Pitt Basketball: Should Ashton Gibbs Leave For NBA

It's been a little while since I last mentioned the Ashton Gibbs / NBA thing. Thinking more about it, I'm still pretty unsure about what's going to happen.

The thing I keep coming back to is just how much can Gibbs actually improve his stock? Fortunately, an article in the Trib gave me something to chew on.

John Harris of the Trib thinks Gibbs should come back to improve his game. But here's the thing - I don't know that his stock will change all that much.

Harris makes the argument that one of the things Gibbs can improve is his rebounding. But since Gibbs is primariliy a jump shooter, he spends most of his time on the perimeter. So he's not going to be someone that will grab a lot of boards. Harris compares his game to that of Kemba Walker's.Walker has much more of an offensive arsenal and gets to the basket. A lot of his time is spent in the paint, so he's going to have a better chance at rebounding the ball.

Then, there's the 'playmaker' aspect that Harris says he needs to improve. But if Gibbs comes back, he almost assuredly will not be the team's point guard as Travon Woodall is expected to slide into that role. Gibbs will have the ball less and his game is going to be even more focused on that of a spot up shooter.

I really want Gibbs to come back and I think there's a decent chance he might. But I don't know how much coming back will actually improve his stock.

So does that mean he shouldn't? Well, not necessarily. Gibbs can still get more exposure and improve his game. His shooting may not improve over the numbers he put up this season, but he can become a better all around player. And as Harris points out, Gibbs can get better at driving to the basket.

Plus, with the loss of Wanamaker, Brown, and McGhee, Pitt will need his scoring. If Gibbs comes back, he could up his scoring average to the neighborhood of about 20 ppg and really hammer home the fact to scouts that he's a great, not good, scorer.

And, well, college is fun.

So the selfish part of me obviously hopes he sticks around for another season.