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April 24, 2015

Help On the Perimeter

Filed under: Basketball,Recruiting,Transfer — Chas @ 7:21 am

Well, a domino fell Pitt’s way. Damion Lee is a graduate transfer from Drexel, and yesterday he opted to go to Louisville. That was enough for another graduate transfer, Sterling Smith, to rule out the Cards and opt for Pitt.

BorzSterlingSmith is a 6-4 guard, though I’ve also seen him listed at 6-2. Love the accuracy of measurements of high school and college players.

As much as Pitt has a desperate need for inside help, better perimeter shooters are nearly as vital to open up the floor. Too often defenses had no real fear of Pitt’s backcourt being a consistent 3-point threat. That allowed them to pack it inside more. Giving Artis and Young little space to work, and taking away any threat of attacking the basket.

Smith’s shooting has improved every year he played at Coppin State. From 32.9% as a freshman to 41.8% last year. A 77% free throw shooter and the ability to attack the basket as well.

He should be able to find plenty of time available with Durand Johnson transferring out and Cam Wright graduating.





Named to the Meac second team. Comes from Sacremento Cal.

Comment by alcofan 04.24.15 @ 7:36 am

Is this true … did someone that Pitt needs commit?

Comment by wbb 04.24.15 @ 7:36 am

That’s some good news — I guess. Finally.

Comment by Carmen 04.24.15 @ 7:37 am

We’re not totally bereft of talent but we def need any guy we can get. Smith seems like he can basically slip in the the role Durand was going to fill except, you know, he’s actually logged real game minutes the last couple years.

Comment by tacocat 04.24.15 @ 7:50 am

Call me Skeptical. When was the last time a transfer worked out for Pitt? Mike cook 10 years ago?

On the surface this guy looks to be what Pitt needs, an athletic, 6’4″ guard with a good 3 point stroke. But with Jamie, it’s all about fitting into the system and playing good D.

We’ll see.

Comment by Boubacar Aw 04.24.15 @ 7:57 am

We can sure use a shooting guard, hope he is capable. Now we need a center or at least a big physical, rebounding power forward.

Comment by gc 04.24.15 @ 8:01 am

Now we are happy about a kid from Coppin State. Call me crazy but the level of Dogshit Pitt Basketball has become is a embarrassment.

If 9 out of 10 people even know where Coppin State is I will buy them all a beer.

Comment by Upittbaseball 04.24.15 @ 8:06 am

If 1 out of 10 not 9.

Comment by Upittbaseball 04.24.15 @ 8:06 am

Coppinsylvania, duh.

Comment by tacocat 04.24.15 @ 8:14 am

Coppin State is the 51st state isn’t it?

Comment by notrocketscience 04.24.15 @ 8:14 am

LOL – It is between Mississippi and Louisiana?

Comment by Upittbaseball 04.24.15 @ 8:16 am

At least he was their leading scorer, makes foul shots and plays defense. Good depth for one year while Wilson grows up. Very good 3 point percentage. Hopefully he can create his own shot, that would be a first for anyone at Pitt, since Patterson.

Comment by gc 04.24.15 @ 8:18 am

Naw, it’s between Carrick and Baldwin!

Comment by JoeKnew 04.24.15 @ 8:20 am

This team does not need graduate transfers..especially one from Coppin State.

I would be more excited if they got the G from Robert Morris that continually drove the lane against Duke in the tournament. He was better than anyone Pitt has at the position.

Comment by notrocketscience 04.24.15 @ 8:21 am

He played against bad competition. He won’t shoot that % against real D1 guards.

Comment by Upittbaseball 04.24.15 @ 8:37 am

Upitt – Yeah, you’re right, really great point! It’s too late now though, you should’ve mentioned something to the coaching staff. Brilliant nonetheless.

Comment by 1618mt 04.24.15 @ 8:39 am

This guy is brought in for a specific role, a shooting guard. He does not need to be the leading scorer since our top 2 or 3 leading scorers are returning. He may not even be a starter if Jones continues to improve and becomes consistent, or Damon Wilson pans out.

I doubt there is one graduate transfer that is a bona fide star.

Comment by wbb 04.24.15 @ 8:46 am

I don’t get all the negativity around this. The kid also visited Louisville and very could have ended up there had the kid from Drexel not gone there. I don’t think Pitino would have even sniffed his way if he had no interest in this kid.

Comment by Griogar 04.24.15 @ 9:00 am

Coppin State is the way it was in 9th grade when you really really wanted to touch your date’s boobs.

H2P

Comment by pmdH2P 04.24.15 @ 9:36 am

And, back to the music choices to replace Sweet Caroline, I vote for one of two songs from the movie that is ours in the ‘burgh. Either Maniac or What a Feeling from Flashdance. Both would be great for the crowd and the team. With Duzz, I am liking Maniac better.

link to youtube.com

H2P

Comment by pmdH2P 04.24.15 @ 9:40 am

Great points on the negativity… You know except that if you bothered to look you’d see he averaged over 11 pts a game and shot 40% from three against ND, UConn and Michigan.

Comment by Pitt89 04.24.15 @ 10:40 am

Coppin State is an all black school in Baltimore. I saw them play twice this year as Fang Mitchell used to coach them and he was one of my favorite coaches. Their chief rivals are Towson (Pat Skerrit) UMBC Loyala and Morgan State. Coppin plays run and gun basketball and typically scores in the 80’s. They were very average this year and when I saw them play no one player stood out.

Have no idea if Smith can help, but he cannot hurt!

Comment by Dan 72 04.24.15 @ 10:41 am

Sounds like Jamie got a replacement for Durand Durand. Since he was also looking at Louisvile I think Dixon did ok with this transfer. H2P!!!!

Comment by Bruce F 04.24.15 @ 10:42 am

I have to lean with Boubacar@7:57. Very good offensive transfers (like Zeigler from Central Michigan, for one) continually come in here and after Jamie smothers them with all the “system” crap the kid can’t even play O anymore. I’m sorry if I’ve become negative, but I have grown WEARY of investing so much time and emotion for a team that continues to descend into the lower depths of the ACC ocean. WE NEED CHANGE!!! – not transfers from Copulate State.

Comment by pittman4ever 04.24.15 @ 11:01 am

Yeah except that Trey Zeigler was never a good shooter!!!! He just couldn’t chuck up 15 shots a game like he did at CMU!! And Jamie’s “system” really isn’t much different than what they run at many schools. I never understand this argument.

Comment by Pitt89 04.24.15 @ 11:09 am

Upitt,

against ND, UCONN, and MICH, Sterling smith averaged 11.7 and was 8-20 from 3.

Pitt needs someone who can shoot it and he obviously can..and was getting looks from lousville.

Not sure of your issue here other than your complaining about essentially everything

Comment by rhyno527 04.24.15 @ 11:11 am

Lebron could transfer to us and I think Upitt would complain. It’s now more approariate to gauge his negativity on a scale of Outraged, Annoyed, and Mostly Indifferent but Still Going to Troll

This is an upgrade over whatever Durand was going to give us. Through that prism it’s good news. Still lotssss of work ahead of Jamie, though.

Comment by tacocat 04.24.15 @ 11:19 am

Sorry Pitt89 – your OPINIONS at 11:09 don’t line up with the FACTS!!!
2011-2012 season for Trey Zeigler at CMU:
– 31.8 minutes per game
– field goal percentage: 46.2%
– 16 points a game

Comment by pittman4ever 04.24.15 @ 11:29 am

We all knew we would get a transfer or two… there are hundreds and hundreds this year..OK get.. not a game changer but a capable body for a team with a chance to make tourbey..

Comment by 18 melba 04.24.15 @ 11:53 am

Sorry pittman… Nice try, but not so much!! Try viewing ALL the facts. He also shot 29% from Three and 50% from the foul line!!! He averaged slightly over 6 FT’s per game which is great for a guard. Well you know, except for the fact that he only made half of them. Most of his points were from drives and stuff in close. He was NOT a good shooter from mid or long range. He just wasn’t. Yes, he scored 16 ppg, but he also took 13.5 shots per game that year. As a freshman he took 15 shots per game and shot 39.5%. If that’s what you want from a shooting guard in the MAC, great!!

Comment by Pitt89 04.24.15 @ 12:42 pm

Jamie just needs to hit the door and join Howland at MSU.

Comment by ricky ellison 04.24.15 @ 1:53 pm

Much to the chagrin of many Blatherites JD is not going anywhere. I understand the frustration but he will improve and the program will get better.

I will give him 2 more years and then I’ll be calling for his head too.

Comment by The Hagen 04.24.15 @ 2:17 pm

Ziegler did well at TCU

Comment by Upittbaseball 04.24.15 @ 2:33 pm

In Practice….. LOL

Comment by Upittbaseball 04.24.15 @ 2:35 pm

My only question about Sterling Smith.

Can he play PG ?

Comment by Emel 04.24.15 @ 2:59 pm

@Boubacar
You are dead on. JD’s track record with transfers is very poor. I think Jermaine Dixon was also a transfer. That worked out okay. Other than that, Mike Cook was the last one that amounted to much that I can clearly remember.

Definitely agree that Pitt needs at least one reliable shooter. Either that or enough streaky ones that somebody has to be on any given night!

Comment by Barvo 04.24.15 @ 6:57 pm

Let’s see if this works:

Division I Schools Ranked by Number of Players in NBA

No. Players
School In NBA
1 Duke 18
1 Kentucky 18
3 Kansas 17
4 North Carolina 16
5 UCLA 15
6 Arizona 12
6 Florida 12
8 Connecticut 9
9 Texas 8
9 Washington 8
11 Georgia Tech 7
11 Michigan St. 7
13 Georgetown 6
13 LSU 6
13 Memphis 6
13 Michigan 6
13 Southern Cal 6
13 Syracuse 6
19 Marquette 5
19 Wake Forest 5
21 Baylor 4
21 Colorado 4
21 Gonzaga 4
21 Indiana 4
21 New Mexico 4
21 Ohio St. 4
21 Stanford 4
21 UNLV 4
29 Alabama 3
29 Arkansas 3
29 California 3
29 Creighton 3
29 Louisville 3
29 Maryland 3
29 Miami-FL 3
29 Missouri 3
29 Nevada 3
29 Oklahoma St. 3
29 Purdue 3
29 Tennessee 3
29 Texas A&M 3
29 Vanderbilt 3
29 Wichita St. 3
29 Wisconsin 3
45 Arizona St. 2
45 Boston College 2
45 Butler 2
45 BYU 2
45 Cincinnati 2
45 Clemson 2
45 Dayton 2
45 Detroit 2
45 Fresno St. 2
45 Illinois 2
45 Iowa 2
45 N.C. State 2
45 Oregon 2
45 Oregon St. 2
45 Pittsburgh 2
45 San Diego St. 2
45 St. John’s 2
45 St. Mary’s 2
45 Utah 2
45 VCU 2
45 Villanova 2
45 Virginia 2
45 Washington St. 2
45 Western Kentucky 2
69 Belmont 1
69 Bucknell 1
69 Central Michigan 1
69 Cleveland St. 1
69 Colorado St. 1
69 Davidson 1
69 DePaul 1
69 Eastern Wash. 1
69 Georgia 1
69 Harvard 1
69 IUPUI 1
69 Kansas St. 1
69 La Salle 1
69 Lehigh 1
69 Long Beach St. 1
69 Louisiana Tech 1
69 Minnesota 1
69 Morehead St. 1
69 Murray St. 1
69 Norfolk St. 1
69 North Texas 1
69 Oklahoma 1
69 Old Dominion 1
69 Rider 1
69 Saint Joseph’s 1
69 Santa Clara 1
69 Seton Hall 1
69 South Dakota St. 1
69 St. Bonaventure 1
69 Temple 1
69 Towson 1
69 Tulsa 1
69 UL Lafayette 1
69 Utah Valley 1
69 Virginia Tech 1
69 Weber St. 1
69 Western Carolina 1
69 Western Michigan 1
69 Xavier 1

Total Division I 360
Non-Division I 1
High School 23
Foreign 63
Total in NBA 2014-15 447

Comment by gc 04.24.15 @ 7:23 pm

OK, There it is in black and white. Pretty good indication of who recruits and who does not. Our two NBA players are having little impact. Blair in his fifth year, averages 4 minutes in wins and 8 minutes in losses. Adams is averaging better and getting 7.7 points per game, hardly a star yet but still some upside.

A couple points, we will never compete with Duke and NC, they are in a very elite group.

When you look at this, Jamie has got pretty amazing results with what he had. Two marginal NBA players and a couple others that got a sniff. Also points out how hard it is to get those elite players. Also, anyone who thinks Sean Miller would ever consider an offer from Pitt is smoking the really, really good stuff.

The only school that is “new” on that list is UConn, everyone else has been established for a very long time with a history that goes pretty far back.

Comment by gc 04.24.15 @ 7:37 pm

Also interesting to look at the old Big East, UConn on top with 9, Georgetown and Syracuse 6 each and Marquette with 5. Louisville a surprise with only 3 will have 2 more soon. WV and ND not on the list.

Comment by gc 04.24.15 @ 7:49 pm

Many more transfers these days, especially with the fifth year guys. Looks like you better get good at it. The problem for Pitt is the two positions they need are not likely to be filled by transfers that are real good. Although we could settle for better than average, which would be an improvement, maybe even average would be an improvement.

Comment by gc 04.24.15 @ 7:54 pm

Maybe I shouldn’t have looked. Coppin State was 8-23 this past year. Finished 3rd from the bottom in a scrub conf.

They lost to Oregon by 42 points, Illinois by 58 points, ND by 37 points, UConn by 18, Mich by 16, Hofstra by 41 pts, NCCentral by 38, etc.

So I don’t know what scoring some points against these teams in blowouts means. Basically it seems to be mostly garbage time.

This sounds similar to a few years ago when Dixon brought in Chase Adams of another scrub team(Centenary) from a scrub conference.
His numbers at scrub school very similar to this Coppin State kid.
Adams: Ranked 11th in the league in scoring (14.6 ppg.), third in assists (4.5 apg.), first in steals (2.7 spg.) and second in assist:turnover ratio (2.24)…Also averaged 4.2 rebounds and 34.5 minutes per game, converted 39.8 percent (72-181) of his 3-point field goals and 70.3 percent (97-138) of his free throws.

That didn’t work out too well, Adams was a non-factor for Pitt avg’g less than 2 ppg.

Maybe this kid will work out better….only because we are worse. Much worse.

Comment by Emel 04.24.15 @ 11:25 pm

I’m still trying to Cope with this..

Comment by PittFan28 04.25.15 @ 2:17 am

Dixon should know who are the good players from the bad teams are. Donsn’t he play most of them in non con.

Comment by Jp 04.25.15 @ 4:52 am

@Jp, rolling!!! Started my Sat AM with a huge
laugh!!!

Comment by Dan 04.25.15 @ 8:15 am

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