Pitt not only faces IUP, but an old friend of the program in its final exhibition game Thursday.
IUP comes into Pitt on Thursday and will be accompanied by head coach Joe Lombardi. Lombardi was an assistant to Jamie Dixon at Pitt from 2003 - 2006. He's had several stops in his career including serving as an assistant at IUP in the 1980s.
IUP was one of the top Division II programs last year (going 33-3), losing in the championship game to Cal Poly Pomona as a number one seed. Even without two of its key players from last season, the team is still ranked as a top five team going into this season.
Lombardi talked about building a strong program under Dixon:
"Working at Pitt with Jamie (Dixon) for three years, I learned the one consistency is the program," Lombardi said. "We've established a program and a system, so when we lose guys, we can plug in needs rather than reinvent ourselves every year."
Still, IUP likely won't be much of a challenge for Pitt.