Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs Receives Big East Top Honor
By Matt Shetler
The last time we saw the Pitt Panthers take the floor, things ended in bitter disappointment after the Gilbert Brown missed free throw and subsequent Nassir Robinson foul that sent the panthers home in the NCAA Tournament instead of onto the Sweet 16.
Since that time, Jamie Dixon’s squad lost three key cogs of the past four season’s. The trio of Brown, Brad Wanamaker, and Gary McGhee all graduated, leaving the Panthers without three big parts this year’s team.
One guy they didn’t lose though is guard Ashton Gibbs and the rest of the league took notice. Gibbs became the fifth Pitt player to be named the Big East preseason player of the year. By doing so, he joined a list that includes Aaron Gray, Brandin Knight, Jerome Lane, and Charles Smith.
Not bad for a guy who wasn’t highly recruited coming out of high school in 2008.
The defending Big East regular season champs didn’t get as much respect though as they were picked to finish fourth in the league behind Connecticut, Syracuse, and Louisville. Pitt also begins the season ranked No. 11 in the first Coaches Poll, giving the Big East four ranked teams among the nation’s top 11.
The other members of the preseason all-conference team are Tim Abromaitis of Notre Dame, Darius Johnson-Odom of Marquette, Kris Joseph of Syracuse, Kevin Jones of West Virginia and Jeremy Lamb of Connecticut.
Follow City of Champions Sports on Twitter