2014-15 Pitt Basketball Previews: Derrick Randall

Name: Derrick Randall

Position: Center

Class: Senior

2013-14 Stats: 2.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG

Overview

Randall transferred to Pitt following the Mike Rice scandal at Rutgers. He was eligible to play right away and really did not do too much in his 11.3 minutes per game last season. Randall, in fact, hasn't done much to improve in his three years of college ball. In fact, he's scoring and rebounding no better than he did as a freshman at Rutgers. He will be expected to step up and fill the center role in the absence of Talib Zanna.

Strengths

It is hard to pinpoint any particular strengths in Randall's play. He hasn't contributed much on offense or defense at Pitt and has yet to prove himself to be more than a low-end role player. His high field goal percentage of 56.4 percent is a result of him getting good shots, but Randall's biggest attribute for Pitt is that he's a big body - something that's needed.

Weaknesses

Randall's strong field goal percentage is balanced out somewhat by his abysmal 45.2 percent free throw percentage. If you have watched Pitt at all in the last decade you know that Pitt as a team struggles with making free throws. Randall's inability to make free throws could be a liability as teams will most likely choose to send him to the line instead of allowing him an easy layup.

Conclusion

Randall needs to step up big this season. Joe Uchebo is the only other true center on the team, and at 6'9", he's not going to have a size advantage over most centers he faces. It's possible that Randall's stats could increase a bit with increased playing time, but he's not likely to be a major contributor on offense. However, just by giving Pitt a big body in the middle, he has some value.