A couple of months ago, I wrote about where Pitt's trio of seniors, Brad Wanamaker, Gary McGhee, and Gilbert Brown, stood in regards to the NBA Draft.
I haven't seen much change since then - all three are still expected to go in the second round to undrafted. All three discussed some of their thoughts on the draft recently.
Wanamaker may have the most work to do as John Grupp of the Trib-Review says he could need to move to point guard to find an NBA home:
Wanamaker needs to show NBA scouts he can play point guard. He was forced to play off the ball at the Portsmouth Invitational with about 170 scouts in attendance.
"Some scouts told me that if he's a shooting guard, he won't make it in the NBA," Feldman said. "They said that if he's a point guard, he will make it."
Wanamaker shot 32 percent from the field at Portsmouth (8 for 25) and in his final 13 games at Pitt, he went 2 for 17 from 3-point range.
"They said I can rebound the ball and make plays," Wanamaker said. "That's something that's hard to teach, and it's easy to improve shooting."
I know that he's not a great shooter, but the point guard thing is a tough sell for me. That said, it probably is realistically his only path. The NBA is full of guys who can shoot at the two, and if Wanamaker can't, then he won't be able to cut it there. Even if he's not purely a point guard, his ability to play both positions would be a good selling point, so it's probably a good strategy. The only thing is that his ball-handling skills at point have a long way to go, so it could be an uphill battle.
McGhee's task is to get tougher, meanwhile:
"Teams really wanted me to show them I was a tough guy out there and use my body, push guys around a little bit," McGhee said.
And Gil just hopes someone will take a chance on him:
"It's all about going out and competing and showing teams you're worth taking a chance on," said Brown, a 6-foot-6 wing.
I think Gil really added a lot last year with his three-point shooting - shot a respectable 41% from that range, topping the 40%-mark for the first time. He also more than doubled his production while increasing his accuracy. Having watched him play a prominent role the past two seasons, we know all about where he needs to improve - his consistency.
Then there's Ashton Gibbs. I don't want to really get into that too much, but I can't let go of the J.J. Richardson thing. I've got to believe that he thinks Gibbs will be sticking around ... otherwise, why go?
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