Last season, three-point shooting was a Panther weakness. Pitt ranked 292nd out of 351 Division I teams with only 162 (34.2%) made. The trouble was that Pitt’s shooting guards were not good three-point shooters. Cameron Wright shot just 4 (21.1%), while Josh Newkirk shot just 22 (30.1%). No matter who plays, this season’s shooting guard should be a much better three-point shooter:

• Senior transfer Sterling Smith shot 41.8% (76) for Coppin State last season.
• JC transfer Jonathan Milligan shot 40.2% (45) at Kilgore last season.
• Redshirt freshman Cam Johnson was shooting at a better-than 40% clip in the summer league last season.
• Chris Jones shot 35.7% (41) last season.

But our best three-point shooter this season will likely be starting small forward Jamel Artis. Last season, Artis shot 39.4% (39) from three-point range. The only problem was that he had to play close to the basket at strong forward, so he only took 99 three-point shots. Furthermore, as he told the press during Pitt’s Preseason Media Day, he worked hard during the off-season to improve his three-point shooting:

So, with Artis moving to small forward and with more three-point production from the shooting guard position, Pitt should improve from one of the poorer three-point shooting teams last year to one of the better teams this season.