Pitt Picked 4th in Big East Coaches Poll; Gibbs is Preseason Player of the Year

by oaklandzoo12 on Oct 19, 2025 12:15 PM EDT in Pitt Basketball

Today is Awkward-Fest 2011 (aka Big East Media Day) and this morning Pitt was picked to finish 4th in the Big East this season and received 1 first-place vote. Syracuse and Connecticut tied for 1st place and Louisville was picked 3rd. The coaches are not allowed to rank their own teams on their ballots.

Ashton Gibbs was also given the title of Big East Preseason Player of the Year and was named to the All-Big East 1st Team.

The results of the poll are as followed:

T-1: Connecticut (7) 209

T-1: Syracuse (5) 209

3: Louisville (3) 201

4: Pittsburgh (1) 188

5: Cincinnati 169

6: Marquette 155

7: West Virginia 132

8: Villanova 127

9: Notre Dame 114

10: Georgetown 104

11: Rutgers 75

12: St. John's 71

13: Seton Hall 56

14: South Florida 43

15: Providence 40

16: DePaul 27

Player awards after the jump

Preseason Player of the Year: Ashton Gibbs, Pitt

Preseason Rookie of the Year: Andre Drummond, Connecticut

All-Big East 1st Team:

Ashton Gibbs, Pitt

Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut

Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette

Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame

Kris Joesph, Syracuse

Kevin Jones, West Virginia

All-Big East 2nd Team:

Yancy Gates, Cincinnati

Alex Oriakhi, Connecticut

Peyton Siva, Louisville

Scoop Jardine, Syracuse

Maalik Wayns, Villanova

All-Big East 3rd Team:

Andre Drummond, Connecticut

Shabazz Napier, Connecticut

Cleveland Melvin, DePaul

Jae Crowder, Marquette

Augustus Gilchrist, South Florida

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Last tallied on 10/19.

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Read More: Tim Abromaitis (F - NotreDame), Scoop Jardine (G - Syracuse), Yancy Gates (F - Cincinnati), Ashton Gibbs (G - Pittsburgh), Augustus Gilchrist (F - South Florida), Darius Johnson-Odom (G - Marquette), Alex Oriakhi (F - UConn), Peyton Siva (G - Louisville), Maalik Wayns (G - Villanova), Jeremy Lamb (G - UConn), Shabazz Napier (G - UConn), Cleveland Melvin (F - DePaul), Jae Crowder (F - Marquette), Pittsburgh Panthers

Comments

Not too sure on Pitt

Honestly, I am not too sure about Pitt at #4. Yes, they have the best player in Gibbs coming back, but they also lost Wanny, Gilbert and McGhee, and those three are hard to replace. The loss of Wanny is not as bad, because I actually think the team was better when Trevon Woodall was in for him (allowed Gibbs to play the #2 which is his more natural position), but the loss of Gilbert and McGhee is tough - especially McGhee. His post defense and rebounding were spectacular and will be hard to replace with Zanna.

I do think the key is how Tabel Zanna plays this year. We need him to play good defense and rebound well. He did show signs of greatness last year, so I am very hopeful on him.

Still, I do like Pitt to have a good year again. I predict they finish 11-7 in the conference, finish 7th, make the NCAA tourny, and lose in the second round (what is new). It will still be a good year for a very consistent program over the years.

by PittGuy on Oct 19, 2025 2:30 PM EDT reply actions

misspelled, it's 'Talib' Zanna, sorry.

by PittGuy on Oct 19, 2025 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

11-7?

A little low in my opinion. I’m thinking around 13-5. Probably will still lose in second round though haha

Cardiac Hill contributor

by oaklandzoo12 on Oct 19, 2025 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions

McGhee

You hit the nail on the head with McGhee’s defense. The good news is that Gilbert and Birch are both supposed to be good defensively.

The loss of Wanamaker, though, could be bigger than you think. Some people (not me) thought he was Pitt’s best all-around player last year. He could score, rebound, and pass - I think his loss will hurt.

Losing Gil hurts, but he was inconsistent at times so it was hard to expect too much from him,.

Manager of Cardiac Hill - SB Nation's Pitt Panthers blog
Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter at @PittPantherBlog

by CardiacHill on Oct 19, 2025 6:16 PM EDT up reply actions