NCDS: Pat Skerry, Asst. Coach - Pittsburgh

Getting everyone up to speed on things here in Pittsburgh. We are having a great year in the mighty Big East as we gear up for some very tough games. What's great about this team and this program is that the upperclassmen really pave the way.

Our three seniors: Gilbert Brown, Gary McGhee and Bran Wanamaker are super leaders who play hard every day in practice. They understand our system and convey that to the younger guys in the program on a daily basis. 

Gilbert has become an excellent defender for us. In addition to his  outstanding athleticism he is extremely efficient on the offensive end of the floor. He averages 11 points, grabs almost five rebounds while shooting 39% from three point land and 83% from the foul line.

Gary is a force inside and as good as a post defender as there is in our Conference. He is also averaging about a double - double in league play at 9.1 ppg and 9.2 rebounds in 25 minutes of action. His per minute production, especially on the backboards is tremendous.

Lastly but certainly not least Brad Wanamaker does it all for us. Some of us even wonder if he sells tickets and programs. His versatility if second to none. He averages over 12 points per game , gets 5 rebounds a night and has a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. Simply put you trust this guy and want the ball in his hands.

These three seniors were instrumental in our two big road wins last week at West Virginia and at Villanova (two outstanding NCAA tournament teams) and they helped lead us without our leading scorer Ashton Gibbs. Obviously we have other very good players like Nasir Robinson, Travon Woodall and Dante Taylor who had great weeks and super seasons as well. As we enter the end of February and hopefully a long month of March for the Panthers there is no doubt that these seniors and our upperclassmen will set the tone for us on our journey!!