some old Jim Boeheim teams of the past, with multiple bigger guards and athletic wings, but the shooting is simply not there this year. Syracuse is hitting on 31% from three-point range, again near the bottom of the conference.

Syracuse has some weapons to be mindful of, like junior guard JJ Starling, who has scored 20+ in four of the last five games. Talented freshman forward Donnie Freeman has collected six double-doubles this year, but has not played since January 4th and Autry did not indicate a return was imminent earlier this week either.

While the opponent is favorable tomorrow, a lot of what Pitt needs to fix is internal. The Panthers need a game where the lineup is flowing, the offense is connected, and a game where they aren’t getting crushed on rebounds. It would be great to find all of those things, but a win tomorrow, in any fashion, will probably suffice.

Pitt gets No. 1 in the class of 2026

There are some unwritten rules about high school football recruiting every program generally likes to follow. In the case we’re discussing today, the thought process is to always take a high school quarterback in every recruiting class, and then try to get that quarterback to commit early in the cycle.

Pitt struck on those principles earlier this week when Angelo Renda, a 6’0” and 180-pound quarterback out of Southlake (TX), committed to the Panthers on Wednesday. Renda stars for Southlake Carroll, a powerful program in the Dallas Metroplex that routinely competes for state titles and sends players to Division-1, specifically quarterbacks.

In the 2024 season, Renda guided Southlake Carroll to a 15-1 record, before losing in the state title game. Along the way, Renda accounted for over 4,500 yards and 54 touchdowns. The dual-threat quarterback orchestrated an impressive season, but likely due to his listed size, he has not drawn many Division-1 offers, as he chose Pitt over SMU, Jacksonville State, and UTSA.

I think from that standpoint, Pitt is probably OK with betting on the talent over the size. Pitt offensive coordinator Kade Bell only started working on Renda earlier this month, but moved things along quickly, suggesting he really liked what he saw.

It would be hard not to, really.

Renda plays high level Texas high school football, and his numbers are ridiculous going up good competition. There were a number of quarterbacks Bell could have amped the pressure on, but he landed on Renda. When watching his highlight tape, and since speaking to him, there is a fit in Renda’s playing style and how Bell likes to play.

Renda himself saw it as well.

“His offensive style fits me perfectly. They’re a balanced attack and move with tempo and that’s what I love and that’s what I’m really good at.”

Obviously, there is a long way to go before signing day. And of course, Renda is not exactly hidden when he attends a school like Southlake Carroll. He can have another big season, and other schools might come calling because of it, but that’s simply part of today's football.

From Pitt’s point of view, you trust your evaluation and take the gamble and see where it takes you in the end. There is a lot to like about Renda’s skill set and how he could fit into the offense Pitt is trying to run.

With all that considered, as things stand on January 24th, Pitt landed a good piece to start its 2026 recruiting class.

TWO QUESTIONS WE HAVE

Who were the most notable junior day visitors?

Let’s stick to recruiting since we’re already on the topic. The class of 2026 is now at the forefront of the recruiting efforts, and it’s been evident for a few weeks now. The class of 2025 seems wrapped up in December, the transfer portal efforts have slowed, thus leaving most of focus on the group of players who will be seniors in high school next year.

The recruiting process here is pretty straightforward, at least from how Pitt likes to operate. This coaching staff will cast a wide net early, like with the junior day visits in January. From there, they will sift through those players through the spring either though evaluations or more unofficial visits. All that leads into Pitt inviting its top targets for official visits in June.

Since we’re still in that junior day stage, let’s look back at these past two weekends and see what happened. Pitt hosted roughly 30 players with offers from the class of 2026 on January 11th and 18th. On those visits, Pitt shows them around the football facility, campus, and it culminated with a trip to the Saturday afternoon basketball games. The whole day is a chance for the Pitt assistant coaches to strengthen relationships with prospect, and some of the top targets will meet with Pat Narduzzi as well.

Junior day visits can tend to be regional, given their timing in the middle of winter. Many of the prospects were from Pennsylvania, or a bordering state.

Locally, Pitt played host to four WPIAL stars: Brendan Alexander, Ashton Blatt, Reston Lehman, and Jay Timmons. Plus an additional five more from Pennsylvania: Maurice Barnes, Zachary Brown, Tyler Duell, Angel Luciano, and Gavin Sidwar.

Pitt has had up and down success, as well as an emphasis in Pennsylvania lately. In 2024, Pitt signed seven Pennsylvania natives, but only two in this most recent class. This group in 2026 is intriguing, and Pitt should be able to reel in a few there in this cycle.

Other notable names who visited this month included Virginia linebacker Markel Dabney, three-star safety Zaiden McDonald from New Jersey, plus a trio of offered linemen in Landry Brede, Adrian Hamilton, and Lucas Tielsch.

High school recruiting has not attracted as much attention as it once did, and that is understandable with the player moment that happens in college football these days. With that in mind, this whole process is still very important, especially to a school like Pitt, which needs to develop better than most.

While junior days, unofficial visits, and offering sprees don’t quite capture the imagination like it did maybe 5-10 years, it’s still the backbone to building college football rosters. This process can be tedious, but I promise it’ll get a little more exciting later in the offseason.

How did Pitt do in the portal?

For those that still have that recruiting itch, most get it scratched by following transfer portal recruiting these days.

I get that, too.

The portal feels like free agency, with known commodities switching from one school to another, while high school recruiting feels like the 19th round of the MLB Draft or something along those lines. It’s more intriguing to follow the names you know that will help in the upcoming season, where as high school recruiting can be unpredictable and take longer to see the results.

That was all just a long-winded way of saying, we’ll use this next portion to talk about Pitt’s transfer portal efforts, since that seems to be the more exciting part of the college football offseason at the moment.

Given that the spring semester has started at Pitt, and now that the portal is closed for mostly everyone, save for some Notre Dame and Ohio State castoffs, then it's safe to say Pitt is done with its transfer portal recruiting for now.

Obviously, there could be further additions made in the spring and summer leading up to the season, but by and large, the majority of Pitt’s roster is put together, or at least this is the one it will carry into spring ball.

In total, Pitt has announced 12 transfer portal additions this offseason. Pitt landed three wide receivers, three defensive ends, two offensive linemen, two defensive backs, a linebacker, and a kicker.

Before we break down those new Panthers, I think on the surface you could have made the case Pitt still needs a backup quarterback, a tight end, and perhaps several more offensive linemen too. Perhaps those are things that happen in the spring, but that still remains to be seen.

Pitt got some much needed depth at wide receiver to start. Blue Hicks from Louisville, Andy Jean from Miami, and Deuce Spann of Florida State should all provide some college experience to a room that needs it. The Panthers will have some veterans with Kenny Johnson and Poppi Williams, but this group of transfers will be the gap between them and a number of young receivers.

Jean is a former four-star, Spann brings 6’4” size, and Hicks was getting some snaps in the ACC for Louisville this year, but none of them are bringing high-level production from their previous school.

Pitt is banking on some upside hits here, which is a theme.

On the offensive line, Pitt brought in a pair of guys with starting experience, albeit from lower levels. Kendall Stanley from Charlotte and Keith Gouveia out of Richmond, who could very well land starting jobs at right tackle and left guard at Pitt next season, respectively. But there is always a question jumping from one level to power-four starter, and it remains to be seen how it goes for those two.

Again, more projection.

I think when looking up and down Pitt’s defensive transfers, there is a lot of similarities going on there as well. Jaeden Moore (Oregon), Blaine Spires (Utah State), and Joey Zelinsky (Eastern Michigan) all add to the pass rushing depth, but all come with their own set of questions. You could say the same about Kavir Bains (UC Davis), Jayden Bonsu (Ohio State), and Rashan Murray (Cal-PA) also.

If anything, perhaps the most easily identifiable player in Pitt’s recruiting haul who might translate seamlessly to the ACC is James London, the kicker from Murray State.

Pitt likely found a couple of starters, some nice depth pieces, and a few lottery tickets mixed in there, but there is not that one big-time name to raise excitement. Landing a former four-star quarterback from Alabama, like Eli Holstein, made last year’s transfer haul a bit more recognizable.

Despite that, Pitt has done well at identifying fits to their scheme through the years, even without landing the biggest names out of the portal. The coaching staff just has to hope that trend continues. This group addresses some, but not all the needs this team currently has.

ONE PREDICTION

Pitt gets back on track tomorrow

The losing streak stops tomorrow, at least that’s the prediction here. I just can’t see this Pitt team going into the depths of a five-game losing streak midseason, and for two main reasons.

For starters, I think they are simply better than what they have shown of late. Also, I think Syracuse just represents a good ‘get right’ game for this team.

Pitt has earned every bit of this four-game skid, don’t get me wrong, but in each defeat there has been a run, or a sequence where they suddenly start to play well. It’s now a matter of replicating those bursts for longer stretches moving forward.

Pitt can’t continue to have long offensive lulls, or fall behind by 10 points every game. The Panthers seemingly turn it on at some point each game, but it would be best to not have that moment occur when the other team is already up by double digits.

I do think the idea of being a second half team is a real thing, and maybe this Pitt team has some of those elements, but that does not mean they can continue to hope that works every game moving forward in conference play and ignore playing well in the first half.

In recent games, in part because they have played some good teams, the Panthers have let the opponent dictate the style of game. I think against Syracuse, Pitt should have the talent edge to do set the parameters and play from ahead. While I know winning is the number one objective for tomorrow, it would probably go a long way for this team to play well while doing it.